Hello,

I was preparing for the gastric sleeve when my pre-op EGD scope showed I have Barrett's esophagus, with dysplasia (pre-cancerous). My WLS surgeon said I need to treat the Barrett's first and then strongly suggested I have the Gastric Bypass instead of the sleeve because of several reasons -- GERD is usually eliminated with bypass and worse with sleeve (acid is the cause of the Barrett's), and the stomach is left if needed for esophageal cancer surgery (worst case scenario, obviously).

My first priority is getting the Barrett's treated. Then, in four to six weeks, having the WLS surgery, which is recommended to also treat Barrett's (from an obesity perspective).

So, I'd like to hear if there are other WLS patients like me with Barrett's and what happened. I'm anxious for info!

I'm a bit in shock since I got the news today. But I consider it a blessing because if I hadn't gotten the scope, I could have had a much worse diagnosis later.

My May 30 surgery is now postponed, obviously.

17 hours ago, animallover1247 said:

Yes I had to go without the PPI when I did my 2nd bravo test. Do you have the sleeve? I ask because when I had to go without my dexilant for two weeks, I was expecting my reflux didn't worsen but it didnt. Do you know why? Because bypass patients shouldn't take extended release meds. Dexilant is an ER medication. ER meds won't hurt a patient, they just offer little to no benefit because by the time the medine is released, its already been digested.

Please let me know what your Demeester score is. Make sure to ask your doctor because this will give you an idea of how severe your reflux is. A normal score is 14.72 or below. Mine was 84.4.

Yes I have the sleeve and the burning is bad, I have been eating tums like candy. Wonder why they make us go a week without it?

16 hours ago, summerset said:

So sorry you're still suffering from reflux this much. Did they offer you any other therapy option by now despite converting to RNY?

May I ask why you're doing this test? I thought it was already clear that you have severe acidic reflux?

The meds control the reflux as far as acid coming up through my nose and mouth. I really don't feel like I am suffering aside from not being on my meds.

I went and seen the bariatric NP and she sent me in for a upper GI barium swallow. I reflux while drinking. They say my esophagus is working slow and that is why I have always felt like something is stuck or trying to stick. I guess I don't see how RNY will make my esophagus work correctly ?

2 hours ago, Tracyringo said:

They say my esophagus is working slow and that is why I have always felt like something is stuck or trying to stick. I guess I don't see how RNY will make my esophagus work correctly ?

I haven't seen any pictures so I don't know how severe it is or how slow the peristaltic wave is. You don't have achalasia, do you?

I can remember I had a horribly slow peristaltic wave when I still had my lap band and the esophagus was dilated as well. Luckily the esophagus is at a normal caliber again and peristaltic wave is normal.

8 hours ago, Tracyringo said:

Yes I have the sleeve and the burning is bad, I have been eating tums like candy. Wonder why they make us go a week without it?

They want to see how bad your reflux is without being on the medication. I personally feel like if you have reflux before getting the sleeve, they should do the bravo testing to see how bad it is so the surgeon can make a decision as to what surgery to recommend. Then again if they have to convert, that's more money for them!! They can also do the tests while you are on the meds. My last test was on the medication. The purpose in this is to see how well the medicine is working. Did you have reflux before having the sleeve?

Edited March 6, 20206 yr by animallover1247
Added a sentence

6 hours ago, animallover1247 said:

They want to see how bad your reflux is without being on the medication. I personally feel like if you have reflux before getting the sleeve, they should do the bravo testing to see how bad it is so the surgeon can make a decision as to what surgery to recommend. Then again if they have to convert, that's more money for them!! They can also do the tests while you are on the meds. My last test was on the medication. The purpose in this is to see how well the medicine is working. Did you have reflux before having the sleeve?

I had heartburn, but this runs in my family and I told them so. I have a cousin with Barrets and my Aunt has reflux and is on Dexilant along with countless others in my family. Most are all normal weight and I don't see them being told to have gastric by pass to fix it, as a matter of fact my Aunt is a NP and told me not to do it. I think the sleeve made it much worse and a lot quicker, but I don't know that I believe that a by pass will make it better since this is something that runs in my family. I could be wrong and only time will tell.

I had rny 1999. Had a hiatal hernia repaired during bypass. About 5 years go by reflux gerd started again. I've had the problem to this day. Good luck.

On 3/6/2020 at 8:06 PM, sharicagle86 said:

I had rny 1999. Had a hiatal hernia repaired during bypass. About 5 years go by reflux gerd started again. I've had the problem to this day. Good luck.

Are you taking a PPI ? If so. is it helping ?

On 3/9/2020 at 10:13 AM, Tracyringo said:

Are you taking a PPI ? If so. is it helping ?

Yes I've been taking 40 mg of Omeprazole daily. Now doctor wants me to cut back because of long term effects of it. So I'm trying that.

On 03/05/2020 at 08:31, animallover1247 said:

Dr gabbard at Cleveland clinic said there are no other options for me because the valve was cut when my surgeon did the heller myotomy and there's no treatment for the valve. So I have to live with constant reflux the rest of my life. I'm only 47.

Oh no I'm finished with my testing. I was just letting you know when what I had to do when I did have the testing

Doesn’t this mean you have a malpractice suit against the surgeon? If I am understanding this, he mistakenly cut a valve that he shouldn’t have? I’m so sorry.