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I am having my revision surgery done in Mexico by Dr. Alberto Aceves. He did my friend's sleeve surgery and had nothing but wonderful things to say about him and the hospital that he works out of. I also have another friend who has gotten to know him quite well and I really trust her judgment. He really has one of the best and most experience with band to sleeve revision surgeries.

My revision from sleeve to gastric bypass was May 23, 2019. I am still having to battle my addiction to sugar. It’s a tool and sometimes were able to cheat but I have to learn how to stop emotionally eating and kick the sugar out the door.

No plication - I got the sleeve. I decided against the plication because it was too new. Finding this forum was a big help in making my decision. For a long time I thought I had no options - all I knew was that my band had to go and I was terrified of gaining weight after it was gone. Lots of research and finding Dr. Aceves convinced me that VSG was the way to go. He has the most experience with lap-band to sleeve revisions. I wanted to make sure I went to someone who would know how to deal with my possible complications. Of course, your mileage may vary... :-)

Well, I wanna talk about SO Much!I wish I won't forget one thing!, The reason I am writing this long post is I feel like I wanna give back to this awesome community. I have been learning so much fromthis forums, people will just come and post something and it makes me feel likewow, that just happened to me! Thank Godness I am not alone! What a relief..you know that feeling? So here is what been going on.. umight or might not relate.. But just remember everyone is different and I amnot a saint by any means! *PLEASE NOTICE MY ENGLISH IS MYSECOND LANGUAGE! So forgive any grammatical/phrasing mistakes. I have been sleeved on April16/2011. I am a band to sleeve revision. I wont talk about my band anymore Ihave already discussed it before a lot on the sleeve to band revision section. I wont bore u with my hospital stay! And what went there but all I can say my doctor and his team has been gentle and SOSWEET! SO lets see what u might expect onur 30 days Journey! EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL, GOOD AND BAD! Day 1: The good: you are done! You had thesurgery! You are alive! The bad: If u are just like me, I wasstanding strong by my decision, not having buyer remorse not even questioning what have I done to myself… but u might! So don’t freak out! .. but the truebad things that happened to me, was the stomach spasms, that felt I wanna throwup although am NOT nauseous or near that. I had a tube entering my nose passing through my throat to my stomach, connected to a bag full of blue Fluid. I was informed later that it was just to keep sure there are noo leaks. Thank god mydoctor came at night and had it removed. Day 2: I was allowed to sip and itdidn’t feel anything more than something heavy in my stomach. The good: finally u are drinking * I was NPOthe first night. The bad: GAS PAIN in my right shoulder that made me scream, cry and wanna die! Pain meds are also not that good.. they make u dizzy and not in a good way. Day 3: WOW U ARE FINALLY HOME!That’s the only good thing! My comfort zone, my bed.. That I couldn’t feel comfortable on! I still can't sleep on my sides. The bad: u are just confused, should I drinkthat? Will it makes me sick? , after a sip of any clear fluid u will startquestioning if u just had caused a leak?! Will my life be terrible forever!?Then u come on the board to let ppl know u are fine, and u just want to nap!But actually u are not in the mood to talk u just want to lurk and see if thereis anyone have had ur crazy symptoms! Day 4: ALL BAD FOR ME! I was finewith Soups then baamm.. I smelled one sea food Soup and I went sick all day! NOFOOD NO Water NO ANYTHING! My parents were worried I looked so pale and was nearly dehydrated. Also I had my period one week before my surgery and I wokeup on day 4 with blood in my panty.. I was like WHAT THE HELL! Am I leaking!?!I called my surgeon and he confirmed that hormones are just playing up .. Hetold me ur bodyjust went into a tornado few days ago.. let it settle on its own. Don’t worrytoo much. It was too late and I just decidedI need something other than CLEAR damned soup and drinks so I went to creamsoup! ( felt so better afterwards but felt damn guilty and the fear of leak juststarted harassing me) I came back on board that day, announcing I amhaving the worse time of my life. I received amazing personal conversations.One of them (without mentioning names, in case they wont like it, just let meknow that going on cream soups and even MUSHIES on the 4th day istotally okay for some surgeons and that I shouldn’t do it but its okay! It wasso comforting, so I continued having cream soups since then. The one thingbeside water that wasn’t making me sick anymore. DAY 5: The bad: DON’T WEIGHT URSELF!! I gained 9 pounds! WHAT THE HELL?! Yeah you have heard it before onOH and here, fluids and IV gives u extra illusional pounds on the scale rightafter the surgery and they will go away BUT when they happen to u!! IT ISFORBIDEN! And NO it is just u and urfat luck! U are always stay FAT! .. ppl will swear to u that u will pee themand No u will not believe them. Although u will just thank them. DAY 6: The bad: Starting regrettingur descisio, ..was it really worth it?! Am I such a spoil human being who cant take control over her life?! Did I do a big mistake losing my band (In revision cases) .. Iwill never lose weight in my life.. Is the rest of my stomach will ever forgiveme? The good: I woke up so late atnight feeling like I CANT hold my pee!! Wondering Did they reduce the capacityof that place too? I kept visiting the restroom for several hours that nightand peed my life away. DAY 7: I AM DOWN ALL WHAT I HAVE GAINED in my first week POST OP DAY 8: I AM DOWN 2 MORE POUNDS I kept losing 1 to 2 pounds fromday 8 to day 13. It was the first time in my lifeto weight 99.8 !! KILOS! I have always weighted more than 100! The rest of the second week, you will just go crazy with this liquid diet. I relied on my good friend (GNCWhey protein) It tasted so good. I blended it with some yogurt and milk. Creamsoup weren’t appealing anymore to me. My second visit to the surgeon was in fewdays and I know he will ask me to do one more week of liquids and I was intending a murder on that day! I was going to fight for me food! Day 15 : the day before mydoctor's visit I started not losing weight .. I have heard about stalls but Inever excepted it to happen to me! Why you! Why it is always you and some smallpercentage of other ppl? .. well truly I didn’t think so, cause I was startingto love my new me, the one who is not suffering while drinking water, the onewho can take a pill normally.. and the one who is gonna eat a hershy kiss thatnight!! YES ! I had it in my mouth and I kept chewing the hell out of it. It isokay you are not an angel, but still don’t do it!! Day 16: My doctor was awesome! He gaveme the okay to start soft food. He wasn’t against solid either but he told mewhy would u make urself suffer that soon?.. just try practicing eating. Irolled my eyes thinking .. I have been practicing that with my band for a whole7 yrs .. no problemJ My guidelines were simple.. EATWHATEVER U WANT! Nothing is off limits! U are on a long experiment with foodnow. The one thing that he stressed on is WATER! FLUIDS.. DRINK DRINK! The good: U will eat! The bad: there is no place for allthe things u want! My first food ever was Sashimi and sushi.. I removed the rice after the scary things I have heard about rice onboards.. I didn’t have a bite or two.. I had many small tiny bites.. chewed thehell of them, and they are so mellow already. My first meal lasted 12 mins and then I said to myself that’s it! Lets ot push it. I had 2 pieces after all thechewing from the whole 8 piece roll.. without the rice and without the seaweed. Day 17 till day 20 I had the samething over and over again, shushi, water, GNC in the morning and sometimessushi with it too.. My order stayed in the fridge for 3 days that I had tothrow it away! Day 21: my 3rd visit! NOpounds lost! No energy, but lots of love to life! My doctor advice was to stayaway from the scale! He knows me since the band, I weight morning and evening. He told me that the weight will come off slowly cause am not the same heavier person. He advised me to start having more physical activities so my energywill come back. Also I was suffering from continuous black outs when I stand upor get up too fast, he told me to start squeezing my legs muscles before it andafter I stand up and it is really working. The good: I am no longer scaredfrom leaks.. Definitely healed from that obsession. The bad: I had my first ice cream!And It isn’t my favorite anymore! I started feeling dizzy, nauseous, sweatingcold sweat, then having hot flashes, then running to the restroom for diarrhea.I had this before, It sounds like dumping syndrome but I am also hypoglycemic since my band! But it was definitely the worst episode I had of my life! Day 22: I am down 3 POUNDS!! Lookslike the ice cream is working! It broke my stall! Lol can you believe that?! I was ecstatic that day nothing bad can ruin that day EXCEPT if I chose to have more ice cream and suffer.. butI didn’tJ I had eggs with cheese in the morning followed by my Vitamins then Asnack of GNC shake, then a piece of lindit chocolate, then Sushi, then a snackof nuts! And I thought wow that is too much! Day 23: I am down half a pound! WOW eating more definitely help ALTHOUGH I am actually not eating more, I am havingmore verities and quality food. It is just in very small quantities! I startedwalking so much more since the start of this week The bad: I am not my usual self, Iam still tired after a walk in the mall which is not me. My back hurts! It neverhurt that much since I was over 300 pounds! I now knew from my doc that this is the weight coming off and shifting in my body! I Am late! NO PERIOD andreally unhappy about it! The good: I am not hungry.. mylife is not about planning my next meal! It is about feeding my body when ittruly needs it! And stopping when it had enough! Day 24: MY FIRST laughable dinningout! The good: THANK GOD FOR BOXES! No vomiting, no scenes, no food stuck in urthroat that u cant have a nice social talk with ppl with u (Band problems) The bad: I was a regular at thisrestaurants and they kept apologizing if the food wasn’t good cause it wasbarely touched! I kept assuring them that I had intensive surgeries and I just don’ttolerate food that much now. Day 25: My first visit to my beloved gym.. It was all chatting with ppl there cause they really missed me! Aww!. The bad: I couldn’t walk more than25 mins on the treadmill. It wasn’t anything more than I was just tired! And reallydisgusted that am walking not running. And really walking at a very slow-pace. The few remaining days, I had noproblems except that I over ate once, I didn’t puke or anything I just kept feeling nauseous for a while then it passed. I gave sugar another try, which was cake and it was confirmed no more of these stuff. May be later? I have a dark piece of chocolateeveryday! And It is my heaven. I am not concerned about CARBS! AsI don’t have a real place for them and I am not freaking out about the grams ofcarbs in everything I eat, life is going good now, why should I restrict myself now when I can do it later when it is really needed. DAY 30! -I bought my first SKINNY jeans ever! And man did they look good on me! -I had my first Mexican food! And the refried Beans really give me the goto a real restroom visit! (EW sorry) I noticed the EPMANADA went down fine, butall I had was half of it and the other half at dinner when I went home. -I am down 18 pounds! That leaves me away from wonder land by 17 pounds! - I am a happier person! I cant describe it but U gotta be sleeved to feelit. I am mentally thinking that everyone should be sleeved now lol cause it isa very good way of living -I started writing this LONG post on that day! Day 31: The bad: still no period, still low energy but not the same levels as before, I wasn’t tired driving to some friends but I was tired sitting for too long there chatting. The good: I finally finished thatpost which I seem to forget a lot of things I wanna talk about it here no matter how long it seems! Lol My advice: -Don’t stress about ur weight, Don’t stress about ur weight!! IT WILL Happen! No possible way it wont! . .-Don’t freak about ur food, try DIFFERENT things! Sticking to the same pattern isn’t good for u emotionally or evenweight loss wise, when I stick to the same menu on a week I didn’t lose. - Have a one day of fun each week, shock ur body with a new ingredient. - FATS! Are important in urdiet! And there are plenty of good source of fat. - CARBS are made to be eaten not freaking about, chose urcarbs wisely and see how ur body reacts, ur brain will love it! Andif it is a slider for u, try another source of carb. Refried beans are good! Remember?There are some other stuff like it just search it with ur body. - Water is the only thing that can stop u from losing weight! DRINK! The more u drink the more fresh u will be. - Live like a normal person! When u are a month out stop freaking outabout the little things.. u are living to try not to be the same old patterned person. Sometimes as my doctor told me u will forget u are sleeved. Sometimes Ido! ( not talking quantity wise) I mean leading life. - Have faith and push urself to new limits, Walk faster the next time u hit the road. Congrats on your sleeve! And for anyone considering it, I strongly advice you start posting and asking as many question as u want! See you in a another window;) my awesome new family!

