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Carrie, I'm so sorry you're having to go through all this. I feel your pain! I know this isn't exactly ethical, but my situation worked out, so I though I would offer this up. Have you had your gall bladder checked out lately? I was having vague pains for a year and it ended up that I had gall stones. My band surgeon (who is in the Dallas area) removed my gall bladder, fixed an undiagnosed hiatal hernia, and did my sleeve revision at a cost to me of $5000. My insurance paid for the hospital and all other costs. I stayed in the hospital 2 nights. It might be worth it to have a gall bladder ultrasound to see if you have any issues, and if you do then use it to your advantage to get it all taken care of at once. Just a suggestion. I know living with the band is h*ll and I'm sure you'll be so much better off without it. Good luck!

Down 2 more this morning!! That's my goal for this challenge. Granted, I revised my goal, but I am still very happy to have achieved it!! This is the first challenge that I have actually been able to complete!! WOOHOO!!!!! Name..............Current.....Goal.....Lost...Still to Lose by July 4th atallen06...........231........215.......0......16 Bea1129.............231........200.......9......22 BigBandFan..........296........270.......0......26 Cgailee ............219........200.......0......19 darr5380............170........165.......0.......5 Epm316..............218........200.......12.....18 erikadawn...........217........190.......0......27 faithmd.............297........300.......12.4...-3(by6/21) Hastings............248........228.......5......20 Jennypoo............174.5......170.......4.5....4.5 jrob281.............212........190.......0......22 KarenG..............168........160.......6......8 kathystrick.........315........288.......3......27 kellygirl0520.......236........220.......0......16 legster.............188........180.......9......8 Lenore1890..........263.4......247.......4.3....15.7 Leslie2Lose.........225........208.......8......17 LessNLess...........147........140.......4.......7 Lilmissband-aid.....242........239.......0.......3.4 losingjusme.........244........238.......6.......6(started 5/30) Luu2008.............215........185.......0......30 luvinke.............217........190.......4......23 Marissa's Mom.......388........358.......20.4...30 MollyMolly..........185........188.......19......-3 nancy52.............197........170.......0......27 Nettie..............193........170.......0......23 Newhope4me..........168.8......160.......8.2.... 8.8 njudono............ 298........277...... 5......21 NukeChik............227........222.......15......5 nurse7263...........244........150.......0......24 renewedhope.........180........180.......16......0 Sades...............194........185.......3.......9 Stacy73.............212........204.......0.......8 Sunshine2...........179........160.......4......15 (by6/29) Suzzzie. ...........273........260.......0......13 Tess415.............315........299.......12......16 TexasFire67.........170........145.......0......25 Wombat712...........130.6......120.......3.6....10. Bunkey1965................215.............205..........10..........10

I guess my next question to the surgeon would be what is his average for for pts having leaks post op and of that percentage how many were revisions. I would also ask what measures does he take to prevent leaks from occurring. Personally speaking my surgery was easy breezy, but I was a straight VSG procedure. You have a choice of developing comorbs that may prevent you from taking care of your babies, and possibly developing a leak. ETA: Here's a success story that might be helpful to you.

He is my choice for my revision surgery when I need one. When the band "expires" i am all over going to him to have a conversion surgery.

There is a band to sleeve revision forum here that you might want to check out. I think there are some people that have been successful in achieving weight loss with the band. They work hard at it and use it as a tool. One of the many problems is, I think, that the weight eventually comes back (as it did with me), and the band really isn't meant to be a permanent implement in your body. After a while, it has to be removed or replaced, and so many things can go wrong from hiatal hernias to erosion, scar tissue, and ulcers. My band and port was being strangled by scar tissue and was causing me pain. I wanted it to come out desparately anyway when I realized I had band-induced bulimia. I don't think you will find a lot of people here at this forum cheering on the use on the band, but if you want another perceptive, there is another forum that you could ask on: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/ I think the sensation of hunger varies from individual to individual. It is true that the hormone grehlin is removed when 85% of your stomach is removed; however, that is only one of about a hundred or more hormones that regulate hunger. I feel hunger when I haven't eaten in a while. I'm only two and a half weeks out from surgery, but I would say that the sensation of hunger is greatly reduced, and I think that will be a mostly permanent condition. I think the sleeve is a much more permanent solution for weight loss compared to the band, and it also has a much longer history of success than the band has. I still enjoy food, and I am satiated after my incredibly small meal:-) I had a small slice of pizza last night with chicken sauage on top, and it was delicious, followed by a sugar free pudding.

