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SHBP (United Health Care & Cigna) with HRA or HDHP both are paying for weight loss surgery effective 1/1/09. You must do several things prior to being approved. 6 Month physcian supervised diet. 6 month Counseling(Or support group in some cases). Must use an State Health approved Center of Excellence. Several people have been approved for surgery and have upcoming dates. Most of these are on ObesityHelp.com. You can read alot under State Forums - Georgia. Also there is alot of information under the revision board. I was all set to do the lapband, but after reading alot of post have just about changed my mind to RNY. What type of problems are you having? Did you just stop loosing weight? Good luck

Went to 5 month post op visit. TWL54 lbs. Have had one fill 5 cc in my allergan band...Dr had a hard time accessing port 2 months ago..5 sticks. Now for my second fill NP tried three times and then called surgeon..he attempted three times with no success. Have to go back Friday to try to have fill done in the OR with fluoroscopy if not successful they will go ahead with revision...hopefully just the port. Dr thinks to weight loss in abdominal area has caused port to shift. Tummy is very sore tonight where they physically tried to.manipulate port. No matter what happens Friday I am still happy to have started this journey!

I had a port revision and everything turned out fine.

Hi all, After two failed lab bands, I am scheduled to have the band removed and revised to a sleeve. Despite my best efforts, my surgeon insists that I have the band removed, allow 3 months 'rest' time for my stomach then have the sleeve procedure. Has anyone had the same experience and how did you manage/control your weight over that time? I'm terrified I will gain back majority, if not all of the 60lbs I've lost this far in that 3 months. Any story's or tips from fellow banders/ex banders/current sleevers would be appreciated! Cheers

I think all of us lap band "failures" (for lack of a better word) have the same fear. After we have the band removed will we gain back the weight and then some and be completely miserable? I loved my band until it gave me trouble. I suffer from terrible reflux, heartburn, waking up coughing, sick all the time. I have gained back most of my weight since I've had all my Fluid removed from it. I have tried to discipline myself by dieting and portion control to no avail. Today, I meet with the doctor to set up a date for removal and hernia repair. The question is, do I give it a go on my own or do I revise with a sleeve? I have read lots on this forum and the lap band forum. Everyone seems to have a strong opinion for and against the sleeve. Since I have to wait at least 6 months between having the band out and a revision, I have a lot of research and thinking to do. I will also be testing myself to see if I can go this weight loss thing with no help surgically. Very fearful since I have not been able to do this in the past

I'm only almost 4 weeks out from revision surgery but I would say that so far I'm losing weight faster that initially with the band. Total weight loss including pre-op I've lost a little over 30 pounds so far. I hope that the weight keeps coming off. The band was very difficult. So far I don't have the hunger like I did with the band.

I've read that after sleeve surgery you don't have to have much pain med. .....tarodol which isn't a narcotic is what most say they are given. Is it the same with a revision? I would think after removing the band and port plus any adhesions you would have quite a bit of pain for 3-4 days. Can anyone give me their experiences? Thank you

I had my band removed and revision in two separate surgeries. The band removal was a breeze. I think I took one dose of Percocet the night of surgery and that was it. The sleeve revision was not much worse and the surgeon said I had a bunch of adhesions. The original band surgery was by far the worst of the three but less of a recovery than my c-section. I'm pretty sure most revision patients will tell you that the sleeve is so much better than the band. You'll do great. Good luck!

I can't thank you all enough for your responses!! @asherje...I've had my band for 3 years and I can't wait to get it out. Great to know you are happy with the revision! Good luck on your journey!! @Sugamoma...I wish you the best on your surgery too. I will definitely be looking for you afterwards to see how you're doing. @Remedina...Congratulations on your surgery!! Glad to hear you had minimal issues. I pray I'm as lucky as you!! I am SO glad I stumbled upon this website. It is really easing my fears. Thank you all again.

Kat, how close to your goal weight were you when you tried for the revision?? My weight is what scares me right now. I'm afraid they may turn me down because I weigh like 165 now but surely they will take into account that I started out at 235 right?

