The.new.g

The reason they ask you to bring it to the hospital is not for the surgery but for post op. recent studies have shown that patients with sleep apnea who receive narcotics are at higher risk of post operative problems such as respiratory distress and cardiac events. This risk is minimized by using prescribed cpap post operatively.

I don't know why your doctor wants another endoscopy because I don't know what exactly he is looking for, but I can help a little. I am a CRNA (nurse anesthetist) and I do a lot of propofol sedation/IV general anesthesia for endoscopes. The difference between the two for your doctor is that when you are more heavily anesthetised and relaxed, it is much easier for him to see what he is looking for. I don't know of literature on endoscopy, but I do know that it makes a big difference in polyp detection rates during colonoscopy and I am sure it does for endoscopy as well. You may or may not require a breathing tube during the procedure. Either way, it will be comfortable for you. I hope that helps a bit.

I had the same problem with Aetna. Even though i met the criteria for my revision, they kept denying it until my BMI was back over 40. A tip, make sure your height isn't too high in your chart. If they rounded up, ask them to round down. (I'm 5'3.5", I usually state 5'4" but asked them to record it as 5'3".). Good luck.

You need to be seen. Your PCP will likely refer you to the ED. If you had one of your symptoms or maybe 2, it could probably be handled on an outpatient basis, but with all of your symptoms you should be evaluated for peritonitis. It can get worse very quickly and it is not risking your health, especially since you have young kids who depend on you. Good luck.

Call your surgeon or whomever is on call for him now. Don't wait.

I am about 10 days post revision. I was banded in 2007. I got pregnant in 2010. My band was working at that point. I had a partial infill at the beginning of the pregnancy and just kept it at that level throughout. Obviously my experience isn't the same as with a sleeve pregnancy, but I can tell you that between the band and the baby, by the 3rd trimester I could barely eat. There just wasn't any room. Luckily my daughter was growing fine so we just continued along and she was born very healthy. But I think if I am lucky enough to get pregnant once more, it could be a real challenge to get enough nutrition. It seems that people do it, though. Have you checked out the pregnancy board here? For me, I think my pregnancy was where my band malfunctioned--either during that 3rd trimester when I was so tight, or perhaps during labor, which was unusually fast and strong for a first baby. My band never worked after my pregnancy. After my surgery my surgeon told me the buckle was unclasped and the band was just dangling. He had never seen that before. I wouldn't have had to worry about something like that with a sleeve. I had a much better pregnancy than I would have if I was still morbidly obese then. Good luck!

I would make sure they give you a scopolamine patch at the hospital. Nausea can be a killer, and I can only imagine how nauseated I would have been if I had to go on a plane right after surgery. The patch is good for 3 days, it might help and won't hurt.

I have Aetna. Mine was a revision, band to sleeve. Their policy specifically states that to qualify for revision I needed to have had lost less than 50% EBW on prior WLS and it had to be more than 2 years prior. I fully qualified according to the policy but they denied me for being under a BMI of 40 anyway. We submitted appeals twice, the second appeal I was at BMI 40 and they approved it.

I'm in inner NE (laurelhurst)...had band to sleeve revision on 12/29 at OHSU where i work. Dr Deveney was wonderful. Everyone was great. He told me to expect 2 days in the hospital but I went home the next day. I was banded at good Sam 6 years ago...my surgeon then is no longer in the practice but I had a lot of follow up with Emma Patterson. She is wonderful and I would have gone back to her but our insurance wouldn't cover it. My experience at OHSU was great, even though I was nervous about having this kind of surgery as staff.

I am 4 days post op band-to-sleeve revision today. I went back and looked at my wls blog from 2007 when I was banded. I am noticing that I am hungry this time, but not as much as last time. I'm about the same level of soreness (not really pain unless I do something wrong). I do spend less time feeling hungry and worrying about how I'm going to deal with hunger than with the band. One big difference: at this point with the band I had lost 8 lbs, and held at about 12 lbs until my first fill. With the sleeve, I'm down 16 lbs so far. The biggest difference is psychological. I've been through something similar before, so I know the discomfort and inconvenience is all temporary. I didn't really have any "food funerals" because I know I will get to enjoy the things I love again in the future, just more like a normal person hopefully. So I guess overall, there are a lot of similarities and a lot of differences. Anyone else notice any of this? I am especially surprised that the weight loss is already faster even though I am on essentially the same diet.

I am on the bare minimum of caffeine to keep the caffeine migraine away...about 1/4 cup in the morning. Somehow I wasn't prepared for no caffeine after surgery, not sure how I missed that one! LOL. But without just a little bit, I am miserable.

Those are awesome, thanks for sharing!

