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Have you been able to get in for your fill yet? How are you doing? I just had my 2nd fill - flouro required again. Doc still saying after I lose 20-30 lbs, he may be able to access it better. But, he also said that if after 4 fills it is still difficult, he'll consider port revision surgery. I hope yours goes much better! :tt1:

I had revision band to sleeve surgery on a Friday, went home on Sunday, and was back in the office (I work from home) part of the day on Monday. I only took pain meds for a few days. I also had my gall bladder removed and a hiatal hernia repaired. The hardest part of sitting at my desk was that my back got tired pretty quickly. So just take lots of breaks if you can - get up and walk around, etc. They'll have you up and walking in the hospital a few hours after surgery, so this is something you're supposed ot be doing anyway. As for a pump - my doc gives an automatic pain pump that you wear on a halter that lasts about 3-4 days post-op. It had 2 tiny tubes running out of it that went directly into my abdomen below my breastbone. When it was empty I pulled out the tubes myself and tossed it all in the trash - easy breezy! And thank goodness you aren't having a band! Those things are a pain the booty!

I didn't realize she went from the RNY to the Lap Band. How could they do that? I thought it was a way risky surgery to revise from the RNY. My hubby had his Lap-Band for 13 years and himself among other has had nothing but trouble with them. Does she think the band will be more successful?

I had my first fill 3 days ago (after a port revision surgery) and only have 3cc in a 10cc band. I am having a really hard time putting anything down (even water!). I am super thirsty and hungry but feel a tight pain in my chest like something is always getting stuck. is this normal, will it eventually give in? is it that maybe im still recovering? please advise.. should i go and get a cc taket out? i want to eat!

He has done revisions, I dont know how many, but the nurses said all 3 drs have done revisions and have improved their skills greatly...this is the first problem I have had in 5 yrs...Im hoping since he knows my anatomy so well and has done my band and first sleeve this will go smoothly...I guess I will put it in Gods hands and let him take over, He is the only one I have true faith in right now...

I feel the same way and mine is not a revision. Who is your surgeon? That mortality rate seems high. What is his personal mortality rate? Do you have to go to that surgeon?

Okay let me see I had a revision to Lapband from VBG two years next month. I am down from day of surgery 251 lbs. to 119 lbs. which is below goal by 6 lbs. Certainly feel I am a success story!

I'm sure I'll be an anxiety-ridden mess once this settles in and hits me, but right now I am so excited. I finally have my surgery date (revision) set for May 22nd! I start my pre-op diet this weekend (basically, as soon as I get to the grocery store). I was actually hoping to be doing all liquids (I find it easier than having to navigate the weird world of food), but I'm doing two shakes, one Protein bar, and one "sensible meal" a day. Should be do-able. My schedule has suddenly become jam packed with support group meetings, pre-op testing at the hospital, a surgery education appointment, an appointment with my surgeon to discuss pre-op testing results, an IVC filter placement date and all the rest. I have the feeling I am going to be a very busy girl until surgery...ha!

Will do!. I agree waiting is the worst but it lets me go back to work and get my things in order before the revision

DH = Dear Husband I am not sure with the sleeve, but I had sex with my husband about 10 days post-op my band surgery. John, my husband, was deployed during my revision to the sleeve June 3rd, and he didn't get home until September 30th. From what I've heard from others, they were able to be intimate once they were pain free, and comfortable. Of course, you can't be a contortionist immediately post op, but take it easy and be gentle.

I also had no pre op diet, but your girl did one anyways!!!! I needed a jump-start, a transition and I felt a little more accomplished (but... I was not a revision) Countdown time!!!! Yay!!!!🎉🎉🎉

I had my band removed separately from my sleeve (band removed in April and will get sleeve at the end of the month). I don't think it was called a revision but my insurance was billed separately for 2 surgeries. Not sure if that helps you but my understanding is that the insurance companies require all of the same pre-op things (supervised diet, psych, etc.) before approval even if it is all done in one surgery. Edit to say that I also had a different insurance for my band placement in 2007 and my removal and sleeve in 2015. Hope that is helpful. I don't think that they care about this as long as your insurance doesn't have an exclusion. Your surgeon's office will write a history and they will hear about everything and consider it.,

I'm in Portland, surgery tomorrow! Revision from sleeve to bypass due to acid reflux and weight gain. Dr Patterson is the surgeon, what about you guys?