You are doing swell! As for the tummyache issue, it might be lactose intolerance doing it to you. Try mixing Almond Breeze milk into the Protein powder to see if that won't help; soymilk might also work but it has more calories in it than the Almond Breeze--I get both at costco for reasonable prices, and also my protein out there is good, too. I use Muscle Milk lite in vanilla flavor to make my shakes with. Sometimes, I will add half of a banana to flavor it with--tastes very good! You could also try frozen blueberries in the shake which also is a nice tradeoff from plain vanilla. I think as you get farther along postop, you will do much better! I am 5-6, and right now weigh 186. I started this journey as a revision surgery patient from RNY to sleeve in May of this year--a first for the doctor I had. Normally, they do band to sleeve revisions. My bypass failed 5 yrs ago and I had developed hypertension that I cannot be treated for with meds due to severe allergies to all of them! Weight loss is my only intervention--I feel better than I have in years! My goal is to maintain at 145-150. My weight at the onset of sleeve surgery was 223.5 pounds--at the time of bypass surgery in 2001, I was 264. I never wanna see those 200s EVER again!!! It is great hearing from you, Dawn! Wishing continued success and keep me posted on your progress! Ronda I agree about the carbs, I try to avoid them for the most part and concentrate on the Proteins also. I saw the doctor for my check up today and I've lost 10lbs since my surgery. The doctor was happy with that and said slow loss is better for me since I have less to lose. I can't do the protein shakes. For some reason they give me a stomache ache. The doctor said to get my protein from my food instead. He also said that I can cut down the total protein from 75 grams to at least 50 grams. I am short only 4'10' and he said I don't need 75 grams of protein so I can stop stressing about getting so much protein. That was a relief for me as I have been feeling really worried about not getting enough protein. I also think that since I am not going to be eating constantly to consume so much protein I will see a better weight loss on my next visit. It is all a learning experience, but one that I am so glad to be working on.

You are not alone! Im a revision too and am so tired of people asking me how much I have lost. (not that much) I dont count anyhow..and im not perfect..but yes I can relate to the slow loss:) I still have 45 pounds to loose =/

Thanks to both of you for the responses. Amforshort congrats on your revision, we had the same procedure one day apart. I won't get into gory details but I took miralax once every night since the surgery and yesterday it started cleaning me out. It wasn't as unpleasant as stimulant laxatives have been in the past so I would recommend it to others. How are you feeling 5 days in?

Hi all who were sleeved or revised from Dr. Aceves. Quick question: When you decided to go with Aceves, how long were you scheduled for? 4 weeks? 2 Months? Longer? I'm mostly curious of those who liked to get in as soon as possible, and rather not if you purposely scheduled months in advance. Thanks in advance!! You all have been a blessing.

I'm so sorry you are going through all of this. Hopefully your revision can be scheduled soon so you can heal and move on.

Thank you everybody. It really has been a pain. I still love my sleeve, but it's been made abundantly clear to me that I don't really have a choice with the revision. So as soon as I can get cleared, we're scheduling it. I'm just ready to be done and go back to living my life.

It's a very tricky surgery, and only a good revision surgery should evaluate your sleeve and see if it's possible. It would be interesting to know what you can eat, and how much you can eat only because it's good for the research stats. Do you know what size bougie your surgeon used? Was he/she experienced? Those are some things that would need to be answered, and I wouldn't go back to the same surgeon if they didn't perform the surgery properly. Getting the sleeve smaller is very risky, and is not recommended. Typically, a revision to the full DS or RNY is a better option if a restrictive only procedure did not give you the results you were seeking.

All I can add to what the others have said is that about half the people I met and still meet in the bariatric center are either having the band removed or revised to sleeve. I am almost 4 weeks post-op with no problems and no regrets, and no, my gall bladder was not removed.

Would love a local group for support. Had band to sleeve revision on May 23rd with Dr Lopez in TJ and it's been rough not having follow up here at home. Questions and concerns go unanswered and I take things day by day.

Hi guys! As I am preparing for my band to bypass revision, my doctor made it crystal clear I have to stop smoking. I have been smoking for about 5 years, which is terrible for me to even say, and I know I have to. if it came down to it I know I could just torture myself and do it cold turkey, but I am asking for advice or things that people have done that has helped them. I am considering the nicorette gum but again just asking for advice! Thank you!

@@kewadiak That's great news! I am getting all my clearances now and just learned that I have gallstones.. So now I am hoping they can do revision and gallbladder removal at the same time.. Will find out what my pre op with surgeon in 9th. Really hope I will wake up and not have to be disappointed that they couldn't do it in one.. I feel like so much to get done, but all I have left is upper GI and chest X-ray, then just blood work and EKG 2 weeks before surgery. Liquid diet starts on 28th... That's next week! Crazyness. I get so much more nervous as it gets closer to the date.

