Search the Community

Sometimes you feel like your the only one that “didn’t do it right” because you see all these success stories online but there are many of us in this boat otherwise revisions wouldn’t be needed. My doctor told me not to expect too much but I’m going to work hard on this. Im determined. We got this

I see Dr. Aceves on June 23rd. Band to sleeve revision.

Hi All, I rarely come on the forums anymore. It seems that, once I got past the really tough times with my band to sleeve revision I just drifted away. Anyway, I realized that I will be 2 years post-revision in a couple of weeks and I should probably report in and let the newbies know about my experience. If you want to know specifics about my surgery, you can look through my profile posts - it is hard for me to remember all the details now. I had a lap band for 4 years and it sucked. I got my lap band at 215 pounds and ended up at about 195 pounds and was gaining slowly on top of that. I couldn't eat chicken (did I mention the band SUCKED?). I wanted the band out, but I was afraid I would baloon up higher than ever. For me, the sleeve was an insurance policy. I did not expect it to work because I had already been through weight loss surgery that did not work. Why would I expect anything different the second time around? I was 100% afraid to dream that it might be successful. And, of course, I was wrong The sleeve was everything the band promised and more. On surgery day I was somewhere between 195 and 200. I went to Dr Aceves and would recommend him without hesitation. Band out and sleeve in, took less than 90 minutes. No complications. Good pain management. That's when the tough stuff really started. I couldn't drink the Protein drinks because I couldn't handle the smell or taste. Because of this I barely ate or drank anything for weeks. Everything tasted so weird / bad. I was significantly fatigued for 3 months because could barely get any food in. I chewed my Vitamins and took my omeprazole like a good girl. The apex of my weight loss occured after about 9 months. I got down to about 127 pounds. Mind you, at no time was I ever "trying" to lose weight. In fact, I was "trying" to get enough quality calories in my body. Since I ate so little, I couldn't mess around with junk food - I only ate food with good nutritional value. I also found that Certain foods were just harder to eat. I craved chicken, but I had a hard time eating carrots (they stick!). I would say I didn't feel completely normal until about a year had passed. At this point I have levelled out in the 135-140 range and I am thrilled about it. It is easy for me to get down to 135 (and lower if I wanted to) by just cutting out one snack a day or quitting drinking alcohol altogether. I weigh myself maybe once a month and if I see myself creep towards 138-139, I start cutting out a couple of things and get back to my comfort zone. It has been hard in the last 6 months because my father committed suicide leaving me with a contentious legal battle with his wife. I started drinking a couple of drinks every day because of the stress. That has kept me in the upper end of my range, but it is still easy to maintain. I find as time goes by, I stopped drinking every day and only a couple of times a week - it made me less puffy :-) So, my lifestyle now: I don't exercise. Yes, I know - that's bad. I do have tons more energy and I walk more in my daily life than I ever did before, but I do not engage in regular exercise. I try. I do my best. I'm just being honest. I still have a hard time getting even 30 ounces of Fluid every day. The taste of Water changed for me the day I had surgery and I have had a terrible time replacing it. Sometimes I have fizzy water. Strangely, beer goes down very easily. I developed a Starbucks mocha habit after the first year, but I limit it to one a day and get nonfat most of the time. I also started drinking iced coffee. I eat 5-6 times a day (I limit it to 5 if I am actively trying to manage my weight). I eat protein and veggies. I just started liking sandwiches again, but find bread and rice both expand in my stomach and make me very uncomfortable after I eat them. Even now, I eat too fast sometimes and can be in terrible pain from fullness. I still can't drink after I eat. I drink as much as possible up to the point where I put food in my mouth and then no liquids for an hour or more - PAINFUL!! I could never have done this without the sleeve. I am completely happy with the result. My life isn't "normal" because I still have to think about carrying Snacks with me so I can have good choices while I am out of the house. I still have to eat slowly. I still have people in restaurants badgering me about why I didn't finish my food. The difference is that I wear size 8 jeans and size 4/6 dress. I can walk / run around Disneyland for 10 hours with my daughter without major breaks to sit down. I rode a bike with my kid just this week and it was awesome. I finally feel like I fit in with my world. The outside reflects the inside. I feel much happier now, also, because people are used to me being this size now. Before people were always making a big deal out of the wieght loss. I don't like talking about it. I hated the attention during the loss because I was very guarded about the surgery. Now I have been the same for a year and a half or so, people don't comment about it as much and I love it. My future: well, the biggest surprise for me is that my husband and I are thinking about having another baby. My daughter is 8 and I had my tubes tied 6 years ago. I scheduled my tubal reversal with a specialist in Beverly Hills at the end of March. I will be 39 in a couple of weeks, but the doc says my FSH level is that of a 25 year old and my husbands sperm count and motility is off the charts! I used to be super-fertile before my tubal (just look at me sideways, and I was knocked up!) so we will see if that is still the case in a couple of months. Also, I finally finished my Bachelors degree 21 years after I started :-) I graduate in June. My life rocks! I was already lucky to have a good man, a great child, good job, and overall good health. The sleeve and weight loss are the icing on the cake for me. I'm a lucky lady. With gratitude, Lara