Thank you to everyone for your input. Based on my conversation with the insurance company, it sounds like they will cover a revision of some sort using my previous BMI. The sleeve sounds almost too good to be true. i'd love to be eat real food and veggies - just in small quantities. I'm just curious about how much weight people have lost after switching from the band to the sleeve. At the most, I only need to loose another 30lbs. The other question is, did any of the surgeons expess concern over how much of the stomach is removed. My surgeon made a comment recently that he wasn't fond of the surgery because it wasn't reversable and you don't know what the long term complications are. Thanks again - Mary

i did not have a revision. Just the sleeve. I am 6 weeks post op. Here are my stats so far on what i have lost. of course some are faster, Some are slower.

So I’m about 3 months post op from my last surgery- D-Switch and have only lost 20lbs and even that was lost during pre-op diet. The STRUGGLE is real. Anyone else?

My understanding is the DS is a very high risk SX. And if this doesn't work you have no other options. With the band you can pretty much do any of the other WLS Sleeve you can go to MGB, RNY, DS, SIPS RNY you could do the band over BP or you can even to a revision to the MGB, DS or SIPS... But i'm not 100%

Hi all,I'm 4 weeks out of a band to bypass revision and am consuming 2 low carb and sugar 25g protein shakes and water a day...plus 1 low carb puree but have only lost 9 lb....i lost 5lb on the lrd so its a stone in total.9lb in 4 weeks is so disheartening...i haven't lost anything at all this week ...