I'd love to be honest about it. The weight loss is nice...but I still have to be VERY DISCICPLINED in what I eat or I REGAIN weight. Also, I woke up from surgery with horrid GERD that has not gone away and HUNGRY. I still get hungry (famished) just like before the surgery. Long term GERD and PPI use have significant health issues associated with them. I have moderate anemia now (10 years post op), and can't seem to absorb enough through food. I may have to have Iron infusions. I have to have an endoscopy to check on things next month. I may have to have a revision to bypass. I hope it's not more serious than needing a revision (Please God, no Barrett's esophagus, or {gulp} cancer). Most times, I am OK and have come to acceptance for the most part...but other times I seriously regret having 85% of my stomach removed (I really didn't have any co-morbidities) and I get a little freaked out about what I have done to myself and what might happen as a result of this serious surgery (no going back). I was so desperate I was to lose weight. I gotta tell you... the biggest problem was a selfish, unloving, critical, abusive husband and my own lack of self-esteem. I was glad to get rid of all 180 pounds of HIM! Now that was the best and healthiest weight loss of all. I wish I had gotten rid of him first, because after he was gone, I started working out, lifting weights and got in shape. That was a game changer. I would encourage everyone to do their own research. Look up the rate of weight regain after the sleeve. Look up the risk of GERD associated with the sleeve. Look up the rate of hunger after surgery. Weigh the pros and cons. This is not a benign surgery. At least that is how I feel about it today

The MOST effective WLS is the Duodenal Switch. I've seen stats on excessive weight lost (EWL) with the VSG as being 70% and with the DS as 80%. You do have to be more diligent with taking enough vitamins and protein with the DS and that surgery does carry more risk than the VSG. The good thing about VSG is that you could subsequently revise to the DS if necessary (although you're likely to be a slower loser if you choose the 2 stage route).

Hi Julie, yes I believe the Overstitch is fairly new, although not to sure how new it is. It was new to me and my surgeon is quite experienced and up to date with new developments and I think he'd done about 5 previously and only in recent weeks. They go in endoscopically and put some permanent sutures in the stoma, then if needed also in the pouch to reduce the size of that as well. I don't think they could do it to a patient with a band in because you don't have a pouch or stoma. And it wouldn't be a stand alone procedure as it's designed to be a remedy for gastric bypass patients experiencing weight gain due to enlarged stomas / pouches. Although I believe they can do something similar to a gastric sleeve endoscopically which I think is gastric plication. (If I am not 100% correct anyone please feel free to correct me) :-) Now as for the cost, my surgeon didn't charge me for this Overstich or the Gastric bypass. I've been quite lucky. I paid the full price for the band 13 years ago, which I had done in the South off France. Then 10 years later after I had moved to Australia from England, I had the band removed and the sleeve done in the same operation. My private health care insurance covered most of it, I think I had to pay $3000 extra towards it. Then as my sleeve failed, the same surgeon did the bypass for 'free' just charging my healthcare fund with no co-payment, and the same for my Overestich. No co-payment. He accepted just the payment from my health care fund here in Australia. All I had to pay for was a payment towards the anaesthetist fees which in total were $800 and Medicare paid $300 so all I paid all up was $500 which I was very pleased about. :-) Now to answer your last question about pain, I experienced next to no pain at all. I had a slight scrape on my lips from the scope, like I've had bigger pimples really. And a very mild sore throat when I woke up. The kind of sore throat you had after slight cough for a few days. Gone all together within 24 hours. Hardly worth mentioning. I was prescribed antiemetics and some strong pain relief, however, didn't fill the script as my nausea and pain were zero, seriously nothing at all painwise post op. I should add though that I was the same after gastric sleeve and bypass. No pain, no wind, no pain relief needed, I was up doing laps of the ward same day as both operations and declined all pain relief. I've either been very lucky or have a high pain threshold or a mixture of the two! Never even had reflux or anything. Oh and time in theatre was 1hr 20mins, think that it normally takes around 45 minutes, but I had sutures to both the stoma and pouch, and there was an Overstitch rep or something in the theatre watching the procedure and asking questions / having things explained I think, so that may have added time, not that it bothered me, I wouldn't have known if the operation took 10 minutes or 10 hours, i just closed my eyes and then woke up, felt like milliseconds haha, I went home after about 2 hours with a recommendation to follow a liquid diet for 1 week then soft / puréed for the second week, then a normal diet after that with lots of chewing and not to push the amount of food eaten. Now I am at the stage of puréed food and cottage cheese, I am eating around 100mls and feel as full as an egg. Have lost over 10kg and am only 4kg away from my target and about 1kg away from being in the healthy weight / BMI range, but I did start the Saxenda injections one week before the Overstitch and they are definitely helping, I felt the appetite suppressing effects of the Saxenda even just on the initial starting dose of 0.6ml, am now up to 2.4ml and will be on the maximum dose of 3ml starting this Friday. Apparently a fair few people stop taking the Saxenda because of the most common side effects which are abdominal pain, headaches and nausea, which I haven't experienced any of at all, must be my high pain threshold again! :-) The thing with the Overstitch is that I guess it can stretch again over time if it's not looked after. I'd imagine it wouldn't be able to stretch as much as without the stitches as they'd continue to provide some resistance, although I'm not sure if there have been any long term studies on this yet, again happy to be corrected if anyone knows anymore about this. Not sure what could be done after stretching the Overstitch, maybe another Overstitch or change to a Duodenal Switch. In wouldn't be too keen on the DS as I'm already severely anaemic, even though I'm not feeling any ill effects. My doctor said my iron levels and ferritin are in the low single digits and I shouldn't be feeling at the very least tired and exhausted but I'm not for some reason. Anyway, I'm hoping I won't need any more revisions. I have enough already!! So here goes, fingers crossed for me. Anymore questions, just ask, more than happy to share my journey / experiences. John :-)

