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Anytime that I see someone contemplating a revision, I would advise getting a second (and even third) opinion, both from the perspective that revisions are typically more complicated than a virgin surgery, and also the reasons for the revisions are more varied, and this is where the perspectives of different surgeons with different experiences is most valuable. Strictures and twists like you are describing are an indicator of technique problems (which isn't to say that there is something particularly quirky with your individual anatomy that would have caused problems with any surgeon, just that they are frequently associated) so it is quite possible that another surgeon who is more experienced specifically with the sleeve and sleeve related surgeries may have some other ideas of how to tackle your problem. There are some surgeons out there who routinely perform some very complex revisions (such as converting a problematic RNY to a DS) and this is the type of doc that you would like to consult with, as they would be best able to straighten out your sleeve (and if they concur that an RNY is the best approach for your particular problem, that provides a lot of confidence in deciding to go that route.) I tend to like DS surgeons for sleeve problems as they typically have a lot more experience with the sleeve and correcting sleeve problems (as the sleeve is a part of the DS, most of them have been doing sleeves for over twenty years, while most bariatric surgeons have been doing them part time for 5-10 years, and some less. https://www.dsfacts.com/duodenal-switch-surgeons.php gives a very incomplete listing of DS surgeons, and unfortunately, there aren't any very close to you - NY/NJ/PA area is the closest, but probably worth the effort; most can do initial consults over phone and email. Dr. Roslin in NYC and Dr. Greenbaum in NJ both have good reputations in the DS world for complex revisions. As a side note, the mini bypass isn't often done in the States as US insurance rarely approves it, and it has never been accepted by the ASMBS.

do you have that allowed for the new surgery!!!!! Right now my insurance will not pay for it. My husband has gotten a new job and we will be getting new insurance. Advise needed for picking a company please.

I have Anthem Keycare and getting approved for the revision was relatively painless. I met with the surgeon, the dietician and the psychologist. The only outside thing I needed was a letter of support from my PCP. It took 12 hours to get an approval once everything was submitted.

Anthem bc/bs approved within 2 wks for a revision

Many folks that select VSG either don’t reach goal, do not get resolution of diabetes long term, or develop GERD and end up revising to gastric bypass. I recommend RNY so you don’t have to have a second WLS down the road. Good luck!

That's great news BJean, there's a lot of happy post bandsters here. I also think its prudent to keep up with what's what in WLS. Bands probably ARENT forever, even when they work as well as mine have. It might be me seeking revision one day and there's no better way to be informed than following the long term journey of people who have experienced it.

I too had called his office and was told the same. I called our GI doctor and couldn't get in for an appt until the middle of Oct (that didn't include scheduling for the test). So, my other choice was Dr. Kim. I saw him last week and absolutely feel very comfortable with him and glad that I am going that route. He is in Colleyville and is also highly commendable for revisions, etc. We talked at length about my band and the long stall in weight loss. I am scheduled for a revision on Sept 27th....with a full liquid diet one month prior. That will be the hard part, but well worth it in the end! Good luck on your choice!!!

Had my revision done on Monday and I feel great! I had all your fears as well. My doctor found a small hiatal hernia and sewed it up but said my band did little damage, though I only had it in for 16 months. It was so much easier than I thought, no worse than the band surgery. I am off pain meds, walking a lot, and just still blown up with so much gas which I can't pass that I gained weight. You will be fine and look back in a few months so happy with your decision. The band never gave me anything but issues.

I am so scared from the pain , scared that the sleeve will not work for me because its a revision from Band to sleeve & I heard that version sleevers do better. Honestly I am fearing out ((

Starting my pre-op tomorrow & getting my revision on Tuesday. A little nervous but my Dr. seems confident everything will go OK.

omeprozole is prilosec 100% incorrect. You are MORE likely to get GERD or reflux with the sleeve because the pyloric valve creates a closed, high pressure system. I was forced to revise to RNY from the sleeve because I developed severe reflux after surgery. If I had reflux prior to surgery I would choose RNY over VSG every day. I just wanted to take the opportunity to correct the misconception Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Just wander through the site, there's a whole bunch on band to sleeve revisions. As in all things, some have difficulties, some none, and most somewhere in-between...