Maybe you could get some other surgical opinions. There seem to be a lot of folks here that have revised from sleeve to bypass. Check out their posts and see what has worked for them. Best wishes,

I'm a little over a year post-op revision and I still have "dumping" episodes a couple times a week. It was MUCH WORSE the first couple months after surgery. Unfortunately, there isn't really any rhyme or reason to when I dump. Yes, high sugar and high fat items are sometimes a trigger, but overeating anything can have the same result. I get hot flashes, then severe bloating followed by diarrhea. But, dumping does keep me honest when it comes to watching what I eat. And I have to be super careful about my eating when I'm not at home!

Please don't get a lap-band. Please, please, please no. I'm down on my knees begging. I could go into a gazillion reasons why the band is never a good idea, and if you'd like to message me, I will. For now, please do your research. I had one for five years before my revision to the sleeve. Please don't get the band.

Hi Vicki. Well, I can say, I have shared your experience. I did have band slippage after my first year of lapband. Luckily insurance paid for revision surgery and placement of new band. I was crushed emotionally when it happened, but my doctor assured me he was sure I had followed all rules precisely. I am not sure what caused the slippage, but he had told me the last couple of times he had looked at it under fluoroscopy with barium swallow that it looked like I had what he called "a generous pouch" which is a sign of possible future slippage. So when was your revision for replacement? we can encourage one another here. Good luck and thanks for your post.

Ohhhh @azhiker I love your excitement!!! Haha so fun. @losingit2018 my surgeon said the DS is the way to go he doesn’t revise to the bypass and since I have the sleeve already i can see advantages to the DS. I’m not confident another surgery will be the answer since it seems like I have been gaining weight so easily w the sleeve after 2 years. I don’t want to redo my insides and have bathroom issues for the rest of my life and still be fat. Sigh

I revised from the Lapband to the DS two years ago. Since that time, I have lost 80 pounds. Besides there being a whole lot less of me, yes, I am happy and would do it again. I can eat pretty much what I want and have maintained my weight loss due to the malabsorption component of my surgery. You will find that many sleevers have regain issues. As far as the bathroom goes, no one's poop smells good. I have more gas in the evening and looser stool than I used to, but this is a small side effect and not a deal breaker to me. I went from a size 2x to a medium top. A size 18 pant to a size 8. No one eating next to me would know I had weight loss surgery because I can eat a normal portion. Protein first, veggies next. Drinking lots of water. My joints and feet don't hurt like they used to either. I wouldn't let a little more gas deter you from considering the DS. It's a good, solid, data-proven weight loss intervention. Out of all of the weight loss surgeries, the DS has the best proven track record for keeping the weight off, even over bypass surgery. Ask your surgeon. My short answer: Yes, I'm happy.