I'm only 4 days post op from my revision, but I remember this happening with my band. I don't know if this is an option for you, but I saw some posts recently here from people who got a FitBit, and I ordered one. It seems like it would be motivating to have something that tracks all your movement and then encourages you to do just a little more. I also checked out a couple similar ones on Amazon...whatever you like, but it seems like something that would help motivate me, maybe it would help you too? Just a thought! You are working hard...it sounds like you did pretty darn well through the holidays with all that you have going on, celebrate that!

I think you hit upon the answer--more fluids and stool softener. That is a long time to go without a bowel movement and you definitely don't want it to get any worse. More walking will help too. You can add some miralax to your water, it will help. I really struggle with getting enough fluids too--water is the least comfortable thing to swallow--but you can't get that dehydrated. Take the day off and get your belly back in line! good luck

Band to sleeve revision 12/29, down 12 lbs. start wt 228 today 216.

My doc ok's liquid Tylenol. You should be fine.

I understand your thinking about having to have a major complication to have a revision. I was banded in 2007. After my pregnancy in 2010 my band never worked for me again. The upper GI didn't show any problems, I had a little bit of reflux but not much. The only indication for revision for me was that I had a large regain. I met Aetna's criteria for revision but they still denied it; they only reversed their decision when my BMI ended up back over 40. I had my revision on Saturday 12/29 and my surgeon found that the buckle on my lapband was unclasped and the band was loose on my stomach, hence the weight regain despite completely filling the band. So I guess my point is that this would be a major complication of the band since it was a mechanical failure, but no one was able to find it until they did the surgery. Obviously, I'm glad I had the revision now! Good luck to you.

Hey everyone, happy New Year's Eve! Just wanted to introduce myself. I had my lap band to sleeve revision on 12/29 and was discharged yesterday. I was banded in 2007, did pretty well losing 70 lbs in about 18 months. I regained a little bit, and then got pregnant. Pregnancy went fine but had lots of reflux through the whole pregnancy and could barely eat by the end due to fullness. After I had my daughter, the band was never the same, just did not work. It took 2 appeals to get my insurance to approve my revision, but I finally had surgery and my surgeon found that the band was actually unbuckled and completely loose. So, I'm happy to be sleeved and done with the lap band! I've had minimal pain, only used 1 dose of dilaudid on my PCA the whole time, and haven't filled my oxycodone script at all. The thing that really bothered me post op was nausea, the first night I had terrible nausea. It is getting better but still there a lot. It was a bit uncomfortable to sleep last night, but other than that and a little bloating, I feel pretty good. Thanks all.

Hi everyone! Just saying hi, I'm new here. I was banded in March 2007 and did well for the first couple years, until my pregnancy in 2010. After I had my baby, the band was never the same. I had fills up to the maximum but never felt any different or stopped gaining weight. Finally I decided to pursue revision to sleeve. It took 2 appeal letters but I finally got my insurance approval and my revision was on 12/29. My surgeon told me that my band was actually unbuckled and loose on my stomach, so there was no restriction at all. No wonder it didn't work! I suspect that something went wrong during my pregnancy--I had reflux the whole time, which I had never had before, and in my last trimester I could barely eat due to the pressure from the baby. Anyway, I am back home recuperating now. I've had minimal pain, mostly just soreness, but had a lot of nausea initially and that is still slowly subsiding. I also feel pretty hungry on the Stage 2 diet, but I expected that. Thanks for being here!

Thank you!

This is a good question. In all my prep for my surgery (band to sleeve revision) I missed the part about no caffeine...I had the worst caffeine withdrawal headache post op. I would have weaned myself off if I knew I wouldn't be able to have any. I am actually drinking a little coffee today, just enough to make the headache go away (a couple ounces). I was not a big Starbucks drinker, didn't do lots of mochas or lattes, I just like a cup of coffee in the morning.

Thanks Annabelle! Good luck to you! I hope 2013 is better for all of us!

I had similar reasons to all of the above. I know a lot of people who have had RNY, and I could not think of anyone who did not have significant regain at about 5 years out. I felt that if I was going to go through all the long term complications of RNY, I wanted some better assurance that my success would be long-term. I felt that the sleeve has similar weight loss outcomes, if a bit slower, and fewer malabsorption issues. (The way my surgeon described it to me is that it is mostly restrictive with a little malabsorption because of the loss of stomach enzymes that help digest certain nutrients. Not as much the kind of malabsorption that helps weight loss, but the kind that causes vitamin malabsorption.) Also, the sleeve could easily be converted to RNY or DS if it was necessary--not that I want any more surgery, but that is out there if for some reason I can't do well with a sleeve. I think since I did do well initially with a band that this is a good choice for me.

Mine was done in a single procedure. I was warned that it might have to be 2 but my surgeon was able to do it in 1.