I had my RNY in 2002 and lost 220 pounds...2006 was a stressful year because I got married, moved 1000 miles away from family at my husband's request...I started eating sweets again which is like a drug to me...by 2009 I had only gained back about 40 so I wasn't too worried about it...then my dad got sick and almost died and that threw me into a deep depression as we'll as denial about my slow weight regain...over the next 8 years I ended up weighing 388 (not my highest) and decided to look into a revision...the surgeon I am seeing is the third opinion I've gotten...he supposed to be one of the best revisionists in the country...I am more determined to make this revision work then I was for the original surgery...back then I was in denial that I could gain it back...I'm also active in therapy where my eating is a topic. I've also done a lot of research about the DS and am aware of the high complication rate but since there is not much on success with a distal revision I was aiming toward that...so I was looking here for possible successes to help me decide to stay with this surgeon or travel far distances to hopefully find one that will do the DS on me. Oh and I'm now down to 360 bmi 59.9 because I've completed one of three consecutive months in my supervised diet...a pre-op requirement. Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

One individual in our Bariatric Support Group meetings had a lap band to RNY revision. His band was wearing into his stomach and had to be removed. When they did the RNY because of the scaring he had to have a smaller pouch. It meant that he had to eat smaller meals than most but he was fine with that. He was very pleased with the revision.

@@Dream4tc insurance companies sometimes make things difficult when one would think our health would be the priority. I am another revisionist (lol). Even though I was in the usual pain post-op I had a relief from having that band removed that I can't describe. It was like a weight removed from my intestines even though the band was empty for a while. I ended up staying in revision surgery longer because of multiple adhesions. Regardless of what I have been through with the RNY, it is worth it no regrets. I had the lap band in 2012 lost about 30 pounds and suffered with vomiting and pain up until my revision late last year. Congrats on your upcoming revision.

I have been miserable with this band since day one .I had it in 2004...lost 35 pounds and now right back to where I started.....Up until this week I have been trying to talk myself into the sleeve but after My upper GI today...the radiologist showed me my reflux on real time and that it!! I want a revision to the RNY...no more hesitating....I want the "Gold Standard".No more quick fixes...I can't afford ulcreration or sleeve leakage and I need to lose about 125 pounds...Bypass please.

I was lucky enough for my insurance company to allow them to do the revision at the same time as the band removal. I originally had surgery in August 2012 to have a lapband put in. I had complications beginning almost on the one-year anniversary once I had the “right” amount of Fluid in the band to make it actually do something. I had my lapband removed on May 27, 2016 and had a revision to gastric bypass at the same time. It was, quite frankly, miserable but now that I’m three months out, it’s the best thing I could have done. I couldn’t live with the pain, reflux and inability to eat anything with band in and because of the slipping, I had the fluid out more than I had it in. After MANY long talks with my doctor and his PA, we decided that a revision to bypass was the best bet. My recovery sucked. The surgery was longer and more complicated than they originally thought it would be because there was so much scar tissue from the band. But, they had already decided that they wanted to do the removal and revision in one surgery, so they did whatever they needed to get it done. I had two drains when I came out of it and the larger drain I had for 17 days. The smaller on, the “JP drain” came out before I went home. Generally speaking, that bigger drain isn’t part of a normal bypass but is more common when they do the removal/revision in one step. I was in pain, nauseous, and uncomfortable until it came out. I was in the hospital for about 5 days. Since it was a holiday weekend, I wasn’t in any big rush to get out in case I had any problems. I was nauseous on Sunday when they talked about letting me go home, so they had me stay. They then decided to order “home health care” to change my dressings for me since my insurance would cover a few visits, but no one was available until Wednesday, so they had me stay until Tuesday. I was pretty stir crazy by then but it was nice to have them there to take care of me but shaving my legs in the hospital was a pain! I had to fight with them on Monday to let me take a shower even though I wasn’t going home. I needed it. I came home and took the rest of the week off. My mom came by almost every day to help me make food—not that I was eating much—and to keep me company. I needed more help because of the drain. It was painful and hard to put on any clothing including a bra because of where it was. It’s called a “G tube” which basically was a drain from the part of my stomach that would no longer have food going to it and it needed to be “trained” that it wasn’t going to be used anymore. It was not pleasant but it was “capped” so not draining into anything before I left so at least I could tape it up to my stomach to keep it out of the way and from pulling or banging into things. Jonathan took me to my first follow up on the first Monday in June and then I was cleared to drive and go back to work. The following week, the drain finally came out. It was a long 17 days. The drain removal was no fun either! They just kind of yanked it out and it hurt for a good 24-hours! It took about 3 weeks for the hole to completely close, but I got pretty good at the gauze changes. They didn’t stitch it or anything, they said the skin would grow back together and it did. It was about the size of a dime at first. Now it is a small scar to match the others from the surgeries. The tape was awful. I found that if I used the sensitive skin kind, which was about $8 a roll at Walgreens, it was better. I was so happy when the hole was finally closed so I could stop taping up my stomach and start wearing a regular bra! So, I’d had a lot of tape on me because of the tube and because of the drain hole. It took a few days to get the residue off! I had to travel on June 24 for our annual meeting. It was exactly four weeks from my surgery. I was going to be gone a week and I was a little nervous about getting through it. I still wasn’t cleared to lift anything and I was still getting tired pretty easily. But, by then I was already 20+ pounds lighter since the surgery so I felt good and actually built up my stamina as I was there. I managed to get food poisoning on my last day in Philadelphia, so that was no fun. But, after a few days, felt better. Three months out now and I’m down over 50 pounds from surgery day and almost 80 from when I started the lapband journey. I will tell you, even though I was miserable immediately afterwards and asked myself everyday what the heck I did to myself, three months out, I’m so glad I did it. I’m basically eating normal foods, albeit nothing too high in fat or sugar, and I’ve not really done too much salad yet but have added back most vegetables. I’m careful with fruit because a lot is high in sugar. The first few weeks after the surgery with the various stages of liquid diet was really hard and I probably started to add things like cottage cheese in too fast, but I needed to chew! I have a few friends who have done the surgery and we’ve created our own little support group so it’s nice. We come to the same events as well so it’s nice to know other people in the room understand how we eat!

