On my way to the hospital.I did not sleep all night.The day is finally here and I hopefully will by the grace of getting GOD I will come out of this surgery victorious and ready to spring ahead on my new improved life.I have suffered with the lap band since 2004 .I never came close to the amount of weight loss I needed.I have dealt with sliming,frequent trips to the bathroom to puke,carrying plastic bags to stop off on the side of the road to vomit.Obsessed with eating...what could I eat to avoid an episode....weight gain....constant pain and protrusion on or around the port area and acid reflux to no end.

I lived with it for so long because I was convinced I could make it work.Other health problems ensued DVT ,gallbladder,breast cancer,hysterectomy and PCOS.These were immediate needs that I attended to with band issues simultaneously.I really tried to make it work....All the weight has returned.

I need a reboot in my life and this is my new chapter ..."I want me back"!!!

Wish me luck...this site and everyone has really informed me with such useful information and shared experiences..I am grateful.

Almost there.....surgery scheduled for 11:30....psyched!

Oh and March is right around the corner.....just enough time for you to prepare....get it done for sure.

Thank you Sandy for sharing your experience, seriously I really appreciate it. I sure hope you keep getting better and better each day. How is your hunger now?

I am constantly hungry even as soon as I just eat my portioned meal, it's ridiculous. I am so over this band, I have been regretting it for many years now, also kept thinking I can make it work. Getting nervous what they would find me me as well when they go in to remove it. I still have 2 more months of supervised diet to go through and psych visit in February so looking at end of March insurance submittal... Feels like long ways away...

One other thing with work is I don't want people at work knowing what I am doing, I would share with them afterwards if I will start losing weight but I don't want their comments etc before hand... Is that weird?

Hope you have a pain free night!Natalie

Hello, UserName (I LOVE your handle!!!), my name is Sheri and I have also had revision surgery and I had a hard course. I got my band in 2007 as well, and I got mine in Mexico, basically shutting me out of aftercare everywhere. The closest band doctor to me was 50 miles away and he had a real problem seeing patients who had their surgery elsewhere, so he charged us $350 a visit, even if there was no fill performed, and that was after a $950 initial visit fee. My insurance didn't cover a single thing related to bariatrics, so that was not an option for me for years. I found a fill nurse who charged $75 a fill but they were just done in any ol' location that would allow them and they traveled, so if I got a fill that was too tight I had to wait until they were back in the vicinity to get an unfill. Nothing was ever done under fluoro. Needless to say, things did not go well for me post-op. The only reason I lost weight during the first year was because I couldn't keep anything down. Everything hurt when I ate except for tortilla chips with salsa and sour cream (no idea why!) and cream of chicken soup. After the first year I learned what soft carbs I could eat to make the hunger pangs stop but I dealt with my issues for 7 years before I finally got some insurance that would cover a revision surgery. By that time my radiographs were showing a tortuous esophagus and a slipped band. What my surgeon actually found, however, was that not only was my band out of place, it was actually slammed right up against my diaphragm and all of my dilated pouch was in my throat, not below my diaphragm. Things were so bunched up I apparently had nothing more than a pinhole for my "food" to go through, which is why everything hurt to eat. I had to have my surgery done in 2 phases; band removal last December and bypass in April. Although my course was rough, I do not regret it for a single second. I am not ravenously hungry any more, ever. I do get hungry if I don't eat, but it is not that out-of-control hunger I was having with the band. I was told that my weight loss would be slower due to being a revision patient, but so far I have lost 87 pounds since I started the pre-op diet 13 months ago and I feel amazing. I so wish I had just done bypass in 2007. If I had had any idea what a nightmare my life would become with the band I definitely would have gone that route, but no one knew back then just how high the failure rate would become. If you do decide to go through with revision surgery, you will be amazed at just how different bypass is. For me it has been as different as night and day from the band, and I really do feel like I can live this new lifestyle for the rest of my life! Good luck to you in your journey. This community is the best resource I have found for information and support!

