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So as you all know, I had A LOT of complications with my sleeve. I ended up with gastritis, esophagitis, horrible gerd, and precancerous polyps all though my stomach and duodenum. I had 4 endoscopies to have them all removed. Then I had a colonoscopy and found 3 cancerous polyps (stage 1) and they were removed and I'm ok. Wouldn't have found ANY of that had I not had the complications from the sleeve. During that time, I also had a ct scan to see what was happening, and 2 large fibroids were found in my uterus. Well, now that everything else was taken care of and I had my revision from sleeve to bypass, I decided to deal with the fibroids (they are causing my stomach to be large, my uterus is HUGE, they cause discomfort, very heavy bleeding, etc) One is 12cm (roughly the size of a grapefruit) and one is 6.5 cm (the size of an egg). I also had an endometrial biopsy (those SUCK) and was diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia, which is precancerous. So now I have an appt to see what to do about all of this. Again, never ever would have found this if I hadn't had complications that led to all the testing to figure out what was wrong. Sometimes the fear of the unknown, the long road ahead, and the daunting testing and procedures to diagnose and correct complications can make surgery seem like a no-go. But potential complications shouldn't necessarily be seen as a deal breaker. I had several precancerous and cancerous conditions I knew absolutely NOTHING about, and I wouldn't have known about them until it was too late, had it not been for the complications from the sleeve. Trying to find out what happened inadvertently led to correcting not only the initial sleeve complication but also the silent and secret health issues that definitely would have creeped up on me and taken me out had it all not be found when they were. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Maybe hitting every speed bump on the way sucks and feels overwhelming, but at least now it's done. I'm already healthier than I have ever been, and I'm only getting healthier. I'm following dreams I previously let go, and being 45, I'm at the age where health risks start to increase anyway. Now I'm having it all taken care of and I can just do my thing and live my life. I said all of this to say.... don't talk yourself out of a life changing and life SAVING surgery because there's the potential for complications. Yes, they're scary. Yes, they suck. But YES finding and treating them early on (especially if you never would have known about them otherwise) is a blessing. We are doing these surgeries to get our lives back. And if that means finding and treating other issues that can/will cause us problems down the road, consider that a perk of the surgery.

Ps tomorrow I'm 3 weeks post op. had my band to sleeve revision on the 17th

A pre-op diet unto itself is not such a big deal, though I certainly question those who do the fully liquid diets as those don't seem to offer any benefit over a simple low carb diet, but do present potential negatives to the patient. If they have other reasons why they may want to do such a diet, other than selling a product through their practice, I have not seen them expressed - it's always the 'shrink the liver' thing. If it is the policy of the practice or hospital, I would question the seniors involved in establishing their policies; if a hospital recruits a respected surgeon to practice in their facility, it is the surgeon who establishes such policies, one way or another. It is really tough evaluating these guys - the surgeons themselves have a hard time at it unless they actually see their colleagues at work in the OR, or have occasion to see their work after the fact (not a good sign if another surgeon has to revise their work!) Some guys may be good at settling claims before they become official, so their record remains clean even if their skills may be marginal, others may have a clean record because they never do anything challenging while another may be more skilled and experienced but have some bad marks on his record because he takes on challenging cases and may have lost one or two. Which is better? Who are you most comfortable with? Patient reviews only scratch the surface (we aren't awake during surgery, and most of us aren't qualified to evaluate them if we were) only touching on tangential issues like bedside manner and office staff and rarely on long term outcomes - which is the most important thing. We need to look for indicators where ever we can. My preference is to look for DS qualified surgeons (those who actually perform them routinely, not just list them on their CV and then sell you something else,) for the reason enumerated in the post above, but also owing to the DS being a technically challenging procedure (that does use the sleeve,) such that those who adopt it as a primary procedure tend to come from the top half of the class. They also tend to have broader experience, as most started out doing bypasses and moved to the DS in search of a more effective procedure, so they don't have a problem recommending an RNY if that is really in the patient's best interest; with most other bariatric surgeon, if they recommend a bypass over the sleeve (or wanting to revise a sleeve to a bypass,) there is always a question as to whether they are looking at the patient's interests, or what is most comfortable for them to perform. Given that the DS has maybe a 5% market share, at best, this leaves another 45% or so of other surgeons who are also in the top half of the class that I have excluded. I don't know how to evaluate them, other than the basic number of specific procedures under their belt, and that isn't particularly helpful if you don't live near one of them, or can't travel to them. My surgeon is about six hours away from me, even though living in southern California there are bariatric surgeons on almost every street corner (though there are a couple of others I have found in the area since then that I would go to, though they came more from networking than from the usual vetting methods.) It is certainly an imperfect selection process, but it beats randomly picking whoever is local that's in the insurance network.