Hi! I was originally denied through my insurance for a revision. However I think I have found the best way to do RNY. I will have to be self pay to remove my band, then start the consultation for RNY! My policy states that a repeat surgery will be paid for if patient was compliant with first surgery! Has anyone had a similar situation to this?

I'd rather have scars than fat. There are some posts on here with pictures of the scars - you can do a search for them. Maybe that'll help you some. I too had a revision on my port (it flipped) and my scar is healing now and looks kinda weird. I'm hoping over time it'll look better. It is in my left chest/breast area, but you can't see it even if I am wearing a bra or swimsuit. Scars are no biggie.

Traceyringo, My bypass is scheduled Feb 27 in WA. For months, we were sure I would revise to a gastric sleeve. My first appointment my surgeon recommended gastric bypass, but we were set on a sleeve. It wasn't until my pre-op appointment for my band removal, 3 months later, with the surgeon, that he explained the detailed risks of a sleeve given my history. Realizing I might have the same issues or worst with GERDS and acid reflux, we agreed with his recommendation to do a bypass. This site has helped me better understand what I will face with bypass. Honestly, I am comfortable with the decision and looking forward to the surgery.

'but I wish they had pushed treatment on what they thought was an abscess at the time. Either way, he would be in the same boat he is now, because he was treated, just not as aggressively as they are doing now....' "Any fool can see the danger once the damage is done" - Aristotle I am sorry, But my sympathies are NOT with the medical profession as yours obviously are; mine are with this suffering patient who is lucky to be alive. It is NOT good enough that the doctor made a bad decision, a 'medical call." He made a MISTAKE that has caused the patient great suffering and almost his life. He got his money and moved on. This is NOT experimental surgery. I have never heard of revision surgery over unstable and damaged tissue. This doctor is looking at making a fortune doing WLS. His patient is looking at the rest of his life with problems and pain. My advice: Get a lawyer.

So let me start by saying this , I got the lap band to improve my quality of life. Because I have PCOS ( Poly Cystic ovarian syndrome ) and migraines I am at greater risk of things like stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure as it is. Being over weight adds to that. So I wanted the band to reduce that risk BEFORE anything bad happened to me. I am a mother of 2 boys who need me . After I first got the band things were great, I could eat what i wanted, just smaller portions and occasionally threw up after eating too much , or so I thought .. I even changed the way I ate, what i ate , i felt better so I ate better. I was , as you can ask my doctor , the model patient, i did everything I was suppose to (with the expectation of working out and that lesson has been learned trust me ) Eventually what I ate seemed to come back up more often , But after losing 125 pounds I thought I was doing ok. At a year out a slipped my band , that is where my stomach comes up through the band and can potentially be very serious. After it corrected it self I gained some weight ... It slipped again , more weight gain . I was then told my band had scar tissue build up around it and I could no longer get the fills I needed to lose the weight the opening to my stomach would be closed off it was filled again . That was around 2-3 yrs ago . As time has gone on I have slowly gotten worse. You see because of where the scar tissue is I still have " restriction" Meaning , I am still limited on what i eat , so things like steak, pork, chicken , solid Proteins wont go down . The food literally sits on top of my band until it gets either pushed through , which is very painful , or it comes back up . If I throw up too much, my stomach swells and eating any form of solid food is impossible for several days. So i have to go to liquids, milk shakes, Protein shakes , mash potatoes things like that. Those type of things are high in calorie and cause me to gain weight , but what other choices do i have ? broth, Water ? Yeah those fill you up ?? NOT ! So my day goes like this ... Breakfast: Protein shake cause eating in the morning is nearly impossible. That's if I can get it to go down if I cant and anything comes back up then its liquids for me the entire rest of the day Lunch: I try to eat something semi solid but I usually end up eating Soup Dinner: Some times a salad works but most evenings I throw up my dinner several times over and end up in pain from the swelling . By that time liquids hurt to go down ... NOW that leads me to my "other issues" Joint pain Fatigue body aches head aches My teeth are deteriorating because of how much I throw up Cold feet cold hands numb feet cysts on my feet numb hands You see they are finding out now that people who have had bands for several years are developing auto immune disorders like Fibromyalgia .. Problem ? Docs done believe it yet .. So no doc will help me out . With out insurance I cant get proper diagnoses . You can read more about that stuff here . I am now 20 or so pounds away from my original start weight before surgery . That's right I have gained nearly ALL My weight back . And at the rate I am going by next month or so I will exceed the 250 pounds i was before my surgery . I had my revision surgery on 11-14-2012 after surgery they told me the band removal went fine and they were able to repair a hiatal hernia , that was a surprise to them ( and me ) and sleeve me in one procedure. I was SO relieved to have had it done in once procedure. The day after surgery I started throwing up water and unable to keep it down . After a couple more tried they ordered an EGD for me . They told me if the scope went through easily then and showed no obstructions I should be fine and not need another surgery , but if it did not I could have excess scar tissue from the band and I could need another surgery . WHAT !! Yikes . So they did it and it showed no obstruction some swelling around the band area ( where the band was ) they told me to take liquids slow . For several days I was still throwing up just water, in fact it freaked me out because it looked like I was throwing up some blood as well. Finally around day 3 or so the water was staying down . So finally I was able to go home today . NOT an easy process that's for sure , but I am glad its over. The doc told me to progress my liquids slowly , as long as I was keeping liquids down I was fine , the minute i started if i did throwing up liquids I needed to come back . But to just take it slow . I have been home for about a week now and its still a back and forth issue with food. I encourage ANYONE reading this to NOT get the lap band, do not ever tell anyone abou the band and Hope some day it falls off the face of the earth !