17 months post op. Yes I still get sick. I have figured out somethings that will get me but like you said one time for something is okay and then the next time its not oaky. I ended up losing down to 142 from 180 after revision. I pretty much sit at 148. I dont worry about regain anymore which is good. I dont mind the trade off really, it keeps me in check. It does get better the farther out you get just listen to your body. Over eating makes me sick too and in the beginning I could not feel a thing until it was too late and I was already sick. I really have to be careful.

My port flipped and I had to have surgery to correct it. Sometimes they can just tilt and they might be able to still access it. However, in a case of a full flip, the problem is that you can't get fills, which stalls your progress. I found out 8 weeks after my surgery that my port flipped when they couldn't access my port. I went in for revision surgery and it was a much easier recovery than the 1st surgery.

Thank you jenn ! I hope I can have that same feeling in a couple month ! How long ago did you have your sugery ? How much have u lost so far? Anf was your a revision wls? Proud mommy to three amazing babies!

I haven't had it happen personally but I have heard it happen to others. Did the doc attempt to use a fluoroscope? My doctor's office used it to locate my port's exact position so they didnt have to prick me more than once after I had a revision surgery and was still sore in the abdomen.

Finally got my band to sleeve revision done. It was yesterday. First 3 hours was bad. Incision pain, general nausea, gas pains. After that I could walk and the pain subsided. Although nauseous, I tolerated Water well, and I never slimed (like I did with my lap band) and haven't thrown up yet. The first two walks, I got dizzy. That went away today. My surgery was done at 7 am, and I was released the same day at 4 pm. I was first in. I'm not hungry at all. Today, on my 2nd day I was able finished 32 oz with 1 scoop Bariclear, going to make a new one to try to get 64 oz but don't think I'll be able to get that down by the end of the day. So I see I have 7 incisions. I had like 4 for my lapband. How many did they put in you? Thanks!

What type of surgery are you planning on having? I had a revision from the band to the sleeve a little over 2 weeks in Mexico with Dr. Aceves. I can attest to the fact that the care was excellent, the hospital was clean and modern, and the surgery was a success.

Thank you That's what I thought too... And what I had experienced for my lap band. I thought perhaps it's cause its a revision they needed three more incisions. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

I'm entering day 5 of recovery of my revision. Banded 11-2008, sleeve 11-15-16. I feel amazing, almost like I never had surgery, my incisions are starting to itch a lot so that's my reminder, lol. I was off prescription pain meds on day three. I can drink 64oz of Water a day and get in 60g Protein. I don't feel hungry. I feelin like I it's going to be the best thing I ever did. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Did u go through this? How do u feel. Are you able to eat? I'm so scared of hairloss too... Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using the BariatricPal App No, I haven't but I have seen and talked to a lot of people who has gone through it. When I went to my check up at my bariatric center, I spoke to one girl who said she cried every day since her revision, poor thing . Yeah, I'm worried about hairloss too. I didn't go through it with my band because the weightloss wasn't as drastic, a normal 2-3 lbs a week or slower... So I'm a little worried this time around because our calories are sooo much lower. I have only loss 15 pounds in six weeks so my weightloss is not to drastic but they said it would happen because of the stomach hormones loss. Yea I cry alot and I don't know what to do to make it better. How far was the girl in the group post op? I don't know why this is so hard. Thanks for listening Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using the BariatricPal App

Hello! I had Lapband in Dec 2009. HW 250? Got down to 199 at lowest.. Like many, I had success at first but then the complications set in. In April 2015 I had the revision to sleeve, primarily to just get the band out of me and not re-gain a bunch of weight. On revision surgery day I weighed 211 pounds. By October 2015 (6 months) I weighed 169 and felt GREAT... my lowest adult weight ever. I wanted to lose 25-30 more (I am 5'3"). Over the past year the weight has slowly crept back.... I weigh 189 today. I am going back to the basics.... Protein, Water and walking. My roommate and I had the sleeve on the same date. She had never had a weight loss surgery. We were the same height and she was about 10lbs heavier than me. She weighs 145 and looks amazing. We cook and eat the same things.... she is constantly snacking. I definitely think the second time around our bodies are holding tighter to the fat!! Best wishes. Just stay positive. At the end of the day, I am happy with my weight loss.... maintaining is hard and I live in fear of regaining to 250. I will be watching to see your success!!

