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My Surgery date is 11-27-2012 and I start my liquid diet tomorrow. Has anyone else had a revision done and what difference can I expect? I am a little nervous.

Hi everyone, I haven't spoken to my doctor about this yet because I want to have as much information as possible before bringing it up with him. HISTORY: I had a standard lapband implanted in March 2011. At the start of the band process I was 315 lbs and on surgery day I was 276 lbs. I am 6'0" and currently weigh 255 lbs (BMI=34). My lowest weight was 236 lbs a little over a year ago before adopting a baby and buying a business. I got back up to 265 lbs because of the stress of those events (now back into a regular routine of eating the right foods and exercising regularly) plus my doctor removed a lot of the saline from my band because he said I have esophageal dysmotility and an inflamed esophagus due to reflux but I never feel acid indigestion. I just feel inflammation of the esophagus and often feel a lump in my throat. I have been taking nexium or omeprazole 20mg twice a day and the inflammation is a little bit better and the lump gone. My port site is frequently sore like I pulled a muscle and protrudes so much it is visible if I wear a tight shirt and you know what to look for. I recently had an endoscopy and was told that the lapband is fine. There is no slippage, erosion, ulcer or other problem with the band. The doctor took biopsies of the esophagus because of the inflammation. I see the GI doctor on Friday for the biopsy results which I predict will only be caused by acid reflux. The lapband doctor recently (after the endoscopy) added .5 cc to the band (now at 3.5 cc total) because I was able to eat WAY too much without getting full. I can now regularly eat a 12oz prime rib, veggies, salad, some bread and dessert (which is less than before the fill). I also have many days (now and before the fill) when I can't eat 2-3 bites of moist meat without throwing up. A lot of times I throw up (sometimes with the right foods, other times with fiberous foods, bread, Peanut Butter etc) but am still hungry. My doctor is very reluctant to add more Fluid to the band because he thinks it will further aggravate the esophageal dysmotility and inflammation. Although I hate the problems of not being able to eat certain foods that clog the band and make me vomit, I could live with it if I can get more restriction. If I can't get more restriction, I will not lose any more weight and fear I will regain even more weight. I am doing the initial research to determine if the gastric sleeve would be a good choice for me. QUESTIONS: Can I get a sleeve with the esophageal dysmotility and inflammation? Can I qualify for the sleeve (self-pay) with a BMI under 35? My insurance will cover medically necessary band removal, but not weight loss surgery. Any suggestions for getting at least some insurance coverage? Is the feeling of fullness with a sleeve really different than the feeling of the band pouch being full? Can I go back to eating some of the foods (in small quantities) that I can't eat all now without clogging the band? Any suggestions for surgeons in Raleigh, NC in case I decide to switch surgeons? Anything else I need to know? Any other thoughts? ​Thank you all very much. Tom

Band to Sleeve Revision- One or Two Procedures? I was curious what your surgeon choose for you and how your weight loss has been so far??

How do you like Dr. Powell? I went to him for my first fill and after almost 20 minutes of him poking and prodding me, he told me my port was flipped and I would have to have another surgery to fix it. I was devistated!! After almost 2 weeks of waiting for the insurance to approve the "port revision" surgery I got a call from one of the girls in the Beverly Hills office who told me that Dr. Tashjian was confident that he would be able to do my fill. I made the appt with Dr. T thinking "What do I have to lose". Dr. T found my port on the first try!! No numbing needed even!!

They covered my revision back 1 1/2 year as ago, but we are under the "new" medicare. I am not sure what, or if, they would cover your needed procedure. My surgeon said they would not cover my appointments because I was not at 35 bmi, which they did last year. So, my answer is, check with the surgeon's insurance and medicare specialist. That's my only answer. Sorry!!Karen

I too had a port revision and I was told to treat it as original surgery, as far as exercise goes. What was explained to me, is it takes the 6wks for enough scar tissue to form around stitching to help hold it in place. I must say though, it was much easier than the original surgery.

I applied for medcaid today . It seems like i should be approved based on what I have read ? BUT who knows. Does anyone know what the medicaid guildlines are in Texas for revisions ? thanks Mindy

I have a date August 14th how long before your revision? I am ready excited and nervous at the same time. Happy, safe 4th Holiday

How frustrating! I hope you are able to get this all resolved so you can move on to a healthier life. FYI, I have lost faster with the sleeve then I did with the band. According to my NUT, I am "doing good" even by virgin sleever standards so I don't believe that revisions always mean slower losses!

