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And I'm also a band to sleeve revision

Wow! Congrats! I wish my insurance paid for my TT and lipo. My apron isn't big enuf to cause any medical problems however. And the lipo is just for show, I guess. I got an estimate from a cosmetic surgeon about 9 mths ago when I was about 25 lbs from goal (now I'm 26 lbs again from goal, have lost 18 lbs since my band to sleeve revision) and she estimated: $6,500 for the TT, $2500 for the under the chin lip (I have a blob of fat that never goes away), and $4000 for back fat lip. If I get 2 in the same day (she won't do all 3), I can get 50% off the cheaper one. I can't even dream of the day when I'll have that kind of money... Good luck and again, congrats!

I cheated on week 2 after my lapband 4 yrs ago. I ate a Burger King cheesburger. The fear of a staple line leak after my revision 6 mths ago was enuf to keep me on 4 weeks of full liquids and 4 weeks of soft. In fact, the nurse had to talk me into eating Jello the first week cuz I thought it was too solid. Plus my husband is the food Nazi and I know he woulda tattled on me to my dr... Good luck with ur surgery!

Hi I'm Tracie I had my surgery Nov.7 2015 I have trouble going to bathroom I have to take a pill every 3 to 4 days to go. Is this normal had bypass Thanks for any help on this today it was black and green

The bypass went really well. Less pain than I experienced with the band procedure (weird, I know!) and the weight is coming off at a steady pace. Gotta keep myself in check and not get comfortable and start snacking on the wrong foods or thinking I'm home free. The one big plus...being able to eat FRUIT again! With the band, it never seemed to pass through and I love fruits! I need to increase my veggie intake to be the majority of my meals and summer time being so hot this year, I haven't been cooking the veggies in the oven to keep the house cool. But once it starts to cool down, I intent to go in on baking and air frying a whole bunch of fresh veggies. My surgery was 2/3/22 and I have lost 46 pounds thus far and well on my way to my goal weight. I'm drinking 64-96 ounces of water with crystal light lemonade (yummy) every day and this has been a HUGE help in keeping my appetite in check. I also stop eating by about 5 pm most nights which also has helped. I'm working out with water aerobics and calistenics at home so my body doesn't look like melted wax at the end of my body transformation. The surgery was the easy part though it was the part I was most fearful about. I have a life to live and plans to enjoy my getting older years with my amazing husband. I hope the same for you!

Thanks for your reply and support! It is pretty discouragning to have done all the prelim. stuff and then get denied. Apparently there is a stipulation with my bcbs that you have to have a bmi of at least 50 to qualify for the sleeve. I didnt realize this when I first started this process but I still dont plan to go with the band or bypass. As a result of doing research for my appeal letter, I learned that the vsg was historically performed at the first in a 2-stage bariatric surgery (the 2nd being the roux-en-y or bd switch) for people with a bmi over 50 that are high risk. So my insurance hasnt updated their knowledge on the sleeve and its benefits for lower bmi people. I hope things go smoothly for you. Lisa

No no no.You are just going through the same thing a lot of us felt when we were healed! Now is of course the critical decision making time.Do you want to succeed or not?How do I get back on track and stay there?Was all the suffering I've gone through for nothing and if I dont beat this now,then what?What is our options really as you cna revise to another surgery but that is no guarantee for success either. We can all eat a lot of carbs.And if we eat carbs with Protein we can even eat more protein,well I can.When I eat dense protein only,I can only eat a small portion so that should be where you start again. Protein first.What I do when I fall totally off plan,I reset.Which means this for me.For 3 days,I eat protein only.For meals,for Snacks.And I dont limit my meals to 3 but I snack on protein when I want to.By day 3 you dont feel like eating the snacks anymore and then you are ready to incorporate veggies again,and after 3 days of protein only,to me the veggies seems like heaven..lol I doubt your sleeve has stretched already at 4 months out.You've just fallen into bad habits and thank goodness your tummy will still restrict you if you eat your Proteins first. Call it a carb detox.Its tough but you can make up your own rules and your own plan and then you decide to stick to it.Take responsibility for what you eat one meal at a time.You can do this! I often read this thread of "what have you eaten today,sleevers?" and then I wonder what they would say if I would post what I ate that day?Failure!Not true.We are human and sometimes have to learn hard lessons.Now seems to be yours.Mine was at 5 months out. You can get back on track,you dont have to eat what you can eat,just because you can.This can be in your control.I can really relate to how you feel.Took me quite a while before I stopped being mad for even being able to eat all the junk I could until I gave myself a good talking to and decide to beat the flab for once and for all. So,I'll be waiting for your post that says...back on plan and feeling great!

