VBG/gastroplasty to RNY? Any experience out there?

[salubrino 8]

Hi!

I will reverse my almost 20 year old VBG/Gastroplasty on October 6^th to RNY. The VBG has´nt worked in ages and I was diagnosed with a broken staple line earlier this year. but it´s probably been like that for a very long time before that.

I fell really motivated and have started the pre op liquid diet . I have so far lost 20 pounds which is great and above the target set by the surgeon..

I´ve seen a lot of threads on Lap-band ot RNY but few on my specific operation. Is there anyone out there who knows what to expect? Any specific problems that are common when converting from VBG to RNY or just the same as with the lap-band? Any input highly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Cheri_j 117]

You and I could be twins! I had a VBG done in 2000. It was difficult to get insurance approval for the conversion to a RNY, but this year, I was finally approved.

Funny thing, my staple line was also broken and food/liquid would go through the staple line and just sit there and eventually I would throw up food that I ate days before. That section of my stomach would blow up like a balloon, put pressure on my lungs and I couldn't breathe. Twice I was rushed to the hospital with suspected heart attacks. When a fat old lady can't breath, they automatically assume it's a heart attack. I had horrible GERD, hiatal hernia, sleep apnea, diabetes, and obesity-related asthma and insurance said a revision to a RNY wasn't medically necessary. My surgeon convinced the insurance company to approve me because of my GERD. Ok....I'm off my soap box now.

The first surgeon I saw in 2010 told me that I would have only lost 50 pounds when I was denied by insurance. I guess this was his way of telling me the grapes were sour. My current surgeon said that there is no reason why I can't lose 100+ pounds. After eight weeks, I've lost 58 pounds.

I had to have two upper endoscopies because the surgeon needed to know my stomach anatomy. I have no clue as to why I had to have two, I just followed his instructions like a robot. I wanted this surgery so bad. I had to have a swallow x-ray. Because my surgeon had no idea about how much scar tissue he would find when he started the RNY surgery laproscopically, I was his only surgery that day because he said he might have to open me up to complete the surgery. I went into the surgery not knowing how long it would take or how long I would be in the hospital.

I consider myself very lucky that the procedure was done laproscopically and I had a fantastic recovery.

My surgeon's team advised me to lose FIVE pounds before surgery. From everything I had read, almost all doctors wanted at least 10%. I lost the 10%. I wasn't taking any chances on anything happening. Because I started eating healthy, exercised at least an hour every day, and stayed very very active up until the day before surgery, my recovery was so much easier.

Good luck with your pre-op. It will all be worth it in the end.

Edited September 23, 2015 by Cheri_j

[salubrino 8]

Thanks Cheri_J for your story!

I´ve only had to do one upper endoscopy but that´s plenty enough.... And no fighting the insurance either. I live in Europe so here you don´t fight the insurance companies...you fight the public surgery queues instead... I guess it all adds up in the end?!

Did your surgery take much longer than normal RNYs? My surgeon has done quite many revisions and says they normally take about twice the time. And did you have any issues with the old band? My worry is that the band will not come out easily and that they will have to postpone the RNY part....would be just my luck.

Glad to hear that you have had a good weight loss despite being a revission, thats another fear of mine that it will be less effective the second time around.

I´ve gotten to a good start when it comes to pre-op diet and exercise. A bit tired of the monotone liquid diet but less than two weeks to go.. I´m confident that it´ll be worth it.

[RJC5197 282]

Can you advise update on how it went?

I am looking into revision from VBG from 22 yrs. ago and hope all goes well with operation, as well as dealing with the Ins company approvals. It will be so nice to no longer be dealing with all the VBG problems for many years.

THX

Hi!

I will reverse my almost 20 year old VBG/Gastroplasty on October 6^th to RNY. The VBG has´nt worked in ages and I was diagnosed with a broken staple line earlier this year. but it´s probably been like that for a very long time before that.

I fell really motivated and have started the pre op liquid diet . I have so far lost 20 pounds which is great and above the target set by the surgeon..

I´ve seen a lot of threads on Lap-band ot RNY but few on my specific operation. Is there anyone out there who knows what to expect? Any specific problems that are common when converting from VBG to RNY or just the same as with the lap-band? Any input highly appreciated!

Thanks!