87 pounds???!!!!wow ...fantastic.Congratulations!!!I need tips please....

I am exactly a week post op....sore as hell...tough revision surgery exactly as yours ...that band really did a job on me!Will try to go to work tomorrow....yes a week out....work....will play it by ear...

Ugh a flashback...remember how hungry you would get from the band....I was so obsessed...with food....ravenous...Trying to cheat puke ups....those days are definitely behind me...My poor tortured esophagus will hopefully heal....

Pink, what do you do that you have to go back to work so quickly? The healing process is SOOOOO Important, cant you swing another week? Im sure you can get a doctors note if that helps.

Just wanted to say that your story is extremely similar to mine, including the difficult surgery due to scar tissue.

Hope you are on the road to recovery. Watch yourself if you indeed have to go into work. I am now 5 weeks post op and 20lbs down from surgery weight ????

Edited January 4, 201610 yr by Coles85

Ladies you are awesome! Seriously I feel so blessed to have found you here, I feel like I am finally understood and I am not alone who has gone through it.

Pinkgirl,

I am the same way, I only had 3 people in my family that knew about the band, I want to keep it this way for the revision.... I will have to come up with some excuse for work, maybe I will just say I have to take care of some medial issues and just have my dr give me note etc. not sure yet how to handle it yet but I will deal with it once I will have it scheduled.

How are you doing today?

And wow 80+ lbs? That is awesome! Great job!

I am preparing myself that it may be a mess in there with scar tissue as well, when I had lap band surgery I also had hiatal hernia repair so I am sure my dr is going to have a hard time as well, but hope it will be worth it to go through it all... I've suffered with lap band for so long and it was all for nothing.

No....its freelance....gotta go....:-(

Hi all ,

Just registered on here , I am having Band to Mini bypass revision on Friday after 5 years of the hideous band and an absolute nightmare!

I am SO worried after reading some of the posts that the surgeon will say when I wake up that he couldn't do it due to scar tissue :-(

Is it more common than not for that to happen does anyone know ? Or not that often?

Thank you in advance :-)

Hi crazy,

Welcome! That is my fear as well, but when I talked to my surgeon about doing revision and I asked him if he does it in one surgery, he didn't seem very concerned... But maybe it depends on a surgeon, some prefer to do it in separate occasions from what I've read.

87 pounds???!!!!wow ...fantastic.Congratulations!!!I need tips please....

I am exactly a week post op....sore as hell...tough revision surgery exactly as yours ...that band really did a job on me!Will try to go to work tomorrow....yes a week out....work....will play it by ear...

Ugh a flashback...remember how hungry you would get from the band....I was so obsessed...with food....ravenous...Trying to cheat puke ups....those days are definitely behind me...My poor tortured esophagus will hopefully heal....

Wow, a week is really early! I got lucky and our department was outsourced 8 days before surgery, lol. Lost my job of 10 years but it was great to actually have time to adjust to everything. The main problem for me early on was fatigue. I was soooo tired. I thought that I was feeling hunger right around that time and I started asking questions. Turns out it was actually thirst! As long as I could stay hydrated I did not experience hunger.

I do think that since this was not my first weight loss surgery, I was prepared to go through all of the phases of the post-op diet, and I was able to stay on track with that. I found that some of the allowed foods did not sit well with me (eggs were hard at first) so I just put that food aside for a couple of months until I felt more healed. It was definitely a process of trial and error, but I really have changed my eating habits for the better and I don't even care for the sweets and carbs I used to crave. I live by the "Protein first" rule, and even if I am having a salad for a meal it is topped with protein. I did start taking B12 when my doctor suggested it, and that helped greatly with fatigue. I still take it daily. I am, however, off of my blood pressure meds and the early diabetic regimen I used to be on!

The one thing I struggle with is exercise. I know I need to get a good routine but I just haven't been able to make myself do it. I am about 20 pounds from goal now, though, and I know these last 20 pounds are not going to just lose themselves, lol.

