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I'm sitting in bed at my home sipping a bottle of Water waiting for my turn in the shower. I'm a mixed bag of emotions- nervous, excited, a little scared... my darling husband (the shower hog) is grumpy today. That's his way of showing me he's nervous. My bag is packed and I'm ready to get this show on the road! I'm second on the list for this afternoon and set for surgery at 3pm. Here's keeping my fingers and toes crossed that my surgeon is able to complete my band to sleeve revision in one operation and that everything runs as smooth as clockwork!

First of all, can I just tell you that you're beautiful!!! I don't mean anything awkward or inappropriate with that, but I just felt like I wanted to tell you that you are a very beautiful woman To answer your questions: 1. What was the best part of surgery for you? Getting off blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, and anti-inflammatory meds, losing the weight, and gaining mobility back 2. What was the worst part of surgery for you? I had several complications from the sleeve and had to have a revision a year later 3. Did you have any complications (minor or major) during or after your surgery? not during the surgery but about 7-8 months later, complications started showing up. 4 endoscopies, 1 colonoscopy, and massive amounts of PPIs later, had to have the revision 4. How has adjusting to your new life been for you? it's been hard sometimes, but overall, so worth it and rewarding and a huge blessing 5. How long did it take you to feel comfortable eating food? If you stick to the plan, it's a gradual process. By 6-8 weeks, I was nervous but ready to eat food and just made sure to go slow. 6. Is there anything you can’t eat anymore that you used to enjoy? pasta, rice, potatoes, bread (a year or 2 out, some can eat it in small amounts every once in a while, but I'm so sensitive to carbs that I stay far away...but there's alternatives that allow me to not feel like I'm deprived so it's completely ok) 7. What was your recovery like? Any vomiting or dumping syndrome? dumping really only happens with the bypass, not the sleeve. Never had vomiting and very little nausea (in the beginning). Once I had my revision to bypass, I had dumping twice and learned my lesson lol I follow the rules and I'm careful, so I haven't had it again. 8. How long did it take you to feel semi-normal after surgery? about 4 weeks after the sleeve, about a week to 10 days after the revision to bypass (much easier surgery to recover from, for some reason) 9. Did you experience higher energy level post surgery? not right away. I was beyond exhausted the first 2 weeks. Weeks 3 and 4 it started to get better. By week 6, I felt normal, and by 3 months out I had lost a good amount of weight and my energy levels really started to pick up. 10. Did surgery affect your mental health? not in any kind of negative way until I started having the complications. Once I had the revision, every complication went away and I've been beyond happy and thrilled. The only real issue I have now is body dysmorphia sometimes. I have moments where I look in the mirror and still see 421 pound me and not 195 pound me. I'll look in my closet and think someone stole my clothes and replaced them with someone else's (I use to be a size 30/5X and now I'm a size 14/XL). 11. Do you regret it? Would you recommend it? I absolutely do not regret it. The only thing I would go back and change is I would just have the bypass to begin with and skip the sleeve altogether. Now, there are a lot of people really happy with the sleeve. They have zero regrets. I was one of them, until I wasn't. Many of us sleevers have to get a revision to bypass for one reason or another, but just as many, if not more, have the sleeve and never have any issues and love it.

true. It just worries me when they're trying to sell me on a revision to Roux en y or something like a sleeve. Recommitting myself but it's tough!

My name is Michaela I am 29 I am considering getting a revision to the gastric bypass. I had the sleeve exactly 3 years ago. I am 5’4 at my heaviest I was 272 and got down to 174 now I’m back up to 222. I am super depressed because I don’t know how I let this get this bad. I’m looking for stories of people who have had this revision and what made them decided to do it and how much the have lost so far. Also people who are looking into getting the surgery and what made you decide to look into it.

That's great. I had Medicare for my sleeve surgery a year ago and had no trouble with approval. Good luck with your revision surgery.