That's pretty much how I was too. I hated my Lap Band. I just had revision surgery this month I couldn't wait to get that thing out!! I went from Lap Band to Gastric Sleeve. Might want to look into it. I was so tired of vomiting everyday!!

I had the band in 2008. Went from 310 to 175. After six years severe complications began. Feb 2016 needed emergency removal and switch to gastric bypass. Six weeks later i could not drink liquids. Er called it stricture. From 11/2016 had ten ballon endoscopies , a stent which broke lose causing three surgeries, two surgeries for total small bowel obstructions . In the six months since removal of band my weight went from 175 to 235 my weight one year post revision is 157. Rough ride but what in life comes easy I switched hospitals to columbia presbyterian in NYC to finally get it fixed It was worth the rough journey but risk of adhesions is always present

I'm going through the same thing. The dr wants to revise my sleeve to a bypass but cut the top part of my stomach out where the fistula is. I'm also not to have anything by mouth and have a feeding tube. How long was it before your fistula closed?

Hey there, I think I replied over on OH as well. My leak "hole" was the diameter of a nickel. I had a similar experience, but I only had my band for 8 months before I revised to VSG. I had surgery on June 3rd, the leak was found during my third leak test on June 5th. Rushed to surgery to repair the leak, my lungs would not cooperate and I landed in critical condition/icu for 4 days. I was in the hospital a total of 9 days, and came home with a TPN bag, and a central line in my arm. I never had the feeding tube, so I can't say that I understand how you feel on that part. I still have no regrets for having this surgery. Being fat, and dying of heart disease or developing diabetes in my opinion is so much worse in the long run. I haven't had anything to eat or drink, not even ice chips since June 2nd, and I have 4 more days of the TPN bag. The chance for a leak triples with revision, and due to the complications I had with my band, I was not completely surprised that I ended up with a leak. Honestly, I wish everything would of gone smoothly, but at this point, all I can do is move forward and try to recover 100%. Even with all the complications, I would do it again to get the band out of my body and finally start living. I go back to the surgeon on Monday and hopefully will start the clear liquid stage. I'll be on the TPN bag of nutrient replacement for a couple more weeks because they have to wean me off of it. I won't lie, I truly believe that a positive attitude is the only thing that has helped me stay focused. My husband is deployed, my son is in Texas with my family, and I am here in Florida alone day in and day out. I only have 3 friends, and they all have family of their own to tend to, so it's been difficult this last week, but I've got to do this 1 day at a time. I can't worry about the next month, getting through today, and tomorrow are big milestones for me. I go back for another leak test, and I can only hope my appointment brings good news. Believe me, I know it's difficult. I've cried, and been upset, but I can honestly say that I'm not going to let these little speed bumps become roadblocks on my path to success. I'll keep you in my thoughts, and prayers, if you ever want to talk or chat, you can message me here. . . Tiff

My bmi is 27 and I'm revising to the sleeve after 3 1/2 yrs with th band cuz it slipped. I had the same questions: Why would I have WLS if my bmi is so close to normal? Because while I can probably eventually lose the last 30 lbs I have left, I KNOW I can't keep it off. Medicare will pay for the revision because I had complications. If you have complications from your band, I'm sure your insurance will cover it, but I don't think any insurance company out there will cover WLS with a bmi of 26. I'm waiting for the inflammation to go down before revising (so I can do it all at once) so I don't have a date yet (probably late June). I know exactly how you feel tho - have a bmi so close to normal but wanting it to stay there forever. I read somewhere that your body know when to stop losing weight and will stop before you become emaciated. I was afraid of looking like a bypass patient too. I want to be healthy - not rail thin. Good luck!

I'm 10lbs less then I ever was with the band....zero problems, and it was cheaper. SELF PAYERS should consider the sleeve FIRST, and then only consider options if the sleeve won't work for them. The band procedure, aftercare, and eventual repair costs are not a good deal for a selfpay person. The othe quality of life issues are a no brainer........GET A SLEEVE, before the band creates so much scar tissue or other problem, that you can't revise safely.

