Sleeve Revision to Bypass

[SarahP1220 2]

Hey everyone,

My name is Sarah. I am 34 years old. I had VSG 13 years ago. Going from 335 pounds down to 180 in 18 months, I was considered a success. I have been through 2 pregnancies and as the years passed, the pounds crept back on. I am currently back to 290, and i suffer from SEVERE GERD daily. If I do not take heartburn medication several times a daily, i will be in agony and vomiting stomach acid despite what I choose to eat. I have had an endoscopy and I have a hiatial hernia and a lot of scar tissue. I am going to be converting my sleeve to a full gastric bypass in the upcoming month. During the procedure my hiatial hernia will be repaired and excess scar tissue removed. I am wanting to know if anyone else has had this conversion surgery. How did you feel afterward? How was the recovery and do you feel the conversion was it worth it? Who has gained weight back after sleeve and do you suffer from severe GERD and heartburn daily?

Thank you for any input

Sarah

[SleeveToBypass2023 1,845]

1 hour ago, SarahP1220 said:

Hey everyone,

My name is Sarah. I am 34 years old. I had VSG 13 years ago. Going from 335 pounds down to 180 in 18 months, I was considered a success. I have been through 2 pregnancies and as the years passed, the pounds crept back on. I am currently back to 290, and i suffer from SEVERE GERD daily. If I do not take heartburn medication several times a daily, i will be in agony and vomiting stomach acid despite what I choose to eat. I have had an endoscopy and I have a hiatial hernia and a lot of scar tissue. I am going to be converting my sleeve to a full gastric bypass in the upcoming month. During the procedure my hiatial hernia will be repaired and excess scar tissue removed. I am wanting to know if anyone else has had this conversion surgery. How did you feel afterward? How was the recovery and do you feel the conversion was it worth it? Who has gained weight back after sleeve and do you suffer from severe GERD and heartburn daily?

Thank you for any input

Sarah

I had it done, and honestly, the recovery was SO SO SO much easier with the bypass than the sleeve for me. I had a ton of complications and the revision was the best thing possible. My only regret is that I wish I had just done the bypass to begin with. Losing weight with a revision goes A LOT slower, and you don't lose nearly as much as you do with the initial surgery. But you'll feel so much better and be able to get back to living your life.

[JeremyS 8]

Going in for surgery on Monday for the exact same thing, I have Hiatal Hernia and severe GERD/Acid Reflux. I also gained back a bit of weight, so I'm definitely looking forward to having another chance at this.

[catwoman7 10,907]

I haven't had that revision, but a lot of people have - mostly because of reflux. I had reflux before I had surgery, so I went with bypass the first time.

[SarahP1220 2]

19 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

I haven't had that revision, but a lot of people have - mostly because of reflux. I had reflux before I had surgery, so I went with bypass the first time.

I so wish I would have gone with it the first time, but never suffered from reflux until afterwards

[catwoman7 10,907]

2 hours ago, SarahP1220 said:

I so wish I would have gone with it the first time, but never suffered from reflux until afterwards

yea - unfortunately, for those that don't have it before surgery, it's sort of a crap shoot.

[Tomo 1,142]

It was 100% worth it for me. Easier recovery for me as well. I feel normal, normal as in pre any WLS but with the added benefits of smaller meals. Hard to explain. No side effects except the common Constipation which is easy to treat daily with a tsp of Miralax in my coffee. Severe gerd was hell to live with day in day out, night in night out, year in year out. I finally got tired of acid coming up through my nose when I was finally asleep. In the end, no ppi helped no matter what I took.

I was told right away not to expect much weight loss. "Perhaps 40 lbs" . If your previous WLS was done properly, the weight loss will usually be much slower after a revision. I did it for the relief of the gerd. I really had no choice.

[SarahP1220 2]

I am one week out and a total of 23 lbs down already since my preop diet begain (17 days)

I can't believe I've already lost 23 lbs...