It takes several days for the bloating and swelling to go down... I am day 12 and I am still a little bloated. My other incisions look amazing. I am a revision from the LapBand and the incisions with this surgery are almost invisible. The only one that is going to be visible is the drain site for me. What is ugly about your incisions? Sometimes there is a collection of bloody drainage under the tapes and it apears they look bad... but once the tapes fall off... they look fine.

I ended up having RNY once it was determined that it was the best surgery for me given my severe Gerd. I wanted to have this surgery one time. It has been. One of the best decisions of my life. I no longer get any type of reflux, heartburn and no longer take medications for it. I would give serious thought before proceeding with the sleeve given your history. You may just end up with yet another revision. I have seen many people on this site have to revise twice before they finally get what they need, several have complications due to all the previous damage from the band, sleeve and reflux made worse. I would suggest talking to your surgeon and doing some research before deciding for sure. Good luck to you!

I spent last year cross fitting I'm taking a break while I heal from my revision. I weighed 182 when I started and a uk 18 I weighed 182 ten months later uk size 14. Cross fit puts muscle on quick but will improve your body. When you do something like cross fit you have to focus more on measuring/ clothes size especially if you are somewhere around the weight you should be because you probably won't lose and may gain some weight but imagine how fit, healthy and toned you will be! So hard when you have been purely focused on losing for so long, good luck!

Before subjecting myself to a bypass, if that is the recommended fix, I would consult with a surgeon who is more experienced with the sleeve and duodenal switch (DS simply by virtue that it has been done for a long time and uses the sleeve as its basis, so any surgeon who has been doing DSs for a while has also been doing sleeves for that time.) There are a lot of surgeons around who are comfortable with the bypass and just getting into the sleeve, so if they have any problems with the sleeve, their first instinct is to return to their comfort zone and do a bypass rather than fixing the sleeve as a more experienced sleeve surgeon would do. So, when one gets into complications such as this may be, it is doubly important to get second opinions to see what your options really are. http://www.dsfacts.c...h-surgeons.html The above is a list of well qualified DS surgeons around the world that may be handy if you need a second opinion from a doc who knows their way around a sleeve (and a few of them are also well qualified in revising RNYs to DSs, so if they can re-fabricate a sleeve out of an RNY pouch and the old remnant stomach that was set aside, they would likely have no problem un-twisting a sleeve - assuming that the twist didn't cut off the blood supply and kill off the tissue.) Good luck, complications of any description are never a fun thing,

So I went back to the doctor Friday to find out that the leak is actually in my band.. something that my doctor has never had happen to any of his patients and has rarely ever heard about from other doctors. Luckily, the company of the Realize Band are willing to replace the band for free, but I still have to pay for the hospital fees and anesthesia.. another $2300 after the useless port revision surgery I had 2 weeks ago. I think that I am really just annoyed at the fact that I had no idea that these types of surgeries (ones that you have no power over) would cost a lot more money on top of what you already paid to have the initial surgery. Not only that, but when your doctor is wrong about a surgery I think he should reimburse you for it.. but I guess that's not going to happen. I pray that none of you guys have to go through what I have gone through because it's taking a toll on me.. I guess I just have to wait to see if I get approved for another loan to have this surgery as soon as possible and I will go from there.. Good luck to all! -Allie

The sleeve procedure scared me more than having RNY. For one I have horrible GERD, which is amplified when having sleeve surgery. The second reason was, RNY can be reversed if absolutely medically necessary, sleeve cannot. The third reason was, many, many ladies in my program were having revisions from sleeve to RNY. Their reasons were all the same; never got to goal weight, had too many issues with heartburn and many of their comorbidities were still present. I don't think there is a general pros. vs cons. for either surgery, it all comes down to personal goals and current health situations. I am three months post-op. Down 65 pounds, three pant sizes, 4 dress/blouse sizes, off all my heartburn, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes medicine. I am so very, very, very happy with my decision to have RNY.

