Hi all. I have had a lap band since 3/2009. Although I have maintained a 70 pound weight loss, the band has been progressively tightened to the point that now I have esophagus irritation so it has been determined to be "failed" and now I need it removed. I started my journey at 320 pounds, and now I am at 250. Goal weight 180 pounds. On Monday I head into surgery to have the band removed (it has been released for two months) and a gastric bypass performed. My question is how many that have has this procedure done were unable to do it in one surgery? The surgeon only gives it a 50/50 shot as apparently the underlying tissue associated with the band site may not support correctly creating the new pouch. I would really hate to have to do this in two separate surgeries several months apart, and apparently I won't know until I wake up how it turns out. All pre surgery checks including a barium swallow and an endoscopy all indicate the band is still properly placed, but apparently they have to be inside during the surgery to know for sure if there has been any erosion. Thanks in advance for any input!

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I had the same thing happen. But my doctor would not remove the lap band and then do roux en y at the same time. I had to wait three months in between. Just his personal preference because he said he likes to clean up any scar tissue that accumulates and give my belly time to heal. Good luck and hopefully it can be done In one shot for you!

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I was also given a 50/50 chance of one surgery. When my surgeon went in she discovered some scar tissue, but she took a bit more time and was able to do the surgery in one. I don't miss my band in the slightest!

I was lucky enough to have them done in one surgery. You will feel so much better with the RNY. Good luck to you.

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Thanks all. I was hoping for better odds than 50/50 as I am excited to get the bypass done and get rid of the band. However, I want it to work well so I guess I will just have to be patient and trust the surgeons call. I think I just hate the idea of waking up from anesthesia Monday afternoon and finding out I have to wait several more months to finally have the bypass done. And to be honest I don't want to give back the 70 pounds I have lost with the band once it is removed. I still remember what it was like to be able to put on 5 pounds/week without even feeling like I was over eating. So although I have hated the frequent "sticks" and adjustments to keep the band tuned, it has still allowed me to lose a significant amount of weight and I have gained the resultant health benefits of that loss.

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Thanks all. I was hoping for better odds than 50/50 as I am excited to get the bypass done and get rid of the band. However, I want it to work well so I guess I will just have to be patient and trust the surgeons call. I think I just hate the idea of waking up from anesthesia Monday afternoon and finding out I have to wait several more months to finally have the bypass done. And to be honest I don't want to give back the 70 pounds I have lost with the band once it is removed. I still remember what it was like to be able to put on 5 pounds/week without even feeling like I was over eating. So although I have hated the frequent "sticks" and adjustments to keep the band tuned, it has still allowed me to lose a significant amount of weight and I have gained the resultant health benefits of that loss.

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Yes be careful with overeating if the doc does it in two surgeries. I wasn't careful and gained back 20 lbs in the 3 months between surgeries. Good luck!!

Thanks nursedennise. For your surgery did you go into the OR for both procedures simultaneously or was it planned in advance for two separate procedures? Thanks again for the response.

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On 2/5/2017 at 4:26 PM, Nrro said:

Thanks nursedennise. For your surgery did you go into the OR for both procedures simultaneously or was it planned in advance for two separate procedures? Thanks again for the response.

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Hi. They were both scheduled separately. I had my lap band removed first then doc made sure the roux en y would be covered before scheduling it. And luckily I did not have to redo nut or psychiatrist counseling.

I am having my band out on Monday and revision to bypass at the same time. It sounds like I had similar issues. My surgeon will do bypass at the same time but said he would not do sleeve at the same time. He recommended bypass for me due to having a band and due to history of reflux.

I had both done at the same time. My dr said it depends on scar tissue. He's done hundreds of revisions so he can tell by eyeballing it if the scar tissue is too thick to hold staples (then you get leaks). So if too thick my option was sleeve because they can cut around it or come back for a second surgery. Erosion is an automatic 2-procedure situation.

I was lucky. He said mine was pretty clean and got rny...my roommate ended up sleeved because he had adhesions etc.

So it turns out that they could do the revision in my case once they were in there and checked out the tissue. Surgery was done on 2/6/17 however due to some complications I was just released yesterday. Also Ended up getting a gout flair up starting yesterday that currently hurts more than any of the surgery locations. Supposed to get staples out tomorrow. I gained quite a bit of weight in the hospital which should come off pretty fast as it is excess fluid, then I can start actually tracking how the weight loss is doing.

Congrats on your surgery!

Awesome! Congrats