I'm trying to get a revision. I got my band 3 years ago. I've lost all but 15 pounds so I'm barely overweight now. Do you think insurance will gripe about that?? My insurance has the easiest bariatric process ever so I'm hoping not. They do not require a six month diet or medical records: only a letter from the surgeon stating your current diagnoses and health problems. It only took them 4 days to approve my initial band.

Have you been totally unfilled or do u still have some Fluid? I was totally unfilled for about 2 mths previously to my revision (8 weeks out) and that relieved most of my band related food pain. While I still noticed that I had a band (couldn't eat copious amt of anything) I could eat more than before I had my unfill. I had many as "Last Supper" before my revision. Does everything give you pain? Or just tough foods? You may have to be on a soft food/liquids for the next 2 weeks (refried Beans, mashed potatoes, yogurt, soft fish, etc) until ur revision. If you're not unfilled totally, I'd do that 1st. Good luck to u. I was unbanded and sleeved at once, thank God. It took him an extra 30 mins to dig my band outa my stomach. Glad I was asleep and didn't have to watch!

I had the band for 2 years, went in for a revision on 9/11, woke up after a 5 hour surgery with no revision. The band had done to much damage. I spent 4 days in the hospital. Anyway, my doctor is going to do an endoscopy (probably sometime in Dec) to see if my stomach has healed and I could get the sleeve. I'm wondering if insurance will cover the sleeve as a 'delayed' revision, or if they will require me to do the 6 months of supervised visits? Anyone else have a similar story? What did insurance require?

Yes, I have never heard of that either. I do know that when that happens, they put some sort of band around the area to make the stomach smaller. I think, I'm not sure because how can they reattach something that's already there, when you think about it. Do you think that your stomach has stretched to allow you to eat more, if I may ask? Or do you think that it is just poor choices. My boss had gastric bypass about 6 years ago and is heavier now than when he had it. He certainly needs a revision! LOL. He eats 2 slices of pizza at a time, a bagel with sausage, egg and cheese as well as wraps, etc.. Don't know how he gets it all down. Maybe I'm missing something. LOL.

Congratulations! My mom had a revision done in September of last year - and she has said it was the best decision she ever made. Good luck!

Hello Converters, I asked the question of weather or not my band will still be full (as it is now) or will the fluid be taken out before having the band removed. I asked this question over the phone when I called the surgeons office about another matter. The assistant put me on hold and then came back and said "THEY SAID NO, THEY'LL JUST CUT IT OUT". She laughed and said "THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING". I thought it was a logical question but I felt dumb for asking. So is the real answer FILLED or UNFILLED? Has anyone been told weather your band would be filled or unfilled before surgery? I would love to know. Thanks!

I had a slip. Started out a small slip in 2012 so they tried to fix it with numerous unfills/fills/tweaks. Never fixed itself. After continuous vomiting even with an empty band, it becamse a big slip. in fact, it took my dr an extra 30 mins to dig my band outa my stomach. No, no problem with insurance approval (Medicare) since it was a band complication. I guess they understood that once my band was out (and it HAD to come out) I would gain it all back had I not received some type of wls to replace it. Tried for a year to fix it without a revision, gaining 30 lbs. Good luck to u!

I would like to hear from those of you who originally had Gastric Bypass surgery and then revised to the Gastric Sleeve. My bypass surgery was December 2005. I managed to lose about 80-90 lbs. (size 24/26W down to a size 10/12). Unfortunately...my success was short lived and I never reached my goal weight of 145 lbs. My recent endoscopy showed my bowels were twisted...esphogus was messed up and my pouch was made too large. Had a few issues with terminal gas..lol...acid reflux...digestion issues...etc. Was sleeved on 2/10...and so far so good. My surgeon specializes in revisions so im very confident that I will not only have better success this time...but I will also reach and/or pass my goal of 145. He went in and corrected all of the previous mistakes from my first surgery as well as ensuring my new stomach is nice and small. What has it been like for those of you who made the switch?

I'm a lapband to sleeve revision. I didn't really ask my doctor if it were more. I just assumed so based off of being a precert nurse with a large healthcare insurance company. The reason being is because the doctor will be billing for both the procedure codes(CPT code) for the removal of the band and the VSG. Hence two different charges. Maybe this is done differently with a self pay but not for insurance. These are done as two different approvals regardless if they are done on the same claim/authorization or not.