Thought I would chime in for those considering Mexico and Dr. Sauceda and plastic surgery in general. I had the following procedures done in July 2014: -Breast Lift and Augmentation (before 38D; after 36DD) -Arm lift -Lower Body Lift (360) with autologous butt flap implant -Neck lift (aka lower face lift) My reasons for choosing Dr S were many including cost, ability to have multiple procedures at the same time, recovery support, his experience with former morbidly obese patients (please consider putting this high on your list for any doc!), former patient support group, and twilight sedation. All these reasons ended up being why I was so happy with my experience plus a few additional good surprises. The costs were significantly less than what I would pay in the states. Costs can vary significantly, so get a quote from the doc. Ability to have multiple procedures. I didn't want to have to spread this out over a year. I own a business and can't afford to be out of commission for that long. Docs in the US use general anesthesia and can only do a certain number of surgeries at a time. Twilight lets you stay under for longer. I had two surgeries while in Mexico. Body on one day and face a few days later. Recovery support was really important to me. In the US they send you home after outpatient surgery. I was in the surgical clinic with full nurse support and doc visiting every day for 5 days and then in a hotel nearby for the next 8 days with a nurse and the doc visiting every day. I also had two surgery sisters that I had met on Facebook that were having surgery at the same time. They helped tremendously to pass the time and for general commiseration. I went alone so it was nice having new friends there. Experience with former morbidly obese patients. Our skin is thinner and our lymph systems are different. Don't go to a doc that just does mommy makeovers! Former patient support group. There is an extremely thorough board on ObesityHelp for Dr S patients with photos, help documents, and patient stories. There's also a private Facebook group with past patients and those with booked surgeries for support before, during and after surgery. Twilight sedation with epidural pain block. After my 10+ hour surgery I felt like I'd had the best night sleep of my life and woke up in little to no pain. I have had so many issues with general anesthesia (vomiting, grogginess, difficulty waking up, long term fogginess). Wonderful surprises. I'd heard what a wonderful Doctor Dr S is but nothing prepared me for how humble and kind he was as well as what an artist he is in sculpting the human body. He never promises perfection (and run away from any doc that does) but he does promise to do his best. I was 100% comfortable with him as my surgeon. Words can't begin to describe Dr S's nurse Paty. Of all the reasons, she was one of the highlights. She has pure magic in her hands. She truly cares about you. I hated leaving and being without her to help change my bandages and compression garments. Pain and recovery. I had a lot of work done! My pain was mainly from the uncomfortableness of the compression garment and an existing issue I have with the nerves in my elbows. If not for this, I could have done it without anything but tramadol and OTC pain meds. I had itchiness that drove me nuts. Exhaustion for at least 6 weeks and would get tired easily up to 6 months later. Seromas are very common with patients that have lost a lot of weight. I had one in my abdomen mainly from losing my drain earlier than I should have (busted the stitch that holds it in while I was asleep). Added extra compression and it resolved in a few weeks. Under or over? I have gummy bear implants over the muscle. I think they look extremely natural for my age (50). My boyfriend agrees! I'm not a fan of the way gummies look under the muscle. It also adds to