I think the focus should be on finding the procedure that is right for you and if you can't lose weight dieting anymore and then still fail at the lap band then it's probably not the right procedure. Everyone is different and so some dump some do not. Some stop having dumping syndrome some do not so it's a gamble, the lap band was a gamble for me and I lost. I've had both procedures done so feel like I know a little bit about it. If you go to obesityhelp.com you'll see people revise to and from every type of procedure. The OP wouldn't consider a revision if the lap band had been the right choice for her. It's not easy to revise and going from lap band to DS or RNY is a big deal so it would be nice to encourage her instead of telling her right off the bat that she will fail at that also, just saying, Nancy....

I had the band put in july 2007 and had similar weight loss results as you. I also had serious problems with food sticking and my esophagus became eroded with some ulcers. I went to my doc to have the band removed and he suggested the sleeve. Surgery experience was not bad. No real pain. Healed well. I am 5 weeks out and eating pretty much what I want but much, much less. Chicken was always a sticking food so I avoided it. I have begun to enjoy eating it again. I highly recommend doing the revision. The same MD that put in my band did my sleeve. I have BCBS Federal and it was covered.

I'm in the same boat. I developed motility issues after my VSG in 2014, on Monday I was given a revision to RNY to try to tackle the GERD issues before they continue on with further treatments. What I understand at this point is that they have to take baby steps trying to minimize the impact of these complications by medication (do you have spasms at all?), or by surgical means. I was told that there's no guarantee any of these procedures would actually work. You may just have to wait and see what they throw at you. Ultimately I was warned that sometimes we just have to end up going with TPN when other treatments fail. It's a wait and see game.

I happen to run across this on my surgeon's website and wanted to share. This is for people who have had weight regain after bypass. It appears that this is less invasive than another revision surgery, but can reduce the size of pouch and outlet. Hopefully, we all will have ZERO problems forever and be compliant, and never have to go this route, but... it can happen and we need to know what options are out there for help if it does. Read on There is also a great animation video on the right to see how it can fix this problem. http://apolloendo.com/procedures/outlet-pouch-reduction/

I have Highmark BCBS as well. I am a band to sleeve revision. No problem with them at all. Completed everything that the hospital wanted me to do prior to surgery. Paperwork was submitted and approval came a week later. So far, insurance has paid for everything, but I got a bill from my hospital for ten grand, stating that my insurance is refusing to pay for the lap band removal. I told them that is wrong, I have two approval letters, have talked with insurance multiple times prior to surgery and have read my policy coverage front to back and sideways. There's nothing in there stated that for a revision, they will only pay to have 85% of my stomach removed, but they won't pay for my leaking lap band to be removed. That's part of the revision surgery. My band was leaking, it is physically broken, we have the fluoroscopy results to prove it.The girl I talked to looked into it and said that the coding it correct but it looks like it was misworded on the hospital's end. So, waiting for billing management to look into it and hopefully get it corrected and resubmitted to Highmark BCBS. We are switching insurance companies in January to United Health Care and my company decided to drop bariatric surgery coverage.

Hi I have been having the same port pain that you describe. I have pinching and pain when I move or twist in a certain way. I was just wondering if your pain and pinching ever went away or did you require revision surgery? I have been having this for over 2 weeks now ever since I picked up a 35 pound dog. Well I hope to hear back from you soon. Thanks in advance. :eek:

Hi Lucymae, That's what I'm afraid of ... the discomfort in that area. I really feel sorry for you! I hope that in time it will get better. When were you banded? I spoke to my doctor's office assistant yesterday, and she told me that while he's happy that I'm really motivated to lose this weight, my plan to lose some weight first so he can reach my port will not work. She explained that the adipose tissue is too deep. My rationale is that if I can lose some of this abdominal fat, won't the port be easier to access? Since I don't understand fully, I am going to make an appointment to see him next week to get a better understanding. Anyhow, it appears that I will have no other alternative other than to have a revision surgery.

How are all the revisions doing with weight loss now that you can eat things you couldn't with the band? I am at a total standstill....I lost 15 imediately after the revision, but have gained it back and not losing anymore. Is anyone else experiencing this? Nancy

I'm 10 days post op and have already lost 20lbs since starting my preop diet...which was only one week preop. I had the band to sleeve revision and the sleeve seems to be wonderful so far. I never lost weight with the band, but I can immediately tell a difference or lack there of an appetite. You'll see this a lot, the sleeve is like having a band that actually works. I wish you the best of luck.

I saw a doctor on the internet in S. Louisiana that can do revisions to a gastric bypass. Basically, it was for the people that had gained weight back, and he would go in endoscopically and make their stomach smaller. I don't remember the clinic's name, but I do remember it was in LA. You might want to search it, and see if they can help. So sorry this has happened.