I wanted to update my post. I had revision surgery on August 19. My surgeon submitting papers to my insurance, Unicare, in July and they approved in just a couple days. My doctor stated band intolerance as the reason. He did seem a bit surprised though that they approved so quickly. Surgery as much harder than I expected. I am 8 days post-op now and starting to feel better. I was told that the band was encapsulated in the stomach and that they had to do a lot of heavy stitching in my upper stomach area. That is why I was having so much pain in that area post-op. I am sipping constantly and walking better. I still have to sleep on my back and don't see that changing anytime soon. I can't bend over yet and still need help around the house. I'm taking one day at a time, and looking forward to a full recovery. Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to everyone on a band to sleeve journey.

Hi there I was banded in August 2008 and lost 120lbs before getting pregnant in 2010. Since having my son in 2011 I have had any issues with acid reflux and not being able to get food down. I have had my bad filled/unfilled so many times and when it is empty no reflux issue but still food issues. Well finally a few weeks ago the surgeon has agreed to do the revision to sleeve if I want. The only thing that has be worried is he said my risk goes from less then 1% (never having WLS) to a 20% chance if leaking with a revision. Soy question for those that have gone through this have you had any issues with leakage? If so would you still do the surgery if you had to all over again? Thanks for taking the time to read and reply and best if luck to all of you.

I agree, make sure your surgeon has experience with revisions. When they are in there and start to remove the band they have to cut through the scar tissue to remove it and then they need to free up the part of your stomach to perform the sleeve. If they nick the stomach at all and expose gastric contents they will postpone the sleeve part at least for a couple of weeks to prevent an infection. It is a risk and it does depend on your scar tissue. Usually people do fine. It is a little tougher for the surgeon technique wise and well worth it! Good luck to you!

Welcome to VST! There are members here who have had both and I'm sure will chime in with the differences, but obviously they've revised to the sleeve, from the band, so for them I'd venture to guess there are more positives with the sleeve. I started my wls process looking and planning to get the band as well. I started reading the complication's forum on lapbandtalk.com and decided the band wasn't the best thing for my life. I won't talk about the negatives with the band or other wls (you can read the complication's forums on both lapbandtalk and obesityhelp.com) because I've never had it, but I will share with you how I thought the sleeve would be a good fit for me. -I still have a completely functioning stomach and can take pills; I'm only 30 and didn't want to restrict myself in case I needed specific medications later in life. -It's permanent; I do not ever want to gain the weight back (I realize that this is only a tool and I do have to make some permanent lifestyle changes). -I do not have to worry about extra supplementation due to malabsorption. -I do not have to worry about continuous follow-up care (fills and unfills). -At 7 months out, I now live a very normal, active life! Not saying that other procedures aren't as good. This procedure just matched my life best, and it has been one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