the pain and discomfort afterward. Look at a lot of pictures with similar body types to decide. Definitely take the advice of your doctor and what they think is best for you, the amount of skin that you have, how big you're going, and the look that you want. I am tall (5'10"+), muscular, and curvy, so all of that impacted my decision. Autologous butt flap implants! Whew, that was a decision that went down to the wire. The doc takes the layer of fat that is removed from above the butt area in the lower body lift and implants it into the butt to round out that area. It took the longest to adjust to of all my surgery. It felt weird when I would run (I ran half marathons before). It zinged when I would hit it on something. It was uncomfortable when laying on my back. Even with all of this I am happy that I did it. My butt is not flat and looks good in jeans and a bikini. It is not as big, nor does it have the issues that a Brazilian butt lift would have. Running. I ran half marathons before surgery. I was back running about 10 weeks after surgery. I started back with couch to 5K but progressed quickly through it, skipping days. Ran a 5K after a month (14 weeks after surgery). Ran a half about 5.5 months after surgery. The butt was the biggest holdup on the running. It just felt weird. Some people will tell you to take it slower. Listen to your body! Lower face lift or neck lift. So very happy with this. It looks completely natural. Took the longest to heal. The nerves in the face take a long time to come back and some may never return. I had lumps in my cheek that were not noticeable to others but I could feel them. It also "jiggled" when I ran so it took some getting use to. Scars. All of my scars are fading. The least noticeable are the breast lift (lollipop, so no under boob scar) and the tummy tuck portion of the LBL. Most noticeable is the back portion of the LBL. I had some hypertrophic scarring in that area. This is genetic and nothing could have been done to prevent. I may go and have a scar revision done at some point but my bikini covers it and my boyfriend doesn't mind it (and neither do I)! I used coconut oil pretty religiously. I tried silicone scar tape but I have a sensitivity to adhesives so it didn't work very well. I used scar lotion on occasion but didn't notice that it helped. I used vit e oil and I think it helped. I had SilkPeel Dermalinfusion on my back scar and although it helped, probably not enough for the cost of it. Work. I have a job where I work on a computer sitting down 99% of the time. I also work from home. I was able to continue working immediately after surgery (I even did some work within hours of coming out of surgery). I wouldn't recommend it though! I had deadlines that had to be met so had no choice. Plan for at least 6 weeks off if you can. Weight loss from plastics. Don't expect it unless you're getting a lot of lipo. I didn't lose any but I was at my goal weight (175 and didn't get any lipo). I do think that plastics helps me psychologically to keep the weight off. It's like it finished the transition for me. I haven't had any regain and I haven't struggled with my diet (very lucky). Fibromyalgia. I haven't seen anything posted about this from other plastics patients. I have fibro that was controlled with cymbalta. I think the plastics and stress of it caused a flare up so I had to add gabapentin to deal with nerve pain. I'm finally feeling like its dying down but be aware that if you have other medical issues you may need to manage them more closely for a while. I am 1.5 years out from surgery and if I had to do it all over again I would in the exact same way. I absolutely love my new body and feel like I've been given a second chance to live fully. Feel free to PM me with any messages. I'm not on here as much as I used to be but will respond as quickly as I can.