I am so glad I decided to do the revision. It really has changed my life for the better. I am excited to see your progress, too! Remember that you will likely experience a stall in a couple of weeks that can last quite a while. Mine was two looooong weeks (almost 3!) but I knew it was just my body adjusting to all of the changes. Once that stall ended I started dropping weight very quickly. That's when things really get exciting!!

Ladies you are awesome! Seriously I feel so blessed to have found you here, I feel like I am finally understood and I am not alone who has gone through it.

Pinkgirl,

I am the same way, I only had 3 people in my family that knew about the band, I want to keep it this way for the revision.... I will have to come up with some excuse for work, maybe I will just say I have to take care of some medial issues and just have my dr give me note etc. not sure yet how to handle it yet but I will deal with it once I will have it scheduled.

How are you doing today?

And wow 80+ lbs? That is awesome! Great job!

I am preparing myself that it may be a mess in there with scar tissue as well, when I had lap band surgery I also had hiatal hernia repair so I am sure my dr is going to have a hard time as well, but hope it will be worth it to go through it all... I've suffered with lap band for so long and it was all for nothing.

The great thing is that surgeons who do revisions are very used to dealing with scar tissue! It's good that you have some time before your surgery because you will learn a lot in that time. Believe it or not, it will go by very fast! There is a lot to be done to be totally ready and you will be busy learning about the surgery and aftercare. This is an exciting time!

87 pounds???!!!!wow ...fantastic.Congratulations!!!I need tips please....

I am exactly a week post op....sore as hell...tough revision surgery exactly as yours ...that band really did a job on me!Will try to go to work tomorrow....yes a week out....work....will play it by ear...

Ugh a flashback...remember how hungry you would get from the band....I was so obsessed...with food....ravenous...Trying to cheat puke ups....those days are definitely behind me...My poor tortured esophagus will hopefully heal....

Wow, a week is really early! I got lucky and our department was outsourced 8 days before surgery, lol. Lost my job of 10 years but it was great to actually have time to adjust to everything. The main problem for me early on was fatigue. I was soooo tired. I thought that I was feeling hunger right around that time and I started asking questions. Turns out it was actually thirst! As long as I could stay hydrated I did not experience hunger.

I do think that since this was not my first weight loss surgery, I was prepared to go through all of the phases of the post-op diet, and I was able to stay on track with that. I found that some of the allowed foods did not sit well with me (eggs were hard at first) so I just put that food aside for a couple of months until I felt more healed. It was definitely a process of trial and error, but I really have changed my eating habits for the better and I don't even care for the sweets and carbs I used to crave. I live by the "Protein first" rule, and even if I am having a salad for a meal it is topped with protein. I did start taking B12 when my doctor suggested it, and that helped greatly with fatigue. I still take it daily. I am, however, off of my blood pressure meds and the early diabetic regimen I used to be on!

The one thing I struggle with is exercise. I know I need to get a good routine but I just haven't been able to make myself do it. I am about 20 pounds from goal now, though, and I know these last 20 pounds are not going to just lose themselves, lol.

I am so glad I decided to do the revision. It really has changed my life for the better. I am excited to see your progress, too! Remember that you will likely experience a stall in a couple of weeks that can last quite a while. Mine was two looooong weeks (almost 3!) but I knew it was just my body adjusting to all of the changes. Once that stall ended I started dropping weight very quickly. That's when things really get exciting!!

I agree....I am going to go in for a few hours and that's it....damn finances.

Outsourcing...ugh...different blog....

I think you have lost a great deal of weight..,doing really well.Exercise is ok now because you can now slowly move into it without all that extra weight.I will incorporate gradually walking...,not the marathon type.

Hi all ,

Just registered on here , I am having Band to Mini bypass revision on Friday after 5 years of the hideous band and an absolute nightmare!

I am SO worried after reading some of the posts that the surgeon will say when I wake up that he couldn't do it due to scar tissue :-(

Is it more common than not for that to happen does anyone know ? Or not that often?

