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oopsies sorry...didn't realize u had a revision...(i am just a single surgery sleever)...disregard my earlier post!

Hi all, It's nice to find a place to get info and hear from others. I'm just about through the qualifying process for insurance and will schedule sleeve surgery in a couple of weeks. A couple of quick questions. Is "The Big Book..." still relevant and up to date? Have there been many changes since the book came out a few years ago? Has it been revised since the first edition? I know it's not that old but things often change quickly in medicine. I'm an avid reader. Is there any other recommended reading material? Thanks. glenn

Hey Taylor (don't worry about not taking my advise, I wont' get offended and call you out for making your own decisions.) I hit 370 sometime in 2010 and decided to do something about it. I chose the band, the sleeve wasn't fully approved yet, and the bypass scared me. The idea of it being permanent changes to my anatomy bothered me. I wanted something that could be removed at a future date. So, I went with the band. Nov 2011, I had the band installed. Surgery wasn't that big of a deal, I was kept overnight because I have sleep apnea. Pain was moderate but tolerable. After what was covered by insurance, I was out of pocket somewhere around the 5k mark. I took 2 months out of work, mainly because I had to drive to and from Boston, and travel times were minimum 1 hour, upwards of 4 hours, so I wanted to be 100% healed before doing all that driving. I followed all the instructions I was given, got my fills and adjustments as required, and ultimately lost 70 lbs within a year or so. (combined with the pre-op diet etc). I'd get stuck on things maybe once or twice a week. Leafy greens and other fibrous veggies that didn't chew down to "baby food" were uncomfortable enough where I started to avoid them. I got stuck on lean meats, etc. So I got frustrated that, the healthy foods I was supposed to be eating, caused issues thanks to the band. I gained a bit back, then fought to lose it again, this happened a few times. I never could break that 300 mark, no matter what I did. The band was easily eaten around, things I shouldn't be eating... were the things that didn't cause issues. I became depressed, I felt like a failure, the band was reported to have all these amazing benefits... and I wasn't seeing them, I stopped checking in with my surgeon unless I needed some adjustments due to illness or getting stuck badly enough where my stomach swelled up. I was still way too overweight, wasn't eating as well as I should be, I just wasn't happy with how things were not living up to the bands reported outcomes. After almost 7 years with the band, I finally dragged myself back into my surgeons office, defeated, and I confessed to my surgeon that I was a failure. Boy was I surprised when she told me that my outcomes and dealings were typical, and that it wasn't me that was the problem, it was the band. She went out to tell me that 2 of the major manufacturers have stopped making bands and replacement parts for them. We discussed our options for revision, I was set on the sleeve. My surgeon said she refuses to do band to sleeve revisions because the staple line for the sleeve runs right across the band area, and that scar tissue build up at the band site increases the chances for staple line failure. She advised that others in the same practice would do the sleeve revision, but she won't because of the added complication rates. I trust my surgeon, and I really wanted her to do the revision because she installed the band in the first place. So, I pondered for a bit and finally decided that the bypass, as scary as it sounded, was my best option. Restriction only didn't work for me with the band, why would I think that restriction only with the sleeve would be any different. I needed the malabsorption to ensure that I would lose the weight I needed to. March 2nd I started my pre-op diet, March 21st I was revised to the bypass and I'm down almost 60 lbs since March 2nd. I truly wish I went bypass from the get go. The revision surgery was not uneventful. What should have taken 2 hours, took 6+. My band, even though all scans, imaging, scoping showed nothing wrong, the band was 100% completely encapsulated in scar tissue and took my surgical team more than 3 times longer to remove. I'm not even sure what would have happened if I left it in place. Hopefully that answers some of your questions, if you have more, please feel free to shoot me a message.

