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That sounds horrible, I had reflux for about 6-7 months non stop with the lap band I could barely take it anymore. I did not have reflux prior to the lapband. I am concerned about the reflux I have now and converting to the sleeve. Have you ever heard of the linx system? I talked to a surgeon about it already. It may prevent you from having to convert to bypass due to reflux. Awesome on reaching your goal. I have done all the tests you have done. I had a scope, gastric emptying, manometry, and today I did an upper GI. They do see I am refluxing on the upper GI. All other tests came back normal. I hope it just may be a hiatal hernia that is to small to see because there is currently no real explanation for it. Best of luck!

My Apologies, Didn't see the date on the side there, just that you were listed as a lap band, and you didn't state you were going in for revision. Good luck on everything! I hit 50 lbs lost today since my pre-surgical check in on March 2nd!

Welcome, Kimber! You'll find quite a few people who have had or are planning sleeve-to-RNY revision surgeries. Hopefully you'll click with some folks following your same path!

LAP-BAND,laparoscopic banding,bariatric surgery,obesity Tracy's FAQ LAP-BAND: Surgery Technique Weight-Loss Surgeries Compared You could also join his egroup and talk to lots of other patients. It's really a great group. Dr. Aceves is the VP of the Mexican Bariatric Assoc., and the Secretary of the International Bariatric Assoc. Both those positions are voted on by members so he is even respected by US docs. Things that you want to look for are issues such as... does your doc do surgery in a clinic or hospital? Mexico is not the same as the US, if you were to have a complication in a clinic and needed to be transported to a hospital it is not as easy as calling 911 and they are there in minutes. It's a whole different ballgame. I preferred to be in a fully equipped hospital with an ER, ICU, CCU, PICU, OR, etc. What kinds of procedures does the doc do? Does he ONLY do banding? Banding is the easiest of all procedures. I chose Aceves because he can do the tricky stuff, the bypass to band revisions, sleeve, etc. Many docs won't touch the hard stuff. How close do you want to be to the border? Some have a preference, some do not. I wanted to be close to the border. Just my personal opinion but I think the best two docs in Mexico from my research are Rumbaut and Aceves. They are who others refer to for the more complicated procedures. They both work out of a hospital, they don't do assembly line surgery, they both open the patient, place the band, and close the patient unlike other docs who have the asst. surgeon do most of the work. They are both well respected in the Mexican medical community, they both train US docs in banding, they are both safe surgeons. When people talk about how many bands someone has done, keep in mind that many times the docs strive to do 10 procedures a day. They have the Asst. Surgeon do most of the work, they spend about 15 minutes in OR with the patient, the asst. does everything else. Personally, I wouldn't want to be the 10th OR patient in the day. Rumbaut and Aceves limit their surgeries to 4-5 daily because they are doing the entire procedure. Lots of things to think about and consider when going to Mexico. It can be a very safe experience, but research is essential.

Dave, Tricare won't cover VSG outside a MTF. Honestly, I was faced with the same dilemma, and as luck would have it, the MTF near us had 2 surgeons that had performed enough VSGs for my standards, and one of them had removed bands, and converted to RNY so I jumped through the hoops to have my revision at the MTF even though I see a civilian for everything else, and my band surgeon was a civilian with Tricare Prime. Tricare will not cover the sleeve outside a MTF until Medicare starts fully covering the sleeve. They did the same thing with bands. They will not overturn a denial, they will not do anything to cover the sleeve outside a MTF. I've been through it myself, and I've walked 4 friends through the process from Florida, DC, and Cali. I was hellbent on getting the sleeve, and I would have self-paid with Dr. Aceves in Mexicali or Dr. Nicholson in Dallas if Tricare would have not approved my revision. If I would not have been able to have VSG and self pay was an absolute no go, I would have had my band removed and stayed fat. I wouldn't get RNY if you paid me, and I refused to have another band placed even though both of those options were immediately approved without hesitation by Tricare. I'm sorry to be the bearer of more bad news. BUT, it's been "hinted" that Medicare "might" start covering VSG around 1/1/2011, we "heard" the same thing in 2009, but I have hope that Medicare will get on the ball, and Tricare will follow suit. If there is an MTF near you, check them out. I'll help you in any possible way I can with the Tricare situation. I'm an insurance agent as well, and umm pretty much know how to work the system. Keep all your paperwork from your current appointments, keep getting your PCP to weigh you, keep doing everything you have been doing. Do not settle for a surgery you are not 100% about.