June 11, 2013 HI!! Down 105 lbs. (thought 100 lost was my goal, but I revised) Feeling great! How about you??

Thomas and wynellgray, My hubby weighed over 500#'s. Way back 17 years ago. He presued WLS back in 2000. His Surgeon convinced him that he needed the Lap Band. He lost 100#'s but had nothing but problems with it. In Sept 2013 he went in for a revision to the RNY. The band had eroded into his Liver so they removed his band and gallbladder then told him in 3 months after he healed they would do his RNY. He ended up with abcesses and was deathly sick for 9 months. (3 of them he doesn't even remember!! So after that he found out he has Cancer in his Kidney (which Tuesday he goes in for a ebalsion to kill the Cancer. He weighed to much for them to do anything, this was a huge reason that he needed to lose more weight. Fast forward to June of 2016. We went to Mexico and again they gtried to do the RNY not happening!! His total eft side was solid scar tissue!! So he got the Sleeve!! Now he has lost 135#'s. We are so excited!! Like I said earlier he gets his Cancer zapped like POPCORN in the microwave. LOL That is what his Dr said. thought it was a great metaphor. Any how I wanted to share some of his walks in the fast lane. Both of you KEEP ON KEEPING ON!!!

I guess my overall questions are... If you have already informed your family/employer/co-workers that you were planning on gastric bypass (which is really frightening to me...)... How did you go about doing so? Were you nervous about comments people would make? (I explained it to my boyfriend like this..."A lot of people now a days do not want to tell people what names they have picked out for their babies in fear of hearing negative comments about it" SO I guess I am just nervous that people's first instinct is to say "You don't need to go through surgery!" etc, etc. Did you feel you were explaining your decision to do so a lot? Any advice for those who broke the news to the people closest to them is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

I am almost 7 weeks out sleeve to bypass and I too feel no hunger/no restriction. But I eat VERY little. Less than 2 ounces a day. I just can’t get use to food yet. We are still healing. i have read that weight loss may be slower for these types of revisions. My surgery was May 10th & I have lost 29lbs. 50 lbs from my highest. I believe what you are feeling is normal. try and get all your water in an way possible. You’re body won’t let go of anything if you aren’t drinking your fluids. Have sugar free popsicles as liquid (my nutritionist said it counts as 2 ounces). And try sugar free jello; those are liquids.

Thank you all. Very wise words. We are officially together but I am still scared to tell him. I think I know he wouldn't care but I believe he might have his stigmas on WLS. He's kind of an al natural guy and that's what I fear the most. I know eventually it's going to have to come out. My scars are super faint. He's seen my lower belly and hasn't said anything about them but he could also just be polite lol. I think though if there's anything I've learned from getting a gastric bypass, it's that people do not understand how it works and won't take your word for it either when you try to educate them. I guess I'm also scared about that. I don't know. He's lived a pretty crazy life I'm sure he's seen it all. I will come around one day. Might just be too soon for me. Beyond being a private person, I am still crazy insecure talking about my body journey. That conversation would be hard for more than one reason. But I always love the words of wisdom here. Sent from my SM-G975U using BariatricPal mobile app

I also have this Mediblue through medicare and i was wondering if this is who you had when they approved your sleeve? I have this now in NY but they are withdrawing as of 12/31/13 and Im hoping to get everything done before this!!! I need a band to sleeve revision due to complications from the band Keeping my fingers crossed...congrats on your whole journey

Yes, talked with the surgical nurse they are notifying my insurance company to get approval for an "urgent removal" even though I still am not having any problems, if fact I feel as if I am at my sweet spot. Go figure. Then have to have 3 months of weight management with my primary then back in for bypass.

To be quite honest, you can cycle through all the prescription ppis until you hopefully find something that works, but at the end of the day if nothing works and you continue to reflux the only option is to revise to Gastric Bypass. It's mess to be honest and my acid reflux is slowly going out of control si in a couple of years if none of the meds work I will need a third wls. For now if you're not on prescription meds for acid reflux get your hands on some asap.

