Karunch

I had to call my insurance company (Keystone Health Plan East) for something and I figured that I would ask about revision surgery while I was on the phone with them. Turns out that the insurance company is telling me that my policy specifically states that bariatric surgery is a once in a lifetime thing, and that they would not cover revision surgery. Of course I couldn't have found that out BEFORE agonizing over the decision to have revision surgery for months. But apparently there might still be hope. My surgeons office is going to officially submit everything to the insurance company, and when it is denied we can then start the process of appealing their decision. Has anyone ever had any luck getting surgery approved on appeal, even if your insurance policy states it's only covered once?

I recently have been having issues with GERD again and had an upper endoscopy that discovered that I have gastritis and esophagitis. I wasn't aware that GERD could be a reason not to have the sleave. I guess I will need to bring this up to my surgeons office at my next appointment.

Just read through all the posts in this discussion, and I'm glad that I'm not the only person going through something like this. When I had told my Mom that I was looking into revision surgery a few months ago she was anything but supportive. According to her I should be able to lose weight on my own if I really tried, I just need to go to the gym and exercise more, I'm just looking for another a quick fix, The band didn't work so this probably won't either, etc. Now that I actually have made up my mind to have the band taken out and revise to the VSG, I'm thinking that I'm probably just not going to tell her until after the fact. I've kept off 75 lbs with the band, but I still need to lose 125 or so more. I'm not getting any younger (turning 35 this summer) and I need to get healthier, so I need to do something. I've decided my health is more important then any issues my relatives may or may not have about surgery.

Hello everyone, my name is David and I'm from the suburbs of Philly. I had Realize Band surgery 4 years ago and I have lost 90+ lbs, but I am going to revise to the VSG at the end of this year/beginning of 2015 (assuming that my insurance company approves the revision). Just figured I'd say hello.

Best of luck to you on your recovery and your journey with your sleeve..

You shouldn't feel like giving up. 28 lbs is a great start, especially with no fill in your band. The band is a tool that requires upkeep and maintenance (fills). Make sure that you keep going back to your surgeon for follow up visits, as it will take several fills to get to good restriction. And after a while your restriction will change and require another adjustment. It's important to keep moving/exercising and to follow the rules of the band (don't eat and drink together, etc).

Congratulations! 100 lbs is amazing. You lost that in just the 5 months since surgery? Regardless, 100 lbs is awesome. You're off to a great start!!!!

I've been having issues and at times I have little to no restriction, and then sometimes I have food get stuck after just a few bites. It's a bit frustrating. My band can hold 11 cc's, and right now it has 9 cc's of saline. Even though I'm most likely revising to the VSG, I'm thankful for having had the band put in. Without it I would never have been able to lose and maintain a loss of 90+ pounds over the past 4 years. I no longer have high blood pressure and I no longer have to take any medications. I just have reached a point where I know that I'm not getting any younger and I know that I need to do something else, as I still have over 100 more pounds to lose. Thus why I'm looking into revision surgery.

Hello everyone my name is David, I'm 34 and live in the Philly burbs. I had joined this website years ago when I was researching surgery, but I never wound up using the forums. I had the Realize Band placed 4 years ago back on 8/24/2010 & I started at 379 lbs and I ended up losing 100 lbs the first year. The past 3 years my weight has yo-yo'd up and down a bit, but for the most part I've stayed in the 280 - 290 lbs range. While I'm very happy to have maintained around a 90 lbs weight loss, I still have at least 100 lbs more to go so I'm thinking of revising to the VSG. When I was first looking into bariatric surgery the surgeon of course was recommending the DS or the RNY for me because of the amount of weight that I needed to lose. For years and years I've suffered with tons of GI/stomach issues, including Rapid Gastric Emptying/Gastric Dumping, so the idea of getting my insides rerouted and changed was not appealing to me (and it still isn't, actually). Since I already was suffering from dumping before any type of bariatric surgery, I most certainly did not want to have bypass surgery in which one of the side effects could be dumping syndrome. So I decided on the band at that point, and it also is why I'm not considering a revision to one of the bypass surgeries now either. As of right now I've been maintaining around a 40% loss of excess body weight which my surgeon says is a good result for the band. I currently have around 9 cc's in my band, so there isn't too much more that can be added. A majority of the time I have little to no restriction with my band, while sometimes I eat just a few bites and food gets stuck. The inconsistency of the restriction is driving me crazy. I just went and spoke to my surgeon this past week and I discussed revision to VSG and what I need to do to start the process. Pending insurance approval from Keystone Health Plant East for the revision, I am hoping to have the band taken out and be revised to the VSG sometime in December or January. The surgeon tells me that he will most likely do it as one surgery, but he of course will not know for sure until he goes in and removes the band to decide if it can be done at the same time. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and I look forward to reading about everyones weight loss journey.

I was 30 when I had the Realize Band put in 4 years ago back in August 2010. I lost 100 lbs the first year, and have maintained a loss of 90 lbs since then. I'm happy with the weight that I was able to lose and keep off, which I would not have been able to do without the band. I hope that the band works for you and you get the results you're looking for. I actually am thinking of revising to the VSG at this point, because it still have 100 more pounds to lose. And sorry I had to edit my post as my iPad is being temperamental and I accidentally hit post before I was done typing.