OK,

So I'm on my way to RNY land, believe or not passed the pscyh eval and on my way to surgery 6/11/09 for my revision. Will I be the only RNYer in Lap Band Land??? Nancy

Hi,

I subscribe to LBT but I had RNY. Last year I started my weight loss journey with The Lap Band in mind. My surgeon said I would do better with RNY since I used to eat too much sugar. I had RNY January 8, 2009. There is a great RNY forum called ThinnerTimes if you would rather use it instead of LBT.

I have had my share of post-surgical problems. A month out I started throwing up for no good reason. That turned out to be a stricture that had to be blown open. The doctor found two ulcers when he did the endoscopy and had to biopsy those. They turned out to be benign so that's a good thing. I will be taking an ulcer drug for a couple of months. My tastes have changed, eggs make me sick to my stomach, and there are times that I don't know what will make me sick and what won't.

On the plus side I have lost a lot of weight and given away nearly all of my "fat girl" clothing. It's fun shopping for new clothes. The compliments are great. The sleep apnea is gone! My husband no longer wakes me to tell me to stop snoring!!! Very soon I will be able to go off of my meds for high cholesterol and high triglycerides. My back problems will never go away completely but I have far less back pain.

Lisa

Thanks Grandmalisa,

I suppose I was just hoping since there was a rather large gang of sleevers here there might be some revisions to RNY too. I already belong to the other forums and that one you mentioned is very helpful. I went there a lot when my daughter had the RNY and had issues too like strictures etc... I hope things are better for your now with your ulcers etc.... How do you know you have an ulcer, just curious not a side effect we've dealt with in our household and hopefully won't. Take care, Nancy.:thumbup:

Hi Nanook,

Sorry to take so long in answering your question about the ulcers. When I was only four weeks out of surgery I began throwing up for no reason, even Water. The surgeon suspected a stricture so I was sent to a doctor for endoscopy. I was given something called "twilight sleep," which was actually pretty good stuff. I remember almost nothing from the procedure and it wore off quickly with no side affects. Anyway, they doped me up and put a scope down my throat and found the stricture, two ulcers, and something called "nodularities" which I later found out were caused by the ulcers.

The "nods" were biopsied and found to be benign. I think I know why without the doctor telling me how I got the ulcers. I used to smoke and I used a lot of ibuprofen prior to surgery, despite the fact my PCP kept telling me not to use either one. I quit smoking before surgery and I don't use NSAIDS anymore. I have been taking something called Aciphex for the ulcers. Before surgery I had a lot of GERD as well. I found out just recently that I had a hiatal hernia repair when I had the RNY. I don't know why I wasn't told when I was in the hospital about the second surgery! I found out last week when the final doctor bill came. I see my surgeon Thursday and believe me, I am going to ask him about that hiatal hernia bit!

Happy Mother's Day! Lisa

Thanks Lisa,

I like to be prepared for "anything' and how to avoid things like ulcers would be good. I hope you're doing much better now.

I had an endoscopy after my lapband was removed and they found small polyps but said they were probably caused by my gerd medication but weren't cancerous or anything. Is that sort of like the nods you were talking about. I forget the actual name but they were in the fundus of the stomach (I think) lol.

Anyway I too have been bad with NSAIDS since my removal and know to take Tylenol but it's never as effective but you've got to do what you've got to do right?

I think those hiatal hernias can be tricky sometimes they see them and sometimes they don't but that's good if yours was fixed.

Well have a very Happy Mothers Day, Nancy.

Definitely not the only RNYer here :eek:

I had my band removed on 1/5/09 and converted to RNY on 2/23/09.

So far I'm doing great (for me at least) I'm down 33 lbs in 12 weeks - which is more than I lost in 22 months with the Band! I'm down to a size 18 both top and bottom from a 30/32 top and 28 bottom! I feel wonderful :sad:

Count me in too, Nanook!

Had a HORRIBLE experience with the band (it almost killed me....it really did!), it was removed a year ago, and at the same time I had a RNY.

I have since lost 100 pounds exactly, and I am at my very perfect weight. I have had a few complications; stricture and ulcer, but they are coming under control.