Hello, my name is Tonika and I had my sleeve done September 26 2012. I originally had the lap band In 2003 and I was 374 pounds. I got down to 176 pounds nevertheless I started having problems with the band and I creeped back up to 288 pounds. I went In for a revision on my birthday January 26 2012, my liver and my stomach were merged together. The surgeon said he's good but not that good so once he freed the band and liver and stomach he aborted the revision. I woke up to disbelief he said I had too much scar tissue and would never be able to have any weight loss surgery again. I was depressed for 8 months till one day I said God please heal my insides I'm not meant to be heavy. I went online researched everyone told me no till West Lake Hospital came up I called and the rest is history. I went in on a Monday in August and three weeks later I had my surgery... Scar tissue completely healed. What a mighty God we serve, I was nervous the nigh before so I prayed and God whispered trust me your stomach is ok and I just believed and was ok after that.. FYI MY NURSES NAME WAS JESUS AND I HAVE A ROSARY BEAD TATTOO AND SHE PRAYED ON IT... [ATTACH]5271[/ATTACH] Order My Steps Dear Lord...

My story is a complicated one, but I thought for those of you deciding about this surgery or who were nervous, I would share it here. Please forgive the long post. I was banded in 2008. My band gave me complications about 2 years in. I lost 40 pounds with my band (wanted to lose about 80) but over the years it became a struggle sometimes to eat at all. Other times, I could eat as much as I wanted with no issues and I gained 20 of that back. Even with a couple of Upper GIs and being told I was okay - I still had issues. A couple of friends had sleeves and seemed to be doing well. So, I decided to have a revision. I went to my original surgeon and we planned it for May 13 2015. Same day band removal and sleeve. I was totally up for this and went in feeling great. However, when my band was removed, I was told my band had eroded into my stomach and caused some major damage. Thankfully, my doctor did not do the sleeve at the same time. He wanted to give me a chance to heal. At the time I was frustrated, but in hindsight I'm glad. So we reset the date to 3 months out. But I began to have misgivings and sought a second opinion. I found another surgeon who I absolutely love and trust, and reset the date again. This time we set it to September 23. I did a 2 week pre-diet like I did before. However, my Mother, who had been sick a long time, was declining and I was worried she might pass so I rescheduled to October 28. My Mom died on 9/23 (so glad I moved the date). That was hard and because of that I think I began to be so anxious about everything and was feeling really worried about the surgery. My doctor was so helpful and kind and his staff were patient and very helpful, and I decided to go through with it anyway. I just made myself do it. I went through another 2 week pre op diet, yes, that means I did three of those in 6 months.... My surgery was on 10/28. When I got out of surgery, I was told that due to scar tissue, my surgeon had to change normal procedure a bit and use a different template for my sleeve. He said my sleeve was a little bit bigger than he would normally use, but still small enough to get good restriction. That first day home, I felt so bad - I was nauseated a little bit and had some trouble drinking. I wondered if I had made a mistake. But every day I improved. I was on full liquids and drank 1-2 ounces every 30 minutes. Each day I was able to get a little more in. I'm now on the 3rd week and just stared the liquid pureed kind of foods, like beans/oatmeal, etc. I can probably get 4 oz. down without restriction, but as soon as I get a little bit more, I feel full. I'm having to watch out for head hunger, and reflux - which mimics real hunger. But overall, I'm learning what it feels like to be full. That didn't happen with my band, I was always hungry. I'm so glad my 2nd surgeon made sure he put the sleeve staples in healthy tissue so that the risk of leaks was minimized. Even if I lose weight more slowly, I did not want a leak. He even knew that if there wasn't a safe place to put the staples, he would stop and just close me up. I have lost 25 pounds since the start of my preop diets in September, and I feel amazing. So far I have had no real complications <knock wood> and I'm following the post diet pretty easily. I go back to work next week and will have to manage working and taking food, getting my Vitamins in. But I'm looking forward to that. My advice is, find a surgeon who listens to you and who has a staff that listens. Don't spend hours on the internet reading about complications. Understand that band complications may complicate your sleeve, but it's still possible to get a sleeve and have good results. I'm sure I'll hit stalls and plateaus and even though the sleeve helps enormously, it's really only a tool. If I fill that 4-6 ozs with ice cream and Cookies I will not lose weight. SO be honest with yourselves about stuff like that. I'm very glad I did this. Your mileage may vary. But so far so good.