I am a long-time member of LBT, although I have read these forums for quite some time. Just thought I would share my story as I go about a likely band to sleeve revision. I was banded in Nov 2009 at 374 lbs. I had a long road to restriction, but once I got it, I rocked my band. To be perfectly honest, I probably kept it a bit too tight, but I LOVED the lack of hunger when my band was on the tighter side. For the first time in my life, I did not think about food 24/7. It was awesome! I followed the rules to a "T", and the weight slipped off. From my banding until Dec 2011 (2 years), I lost 190 lbs. I was thrilled! Despite the occasional PB and inability to eat certain foods, I was still 99.9% happy with my band. Right after Christmas this year, however, I got a terrible upper respiratory infection. I coughed and coughed and coughed. I coughed until I puked. The cough lingered and turned into terrible reflux. After about two weeks of the coughing and reflux, I went to my primary care physician, because even drinking the tiniest bit of Fluid caused me severe back pain. Long story short, I was diagnosed with a slip. While "they" claim it wasn't the coughing, I have no doubt that the severity of my cough caused it to slip. I got a complete unfill in early January. After not eating or drinking for weeks, I'd lost 200 lbs total. I was looking awesome! But the unfill was heavenly - I could eat! And eat I did, unfortunately. Once the slip was fixed, I started getting fills again. By late May, I was back up to 8 cc in my 14 cc band. I had good restriction, but I needed a bit more. I went in for one more small fill, and when I walked out, I had ZERO restriction. I went back later that week, and my surgeon was only able to remove 4 cc of the nearly 9 cc that should have been in there. He put the 4 back in along with 5 more. I walked out with ZERO restriction once again. Despite his claims that "bands can't and don't leak", a little googling proved that bands leak quite often, so I found a new surgeon to discuss my options with. I've gained back more weight than I care to admit. I finally met with the new surgeon yesterday. I had an Upper GI to confirm if I just have a leak or another slip. If, fingers crossed, there's not another slip, I will have the band out and revise to sleeve in one surgery on 8/31. If not, I'll have to do two surgeries. I was self-pay the first time and I will be this time as well, so my fingers are triply crossed that there is not another slip, because I'm not sure two surgeries are in our budget. I am fairly confident there is not, based on the immediate lack of restriction after that fateful fill, the fact that I have NO slip symptoms like I did last time, and because the Upper GI surgeon did not see evidence of a slip, although my surgeon will make the final determination. He is supposed to call me today with my results. I was the biggest fan of the band until six months ago. I had such tremendous success, but I am not willing to go through this again. A slip and a leak, and all of this making my waistline grow and my wallet shrink. I just want something more permanent and reliable. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I'll update when I hear from my surgeon. A

I wanted to get some of y'alls opinions.. I need a revsion due to complications. I saw Dr Kim on Friday and I am honestly not sure what to think ? I liked him . however was not fond of the insurance coordinator . I live in Austin and went with Dr Kim because I heard he's one of the better revision surgeons around. However I left there feeling like my head was spinning and no answers. . They did an upper gi and the lady asked me how in the world I was eating ? I told her not very well .My band has so much damage, scar tissue that liquids barely go through my band .. Doc told me there are ppl with band issues and then there is me ! Mine are bad basically . He told me to come back next week for and egd, they stick a tube down my throat to see if my band d has erroded through my stomach , he suspected it has . Sounds all bad huh ? the problem i had is no one is in a hurry to get it fixed ! The insurance lady is an idiot ! She was basically telling me my insurance most likely won't pay for anything when I know they very well may .. she really made me mad . She had never dealt with my insurance yet was telling me like she knew she didnt even know that PCIP was not through an employer I guess cause its not what I wanted to hear .. anyway I had a sleep study done Friday night to see if I have sleep apnea . So hopefully will know more in the next dayor so ?? he also told me if i dont revise to a sleeve because of my PCOS that with in 2 months of band removal i will gain back the rest of my weight and will contiune to regain about 30% more weight . HE also said due to the PCOS with out a sleeve i will get diebetes with in 5 yrs ! LOVELY ! All in all i was discouraged, Mainly because the insurance lady didntknow what she was talking about and it pissed me off. I just am not sure what to think ??was this y'alls experience ? thanks Mindy

I'm in a bind myself. I have United healthcare, and had no problem getting my surgery paid for in 9/07 since I was morbidly obese. On 11/5/09, I just had a revision surgery to remove/replace my LAP-BAND® VG to a LAP-BAND® APL... Doc said I was all set. I called and they didn't say I wasn't covered. Today, I just rec'd a letter from UHC saying my surgery is NOT covered. WTF???? :thumbup: I am very upset.. I HAD to have the surgery. It was NOT optional. Their reason was that I was NO lONGER morbidly obese, and therefore was not able to get the surgery! Not too mention, without the surgery, my stomach had prolapsed up over my band, and 1 night I coudn't even swallow my own spit.... Will keep you posted. Brenda

I am scheduled to have lapband revision surgery with a hiatal hernia repair on November 11. I was banded in February 2010 and have lost almost 80 lbs. Have not tolerated fills since December 2010 and the doctor diagnosed me with chronic slip. I am wondering if anyone else has had the revision and how the surgery differed for the first time around. Did you miss more of work than you did originally?