I too am scheduled for a revision to bypass on October 7, 2020 per issues with GERD. I gained 7 to 15 llbs (it goes up and down) but never did reach goal weight but have been ok with where I am at. My original surgery was done 12/26/2018 along with a hiatal hernia repair and I read above a mention of thrush, I had that with the VSG so I am wondering if I will have that issue once again with the bypass? My GERD got so bad that it is hurting my vocal chords and caused some bleeding and so I am ready to get the acid under control. Apparently my hiatal hernia repair came undone and so they will do another repair on this as well why doing the revision. I am a little nervous about it all and wondering if it will be harder? Wondering if I will go through that huge energy loss again or if will not be so bad since the body has been trough it once and the hormones don't have that big of a re-adjustment? This will be my 15th surgery and I just hope my body can handle it. I don't have any issues with dumping and can pretty much eat anything in very small portions and am wondering if that will change with revision? So I am back to this fabulous forum looking for answers.

Female: 42 at the time 2009 (insurance covered), HW 232lbs. Best weight 143lbs. No problems with band till the slip due to a bad stomach virus in 2017 (diff, insur, and not covered) had to pay apx 5k OOP, still 143lbs. No doctor would do a revision as they all said.... I "didn't weigh enough". Fast forward..... 2017-2019 I put back 30lbs. Came to the conclusion that I would have to go to MEX to get a revision. May 2019, I finally got my divorce property settlement. Headed to Mex. But then as luck would have it, I found a dr. 10 min from me. I still had to pay OOP, and it would be more, but I would not have to fly and all the other humbug. So I paid OOP 14k for a revision to the sleeve 8/28/19. I was 173lbs, today i'm at 123lbs. Was your removal done in an outpatient facility or in a hospital? Surgery center. Was a hospital stay required? One night How long did the surgery take? 30 min. No scaring, no erosion, no GERD, pretty open and shut. SX said if band had not slipped, I would still have her. What was your experience after the surgery? Lots of pain? How long did it take you to recover? After SX I had a little gas. I had no pain at all. SX was on Thursday and I was back at work on Monday. Was your removal covered by insurance even if WLS is not? It was not. Sleeve SX was just as easy, less the one week liq diet. Sleeved on Wednesday and back to work on Monday.

My first appt I was going for the Lap Band and the nurse there warned me not to, she said there are alot issues with the band, slippage, infections etc. and 9 out of 10 patients come back wanting the sleeve. So I changed my mind and I am glad I did. I have had absolutely no issues with the sleeve. Good Luck with your revision QDH!

There was certainly a good amount of faith on my part. But I felt like I was in good hands, he has mountains of experience, is chief of bariatrics and is a great surgeon. There is just not a lot of call for revisions in my area. I'm three months out now, I feel great, no problems, losing weight, and loving all the foods I can eat now that the wretched band is gone! I love my sleeve, it's just a bit unique, like me!

Hello Everyone!! Today makes two weeks since I had my Revision surgery from lap band to VSG! When I started my weight loss surgery I weighed 250 lbs. The day of my revision I weighed 208.6 lbs. Today two weeks after surgery I weigh 197 lbs!! That means I lost 2lbs this week... I went on a weekend cruise and it was very relaxing. I couldn't do much or go on any Water slides in Atlantis but it was still great to relax and heal. I was advanced to a soft diet last week so I'm glad I didn't actually gain weight and I'm ok with just a 2lb loss. Anyway, hope everyone has a great week! Stay safe & be healthy Ohhhh yea I have a question- does anyone get shoulder pain when they eat? I get it almost every time I eat and it's quite uncomfortable. Cris

started at 235 (5'2" female) lost 100% of "excess weight" (baseline calculated as 135 ideal weight by my surgeon) by 6 months got to MY revised goal weight of by 7 months. lost a bit more after that, gained some back, and nowadays hover around 118-120. i'm 4 years out. in terms of weight loss slowing down: not counting the first 2 months where i saw higher losses, i was pretty consistent during weight loss phase with a loss of about 10 lbs a month until goal. after that it slowed alot down, but i was purposely trying to. YMMV