I’m a band to mini-gastric bypass and it was the BEST decision I ever made. I had trouble with my band from the get-go. It sprung a leak early on so I never got restriction and spent the first nine months of my honeymoon wondering why I could still eat a full steak and everyone else was complaining about being full after a teaspoon of tuna. Had it fixed but it never really worked. Either too tight or too loose and when I moved O/Ṣ I just gave up and ate around it. I used to feel embarrassed to tell people I’d had a Lapband years ago and yet here I was north of 140 kilos. I’m about ten months out from my revision, surgery went brilliantly. My surgeon did a single operation to remove the band and give me my bypass but he had to make my stomach pouch larger b/c of Lapband scarring. I don’t mind b/c I’ve slowly lost 2/3rds of my excess weight, am just about to hit Onderland and I feel bloomin’ brilliant. Even if I never lost another kilo I love my life so much more now.

I think you have some valid questions. I had the band removed 6 weeks ago and will revise to the sleeve on 12-28-13. With the band I lost almost no weight. I could never get the fills correct. To tight or to loss etc. My band slipped and had it removed. I think all insurance company might be different when it comes to revision. I know some insurance company only allow one weight loss surgery. You never know we're you will be in terms of insurance down the road. With my insurance I was already seeing a nutritionist for 6 months before going to see the weight loss surgeon. After they discovered the slip the submitted everything to insurance. My surgeon which does all type of weight loss.surgery said they band only has a 50 % successful rate and in 2013 the hospital only did 1. I think that speaks volumes. I think with any surgery you must make sure you have an experienced surgeon or things might go wrong.

Had lap band and I never felt full. Even after several fills Of course I am only two weeks out of from sleeve surgery. There is certainly a difference already. There are so many lapband revisions to sleeve these days. What does your dr suggest. I was scared to have the sleeve.. But it all went well. Take your time in making a decision that is best for u. Research ..ask questions...and pray.over it. You will know what route u should take when the time comes.

Hello everyone, I am new here and was revised from the band to sleeve in February 09. Here's the horror story: I was banded on October 04 and by Feb. 05 had lost 47 lbs. My highest weight at the time of banding was 247. I was happy until I had to be unfilled due to my MS dx in 06. Things went downhill from there. Due to steroids and other MS related medications I gained all of my weight back. I figured that resuming fills would be the trick. Well I could not tolerate fills after resuming which resulted in a series of small fills and then unfills again. I never lost another lb. Rather I continued to creep up in weight until I was finally at 284 lbs. Fortunately my insurances, (Medicare and BCBS) both pay for wls so approval was not an issue. I saw a new surgeon and began my year long journey into what was supposed to be a revision to DS. Once the surgery began, the surgeon found massive amounts of adhesions. My band was gone from my stomach and my body had absorbed it. He actually had to find it. He said that it was as if the band had become a part of my body:eek:. It took him 7 hours to clean up the mess and he felt that I could not withstand the full DS surgery, so he made the decision to perform the VSG giving me the option to have the second stage later if needed. I am currently down from 284 to 215, I plan to not have the second stage surgery. Thanks again, Que

Does anyone know the process? Do I need to jump through all the hoops? I was very successful and lost 100% of weight I needed with band before it failed after 2 kids. I regained most of it. Anyone have similar situation?

I'm having revision surgery on May 17 Lap band 2009 Sw 200/lw 161/cw 214 Sleeve revision booked 17 May

Hi I'm new here currently have an emptied lap band due to complications and I've been offered a sleeve to replace it may be done in one go depending on the scar tissue as to wether I have to wait for a second surgery. Has anyone else here had a revision from band to sleeve and how was your experience ? Does it work are there many cons ? I may have to wait until November to get the revision done so I am trying to get some knowledge about it beforehand any advisee would be great thank you

What surgery did you have? Some surgeries from a while ago seem to have lived their lifespan and are very hard to get going again, in these instances a revision may be required.

