I had to have my band removed due to a slip and at the time I was down to goal weight and my surgeon said I no longer qualified after saying I had the option for the sleeve. I had even started going through the process of getting the sleeve after I finished healing. I now live in another state and want to get my sleeve. Even though working out 5 times a week and eating healthy food I still have the issue I started with when I got my band in 2010....I'm always hungry and can't portion control. I have a food addiction. I've gained 60lbs in this year without my band. Has anyone had this kind of time between surgeries? What was your insurance experience like? I have the seminar to start the process here but I am so nervous that my insurance won't consider this a revision because it has been so long and they only allow one bariatrics surgery per lifetime.

I want to add that I lost 160lbs with my band. I loved my band and did great with the restriction so I know the sleeve would work for me as well.

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Edited March 20, 201610 yr by snclarno86

First, 160 lost pounds is an enormous victory!! Congratulations! A couple of comments: 1. I also think you would do well with the sleeve, however, you really need to work on the food addiction first. With the addiction in place, the sleeve will eventually stretch leaving you with a bigger stomach and appetite and gaining weight again. 2. You are in a very bad place with your insurance with the "one bariatrics surgery per lifetime" policy. Not real sure if you would be able to fight this or not. You may need to look into either financing or Mexico or both. Good luck to you. Let us know what happens. jake

My story is fairly similar to yours. I had my band out in November 2013 due to infection. It was a miserable last few months with the band, so I had NO interest in another WLS at that time. I slowly and consistently gained my weight back over the following 2 years. Despite all the exercise and diets, it came back.

I finally started to pursue the sleeve in November 2015 on my PCP's recommendation. I had to go through all the pre-op stuff again: psych eval, NUT visits, 3 month supervised diets.....

Because so much time had passed, I was not considered a revision. I had to start at square 1 and complete all the requirements, including the 2 year "obese" weight history required by my insurance company.

I was approved Feb 17, and had my sleeve March 14. No regrets!! It was worth jumping through the hoops (again).

This probably isn't exactly what you want to hear. I'd say your first step is to call your insurance company and see if they would consider you a revision because of the "once per lifetime" clause. Good Luck!!! Hope for the best!!