Well, if you have a lap band, you can always have revision surgery in the future, IF needed. 80% of the failed lap bands are due to folks not following correct eating habits, or not doing follow up visits. I personally know two folks who had revisions because they were not losing weight, and they are still failing after having a sleeve. I work hard to ensure my band works like the tool it was intended to be. At my age, the doctor felt the band was the best solution for me. And, they have be go back for follow ups at least once every six months to make sure there are no problems. If you don't have insurance, that can be costly. Few doctors want to deal with past patients, and that is another reason they avoid the band. I'd opt for a sleeve today, but I am happy with the band.

I had the sleeve, lost a little bit of weight, lost restriction, gained weight back, developed GERD & then had a revision to RNY. wish I had the bypass to begin with. I definitely need the malabsorption & restriction. I feel like there’s a lot of leeway with the sleeve in terms of foods that one can eat. But that’s my opinion and it doesn’t happen for every sleever. Good luck in your journey

Personally, the Bypass is my choice. I had the band installed in 2011, long story short, I was revised to the bypass this past march. There are a decent number of folks that end up having their sleeves converted to bypass as well. The Sleeve has issues with GERD and acid reflux that the bypass doesn't have, Not sure why he even offered the band, even 2 of the largest band manufacturers have given up on it at this point. Good luck in your progress forwards!

I was a grade C but yesterday it was a D !! They are calling me to schedule the revision tomorrow. Glad that you are doing well. Have you had an EGD done since revision to know if it is helping your esophagus. Do you still have reflux?

Since my surgery, I cannot eat dried pastas or white, brown, red or black (forbidden) rice. But I CAN eat fresh pasta and wild rice and all wheat grains and many other grains. My understanding is that the ones I can't eat continue to expand after eating, and that's painful with a tiny stomach pouch. So, did some research. Rice and dried pastas can expand up to six times their dry volume either during cooking or after eating. Fresh pastas still are about halfway to the expanded volume before cooking and double when cooked, so are DONE EXPANDING when eaten, so won't cause pain or nausea when consumed. Rice pudding and risotto have also fully expanded BEFORE you eat them, so can also be eaten with no negative consequences. However, most rice dishes and pasta from dried have tripled in size before eating but will DOUBLE that INSIDE you. That's going to be bad. My research has found NOTHING about the discomfort being due to high carb content. If you are prone to short term dumping, high carbs can be a problem, but although I can't eat a whole hard candy, I can eat a plate of fresh pasta with cheese sauce ( my version of Mac and cheese, homemade) and it doesn't cause dumping. I only get dumping from fresh pasta if I don't consume enough protein with it. The problem with pasta is one of volume, not carbs. Wheat grains (wheat berries, spelt, kamut, einkorn, farro, emmer, cracked wheat, bulgur, and others) expand to only 3 times dry volume when cooked, so the expansion is done during cooking, and no more occurs after eating. The same is true of barley, quinoa, amaranth, teff, millet, kaniwa, buckwheat, and a bunch of other grains. So, they all can be substituted in recipes that call for rice. Wild rice isn't in the rice family, it's closer related to wheat and barley, do it also is done expanding during cooking so can be eaten without trouble. I use spelt when I make pork fried rice. I use wild rice instead of noodles in chicken soup. I use kamut or wheat berries instead of couscous. I do have to adjust cooking times, or liquid amounts to reflect what actually is being cooked, but the recipes come out tasty and healthy. My question for you all is, have you found any prepared pasta dishes you can eat? If not, try with fresh pasta. Btw, egg rolls wrappers are essentially identical to fresh pasta and can be used to make lasagna without needing prior cooking, and without over expansion inside you. Hopefully you can try some of these ideas and find out you have more food choices than you thought you did. I am 8 years out from Roux-En-Y surgery, with several revision surgeries as well, and gall bladder removal, and I am still at my target weight, 100 lbs. down from pre-surgery weight. It has NOT been easy.