@@BSWhip08 I had band to sleeve revision 4 weeks ago. And I wanted to say that even though we're all different, for me personally, the recovery from getting the sleeve was way less painful than the band. My tummy didn't hurt at all like it did with the band. I was shocked at how easy the recovery was. And I too had my band about 10 years ago. I'm only 4 weeks out so I don't know what the future holds, but I can say that I don't feel hungry and I have to force myself to eat most of the time. It's definitely nothing like the band. Lastly, your kids will be fine. I'm sure they'll see you becoming healthier and more active and just be happy that you aren't struggling anymore. I don't look at my parents and think because they did xyz that I'm going to do that too. Kids will be kids, they'll do what they want regardless, but at the end of the day they'll be just fine. Good luck with your surgery. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I don't know if there's as much data out there to show that sleeve helps cure diabetes like RNY, but there is no reason why it shouldn't, and I think eventually it will be shown to be just as effective, especially if your post-surgical diet is low in carbohydrate. I'm a BIG proponent of low carb, sufficient Protein as a way of managing blood sugar, and I've kicked my pre-diabetes several times in the past that way, but I couldn't stick with it without the surgery. I was on metformin for my pre-diabetes before my surgery, was taken off it the day of, and haven't been on it since. The sleeve was originally developed as a pre-RNY surgery for those too heavy to get a safe bypass, and doctors found that the patients didn't need the bypass to lose the weight they needed, unless they had a metabolic imbalance that really warranted the malabsorptive effects of the RNY. And it's slowly gained ground as a primary surgery, and for lower BMIs. It's also a safer / less drastic surgery, which can always be revised to an RNY later if necessary. Maybe you can discuss that with your doctors? They seem to be very conservative regarding proven surgeries, but I think they should consider the risk side of the equation as well. Would you be willing to have a second surgery if the sleeve isn't successful? I truly think it's the best option.

Have you checked out the board here for band to sleeve revisions? LOTS of positive info on the process and the outcome. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/forum/13-band-to-gastric-sleeve-revisions/

I'm so sorry. Take the meds religiously. They tried to get mine to heal for 6 weeks before surgery was the plan. The constant contracting pain is the hardest part for me. And I struggle to eat anything and when it started at 2 month post op I was doing great. I got to where I could eat anything with no issues. I'm living of milk with protein powder and yogurt now :/ Good luck. Feel free to pm me! My bypass revision is scheduled for Monday 2/20.