Hi Dawn I'm also going to see Dr Hii. I'm getting a revision from failed band to mini bypass. I live around half an hour from you, would love to hear your experiences. Sent from my SM-G900I using the BariatricPal App Hello, good to hear from you.. you are not that far away. Mr Hii is a wonderful surgeon. I am again suffering GERD and I had a gastroscopy Monday, performed by Dr Adam Cichowitz in Wangaratta. I have another hiatus hernia and severe reflux esophagitis.. I see Dr Cichowitz on the 5th of r he next move for me. I am taking Nexium and it is not helping.. Dawn Oh no you poor thing hope they can get it sorted soon.Do you have much restriction? Sent from my SM-G900I using the BariatricPal App

Oh my...my prayers are with you!! Question for you...did you have any redness where your port is? Cough? Shortness of Breath? I was banded 3/10 and am currently in a work up for a revision to a sleeve. However, I have been short of breath and had a cough to two months now and just a few weeks ago I began getting nauseas everytime I ate and after not having restriction for over a year all the sudden had restriction. So, my surgeon ordered a CT and yesterday I had a EGD. EGD results were that I have an ulcer where the band is and one of the sutures used to hold the band down has punctured my stomach leaving a hole, he also mentioned that my band was placed too high (this is a different surgeon than who did my band) and that is why I have restriction all the sudden due to that and the ulcer. I grabbed the CT report even though he hasn't contacted me regarding it, it says that I have alveolitis or pneumonitis in my left lung. Today, I woke up and I have about 4 in diameter redness on my skin surrounding my port. I, like you am pretty much a single mom right now, my husband works in another state, so going to the ER is out of the question. Haha they have to figure out a plan before I can go anywhere. Anyway, I was just wondering if you had any of those symptoms??

I have been training for a 5k on 03/27/11. Now that I have scheduled my revision for 01/17/11... I am thinking this may not be a good idea? Will that be too soon after surgery? Realistically I would need to pick up back on my training at LEAST 6 weeks prior to the 5k... and that is just shy of a month out of surgery.

quick update..........i am in tijuana at the recovery house. i had my band to sleeve revision 3 days ago by dr almanza. everything went fine and everyone here has been great! i fly home tmrw, i cant wait to see my daughter! if anyone has any questions please ask. i was terrified to go to dr almanza because of the negative things i read from other posters, but financially it was the right decision for me. i am in the process of putting my video journal of my trip on you tube. the staff let me film every area of the clinic including the OR. so i will upload that as soon as i can after i get home.

man that didn't come out right lol my tablet is playing tricks with me, just wanted to know if there is anyone on this site that can give me some positive feedback on a sleeve to bypass revision

What are you eating on the new diet? I don't think your doctor would want to sabotage you, so that's probably not the issue at all. Doctors all do things differently. Are you getting protein first? Plenty of water? Could that time of the month be here or coming soon? It's frustrating I'm sure, but as long as you're following a good diet with protein first, lower carbs, and getting all your water in, it will work. It's my understanding that a revision patient doesn't lose as quickly too. Keep that in mind.

I am on the Atkins advantage shakes too. I am 8 days in to my liquid diet. I admit that I have revised it a bit to work for me. My nut suggests 4 slim fast per day but I find them very thick and only tolerable. The Atkins are a much thinner consistency and are very delicious. They have 5 fewer grams of protien but also have 20 fewer calories. Now, what I mean by revised diet is, instead of four shakes a day, I have 2 and then a 300 calories or less lean cuisine. I stick to the 800 calorie per day diet but I don't get those migraines or shakes that I normally get when my blood sugar gets too low. I'm not suggesting this for anyone else. It just works for me. I'm losing about .5 to 1 pound a day. Good enough for me and my liver too, I hope!

stcyt I'm almost 3 months out from my revision and my scars are very minimal. I had the lap band done one year ago, so I have double the scars. But they are all just little silver lines. Some of them are no bigger than my pinky nail. I'm 50 years old and I will probably wear a 2 piece swimming suit again!!! Good luck, and happy losing!