I have to admit, this is a situation I would have enjoyed. I would have taken great pleasure in giving her a bit of attitude (okay, a LOT of attitude) and a bit of education. I would have gotten right back in her face and explained how it all works and I would have explained that I did not want the path she clearly has chosen. I would never dream of being insulted by her behavior, I would have enjoyed the pleasure of watching her back down. ;o) But, that's me. Again, I wouldn't have thought twice about telling her the price. Plant the seed, you know? All of us have issues to work through, including nurses. The only people that have ever been that way to me are obese people who have had WLS and are not overly successful with it. THOSE people are brutal. When I was so sick with a band and needed a revision before I was so ill I would no longer be a good surgical risk I had a few that insisted that if I didn't have the band removed, gain all my weight back and THEN have a revision then that meant I was anorexic. It was weird, 100% of the time the only people who were on my tail about getting a revision without waiting to regain everything back were WLS failures, people who were not able to do it with surgery. Those that were doing well or at goal they were 100% supportive. I have a hunch that nurse was going through her own stuff. I'm not sure I'd write a letter to the hospital, but I would contact her and let her know how she made you feel and take it from there. See what her response is. THEN go to the hospital if you are still not happy. We all have our demons, that's why we needed surgery.

I had the sleeve done 4 years ago. Lost 115 pounds. Gained about 20 pounds over the last year. I ended up with severe GERD, hiatal hernia and gallstones that cause severe pain. 9/6 I had the surgeries to fix all that which includes the bypass. It's been an interesting month. The healing process is different. Food going down too fast will definitely be coming back up (vomiting). Anything not chewed will be coming back up. Premier protein is smooth enough to stay down. Soups like French onion, chicken noodle (minute the noodles) veggie soup. Salmon. 2 good Yogurt and high protein high fiber oatmeal. Stays down for me. It's a big adjustment. I know that this is just a phase that we go through. I can eat boiled eggs now too. Eat slowly-chew slowly-swallow slowly. Drink 60 ounces of water. Follow the doctors orders. You'll loose weight I've seen people successfully keep the weight off with both. They stick to the high protein/low carb and don't eat anything they did before ( that made them obese....like breads, maccoroni, rice, flour, sugar, fried foods). How are you all managing constipation? That's been interesting. Take care and give yourselves room to adjust. Things will get better. We make the best of the tool ( bypass) and it will work for us. Everything will workout for the greater good. We deserve healthy and happy lives and we embrace them daily.

I sent you a private message. Tomorrow is actually my revision surgery. From sleeve to bypass for Gerd.

@Latanya oh okay yes I gained back most but not all. I hear we have to chew a lot and it can get stuck. Hmmm. How much have you lost since your bypass?

Me! I only lost about 30 lbs with sleeve and gained half of it back due to maladaptive eating to avoid the symptoms of severe GERD. I just had revision to bypass on the 18th and am down 20 lbs from the start of my liquid diet 10 days prior to surgery. My doc said he expects me to lose about 60-65% of my excess weight, so a little less than I’d bypass was my first surgery.

