I had my original sleeve done June/2013. I lost 90 pounds and I gave birth to my baby girl Oct/2015 I have since gained 50 pounds back total. I went back to my initial surgeon's office and was seen by his PA. I spoke to him about how I wasn't feeling very much restriction and that after doing the 5 day pouch test it was not any better. His solution was phentermine. I followed it and I lost maybe 5-7 pounds but regained as soon as I stopped taking them. I have since spoken with a new bariatric group and the physician is wonderful, he has had me do an upper GI which has allowed him to see that I no longer have a "sleeve". This would explain the feeling of no restriction. He has advised that he would recommend either resleeving me or converting me to RNY.

Has anyone been resleeved? What have your results been like? I am not too fond of the idea of RNY for malnutrition/malabsorption issues that I have seen friends dealing with.

They're performed but by far not always insurance covered.
Did you visit your dietician already?

Yes, they keep telling me all is well despite the lack of weight loss :/

No suggestion how to maybe fix it?

Have you contacted your insurance company or looked in your benefits guide? I have ChampVA and in my benefits guide there is information on revisional surgery that indicates if you are not within 10% of your goal weight.... however I am sure it is more to it than that lol. I remember reading a while ago that someone asked their doctor to perform an endoscopy or something to see the size of the stomach because the restriction was not existent after surgery.

Are you feeling restriction and just not losing or no restriction and not losing? If doctor isn’t willing to help I would seek a second opinion as well.

1 hour ago, summerset said:

No suggestion how to maybe fix it?

No, they just continue to try to reassure me it’s probably nothing and they’ll keep an eye on it...I tell them it doesn’t feel like I’ve ever had surgery at all-in the beginning it did, but a couple weeks into the liquid post-op diet I didn’t feel like anything was different.

Wow, that’s really good to know-I hadn’t even thought of that, but will most definitely be asking for a face to face appointment with the surgeon when I go back(I am always seeing the NP, only saw him once after surgery). I had a tough time with the Nurse Practitioner pre-op because she said I wouldn’t be successful with sleeve and had gotten bypass approval from my insurance company despite the plans from start being to have sleeve. I had to wait a couple months for them to change it to sleeve and explain why...seems shady but it’s probably just me.

Thanks so very much though, really - the info you guys provided has not only given me some avenues to try, I’ve gotten some of my hope back that I really have struggled with losing. Thanks a mint! ?

Edited March 24, 20206 yr by DeeNihle
Addition

4 hours ago, summerset said:

No suggestion how to maybe fix it?

No, they keep telling me that it will ‘work itself out’... I am trying everything I can.

Is there the possibility to get a second opinion and advise from another dietician?

I haven’t thought of that before; would it be appropriate to get a dietitian second opinion or a bariatric surgical 2nd opinion?

Of course. Your current team is obviously not very helpful.

On 4/17/2017 at 8:54 PM, XiHoney_Doll3 said:

I had my original sleeve done June/2013. I lost 90 pounds and I gave birth to my baby girl Oct/2015 I have since gained 50 pounds back total. I went back to my initial surgeon's office and was seen by his PA. I spoke to him about how I wasn't feeling very much restriction and that after doing the 5 day pouch test it was not any better. His solution was phentermine. I followed it and I lost maybe 5-7 pounds but regained as soon as I stopped taking them. I have since spoken with a new bariatric group and the physician is wonderful, he has had me do an upper GI which has allowed him to see that I no longer have a "sleeve". This would explain the feeling of no restriction. He has advised that he would recommend either resleeving me or converting me to RNY.

Has anyone been resleeved? What have your results been like? I am not too fond of the idea of RNY for malnutrition/malabsorption issues that I have seen friends dealing with.

I had my sleeve done in Feb 2017, but after the first year where I lost 100 pounds, I regained about 60. I tried doing pouch resets but they didn't last. I could eat a full plate of food, not as much as I once did (because let's be honest, I probably could eat 2 plates of food), but certainly a lot more than anyone who had had the sleeve should have been able to eat - the restriction was really not there for me. So just over 3 weeks ago I had a revision to RNY (long-limbed). My surgeon and I discussed the possibilities and this was his recommendation based on his experience as a surgeon:

• People who re-sleeved had the lowest amount of weight loss after a revision
• People who had a mini gastric bypass (which basically keeps the sleeve but adds a long-limbed bypass - usually about 100-150cm) do great in terms of weight loss, but at least 10% will suffer from GERD afterwards, which will require another surgery
• People who revised from sleeve to a standard RNY (which is a short-limbed bypass) didn't lose as much weight overall with that procedure
• People who revised from sleeve to a standard RNY but with a long-limbed bypass did the best with weight-loss and without the complications of developing GERD. So I went with this option (not only because of this, but because of other gastro-intestinal issues I have).

In any event, I would talk to your surgeon about what you want to achieve and what is the best option for you, your sleeve, and what your own particular health needs are.

Thanks-very helpful and sounds like a great option!


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So your AL and BPL are switched around as well?