Hi Dawn I'm also going to see Dr Hii. I'm getting a revision from failed band to mini bypass. I live around half an hour from you, would love to hear your experiences. Sent from my SM-G900I using the BariatricPal App Hello, good to hear from you.. you are not that far away. Mr Hii is a wonderful surgeon. I am again suffering GERD and I had a gastroscopy Monday, performed by Dr Adam Cichowitz in Wangaratta. I have another hiatus hernia and severe reflux esophagitis.. I see Dr Cichowitz on the 5th of r he next move for me. I am taking Nexium and it is not helping.. Dawn Oh no you poor thing hope they can get it sorted soon.Do you have much restriction? Sent from my SM-G900I using the BariatricPal App Hello What do you mean by restriction? As in what sort of foods I can eat? regards Dawn Yes and how about portion size? Sent from my SM-G900I using the BariatricPal App I am pretty much unrestricted on foods except I do get dysphagia from bread, red meat and rice. v much much smaller than I used to eat. I find if I eat sweet things they do not agree, dumping syndrome has been an issue here.When are you for surgery? Is at at Royal Melbourne? Haven't got a date yet, public system so will only get a couple of weeks notice. Sent from my SM-G900I using the BariatricPal App

I had a breast reduction 5 years before my lap band, and I'm so glad I did. At least there is one part of my body that isn't sagging to the floor! LOL. they have gotten awfully flat, tho, so I am probably going to have implants and some revisions done later this year But I'm really glad I had the reduction done earlier.

I'm considering a revision to a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy or Duodenal Switch. I hate my Band with a passion. I've lived with it for almost seven years. Even with no fill, I can still PB. It's fine on fluoro, though. I've done the "one more try" at making my Band work probably ten times. I've seen all of the best Lap-Band experts. I'm done. For me, not being able to tolerate any solid food until 4 p.m. with a measly 1 cc in my Band is not a life I want. YMMV, though.

Hi. I will be going to Mexico on Oct 19th, with Dr. Aceves. Surgery will be on the 20th. I was banded in 2006. I will be having a revision surgery from band to sleeve. I will be getting a complete unfill this morning and going on liquids for 3 weeks preop. That's a little scary :biggrin:. My weight is 125 (up from lowest of 115). I hope to lose the 10 lbs and then maintain. I hope the sleeve will help with that.

Hey guys, I am thinking about having an endoscopic gastric bypass revision. Has anyone completed this? Wondering about weight loss and if there was any complications? Would you recommend for others? I want a revision but the down time for surgical is tricky, so hoping this could be a good options.

I was sleeved on April 29 and tomorrow will be 6 months. I am down 100lbs to a weight I have not seen in over 10 years. Its really been quite effortless so far but the last month things have slowed. I still make poor choices and I dont suspect that will ever change but quantity is tiny and I generally think I have retrained my brain as to how much food to eat for meals. Ive achieved these results with basically zero exercise. I am not proud of that and I do think in order to get to the goal weight I am going to have to be more active. For now the goal is 225 but I do expect I will revise that lower.

Ahh gotcha. I thought I revision on the sleeve surgery. Your story is very inspiring!! Thank you for sharing!! Good luck with everything!!

Debra, I'm in Melbourne, so I cant give you specifics for Brisbane. But in Melbourne, the waiting lists for public banding have been horrendous at times - like 8 years long at the Alfred back in 2005 when I got banded. Alos, many doctors wont touch self pay patients becuase they exhaust their finances with the operation and then have no money for fills and aftercare. My suggestion is this: If the waiting list is at least a year long in Brisbane, why not take out private health insurance, wait the year to qualify and you could be banded literally within weeks after that. If you can afford to pay for it bit by bit then you can afford the premiums. What will then happen is that just prior to your banding, you pay a one off fee of somewhere between $3,000 and $5000 and your aftercare and fills are bulkbilled forever after that as is any revision surgery you may need (though hopefully you wont). Really, its the best and cheapest way to go rather than paying well over $10,000 for your surgery and then having to pay for every visit thereafter.