I am, like many of you, desperate to have my band out and be revised to the sleeve. I have been saving and working on financing for a couple of months now... (I was originally planning to have Dr. Aceves do the revision...) But it now looks like I will need to have my gall bladder removed, and I am trying to quickly get information on the possibility of having the revision at the same time, and hoping that if I could do this, I could pay less out of pocket for the revision since my insurance would cover my gall bladder removal.

Has anyone been in this situation, or have any tips? I would also love recommendations for US surgeons who are experienced with band to sleeve revisions so that I can look into insurance coverage for them...

Thanks in advance everyone!! =)

This is exactly what I had done in January. I went to discuss my gall bladder with my band surgeon (he's also a general surgeon), and he told me about the sleeve. Since I had not lost any more weight with the band for 3 yrs, and really hated having it in my body, and also hated the stuck food, etc. I decided to go ahead with the sleeve after doing more research.

My insurance paid for the gall bladder removal, and my doc gave me a cash price for the sleeve/band removal. He also found a hiatal hernia during surgery and repaired it too. Not to mention removing tons of adhesions from all my other abdominal surgeries (2 c-sections, hysterectomy, and band). So, yes it can be done. I was thankful to only have one surgery to deal with instead of spreading it all out. And glad I was able have insurance help out.

That's fantastic! So far, the surgeons I've contacted locally have only had experience doing revisions from band to RNY- and I really want someone experience in band to sleeve revisions.... so I will most likely have to travel. (My insurance is already out of network, as it's through Oxford in the New York area....so I don't THINK it would be a problem having an out-of-state surgeon....but who knows!!!)

I am glad to hear that this worked out for you- and I hope you are having wonderful success, and feeling great now that the band is gone! =)

-Charlotte