Yours is 3 months? Mine is six and the three other people I know are a year. Varies so much! When I try again I was advised by a bypass friend to try it at home to see how you "get". I wanted a sip of wine at a wedding a few weeks ago but I'm too newly sleeved. I toasted the bride and groom with a micro sip of champagne and that was a BAD idea, those bubbles hurt!

im not even shocked to be honest im more of an even keeled type of individual but inside im hurting its almost as if i knew i was going to be rejected somehow nothing ever seems to be easy for me /end rant anyway what kind of documentation do you think i should provide i was thinking about doing a scare tactic hiring a lawyer for an hour or two to draft me up something that i can send and my doctor is also sending something on my behalf stating that they will be responsible for making the medical decision. i just have to wait 2 weeks b4 i hear back from the doctor on that letter. they said that i cant be over bmi 50 or id die on the surgery table heres the funny thing they approve gastric bypass which is more fatal than this surgery.

I can completely relate to you my best friend in the whole wide wide wide world trys to compete with me lol god bless her I love her to death so I refrain from telling her anything thank god my bf told me to take the high road he thinks my complaints about her are very highschoolish lol after I thought about it I laughed because even then she's tried competing with me copying me I like a bag she trys to get it first but little does she know I got it last month lol she went to a seminar for gastric bypass I went with her but she chickened out she said she'll wait a few yrs to get it since she's on her moms insurance till she's 26 so she's not focused on weight loss surgery mind you that's when I myself was continuously getting denied for my lap band (changed my mind to sleeve) so finally I tell her oh im getting the sleeve she tells me oh that's a little too drastic your doing too much completely unsupportive I didn't care so Oct 17 2011 I got my surgery now she's suddenly happy && proud of me oh && also she made a appointment to see her dr nov 15 to talk to her about getting the sleeve its so annoying to me like none of my other friends ever try to have this silent competition with me ugh im getting mad now thinking about it haha but what are you gonna do right atleast im inspiring her to get healthy one way or thee other sorry for the long post but this topic really hit home to me don't feel bad about your decisions that's so beneficial to aid you to a long healthy life<3

I desperately wanted the sleeve... I have absolutely no intention of having this reversed... I want this to be permanent... But, it really came down to a numbers game for me: -- The mortality rate for the sleeve is 1/200... In the band it's 1/2000. -- 1% of the people who get the sleeve have a leak, and if they do, they're in AGONY in and out of the hospital for possibly 5-6 months at a time -- My doctor said that 1/3 of the people who get bypass or sleeve gain it back with no other option afterwards than to get the band (i.e. carny wilson). But if you have the band and start to gain, you can get filled... IMHO, the sleeve is a fabulous option when it works. But the risk that it could turn out to be a total disaster is way way way too high for me... I have a family that loves me and a 4 year old daughter. I don't have the right to gamble with something that could take me out...

Welcome Caaattt! There's even a forum here about people who have had revision from the lap band so I'm sure you'll get a lot of useful information. Hope you get your May date!

Nosilla I feel for you. I used to be completely against the RNY, I am a bander after all. But then I thought, how does that sound, I'm willing to get a foreign object put in me and am knocking people for being bypassed? I thought, that sounds like a bit hypocritical. So, if you feel the need for a bypass by all means, think about it. It does have complications and they are pretty severe, but so does this dang band. Although the complications with the band will nickel and dime you, unlike the RNY where the complications are big. You've been thru so much. I understand the pain of never ever wanting to be morbidly obese again. After all, I'm still obese, but because of this if something goes wrong with my band, you better believe I'm not going to snub my nose at the gastric bypass. My life has improved drastically with weight loss and I can't imagine being without some type of tool. Peace to you.