Are these types of complications normal for the sleeve? I'm thinking of revision from the lap band, but after reading this thread, I'm having second thoughts.

Hi Bebaeg, Thank you so much for asking. I had my revision on May 9. I’ve lost 33-ish pounds. I get stuck in the middle of the next 10 pounds, so right now I’m fluctuating between 264 and 266. When I first stalled, I realized that I was severely constipated. I’m finding that that happens a lot. Unfortunately, the solution leads to the opposite problem of diarrhea. 🙄 I’m grateful for what I’ve lost, but it’s still frustrating.

Hello All, I'm looking for a little advice. I was sleeved in August of 2014. I lost about 50 lbs after surgery but then went completely stagnant. I couldn't lose another plan no matter what I did, so in effect, this felt just like another one of those diets where you feel like you are doing everything right and the weight just stops coming off. After several months of losing and gaining back the same 5 lbs, I got lazy and started gaining back. I'm currently back to my starting weight before surgery. Up until recently, I just felt like I failed the WLS fight and that the gain was all my own fault. A few months ago, I started looking into revision in Mexico. Once I spoke to the surgeon, he asked me a lot of questions that led me to believe the maybe the surgeon that performed my surgery did not do it properly. The first example is that I know a couple other people who had the same surgery with this surgeon and they had the same results (lost about 40-60 lbs, then stagnant, then gain). I also have this strange thing that happens rarely where I eat a moderate dinner (not overeating) and then go to bed 3-4 hours later and then I wake up around midnight and much of what I ate for dinner is vomited up. I've heard of overeating and then vomiting, but never 5-6 hours after you ate!! With these things, the surgeons that I have spoken to both think I'm a good candidate for revision surgery, but I'm concerned that maybe they are just trying to sell me on it. Others have told me to go back to my original surgeon, but since multiple people think that he did things incorrectly, is he maybe not the best person to go back to?? I guess I'm just looking for feedback. I know I'm a little all over the place, but I'm curious if anyone has dealt with anything like this before? I know the surgeons aren't perfect, but are there times where they cut the stomach too large or small?? or cut out the wrong section of the stomach? And don't get me wrong, I do take much of the responsibility for my sleeve failure. I definitely think that I went into the original procedure thinking that there was no way to fail and I forgot that there is a lot of work that I need to put in. Which is why I want to make sure I do things right this time and go in fully prepared. Thank you in advance for any advice.

I chose lap band first, and revised to sleeve after complications with the band. I agree with the points above about the sleeve - the only thing I'll clarify is that while there are more minor complications with the band than the sleeve, there are more risky complications with the sleeve - and more with the bypass. But really I think you should discuss options with a qualified surgeon. At 500 pounds you will have different factors that will need to be considered than someone under 3-400 would. I would strongly advise that you find a surgeon who has a lot of experience with surgery on larger patients. Apologies if this sounds insensitive! Not trying to offend. But there are increased risks of surgery with patients over 400 pounds, and the more experienced surgeons generally have fewer complications. There are also different factors to consider in terms of longterm success, so what works for others on this board may not be appropriate for you. In order to get to your goal weight you may need the malabsorption of the gastric bypass. Another possibility to perhaps discuss with a surgeon is the duodenal switch - in this approach you could start with the sleeve, and then if your weight loss slows before you've hit goal, you could add the duodenal switch, which adds a malabsorption factor, so you don't digest all the calories you eat. One of the benefits of this is that the sleeve is a shorter slightly safer surgery than the bypass or duodenal switch, so it would be a safer first surgery, and then you do the 2nd one once you've lost some weight and it can be done more safely. I wish you the best in your journey!

Hey all! I had a revision from VSG (2020) to a bypass without bowel reduction on 11/28. It’s been going fine, recovering is good and I’m tolerating food fine. However, since we did my revision for severe GERD and a large hernia, the surgeon told me that my bypass was minimal in terms of removal of bowel. Since I’ve basically maintained my weight loss since my sleeve, he did not want to create a situation where I would be malnourished so he did not remove bowel like a typical bypass. All that to say, I’m super hungry which is surprising since they did mess with my pouch, and I’ve lost a little weight which is fine too, but it’s like I cannot tell when I’m full. I’m on soft foods, so not full solids yet but have been eating real meals basically (soft foods allows canned veggies and some fruits on my plan). With my sleeve I could easily tell when it’s time to stop. Now it’s like I could just keep going. I haven’t had any nausea or vomiting caused by over eating, and I’ve been measuring because I’m nervous but it’s like I’m still hungry. I was hopeful leaving the bowel would help me not experience dumping as much (which I have no idea if that’s legit or I’m just telling myself that), but I’m also so worried about eating too much. On a happy note - I have only ate tums once since my surgery, and I guess now won’t have to continue to keep tums in business anymore. LOL! That was the goal, so far so good, still on protonix but I’ll take it over misery any day!