Hi! You guys have some experience here! So please let me pick your brains! I was banded in 2013 lost about 60 pounds, and have gained some back due to many complications from the band and other health issues. Here I am now with a total band slip and prolapse miserable can't keep much down without feeling sick 23 out of 24 hours. Dr. has me scheduled for band removal on August 9th. I'm wondering what the recovery will be like...will I be able to get that nutrition in again because right now I am feeling just weak and tired from not being able to eat more than ice cream or shakes! I am taking my vitamins. We have also talked about having a sleeve revision in a couple of months after I go through the insurance gambit of medical testing etc. all over again. I'm not looking forward to yet another surgery...and I'm wondering if the sleeve is the way to go, or if I am going to go through all this medical testing again for approval I should just push for the bypass and get the weight off without "guessing" if the sleeve is going to work out for me or not. I'm always the one that falls in the failure percentage rates...I been using this analogy alot lately...you know if birth control pills are 98% effective to prevent pregnancy well yep I am the 2% who got pregnant while on them taking them without fail every day even after I was pregnant and Dr.'s couldn't believe it, his name is Christopher and he's now a healthy 22 year old! What is your advise? Also how painful is recovery from the band removal? I am hearing the port site muscle is sectioned and that causes some major discomfort and pain for a while....

Hope everything goes well. I'm here for you. I had a RNY on 5/17/17. That's my only wls. However, I know alot of ppl who had or need revisions. Two whom I'm very close to. I share my wt loss info from my f/u appts. Also, we go to h2o aerobics and the gym.We go @our own pace I don't mind sharing and welcome you and anyone else to join me for aerobics, walks, trips to gym or just an ear to listen. Most important- Don't give up!

Hugs and prayers! Now..you can post as a whole new you...just way smaller. I'm looking forward to Gettimg my revision also.

Ohhh Debra that's terrible!!! Have you already had the revision? Band to sleeve and where you happy with Dr.provost as a surgeon? It's sad when you have a good doc an the staff sucks. At least with the sleeve there isn't much follow up unlike the band. I'm glad he didn't try to convince you to so to the GB. Do you happen to know how many band to sleeve revisions he has done and did he do it in one surgery for you? I'm sorry you are having trouble with staff maybe you should ask Dr.P who HE would like to refer too since his staff doesn't have an answer for you.

Ashelaine, that sounds like she could be my clone! I had band then I had to have band to band revision and now I am considering band to sleeve. Did she have complications with it being in one surgery and is she glad she did it? I getting mixed reviews LOL Almost all say they would do the sleeve again but some say you still have the in your throat feeling instead of feeling full... And today I met someone that suffered from dumping syndrome with the sleeve!!

If you want a doctor that has done a lot of revisions- Dr. Barker would be high on the list in DFW. He's a HUGE Practice, but he's a good guy and a dang good surgeon. Dr. hodges who works with him actually took out my gallbladder in 07 before she was working with Dr. Barker and she was AMAZING!