Hi Coco, My issue with the aftercare isnt with the doctor or surgeon, its the cost of the hospital. Just becase the surgeon will do the fills ... and do the port revision surgery as part of the aftercare doesnt impact that the hospital has charges from the or, anesthesia, etc. So, thats where the money comes in. the Surgeons fees are cheap compared to that. allison

Wow...I logged back in to this platform as my journey continued and forgot this thread was here. I can’t believe I’ve been in this band nightmare for over 12 years!!! In 2007 I finally got the port removed. My doctor very nonchalantly said “it tested positive for MRSA infection”. I had NO idea the implications. He handed me a card for an Infectious Disease doctor and told me to go across the street to their office. Again, NO idea what was ahead. Suddenly I had a nightmare of a PICC line (took 2 excruciating days to insert) for Vancomycin and a wound vac system. I had both of these for weeks, my home was a virtual hospital. I even took that show to work a few times. Crazy. That was over 10 years ago. In those 10 years I had just the band. I’d never been able to get it removed because it wasn’t presenting obvious negative effects and my insurance wouldn’t cover it. After a decade I finally started the path to revision to a sleeve. I had the band removed on 10/26. It was very complicated. My outpatient procedure turned into 6 days in the hospital. The band had eroded into my stomach (common) but also had RAVAGED my small intestines. The new surgeon said he had never seen anything like it. He had to get the band out of several spots in the intestines and do a lot of repair work. While recovering, about 24 hrs after surgery, things went south. BP low, breathing shallow, heart rate up, fever...ugh. Many tests later and we determined that my chronic Diverticulitis had flared up and was causing the additional pain and infection. It was a very long 6 days, and the fevers kept coming. After being released and on a better coarse of oral antibiotics, things are finally better. It’s been 3 weeks and I am almost not in pain. It was a miracle I didn’t have a blockage, or major infections with that band. I now think my bowel perforations and infections may be related to the band. I had no idea and I guess the band was never visible in the CT scans. Anyway... I wanted to finish my 12 year saga. I’m almost second guessing the sleeve surgery. I feel like I am 4/4 with bad surgery issues...but the reality is that a lot of things (if not all) were caused by that awful band. I may have the surgery, but it will be after the New Year. That bums me out because it will very VERY expensive with out of pocket costs...but realistically I need more time to heal...and I am unable to miss a wedding on Dec 29th. Not sure anyone will read this...but that’s where I am. Xx

Skhopp, so sorry this has happened to you. It is my greatest fear. I had given serious consideration to the bypass, but decided against it for so many personal reasons. Do you think the bypass will help you? I mean it is also a tool in some way, because you have to eat a certain way just like with the band. Both procedures require a life style change to make them work properly, so I guess I am wondering if you can do that with the bypass? Take care.:grouphug:

Did they try to steer people more toward Bypass? I went to three different seminars and found that my surgeon tended to steer people more to Lab Band whereas the first one leaned more toward Bypass. The third one had different types of surgeons so they were more "middle-of-the-road". Being to three seminars I was able to be more open minded to both types of surgery. It really is a personal choice. If someone has no control over food or no prior experience or sucess with losing weight and a high BMI then bypass may be the better choice. Lap Band is less invasive and adjustable but it takes a little more work to control what, when and how you eat.

I assume you mean through your military benefits, and not civilian? If so, Tricare started covering the sleeve effective 2010. I'm not sure what their current requirements are for surgery or for revision, but I know that in 2010 my father had to have his lap-band removed and wanted a revision to a sleeve but it was denied. I'm pretty sure they do require a 6 month supervised diet. There are some MTFs that perform the surgery but I have no idea which. Try searching "tricare" here and you will find some good information. HTH

Hi big shell, Welcome to this site. My first suggestion would be to visit a bariatric surgeon and discuss your choices with him/her. Your surgeon will let you know which route they feel will work best for you but the decision is yours. They will also talk to you about which option will be best if your are hoping for a pregnancy. With the band I know they ask you to wait about 12-18 months, when you become pregnant they open the band up fully, you eat normally but healthy!! then after the baby is born, when you are healed and ready, they will start again slowly with fills to get you back on track. I had 100lbs to lose and after visiting a few seminars in my area I chose my surgeon. During my initial consultation we discussed the options. I decided on the lap band because I was afraid of the permanent alteration to my body. I have had good success so far, a friend of mine went the gastric bypass route and while her weight has come off faster, my food tolerence and side effects have been better. Either way is a big step, but it's the first step in changing your life dramatically for the better!! I always remeber my band is only a tool in helping me lose weight, it's not a magic bullet. I get out of it what I put into it. By thinking this way I am never disapointed and don't get discouraged. My surgery was easy, recovery was fast and I was back to a normal life in a shorter time then if I had bypass. Every one is different and healing, pain etc will vary but I have been happy with my lap band choice. good luck and let me know how you are doing. G'Ma