I have gerd and have had it for years. When I went to my consultabout one month ago my surgeon said," about 1/3 of sleeve patients will get gerd after", also he,advised RNY because of my gerd. He,went on,to,say,that," what he is,seeibg more and more,3 to 4 years out of sleeve surgery patients are havibg horrible gerd and,are getting a revision to RNY". Sent from my SM-N920P using the BariatricPal App

I'm also worried about the same things. Going through the revision next week myself

I received my band in 2009 and after struggling with constant indigestion and losing weight and gaining weight, I will get a revision on Thursday March 26! Insurance won't pay so that leaves it up to us, to pay out of pocket. I am on my liquid diet and struggling but trying to stick with it. Here's to another new beginning.

I have a similar story. Banded in 2010...can't find my green zone...ugh. I've had a gazillion fills and now it's hard to feel restriction. I've bobbled between 30 lbs. I'm sick of this. I've had some back and knee issues (herniated discs and joint pain related to weight) which makes exercise painful. I exercise...have pain...feel frustrated...Anyways....just decided a revision to sleeve will be a good option for me. I'm just starting the whole process over. I start all my pre appointments in January when my new insurance starts. Please keep me posted on how you guys are doing. Best of success and here's to a fabulous 2015!!!!

Thanks for the reply! I have been reading the forums since the days before my lap band procedure in 2008. I knew I had to get the band out when my stomach obstructed last year after a fill and I couldn't keep down Water. What do you see as the benefits of a revision? Is the VSG more predictable than the band? I don't know what I can eat on a day to day basis because the band is so fickle. In what ways was the surgery more painful?

I have a decision to make that I hope some of you can help me with...I had RNY in 2002...I'm looking to get a revision...the surgeon I have seen will only revise me to a distal RNY...I am more interested in the DS...should I trust him or look for another surgeon...this type of revision is only done by a handful of surgeons in the USA due to it's complexity Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

For both (vsg and revision), I was down for no more than a day or two. I slept the first day I got home, up on the 2nd day at the computer but took a nap, but by 3rd, I was good for desk work, general household chores.I can't do codeine but regular Tylenol handled any incision pain. There is a lot of general fatigue though in the first month or so. I was allowed coffee from the beginning and that helped my fatigue a lot. I don't think you will have any problem getting two weeks approved.

I've lost much more than expected, but it has not been fast weight loss. A couple pounds a month for the past 6 months (more in the beginning months after surgery). My surgeon was very please with my overall weight loss when I saw him at 8 months post-op. The revision has been very, very different from sleeve surgery. I'm hoping that the slower weight loss will result in long term success.