Thank you in advance :-)

Hi all ,

Just registered on here , I am having Band to Mini bypass revision on Friday after 5 years of the hideous band and an absolute nightmare!

I am SO worried after reading some of the posts that the surgeon will say when I wake up that he couldn't do it due to scar tissue :-(

Is it more common than not for that to happen does anyone know ? Or not that often?

Thank you in advance :-)

Hello, Moo! Congratulations on your upcoming surgery!

My surgeon told me that all of us revisions have scar tissue that needs to be dealt with. Apparently they expect it! Sometimes it necessitates doing the surgery in 2 phases, but that will depend on your surgeon and the level of scarring. I was pretty bummed when I woke up from band removal to find out that I had not had bypass and would have to wait 4 months for that part, but my I completely trusted my surgeon. He said my innards were so beat up he just couldn't do the bypass at that time because there was an extremely high chance I would have complications if he did. I am very glad we waited. I felt much more comfortable knowing that my surgeon had my best interest in mind.

I had terrible scar tissue and if I look back I probably should of had 2 phase instead of all in one revision.

Rough

87 pounds???!!!!wow ...fantastic.Congratulations!!!I need tips please....

I am exactly a week post op....sore as hell...tough revision surgery exactly as yours ...that band really did a job on me!Will try to go to work tomorrow....yes a week out....work....will play it by ear...

Ugh a flashback...remember how hungry you would get from the band....I was so obsessed...with food....ravenous...Trying to cheat puke ups....those days are definitely behind me...My poor tortured esophagus will hopefully heal....

Wow, a week is really early! I got lucky and our department was outsourced 8 days before surgery, lol. Lost my job of 10 years but it was great to actually have time to adjust to everything. The main problem for me early on was fatigue. I was soooo tired. I thought that I was feeling hunger right around that time and I started asking questions. Turns out it was actually thirst! As long as I could stay hydrated I did not experience hunger.

I do think that since this was not my first weight loss surgery, I was prepared to go through all of the phases of the post-op diet, and I was able to stay on track with that. I found that some of the allowed foods did not sit well with me (eggs were hard at first) so I just put that food aside for a couple of months until I felt more healed. It was definitely a process of trial and error, but I really have changed my eating habits for the better and I don't even care for the sweets and carbs I used to crave. I live by the "Protein first" rule, and even if I am having a salad for a meal it is topped with protein. I did start taking B12 when my doctor suggested it, and that helped greatly with fatigue. I still take it daily. I am, however, off of my blood pressure meds and the early diabetic regimen I used to be on!

The one thing I struggle with is exercise. I know I need to get a good routine but I just haven't been able to make myself do it. I am about 20 pounds from goal now, though, and I know these last 20 pounds are not going to just lose themselves, lol.

I am so glad I decided to do the revision. It really has changed my life for the better. I am excited to see your progress, too! Remember that you will likely experience a stall in a couple of weeks that can last quite a while. Mine was two looooong weeks (almost 3!) but I knew it was just my body adjusting to all of the changes. Once that stall ended I started dropping weight very quickly. That's when things really get exciting!!

I agree....I am going to go in for a few hours and that's it....damn finances.

Outsourcing...ugh...different blog....

I think you have lost a great deal of weight..,doing really well.Exercise is ok now because you can now slowly move into it without all that extra weight.I will incorporate gradually walking...,not the marathon type.

That's my plan, too! I have a bad back and was actually receiving steroid injections prior to surgery, so I still have a fear that I am going to throw my back out. At this point it is more of an excuse than an actual fear, though. I have not had a single episode since surgery! What I need to do is walk. I do walk more than I used to, and I am up and moving a LOT more than I used to be, but the next step for me is to add an actual routine into my daily regimen. I am really hoping that I can muster up the motivation I need to get that started. Swimsuit season is right around the corner. Woot!

Yep, I was a medical transcriptionist for my local hospital for 10 years. We got a new manager who had zero experience with transcription, so she got rid of us. Now I am back in school and working on my Bachelor's in Business so I will have some skills that will not be outdated anytime soon.