Hi, I had the lapband as well and lost 100lbs. like you, with a lot of hard work. Then it tightened too tight but wasnt slipped or stretched and they took Fluid out. Then it did it again. Each time going in was 300.00. The last time they tried to refill it, I got GERD so bad I couldn't stand it. So only partially filled now and almost back to preband weight. I am going through the revision to rny and I am worried about what family will say about another surgery. My husband is super supportive and Im so thankful for that, but Im worried about what his family will say for sure. Good luck with everything! Jen

Hi and congrats on taking the steps to a healthier and better you. The sleeve is a wonderful and I absolutely love life post-op. As for your questions, I'll answer honestly and openly as I can. 1) I am a smoker. Smoking inhibits healing, and can cause ulcers. Not only that, it increases your risk of a leak due to hindering healing of the staple line. My surgeon knew my smoking status, but I didn't quit pre-op. Could it have contributed to the fact that I did have a leak, yes, but the biggest issue in my recovery and leak issues was because I had a band first that destroyed my stomach tissue. Smoking also complicates anesthesia recovery. Your abdomen is sore, causes more coughing and I had to use a spirometer to help prevent pneumonia. That really sucked because coughing caused major discomfort. I have quit twice since surgery, and am now trying to quit again. I actually went on Wellbutrin to help with the withdraws of nicotine as the patch, gum and cold turkey make life with me pure hell. 2) I had a huge panel of labs, a chest xray, psych eval, and consult with a nutritionist. Some surgeons require an upper gi and sleep study. 3) I didn't have a drain initially. A lot of surgeons use drains to make sure there is no leak, and some pull it before discharge, some require it stay in for about a week. I only had drains due to the leak repair surgery, and they stayed in for over 2 weeks. 4) I was not catheterized for my revision. I urinated before surgery, and was dry when I came out. 5) hair loss can happen to anyone that goes through surgery. It's a pretty normal occurrence. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. It's a combination of anesthesia, surgical stress, and rapid weight loss. I lost hair for about 3 months, and I lost half of my hair. Luckily, I had super thick, coarse hair and no one that didn't know me before never guessed that I had lost all of my hair. The only thing you can do pre-op and during your recovery is to take hair/nail/skin supplements to help with regrowth. Biotin is usually the one most people choose. I didn't do anything to help with regrowth until I started losing. I used Folicure extra care shampoo. I started having new growth pop in while I was still losing. Currently, I look like a chia pet, and have chopped my hair off, layered it and bleached the top to help hide some of the new growth. I kept the back and underneath dark to help give the illusion of depth and volume. Unfortunately, hair loss seems pretty inevitable. There's several patients on this board that got in there Protein and extra protein, and they lost more hair and lost it for a longer period of time than I did, and I didn't get in my protein until I was on soft solids when I could eat chicken and other meat. My main advice is make sure you can handle the mental and emotional aspect of this surgery. It's a huge change, and no matter how much you read or talk to people will you really grasp it all until you go through it. I truly believe going in positive, and upbeat helps. Find strength within yourself, and know that you are doing something absolutely fabulous for yourself and your family. Know that recovery can be difficult, you'll be tested, you'll be exhausted, you might be mad at yourself especially during the post-op diet, but all of that is just temporary. Questions to ask your surgeon: What size bougie do you use to make the sleeve? What are your leak/complication stats? What are your expectations of my weight loss? Do you provide follow up care, labs, access to a nutritionist and psych if needed post-op (especially since you'll be self-pay find out what all is included in that cost)? Do you prescribe an acid reducer such as Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium to protect the sleeve, how long should I be on it? Post-op diet instructions? Pre-op diet instructions? How many sleeves have you performed? How many bariatric procedures have you performed? How long is the hospital stay? Leak tests, how many and when are they performed? That's all I can think of right now. Best wishes on your consult, and if you need anything ask away. We'll all be here for you through this journey.

Have you already had your band removed, or are they doing the removal and revision at the same time? I am having my band removed and sleeve revision in one surgery (that's the plan anyway!) Aiming for the end of July! Good luck!! Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App I had my band removed in 2013! I had a terrible slip and was very very sick! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I got mine in October 2008. I also had a slippage in August 2013 and had it repaired. Should have had the revision done then. Grrrrr!! Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App