Do you want to spend the rest of your life getting bigger? Wait until you are 50 BMI (with probably more co-morbidities) to qualify? I think most people will say the earlier you do it, the better. You are young so don't wait for 20 years letting things pass you by that you couldn't do because of your weight. Get the surgery. Compared to all other weight loss methods, cutting out part of your stomach will "reset" your body - metabolism gets boosted, most people with diabetes no longer have it within weeks (sometimes days) of having the surgery, and for many women, the PCOS issue also gets resolved. There are a lot of medical journal articles about this, easily found on the internet - and I imagine, since you are at nursing school, you probably have even more resources to access that support these claims. Another benefit to your youth is that your skin is still pretty elastic and will probably bounce back a lot better than those of us who are older and are already dealing with sagging skin, not just because of the weight. If you haven't already seen her videos, Clusie L has a ton of great videos explaining her process of getting through gastric sleeve surgery, food, plastic surgery, etc. I know she has multiple videos explaining why she got it and her struggles trying to get her family on board while she was still a teenager, but I can't find it at the moment. However, this video is a good substitute, geared towards teens, but maybe it will help you in making a decision. Edit: my first surgery (sleeve) was done at 42, I just had a revision (45). I wish I had done this 10 years ago when my weight really started ballooning up beyond Obese (class 1) into 2, then 3, then beyond.

Hi all, I was sleeved 8/9/17 and from the very start I had issues. The first night after surgery I didn't sleep and neither did the lady in the room with me because I coughed all night in a raised position. Little did I know that coughing was a sign of what was to come. GERD !!!! A few days after leaving the hospital I was awoken out of a dead sleep chocking on acid that burned my nose and throat. I was given 3 different PPI before I found one that gave me relief from that part of it. I have had burning for almost 3 years now and have erosive esophagitis Grade D. My revision date has been reset now for May 22 ( 3rd times a charm) I am not happy to be doing this as the sleeve has worked out pretty well for me, although I know it must be done. I am 5 lbs over my original goal weight of 180 after getting down in the 160s this past summer. I would like to lose 25 to 30 lbs and that is about it. I am scared of all the unknowns and after reading the post " I Hate the By pass " it made me think about all the restriction I will be losing. I am also worried about vitamin deficiencies. Anyone out there glad they had the revision ?

Technically the size of your stomach will be the same (if not smaller) as I understand that the revision from sleeve to bypass is just the re-routing of intestines. That said, *technically* you will have at least the same restriction, if not better. The difference is the pyloric valve. Since the bypass skips this part of the digestive tract, "slider foods" will essentially slide through with the by-pass. So, as long as you keep to dense foods first mantra, you *should* not see much difference in restriction. But like @catwoman7 said above, each person will get a different experience. Congrats on all the weight you've lost, btw...you look great in your profile pic! +1 on this as well. I gained 6 lbs over a couple months (feb-march) and it was not as easy to lose it as it was a year ago. While before it would take 1-2 weeks with little effort, this time around took about a month with dedicated effort. So I can only think that a year, two years, from now it will be even more difficult....

This was me. I was a revision patient and on nexium for many years. When I revised they fixed my hernia and gerd is much better. At 3 month I started weaning off nexium. I take Zantac now as needed. Doctor said also as I lose weight the gerd should get better and it has. With my band my gerd was gone when I got under 200lbs and I'm hoping it will again. It is MUCH better now after hernia repair.

I have just recently found out I've been approved for a band to sleeve revision. I have used myfitnesspal off and on before so I might add you all to give me an idea of what to eat!