I did this as well. I didn’t purchase much besides smaller plates/bowls. I am having a revision (vsg to rny) and having smaller dishes helped me eating smaller portions. Also just stocked up on protein drinks i also purchased mederma, it’s a scar cream to help lighten a scar. It’s for vanity purposes but my scars tend to get pretty dark. I am curious to see others responses as well

I think you are making a wise choice to go with the sleeve. I don't know what I was thinking puttig a device in my body that doesn't belong there. I am in pain now from broken tubing in my body. I can't wait for my revision. Good luck with your journey!

I thought I wanted to have the sleeve procedure (that's what I requested to be approved for and was) and after doing a lot of research, wondering if I should go with full bypass. Years ago I had lapband - I was very successful, lost weight quickly and the golden child for my surgeons office. The one issue I had as I kept filling the band, terrible reflux. I was 10 lbs from my goal weight and researching plastic surgereons. Unfortunately the reflux got so bad that I had pneumonia for several months and I was finally forced to totally un-fill the band. I had to wait 3 to 4 months before I restarted fills. I was never able to get back to the amount I had in the band previously and the reflux started again. I regained a lot of weight. Now fast forward 4 years, just before Christmas in 2015, I experienced a lot pain In my abdomen and found out that the band had broke. I had emergency surgery to remove the band. After a year and half and regaining all my weight, I'm ready to do gastric again. I've been dieting and eating much better for the last few months. I am now mentally prepared to make the right eating choices. I'm wondering if the sleeve would be a good procedure for me because of my prior issues with reflux. Although, the only time I have had reflux was when I had the band. I really want the sleeve but I don't have the same issues with reflux. TIA

I understand your situation. Ibwas banded in 2007 had to have a revision in April this year to fix my slipped band and a hernia. Have i lost any weight since then? Nope sure havent. Very frustrated. I am trying to be careful as to what i eat and try to exercise everyday. But this time everything is different and the fills are smaller to help keep my band from slipping again. Any time you want to chat let me know. We all need the support cause its never easy no matter if this is new or not. Good Luck Danielle

I am one week post revision surgery and have felt I need to concentrate on taking deep breaths throughout the day..... in hospital I had a spiroball to use every fifteen minutes. You're not alone on this ...... good luck

Well technically yes they can, the surgeon will tell you which one he would suggest, but ultimately if you have the cash, most will do the procedure... both my lapband and revision were self-pay....my surgoen for my lapband was against giving me the lapband, he recommended RNY (the sleeve wasn't around in 2005) but I insisted on the lapband...fast forward 7 years I wish I'd paid the extra 5,000 for the RNY.....but I learned my lesson, I have the sleeve now, and I dont regret it....

Hello everyone, I'm 38 years old with a lapband...I've had my lapband since 2009 I've lost 50lbs (I still need to lose another 100+lbs) and have been nothing but miserable since day 1. I've been in the ER twice when the band has suddenly tightened up on me and I haven't even been able to drink water!! It's been so miserable...so I had my husband put me back on his insurance so I could start looking at revision surgery. I'm excited...I just hope I can get insurance to pay for it. Anyone been successful with getting this approved?? Any advice would be much appreciated.

At first i was upset cuz now i have to pay $14,500 for the sleeve revision in the same surgery. Shouldnt there be somewhat of a discount since im already under anesthesia and ins is covering that? Anyway. Trying to see it as glass half full. Paying will give me more of an incentive to follow the rules and be successful since im investing hard earned money. Potential July 18th surgery date!!!!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Very normal, and it will pass.I revised from the lap-band to the sleeve and as of today with preop diet included, I have lost 40lbs. I went from 230 to 190.

I'm soooo nervous right now. I'm having a revision tomorrow morning. He is taking my crapband out and hopefully doing the sleeve. I have been reading do many posts on this site and they have been very helpful.