Slojo- some tips. Bring a book or laptop to the clinic. I was last on the surgery list so I sat in the waiting room for a long time. They gave you a wifi code and I regretted not having my laptop. Another thing... all of us patients were so tired and we were just waiting, so we finally asked them if we could sleep in one of the rooms. They were really nice and told us yes. (It was after everyone had their IV) so those of us waiting got to sleep until our surgery, or until they needed the bed for someone coming from surgery. Sleeping made time pass so much quicker. they do surgeries with the lowest BMI and least complicated first, then down the line to more complicated. I was getting band over bypass and my first surgery was done open chest, so that is why I was last. It was a fun experience and I loved their family atmosphere. I have to say I actually liked the experience better than what I had in the states.

Hi again Glenda. As far as I am aware from what Dr Kennedy said it's him performing my operation and he recommended bypass over lapband. He said bypass costs £8,000 and lapband costs about £6,000. He told me the band would be too easy to cheat with plus you have better losses with bypass. I have another appt on 28th April and I will be asking him about dr clements and all that. Can I ask why you would travel to England and pay to have op when you can have it here and pay? I was hoping to be able to speak to other patients of his and was told he has noone's contact numbers. :tongue_smilie: Hmm, it's interesting you were also recommended the bypass, I wonder are they pushing people to have the more expensive op? I more or less asked him that and he said he would rather fit a band cos it's quicker. Also I don't think he does the bypass through keyhole surgery which I would prefer because wounds heal quicker though the op can take about 5 hours as opposed to 90 mins.

Let's see... here are some things to consider. Here's my story. I had a band for 3 years. I was successful until my band slipped and I had serious enough complications that my quality of life wasn't too good and I started regaining weight. Once that I happened I also had to admit to myself that the band was farily unpleasant even when I was losing weight. I hated the feeling of food sitting at the top of my stomach and I had frequent sliming and stuck food issues. But I had just kind of been in denial about all my issues because my weight loss was good. I fought for insurance coverage for revision for over a year so I had lots of time to do research. My insurance would cover a new band but not a revision to anything else. It was a long, soul-destroying process - no point in detailing here . For a revision, I was willing to go anywhere in the country or Mexico and I spent a lot of time reading boards and researching stats. I also found out about the sleeve and spent lots of time researching it and bypass. I also went to an OH conference, met with several surgeons, did phone consults, you name it. I even watched video of all of the surgeons I was considering doing the procedure. I admit it, I'm a compulsive researcher. Surgeons - in Washington I felt the best choice was Dr. Billing at Puget Sound Surgical. He's done more sleeves than other surgeons in the area. He's pioneered a technique he refers to as a "lap-sleeve". He's always interested in learning and sharpening his skills - I found him to be both confident and caring without the arrogance that afflicts so many surgeons. Dr. Billing removed my lap band in October of 2009. Because of the insurance issues we didn't convert at the same time. He would have but his preference was to wait because he was concerned about damage to my stomach and giving it time to flatten back out and heal before doing the sleeve. The only two other surgeons I was willing to go to were Dr. Cirangle in SF and Dr. Aceves in Mexico. In June I did end up going to Dr. Aceves. I had a scheduling issue and had to have my surgery during a specific week. I also lost my legal case and had to self-pay. Dr. Aceves and his staff were fantastic and I appreciated have 3 full days of care in the hospital. Late this summer I developed a serious hernia. My abdominal wall was separated from my sternum to below my belly button. My primary care doc actually sent me to Dr. Billing who did the repair surgery three weeks ago. Other surgeons could have been kinda pissy in this situation - after I, he didn't do my sleeve. But he understood why I had to go to Dr. Aceves and was more than happy to help me. Once again, he was great, I trusted the surgical decisions he made, and I'm doing well. (He also told me my sleeve looked great and took a picture of it for me while he was in there - nice since he wasn't the surgeon who did it). Bypass or sleeve for revision: I did a huge compilation of research on revisions as part of my legal case. You can read my summary. The bottom line is that a sleeve is an appopriate revision for a failed lap band patient. Dr. Billing believes that sleeve will overtake bypass and may completely replace lap band surgery in the next 5-10 years just because the outcomes are so good. He said something really interesting to me a week ago when I had a follow-up. He told me that his sleeve patients, even his revisions, are far and away his happiest patients. They feel great, they have little to no complications and they seem to have little or no difficultiy maintaining their weight loss. http://vsgappeal.blogspot.com/2010/07/summary-appeal-letter-studies-and.html In my case I had regained my lap band weight loss and was back at 236 when I had my surgery in June. I'm already down to 174. I really didn't expect to lose that quickly. What really amazes me about my old band vs. the sleeve is that it's not just about limiting my volume. I don't know whether it's the grehlin being gone or just how quickly the satiety switch gets set off in a smaller stomach but I just don't really crave food or want to eat to fullness. When I first started eating solids I ate too much a few times and it was really uncomfortable. I backed off a bit so I wouldn't get to that point but it's really more than that. I just feel find and completely uninterested in food after a few bites so it's very easy to stop before my little sleeve is packed full. Somehow the sleeve changed how I feel about food - what I want to eat and when I feel like pushing the plate away. I haven't heard anyone I know say that about their gastric bypass. I also was uncomfortable with the other health issues of bypass like dumping and malnutrition. Another suggestion about surgeons: I've met most of the surgeons in the Seattle area who do weight loss surgeries. I think most are good doctors and are well intentioned. But every surgeon's opinion is colored by their own experience. They have what they do well, they have their comfort zones, and some are more willing than others to push beyond them. Sleeve is new and some surgeons are just now starting to look it it. Others, like Cirangle and Billing, have been doing them awhile and feel confident in the technique and in the successes their seeing with their patients. Dr. Lauter has done some sleeves but not a huge amount. He seemed like a great guy to me but it's worth considering that if he's most comfortable with bypass then that's what he's most likely to suggest to his patients. And it stands to reason that he would. All in all I'd say my research shows the sleeve to be as good and in some ways a better revision option than bypass. I prefer Dr. Billing to other local surgeons and would suggest meeting with him if you have the time to come up north. Even if you don't go with him it's good to have another medical opinion. Take care. I'm sure whatever you decide will be right for you. Happy to answer any questions you might have. At just about 6 months in to my revision I'm no expert but I can certainly share my own experiences so far.

