APPROVED, Revision from Lap Band, need help

[heftynetty 0]

I was so surprised when I actually got approved to have this revision. They called me today and wanted to schedule my surgery and I froze. I told them I wanted to speak to my surgeon to see exactly how many of these he has done and what is leak percentage is. My husband does not want to me to do this so I want him to go with me to the doctor to ask all these questions. I have two young children and he is afraid of what can happen. My aunt works in a hospital and told me to please not do it. I had so much scar tissue INSIDE my stomach after the first lap band I had, she said I am going to have a lot in there again with staples! I just do not know what to think or do, I have been unfilled now for 3 months and have gained 8 pounds, so if I take this out with no revision I am going to be 300lbs again in not time, but my doctor does not think it is wise to TRY and fix the band again. Just looking for a little encouragement or advice! Thanks for reading my babbling!

[BobBayCityMI 111]

Cannot give you any advice, but only a congrats. I know how rough it can be to get the medical approvals. Hope the more astute and knowledgeable in here can answer your questions. Good luck.

[Ruthi 60]

Make your decision after you and your dh speak with the doctor. Congrats on getting it approved. I would take that as a sign that it is meant to be.

[Malaika 50]

I can't give any advice either other than if you've had the band replaced once already and it didn't take I sure as HELL wouldn't do it another time -- it might be that your surgeon will have to do an open VSG and can remove any excess scar tissue that the damage from the band caused -- I'd ask him if that is an alternative. Good luck! I'm with Ruthi - insurance approval is a good sign!

[*susan* 1,709]

Hi and welcome to the forums! I would be concerned if they will ever be able to get your band positioned properly again if you have too much scar tissue. Just based on that alone, I would opt for the sleeve.

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

Did you get an answer from him as to how many sleeves he has done? Ask him if he has ever had a leak. If you have ins. approval,you can go to another surgeon, if his stats aren't good . What is the surgeon's name?

Mac is pretty good with knowing who the good surgeons are. You can do research and find out what his complication rates are.

In any case, get the sleeve. You won't be sorry.

[MacMadame 81]

A recent study was released showing that bariatric surgery is no riskier than any other routine surgery.

Large-Scale Analysis Finds Bariatric Surgery Relatively Safe

People have this idea that the band is somehow "safe" and all other bariatric surgery is "dangerous" but this is a misconception. There is a risk to all surgeries, even the band, but bariatric surgery is pretty safe comparatively. It's not dying on the operating table that you have to worry about. If your husband wouldn't worry about something happening to you if you got your appendix out, he shouldn't worry about this.

As for having more scar tissue, they'll cut away most of the stomach so you'll actually be losing some of your scar tissue. OTOH, doing a sleeve on a scarred stomach will increase your risk of leaks a bit so you should be very careful. Also, depending on where the scar tissue is, the surgeon may prefer to do RnY on you. It's something you should talk to him about. There are a lot of "what ifs" involved in a revision so you want to be prepared for them.

[heftynetty 0]

Thank you for all the replies!!

Vegasgirl: What is an open VSG?

MacMadame: The main reason my husband is worried (an myself for that matter) is the scar tissue, I have so many surgeries, that we are not too worried about that part of it. It just seems like if it can go wrong, it will go wrong with me and I know it is riskier with all the scarring. I read somewhere that VSG is alot less invasive than Lap Band and RNY IF it is the first surgery, so if it was my first surgery I would not be worried the least bit! I am just so scared about revising, but I honestly want this useless band out! My friends say to just keep it in there, it is not hurting anything, but I want the damn thing out if it is doing me no good.

Also, I am COMPLETELY against RNY, personal choice, I am very happy for everybody that has been successful with it. I have a few friends that have done rather well with it, it is just not for me!

[heftynetty 0]

I forgot to mention my surgeon is DR. Kent Sasse from Reno, Nevada-Western Bariatric Institute, if anyone has info on him and how many sleeves he has done. I have tried to do some research, but the website I found has not been updated as far as how many surgeries for any of the WLS's he performs. My appt with him is August 13, so I have a long couple of weeks ahead because it is driving me nuts!

[Oregondaisy 2,019]

I would send a pm to macmadame. she will be able to find out for you.

We had a couple of other gals in here who knew all the research, but they haven't been around lately.