As time goes on, I think there will be many more who have "revised"......either to RNY or perhaps the sleeve.....

HH

Thanks all,

It's a small group but still a group!

I am considering it if it's an option that the insurance company will pay for.

Like someone previously said, I like sugar WAY too much and that's some of my issue w/myself plus i've gotten horrible acid reflux and a hernia so i can't make my band tighter to help me lose weight which there goes the purpose of the band...

can i ask what made your decision to do the rny rather than the sleeve?

I think if I had done well with the band then the sleeve would have been a good choice for me. I also don't have the cash to fork out on my own for my surgery and need my insurance to cover it. I have faith in my surgeon and not in the lap band for me and his group only does lap band or RNY. I like being within an hour's drive of my surgeon or his hospital so that if there were to be a complication I could get to a place that could deal with the issues. Also my daughter had RNY a year ago so I know what to expect and to always expect the unexpected. She's done well and I hope to be nearly as successful as she has been. Good luck to you Nancy.

The sleeve is a good choice for many. But not all. I'm pretty happy with my RNY.

I think malabsorbtion is necessary for some types of people....it does play a role with some kinds of weight issues.

As much as the sleeve SOUNDS like a perfect solution, well, it's still pretty new. I know, they've been doing them for a long time, but in very, very small numbers. It's only recently "taken off". So, there are not the huge numbers of patients to draw statistics from....we really don't have any idea what the long-term outcome is, in large numbers. There WILL be some flaw, some point of common difficulty that will be realized eventually....there is in EVERY form of WLS.

One of the good things about the bypass is that they have doing them for 50 years, in very large numbers (in recent years), and we have more long-term stats with GB than any other WLS. The drs know pretty much what is going to happen short and long term with the majority of patients.

The great thing is that we have choices. And I suspect that in the next decade there will be even more choices, surgical and medication and who-knows-what-else. And, I do believe that they will ultimately perfect REVERSALS for many of these surgical procedures so that down the road, if something better surfaces, we can enjoy those options as well.

It's a pretty neat time to be alive, eh?:thumbup:

HH

Some good points Headhunter. I did worry a lot when my daughter was set on getting her RNY as she is only 20 but so far it's made only positive changes in her life and I hope in her future that there will be better ways of handling obesity and WLS problems. Who knows if sleeves become problematic maybe in the future they will be able to grow a new stomach!

I think malabsorbtion is necessary for some types of people....it does play a role with some kinds of weight issues.

But most surgeons find the their sleeve patients lose as much as their RnY patients. RnY isn't a sleeve plus malabsorption -- it's a very different surgery in many ways so you are comparing apples and oranges.

As much as the sleeve SOUNDS like a perfect solution, well, it's still pretty new. I know, they've been doing them for a long time, but in very, very small numbers.

My surgeon has done 1600 of them over an 8 year period. He has plenty of numbers -- at least enough to satisfy me. :wink2:

It's a pretty neat time to be alive, eh?:w00t:

Yep. Sometimes I say "I regret I didn't do this 20 years ago" but the reality is that bariatric surgery was nowhere near where it is now back then and the cost-benefit analysis would have not made sense to me back then.

Edited May 24, 200917 yr by MacMadame

Hey gals, I hang out in the pre-op richmond kaiser group. Last august I decided to do the lap band, but changed to RNY in december. You can check out my blog at rny2009.blogspot.com I am 3 days post op and feeling great (except I really want to chug a bottle of water lol)

Hope things continue to go well with you, mine is in less than two weeks and I just want to get it over with! Take care, Nancy.

I had my RNY surgery on May 27. I am still pretty bloated but have lost about 5 lbs since the surgery. I am looking forward to some RESULTS, that's for sure.

I feel like a complete wimp but I was SHOCKED :crying: by how much it hurt and by how bruised I am. My stomach is completely black - not lightly bruised, seriously BLACK. :wub: it's really the weirdest thing I've seen on my body so far! And I feel better and better every day but for a few days there, man I was wiped out!

But as I said, it has not yet been a week and I'm sure the best days are all ahead of me . . .

Good luck to you on your journey!

cheers,

Deb

Wow, I sound like a debbie downer - I'm so excited about mine really I am. I was just noticing a few things . . .