I don't have experience with this, but in my research I have come across many self pay banded patients who end up having to self pay for band removal. You might get your insurance company to cover it, but I feel the odds are stacked against you. Have you contacted them to ask if there are certian medical situations in which they would pay to have your band removed? Another thing is if they didn't cover your band, I doubt they would cover a revision. Why did you end up being self pay for the band?

It completely depends on your insurance company and the policy you have with them. Some won't pay for sleeves under any circumstances. Some will pay for them for a revision, but not for a virgin sleeve. Some will pay no matter your BMI -- you only have to show you were compliant with the program and your WLS failed for reasons not under your control (like a band slipping or eroding). Others want you to re-qualify for the surgery (i.e., have a high enough BMI). If you self-payed before because WLS wasn't covered under your insurance and you have the same insurance, they absolutely won't pay to remove the band and won't pay for the new WLS. If you now have insurance that covers WLS, then they should pay for band removal, but they may or may not pay for a revision to a new surgery depending on what their criteria is for revisions. A lot of time, you can find their clinical policies on their web sites and then you can read the criteria for yourself.

My revision took about 3 hours.

I have been doing amazing but at my last fill we noticed that part of my Realize port has come unhooked. We could have gotten around it but since my insurance is taking care of everything they just want to get it over. I go in Tuesday for it to be fixed but I do have some questions: Downtime, any ideas if it will be just like the banding? The nurse mentioned it would be a lot more painful than when I was banded? Will I need an unfill(I asked the nurse and she didn't know) Exersise, will I have to wait again? Any tips? Thanks!

Hi, Tiffykins is the resident expert on revisions, as she has a compelling story and fantastic success. I am newer on my journey - 6 weeks out and have lost 20 pounds. I just shattered through my lowest lap-band weight as of today and I am thrilled about it. I, personally, was not expecting to lose much weight with the sleeve because I am a low BMI patient and had been very disappointed with the band. I was just happy to have the band out and I wanted a safety net to keep me from regaining a lot of weight. But, the sleeve has completely exceeded my expectations. The restriction is very consistent. There is no more discomfort from the port internally or externally (of course my port area is still healing from the removal and I can't put a lot of pressure on it rgiht now). I eat chicken - which I couldn't do with the band. I eat 1/4 of a piece of wheat toast, which i could never do with the band. The difference is wonderful and immediate. I am so sorry to hear about your lap-band problems. Take some comfort in knowing you are not alone in this experience. There are a lot of us out there that didn't see lasting results with the band. The sleeve has been a great option for the people here on the board. Good luck in your decision-- Lara

I had my band placed 09/2008 and had initial weight loss, but then wammo!! had a slip, an unfill, regained all I had lost +10 more, started having re-fills and have never lost any more weight or ever found the "sweet spot"! I currently do have Fluid in my band and now am too tight! This was my "last ditch" effort attempt with this band, i.e. trying yet another fill. I can't seem to eat solid foods! Maybe every 2-3 days, I can tolerate a few bits of chicken breast...maybe, if my band can keep it down that is! Anyway, I'm done! I have had a miserable 3 yrs with this band! I think the only thing it has caused me, other than severe aggravation, is a very poor diet! Only crap foods seem to go down without pain! I can't eat veggies or fruits and most meats! It has just not worked for me....AT ALL! Anyway, My surgeon says it is time to revise. She initially said to RNY, but I speak with her again on the 28th of this month and she is now performing VSG, so I will be discussing this with her. I am still just not comfortable with the whole re-arranging your bowel! I don't know why I'm soooo afraid of this, but I am. I also am just as afraid of staying 100-110 pounds overweight for the rest of my life too I might add! I also have some feelings of failing with WLS and scarred feelings of "what if another WLS fails".... probably all the normal fears everyone has going through a revision. I wish I knew the right answers and automatically knew the right surgery for me. I'm so afraid of picking the wrong surgery out of fear and then it not working! I know my ins. is soon changing to include a "once in a lifetime" WLS per person... so this revision is probably my last ins. covered surgery chance! My hubby, God bless him, said to me last night... "is this surgery new? and considered expiremental? and you might not lose the weight??" And I don't know how to answer that! I am currently 246 pounds at 5'6" tall. I am turning 40 yrs old this summer. Can I lose my weight with VSG? My bariatric program director had RNY and refers to it as the "gold standard", actually so does my PCP. Are they right? Is VSG too new and not tested/proven? I did lose iniitally with my band, until it slipped, but band life is not something I could ever tolerate for the rest of my life. The whole stoma thing just is a miserable way to go! I really just wanted some help with my portions and I wanted the ability to be able to decide on my food choices! I never expected to have such a limited diet with the band! I know there are going to be times, i.e. birthday parties or "special occasions", where I might eat something sweet. That's life. I just wanted that "choice". I also know I need to make a lifestyle change and have recently started attending some therapy groups with other women trying to lose weight and make better food choices. I feel like I have in place things to help enpower me on this weight loss journey! I just now have to chose what "tool" surgically to utilize.... and it is a tough, tough decision. I don't want another failure! It's my biggest fear! Please any insight / advice would be sooooo appreciated!