[Bornagainbabe 4]

Hi Janette, I had open lap band to VSG revision surgery two weeks ago and I, like you, was having my doubts right up until they wheeled me down to surgery. Open surgery is when they cut your stomach open rather than doing it laparascopically and it is usually preferred if you have had surgery before. I had had several operations on my stomach and my surgeon told me from the start that he would need to open me up. I had had my band repositioned last year and then it slipped again and that's why I came to the decision to have the VSG and, like you again, all my family were concerned. I won't say they were against it but they were worried about the surgery mainly as a result of all the media attention. But, as has already been said ALL surgery carries some risk. You really need to discuss this with the surgeon if you can and find out how much revision surgery he has done. Here in the UK there aren't all that many bariatric surgeons, in comparison to the US and elsewhere, and our services are absolutely swamped with people wanting surgery. My particular surgeon has got the monopoly on it in the Yorkshire area and has carried out loads and loads of operations and is held in wide regard across the whole country. He had also carried out my band surgery and abdominal surgery so he was well familiar with me and my personal situation. He was absolutely confident that performing the sleeve op was the right thing for me and as a result I had to put my trust in him as I would most certainly have regained all my previously lost weight. He did point out the complications to me and did tell me that there were more risks involved, but, as I say he was absolutely confident in his ability to perform the op successfully and help me.

Talk to your surgeon, find out how much revision surgery he has done and then take it from there. I am two weeks out and am fine. I have had very little pain from my VSG op and am progressing well with the diet. And don't worry about open surgery either. I have had loads of open surgery and although I have a nice big scar running right down my front it is nothing compared to all the extra weight I was carrying and still am!

Good luck in your decision. I know it's not easy.

Love Helenxxx

[MacMadame 81]

Um, I have no special resources to reseach surgeons... I try to keep track of them from studies and what people say on the boards, but these days everyone is jumping on the VSG band wagon so me not having heard of someone is no indication they aren't good. Maybe they just don't publish...

I had two c-sections and an open gallbladder operation before my sleeve and none of those interferred with the sleeve surgery in any way. It's not just having scar tissue, it's where the scar tissue is that's important.

One reason that some surgeons sometimes prefer to do RnY on former bandsters with a lot of scar tissue from the band is that the scar tissue is right where they'd cut for the pouch anyway so they can make a pouch just above the scar tissue and avoid it. With the sleeve, they have to cut through it. But, again, it just depends on how much there is and where it is. There are plenty of band to sleeve people here who came through just fine.

Another way to get around this is to have the operation in two parts. Then the scar tissue can heal in between. But, again, most people don't need to do this.

As an example of how it all just depends, my surgeon says that if I were to ever get the switch part of the DS, I would have to be prepared to have him convert to Open because of my former open gallbladder operation. If I'd had my gallbladder out lap, it wouldn't be an issue at all. (Back when I had it done, laparoscopic surgery was in its infancy and my surgeon didn't do it.) It wasn't an issue for my sleeve either.

I believe your chance of leaks goes up 3x if you have scar tissue from a band. But your risk should be under 1% for a virgin sleeve so that's still less than 3% chance. Maybe that will make your husband feel better. That's not a high percentage in the grand scheme of things.

[heftynetty 0]

I am on this board as much as I can be reading people's experiences with this, the good and bad. My gut instinct is to just do it and deal with the consequences after the fact. I hope my husbands mind will be relieved when we go to see the surgeon. I am very confident with my surgeon's abilities, he is specialized in gastric everything, he is not just a weight loss surgeon, so I trust he knows what he is doing. I will just feel a little better once I know how many he has done, as far as leaks, he can have none on his watch and quite frankly that does not help me because when he had done lap bands, he had a clean record as far as complications until I came along.

[DownInSocal 12]

I am interested to see how your appointment goes. I don't have any advise for you though except........

do what is right for YOU. I understand family and hubby is worried about you but they are not living in your body. As women we tend to give away everything. Keep this for yourself and do it if you feel it is right for you.

Best of Luck.

[Bornagainbabe 4]

Janette, my surgeon assured me that if he considered it to be too risky then he wouldn't be carrying it out and would just remove my band. I know that's not what you want ideally but I should imagine from what you have said that yours is experienced enough to not want to take any unnecessary risks.

Helenxxx