Well I probably won't be a ton of help. But I revised from the band to sleeve on Monday. So far I think the pain has been pretty comparable. With the band I took pain meds the first 2 days and just once on day 3 mostly due to TOM. This time I was in the hospital for 2 days post op. I think the last time I asked for pain meds is early Tuesday morning. I did have a lot of nausea post op with the sleeve. I was only supposed to stay one night, but I could barely drink anything without feeling very nauseas. I did not have nausea after the band. And I did vomit a few times in post op recovery too. I t is definitely harder to get fluids down . I currently feel like I constantly have something stuck in the back of my throat. I've been doing better drinking at home than I was doing in the hospital. My surgeon did not send me home with any pain meds (which I was surprised at, but didn't really need). And told me if I'm in pain to take Motrin or Tylenol. I do have a little of pain getting up and down, especially in and out of bed, but it's self limiting, so I wouldn't have taken meds for that anyways

I totally understand! That is exactly how I felt. I came very close to backing out of the revision and taking my chances with the ppis. plus at the time of my initial surgery I almost switched to rny right up until surgery. My thoughts were that I did not want to have the surgery twice. Don’t fear the bypass though. Just be sure to take vitamins every single day. Keep up with having your bloodwork done and you should do just fine.

Iv'e had BOTh the ruen-y bypass surgery that was successful FOR over 10 years, after having a baby, gaining weight back and having vitamin deficiency issues I had a revision to a gastric sleeve. The sleeve has been a joke, there is no stopping me from over eating sweets or fried foods, I was sick when I ate those things with a ruen-y. I had an upper gi last week (I am 7 years post op of revision) Dr says my stomach looks like any other non surgery stomach he sees. So much for my surgery dr saying stomachs dont stretch. 1.Ruen-y is more evasive but it keeps you from eating sweets/fried foods without becoming so ill you have to lay down for 2 hours. (not dangerous, just very uncomfortable) 2.If you have weight loss surgery be SURE to have lipo suction after you've lost most of y our weight. Once you grow a fat cell you NEVER loose it unless you have it removed by having lipo suction or cool sculpting. A fat cell will lay flattened until you have extra calories that need stored then they pop right up. Get rid of them b&&*$ right away, you can still grow more cells if you over eat but it takes time to grow them new, old cells are like little saboteurs waiting to fill up again. 3. If you don't like aerobic activity try chill-aerobics. Sit somewhere cold.. shiver and ur body burns fat. 15 min. of shivering equals 30min,. of aerobic activity. Your body will burn fat to try and warm you up. (it's actually opposite in a polar bears body)

Yeah, usually it's a revision from sleeve to bypass. I've never heard of a bypass to sleeve revision. How does that work?

Had my revision about 3 months ago and it was easy for me compared to the band. I had very little pain, just some soreness and was back to my normal routine without the lifting a week after. I was on clear liquids for one week, whole, liquids for one week, pureed food for two weeks, and than soft to regular as tolerated. I can say that now three months out I can eat anything in small amounts. I did suffer severe nausea after the sleeve from about 4 weeks till about 7 weeks. I took some prescription meds and got through it and now it's pretty much gone. I have not thrown up once with the sleeve which I did quite often with the band. I was 164.5 when I had my revision and now three months later I am about 139. I feel great, I look great, and I am so happy I got rid of that band! You will do great. Best of luck.

Personally I think it is worth it because if you don't lose the 40 lbs where will you be? and if you do you are 40 lbs healthier. When you lose those first lbs it sets you up for success, you feel better, look better, want to do more for yourself. And it just might help you to lose the rest anyway, get you in the right frame of mind and with a smaller stomach that helps you to eat less. I also think with the pre surgery diet and the post surgery restrictions you get started with healthier eating and smaller amounts and it is easier to continue because you want to continue the success. I am revising from a lap band that I had great success with, if you don't consider that I was basically throwing up everything I ate all the time, and then it slipped and had to be removed. I get my sleeve a week from tomorrow. Can't wait. I was where you are and I have logged every excuse in the book. I ate everything after my band was removed and gained a good 50lbs in 2 months. Now on pre surgery diet and losing again so I feel much better. I wish you luck in whatever decision you make. I have anxiety too but that should not keep them from giving you surgery.