Stacey - I too am a LB failure in the process of looking at a revision and scared of another WLS failure. Thank you for the thread and for everyone's replies! I copy/pasted Tiffy's standard replyas backup in case my insurance denies me! May we all be successful with the sleeve!

Hello, I was banded in 2003 and had a revision last week to the sleeve. I am 9 days post op now and starting to feel a little better. I did not have any band troubles BUT was unable to keep the 60 lbs I lost off and it all came back. My regret is that I waited 8 years with the band and because I did that there was extra scar tissue and it made my surgery more difficult.

Glad you are feeling better and have had this problem taken care of. How Lucky you are to have a bariatric surgeon that will take you on even though he did not do the revision. You will get through this and all will be well. Khy

Hi everyone, This is only the 2nd time I have posted on this website. The last time was about a year ago when my LapBand doctor first mentioned a revision to the sleeve. I have been trying my best to keep my band for the last two years and now I think I just want it out. I have read several of your posts and can relate to many of them. I have been banded a little over 2 years. In those 2 years, I have had 11 fills and 11 unfills ( 2 complete unfills ). My doctor says he has adjusted me more than all his band patients combined in those 2 years. I can't find that "sweet spot" I am either too loose and can eat a horse ( and gain weight ) or I am too tight and get terrible acid reflux that keeps me upright in a chair at night choking on my acid. I can only eat slider foods and even puke them up on a regular basis. Everything seems to affect my band and how tight it is. ie. my TOM, my stress level, how hydrated I am, the humidity in the air, the list goes on and on. I can never tell what to expect from day to day. One thing that is consistant - I can never eat until about noon. There are a few days when I can eat just fine and then the next day I'm puking up everything. I can also relate to everyone's fears and frustrations at getting a second surgery. Initially, I really wanted the sleeve. However, my insurance would only cover the band or RNY. The sleeve was considered experimental. I chose the band because I didn't want my insides rerouted. It scared me too much. The sleeve also scares me a bit because they are cutting out so much of your stomach and you can't get it back. The band sounded safe because it was reversable. Never mind they don't really tell you about all the damage it can do to your insides while it is in there. I believed the band was for me and now I'm sick of dealing with it. I have been fairly successful with the band. I lost 93# but then put 20# back on when I started having all the problems. However, the weight loss hasn't been healthy in my opinion. I loose weight when I'm too tight because I can't eat anything and I gain when I'm too loose because I can and do eat. I'm also sick of the pain that comes along with the band. That awful feeling of being stuck that, for me, can last for 4-6 hours before it finally passes or I thow up. Ouch! I have now learned to puke on demand. Isn't that a feat to be proud of! I feel like the band has made me unhealthy because I only eat food that is bad for me and I can't tolerate anything like Protein or fruits and veggies. I live on junk and protein supplements. My doctor again suggested a revision to the sleeve. He is writing a letter to my insurance to see if they will cover it. Another concern I have is the fact that we may loose or change insurance at my job. What the heck will I do if I loose my insurance coverage with all the adjustments I need. I would like to get the sleeve an skip all the hassle and upkeep with the band. I am about 25# from my goal weight and would like to loose this and then maintain. Do you think the sleeve is right for me? My questions to those of you who have traded your bands for the sleeve are: Are there any foods you can't tolerate with the sleeve? Did you have acid reflux with the band? Do you have it with the sleeve? Did you have any complications during your sleeve surgery? Can you swollow pills now? Do you still get "stuck" on food? What is the best thing you can say about your sleeve? What is the worst thing you have experienced with your sleeve? Would you do it again? Sorry if this is long. Any questions you can answer will definately help me on my decision if I get approved by insurance. Shelli

As a revisionist, Dr Aceves said that I had so much scar tissue from my band that he added 5 days to each food stage. So, I had an additional 5 days (so 15 days I think??) on each phase. I know of another gal that was revised just after me and it was the same for her.. So, I think he just started doing this. I guess each doc is different. I was so terrified of injuring my staple line that (even though it was tough) I was 100% compliant. Best wishes to you!!! Erika

I had my band to sleeve revision on Sept 7, so I'm currently on Day 12. I am really concerned about the post op diet phase. I was given 2different set of instructions for my post op. One set was given to me pre-op and one set was given post-op. There are significant differences between the two, and it makes me wonder if different instructions should be followed for a revision. Thoughts?