[hurst143 2]

I just had my revision from VBG to gastric bypass 5 days ago. My insurance finally did approve it as I had complications from the VBG 15 years ago. I had a lot more scar tissue than expected but it was completed laparoscopically. Scar tissue had adheared my liver to my stomach which took an hour and a half to remove. I am having extremely low energy I assume from only drinking Water, sugar free Powerade and chicken broth. I hope to start Protein Drinks next week. I'd like to hear others healing times, energy and what you ate post op. (I'm going on a cruise in two months!)

Thanks!

[salubrino 8]

Can you advise update on how it went?

I am looking into revision from VBG from 22 yrs. ago and hope all goes well with operation, as well as dealing with the Ins company approvals. It will be so nice to no longer be dealing with all the VBG problems for many years.

THX

Hi!

I will reverse my almost 20 year old VBG/Gastroplasty on October 6^th to RNY. The VBG has´nt worked in ages and I was diagnosed with a broken staple line earlier this year. but it´s probably been like that for a very long time before that.

I fell really motivated and have started the pre op liquid diet . I have so far lost 20 pounds which is great and above the target set by the surgeon..

I´ve seen a lot of threads on Lap-band ot RNY but few on my specific operation. Is there anyone out there who knows what to expect? Any specific problems that are common when converting from VBG to RNY or just the same as with the lap-band? Any input highly appreciated!

Thanks!

There has been much very good and some bad…I had some postoperative complications (more about that below)

But when it comes to the surgery and how it works I regret absolutely nothing but not having done this earlier! I managed to lose 20 pounds the month before surgery . It was actually quite easy since I was so motivated. I had done that before (VLCD quick loss) and knew that it wouldn´t last normally but the surgery as a goal made it easier.

The surgery went OK as far as I can judge. Spent two nights in the hospital. A lot less pain then when I did the open VGB 20 years earlier. Had some problems starting to urinate again after the anesthetic (quite common as they told me) and that’s why they kept me two nights. The sensation of drinking Water was a lot better than after the VBG, I was worried that the suffocated feeling I remembered from the first month then would return but it didn´t.I felt kind of sick the first week at home but I attributed that to fatigue and rapid weight loss which I exepcted from all that I had read up on That was a part of it for sure but it also turned out when I was examined at the ER after I got a rapidly rising fever that I had gotten a postoperative infection. Sigh! I was readmitted and put on antibiotics. I spent a week in the hospital while the doctors discussed whether to perform another surgery to drain the abscess under my ribs or if the antibiotics would suffice. It turned out that they did and I was released after a week with a continued antibiotics treatment at home. It took two months before they cleared me of the infection. So be attentive to how you feel postoperatively and don´t, like I did, underestimate the signs of your body. Better to do an extra check up than to spend an extra week in hospital and two months on antibiotics is the lesson I learnt from this!

The infection made it impossible for me to exercise more than slow walks but I´ve lost a lot of weight any way. When it comes to the actual surgery I couldn´t be happier. Everything works grand. My GERD is gone and I hope to be cleared from my sleep apnea soon (scheduled for the sleeplab in two months, feel great). Still some weight to lose but I don´t have any unrealistic expectations, would be super happy if I lost another 40 pounds or so . We´ll see. I´m playing volleyball Tuesdays, cardio in the gym Thursday and walk/jog 3 miles every weekend so I think that will help too. I´ve had some of the normal problems that I expected and read up on before. Mild Constipation etc – takes some time to learn what foods that works for you. I recently discovered that my stomach works better if I eat more fat than I initially did but I guess that that is individual.

When it comes to the dreaded band the surgeons’ didn´t remove that but left it in. They reasoned that the risks of removing it (being stuck to everything after all those years) were higher than leaving it in. They don´t expect it to be a problem and I hope that they are right of course. I didn´t feel a need to question their knowledge on that one.

I´ve discovered one thing that I believe to be an advantage for VBG:ers…the chewing is already there. Many fellow patients complained about the difficulties of learning to chew properly but for me that was already a natural habit.

In all, despite the infection, I am super happy with this decision! I have gotten a new life. I will trek the In ca trail in Peru in October, a thing I could have just dreamed of before loosing all this weight.

I wish you the best of luck whatever option you go for!

Edited February 15, 2016 by salubrino

[RJC5197 282]

THX

My Dr. just advised that RNY is the only way he could revise my VBG, due to unable to make a sleeve without causing spots with low blood flow. I am expecting to get surgery in about 6 week and exited to get rid of this bad and all the crap I have put up with.