I'm right at 16 months out. 1) How fast are you able to eat now, in comparison to being newly sleeved (solid foods)? I can eat a full meal, meat, veggie, starch, a little bread in 20-30 minutes. I've figured out if I stretch my meal out over any longer period of time, I can fit more in. I've noticed this especially to be true in social settings, like lunch with my girlfriends, you know those "lunches" that turn into 2 hour gab fests. I can technically eat my meal, then wait 20ish minutes, drink a little something then let the grazing commence. Yeppers, I admit it, I don't follow the rules as closely anymore. 2) How much can you eat now, in comparison to being newly sleeved (solid foods)? I can eat double the amounts I could at 2-3 months out when it comes to solid foods. I was stuck at 1-2 ounces of meat at 2-3 months out. I can now eat 3-5 ounces of meat depending on the texture, how the meat is cooked, and how much food lube I use when eating. I developed a really bad habit of using condiments with my band. I haven't been able to kick that habit completely, but I do not "NEED" condiments for meat to go down, I just flippin' love A1 thick and hearty sauce LOL. 3) Just for reference, please tell me what size sleeve you have. 32Fr, and I lost additional tissue at the top of the stomach because of the band. 4) How dense of food are you able to eat? (ie, steak, chicken breast, etc) Chicken breast, sirloin steak are the dense foods that I can eat only about 3oz, but give me ribs, filet mignon or sea scallops, crab meat, I can get in 4-5oz easily. Scallops are my new love affair because I can fit 3-4 scallops in my sleeve if I eat nothing else. 5) Are you able to handle bread of any kind? Yeppers, and I eat bread, tortillas, bagel thins, crackers, pretzels, chips, big fluffy yeast rolls at steak houses work really well, I can eat about 1/2 of those big rolls, 1 crescent rolls with jelly, biscuits don't work that well, pizza crust (thin and crispy), olive garden breadsticks are "okay" a little too dense for my liking, 6) Is there anything at all that still gives you trouble to eat this far out? Stupid scrambled eggs, and pork chops both sit heavy in my sleeve. I'm not a fan of either of them so I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. 7) How is your energy level now? It truly does vary. If I eat carbs, I feel kind of blah, but bounce back quickly. If I Protein load, then I feel like a 4 year old on a 12 pack of Mountain Dew LOL. 8) How do your scars look now this far out (for those who were Lap)? I have a lot of scars(16 between the band, revision, leak repair, gallbladder surgery all in a matter of 16 months, plus the 2 different occasions of having multiple drains placed during my recovery), and I'm pastey white so my scars are still visible, but they are just pretty little pink polka dots now. 9) What is the one thing you enjoy most now since surgery? (Can be anything, not necessarily food related) Just living a normal life, food is literally an afterthought, I love going, going, going. I love shopping for new clothes, I enjoy getting attention for how I look now instead of how huge I was. 10) What is the one thing you regret most being this far out? (Again, anything goes) I literally have zero regrets. I'm asked privately quite often how I do not have buyer's remorse, or why I never really got depressed during my recovery. At the end of the day, every single struggle or hurdle I endured taught me something, I grew stronger, and simply saw every day as a new challenge. Some days brought huge victories, and some days brought huge challenges, but at 16 months, there is NO doubt in my mind, heart or spirit that I made the "right" decision. I reflect a lot over last summer's events, and wonder how the heck I made it, I don't know what my driving force was really other than a pure faith that if God had brought me to it, He'd bring me through it. I struggled for a solid 3.5 months post-op, it was not easy, but it was totally worth it. I can honestly say that I would do it all over again, complications and all, to be living the life I live today. Hope that helps chickee! ! !

@Barbwired Having reflux after the sleeve is a bit of a coin toss. Some get it. Some don't. Before being sleeved, I had a discussion with my doctor about reflux potential and they always gave me a non-commital answer with a cautionary warning. Ultimately, my doctor and I felt that my reflux was largely related to dietary practices, a general state of obesity, and a small hiatal hernia that I had. A friend of mine had really bad reflux with the lap band to the point she had Barrett's esophagus. Her surgeon actually recommended the sleeve and she's had NO ISSUES with reflux after it. Me, I started getting heartburn within a month of having the sleeve. I immediately started taking Nexium, which took care of the heartburn. Flash forward to about a year. I was waking up with a sore throat that I knew was reflux. It kept getting worse and while I have never woken up choking, I knew the reflux was a problem. I tried every home remedy and every reflux supplement I could find. I modified my eating and behavior to reduce reflux. I sleep on a wedge. When the reflux is at its worst, my wedge can be at about 45°. It's not sleeping "sitting up", but pretty darn close. I saw a gastroenterologist and told him that I wasn't interested in revision to bypass. He offered me a choice between Stretta and Linx. I was in the process of scheduling Stretta when COVID hit. Today, my reflux isn't really that bad. I'm not 100% sure why it's been better, but I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth. I sleep on my lower wedge and am comfortable with that. I do not eat after 7pm. If I do, I will generally go to bed later than usual or make sure I've had a whole glass of water before bed (flush out the sleeve). I take my Nexium religiously every morning and I take digestive enzymes with my evening meal (THAT seems to have made a BIG difference in my reflux). I have prescription Carafate, but haven't needed it for about 2 months. Best of luck.