I'm not sure which forum this thread lives in but you will probably need to go into both Sleevers and Bypass forums to get both sides of the story. People tend to have intense feelings about why they chose what they chose. Sometimes, one procedure is recommended over another based on goals and co-morbids. Make your appointment and talk, talk, talk to you surgeon and team. There is sooooo much information here on these boards but you need to come to a decision WITH your surgeon. I chose the sleeve for several reasons. Some studies suggest lower weight loss with the sleeve but many are extremely successful losing 100+!pounds. I am a nurse and the sleeve just made sense to me. I also have a strong family history of digestive cancers so I didn't want a "blind pouch" sitting there that can't be scoped later if needed. I also felt the re-routing of the intestines had a higher risk of complications. But, the bypass is the older "gold standard". My surgeon didn't push me either way. But if I had been a bad diabetic, I don't think he would have agreed to the sleeve. Best of luck. I'm very excited to get this show on the road!

I have been reading other people's blogs and am happy for every single one of you who have posted pictures of you rafting, hiking or cycling yourselves to a new you. I'm also incredibly jealous because that will never be me. The spirit is more than willing, but the body just isn't able. For sure I'm going to be able to do more things than I have been able in years but my success will be more moderate: I will be able to walk to the store two days in a row. I will be able to walk two days in a row. :biggrin: What I find frustrating is the people at the clinic don't seem to get it. I appear to be a misfit among the misfits of society. I keep being assured that my life will change so much, which I don't doubt, but I wonder if they have any clue of what my life is like? Will the band magically let me hold a pencil long enough to write a letter? Will I be able to play my violin or harp again? The psych lady I met yesterday was all impressed how I seemed to know my body much better than the average person and that learning the rules of the band would be a breeze for me. The truth is that for years, one small lapse in thought and I've popped something in my mouth that will lead to hours of gut wrenching pain or my eyes swelling shut. Push myself too hard and I'm bedridden for days. She seemed really nice and wanting to help while we chatted for our 35 minute hour, but she specialises in anorexia, bulemia and overeating... I wonder if she knows much about people who've grown old before their time. Then again, it was the first session... I'm hoping that a few more sessions will get us all on the same page. I'm really looking forward to working with the chiropractor they have on staff. Ontario's major failing in health care is that if it can't find something specifically wrong, it won't fix it or expend the energy to see what can be done for you. When one of the foremost rhumatologists in Toronto tells you "wow, your life must suck, but there's nothing I can do about it" you tend to lose heart. I've not been able to afford private physiotherapy, massage therapy or the chiropractic care I probably could use, so I've gone without. I didn't want to risk getting addicted to a therapy I couldn't do long term. How dumb is that? So apparently for the next year or so I'm being offered unlimited access to this guy. After me, they may want to revise that policy. Usually I'm not so much of a whiner... I promise I'll be more upbeat next time. In the meantime, keep posting the canoeing pictures. Even though I can't do it myself, that doesn't mean I don't like seeing others have fun.:sad:

Feel better soon! If you don’t, see a reputable Bariatric surgeon. I went to a different surgeon referred by my gastro and so happy I did. The doc that placed the band kept telling me the band was fine. It obviously wasn’t. I have restriction now with the bypass. Very seldom hungry but have to eat to get my 60g protein a day.... and no more night coughs, GERD, fills or unfills. I hated that! I hope you feel better soon and wish you the best!