I've been on 4 cruises in the last 4 years (all with my lapband in place) and only gained weight on my last cruise (this past May to Alaska) because my band was unfilled awaiting revision surgery for a slip. Make sure you get an RX for Scopolamine Patches for behind ur ear. The first cruise I was so seasick (had no clue I even got seasick) I actually lost a couple lbs! Works like a charm! There r many healthy option in both the dining room and buffet. Don't forget about the chocolate buffet (Carnival does it everytime)! Over 120 varieties of chocolate. Just a few bites will do ya! Have fun! Where r u going? We're hoping to do the Carnival 16 day to Panama Canal in Jan 2015. Lots of time to save $...

That sounds awesome. I can't wait for it to be gone because it is so embarrassing when I eat lunch atty my desk and my supervisor comes to ask me a question about work. He had commentedon the gurgling noises several times. I'm so tired of it and hoping it goes away with the bypass.

I just got a call from my surgeon with the results of my endo (last of my requirements). I was so happy that I had a message thinking that they were calling to schedule. Nope it was to tell me that I had Barrett's and they would not do a sleeve. I had to choose bypass or band. I was shocked be because any occasional heartburn I have ever rarely had was taken care of with one Tums. I really didn't think I had a problem. Now I am scurrying to get info on the procedure like I previously did with the sleeve. I was so prepared and now I am anxious. Time to hit the books. Good luck with your procedure.

I had bad gerd prior to gastric bypass . When I talked to my surgeon he suggested the bypass because the sleeve tends to make acid reflux worse. I did go with my surgeons suggestion sense after my surgery I have not had reflux . I would consider the bypass . It will make you a heathy person .

I'm new here... Hello all! As stated in the subject, I was preparing for sleeve surgery scheduled for next week Friday. I have been advised by my surgeon to go with the Bypass... But it is still next week Friday!! I have a lot to learn in a few days! Any post op advice?...

I’m having Bypass March 22. Started a two week liquid diet yesterday and it’s HARD!

Greetings Sleevers! Well, I don't know if my former employer ever made any changes as a result of my letter. I left the company in July of 2013 and took a job with another company, that as it happens, DID cover bariatric surgery. In May, 2014 I had the RNY bypass surgery. My surgeon changed me from sleeve to bypass due to my GERD; according to him, sleeve makes GERD worse, which was contrary to everything I had read previous. Today, I'm sitting at about 178 pounds, from my high of 290. My lowest was probably about 169. It was expensive having to buy new clothes all the time - especially for work. My sleep apnea went away within about 2 weeks of surgery. When i was done with the GERD meds i had to take post-op for 90 days, it was gone too. My A1C is now normal, as are all my other bloodwork. I'm feeling great and have no regrets. Best