Search the Community

Hey All... I'm Jacee and this is my story. I am 23, female and living in Australia. In 2008 I underwent Lapband surgery and went from (127kgs) 275lbs to (70kgs) 150lbs. I was initially very successful and I loved my band. In early 2010 I started suffering for undiagnosed gallstones, which meant that in turn my Lapband had to be loosened from unrelentless vomiting. My gallbladder was removed in December 2010 and by then I'd gained back (20kgs) 45lbs. In early 2011 I suffered from a Lapband slip and my surgeon recommended I undergo RNY Bypass. At first it was a very daunting decision that I wasn't ready to make, but within a month I changed my mind. My codependency to food had returned due to a constant feeling of hunger and an urge to eat after being so severely restricted for 3yrs. Our health system in Australia is very different to the US. We do have public health provided by our tax dollars, but it is a VERY LONG wait for elective surgery. When I was 20 and got my Lapband I didn't have private health, so I had 2 options - wait on the public waiting list - 3-5yrs or pay for outright. So I took the second option and $12,000 later I had a Lapband. When my Lapband slipped in 2011 I didn't have private health cover available to cover the RNY bypass, and my surgeon told me without private health he could only put me on his public wait list for revised surgery. It's been 10months wait now and I go in for surgery in under 4 weeks. I currently weigh close to 140kgs which is over 300lbs. My BMI is 49, nearly 50. The last 10months of my life have been devastating emotionally and physically. I have felt and lived success, but here I am now, bigger than I've ever been, ready to start all over. I'm literally terrified, but at the same time, I am extremely eager to get my "restriction" back. To feel healthy, happy and confident again. I'd love for my husband to know thin me, to feel beautiful for him. I also want him to know that in the next few years I'm going to be healthy enough to give him the family he so eagerly desires. I can't wait to fit into my AU size 12 - US size 8 - clothes again that are piled in boxes in my cupboard. I have so much to strive towards because I've been there, I've felt success, and now I want in more than ever. I wish you all luck and plenty of love on your journeys, I'd love to hear other stories. My surgery is in Brisbane Australia on the 25th of May 2012. All the best, Jacee

My BMI is 57, the last time I was weighed I tipped the scale at 409, and I'm 5'11". I decided to do the sleeve after doing lots of research. I have talked with several people who have lost over 200 lbs with just the sleeve. I have talked to those who had the bypass revision after being sleeved. I made the personal choice to go with the sleeve because I fear some of the effects of the bypass. If I need to do it in the future, it will still be a possibility, but I would like to try without the need of rerouting my gastric system.

After 8 years with a moderately successful lapband I am revising to RNY Monday morning. I've been painfully aware of my port for months now and can't wait to have it removed. I am praying that no lasting damage has been done and all goes smoothly. I know many are in my situation so I will update my progress next week - wish me luck!

Good morning everyone, My name is Candice, I am 38 married to a wonderful man of 18 years and mother of 4 wonderful daughters. Okay, here is my weight loss story. I had a gastric bypass back in Sept 2003 and lost a total of 150lbs..But started having a lot of heath issues that weren't related to my surgery and was placed on 15 different medicines and 11 were steroids. So after dealing with my weight and trying to loss the weight without much success, I decided to find a doctor to help me out. After many test and all, my doctor found out that my stomach had went from a size of a pecan to the size of a lemon....So we decided that a revision of my first gastric bypass would be the best. I starting weight was my most high of 340( my weight went up and down over the past year), on surgery date I was sitting at 331. Now I am 3 weeks post op I am weighting in at 306...I am so proud of myself and know that this is my second chance and having a healthy life. I am truly bless to be at this point in my life and knowing that I have a wonderful support group at home makes it worthwhile.

Hello Everyone, I was banded in October of 2009, I have never really had restriction, got stuck alot but never that sweet spot I read about. I teach zumba 3 times a week and the only time I had great weight loss was the two week post op of liquids only. I do realize that no matter how much you excercise a bad diet or eating will not make it a difference, and this is where I fell. I was burning 5K calories a week and felt like I could eat what I wanted, I didnt gain but I didnt lose , I kep losing the same 10 lbs over the last 3 years. Last year I started getting really bad acid reflux but at first I didnt go back to the doctor because I felt like a failure in the weight loss department. Part of my issue is menopause as well, weight is the only symptom I have nothing else. Well I got sick in January and when throwing up the band was acting funny, went to the doctor and I had esophogus dialition and they had to unfill my entire band. WOW the hunger pains I felt were like are you kidding me? My first thought was take it out and I'll do it on my own with weight watchers. Then as I was talking to the physicians assistant who I trust and has been incredible during this journey told me that although my band didnt work as it was suppose to that it was still doing something, and that if I didn't revise I would probably gain 10 lbs a month until my body normalized, around 6 months, and when she said it I didn't believe her but since getting unfilled and the hunger I feel I do now. I also started weight watchers as I think its a good foundation to eating after the revision, so if I'm ahead of the ball this time the more the better. Its also helping me to lose my ten pounds before surgery. and its great espeically with the apps on my phone, and its true when you logging what you eat, you do realize when you really are hunger or just thirsty or doing something out of habit. My surgery tentatively is for May 2, I have BCBS federal and they require 3 months weight classes, well it seems that weight watchers classifies so my billing admin is going to try to submit next week since April will make 3 months going and weight watchers is weekly. \ My question is to the board, how do you feel when you awake from a revision? How are you at getting around? Whats the best Protein poweder? I have a realize band so I dont know if that makes a difference. When I had my lapband day 4 I walking 4 miles at the park, so I"m just trying to get my head around it and try and be as prepared as possible. ANy hints, info you can provide would be helpful and appreciated.

that's odd. because according to the legions of pro-sleeve propagandists on this website, the sleeve works just as well as RNY, and won't kill you. oh well, they must be wrong or something. sounds like you need the malabsorptive component of RNY. that's where the magic happens. congrats on your choice to revise. i'm sure you will hit your goal weight afterwards, if not more. don't worry about dumping. chances are you won't experience it at all, and if you do, it's easily controlled. best of luck brother.

band superior to sleeve? In 2016 very few surgeons would agree. To many don't work as expected, cause complications, are removed, or revised to sleeve or bypass. Many surgeons won't even do them anymore.

Ok, so I am Self-pay. I have narrowed my surgeon search down to two. Each is from a different surgical center, one provides BLIS coverage the other does not. I am torn because I like the place without the BLIS coverage more than the place that does provide it. Here are the specifics: 1) Their prices are very close to each other. 2) I called my health insurance provider and asked them their policy on self-pay procedures and the possibility of complications. The general jist is this - if you have a problem that requires additional surgery to fix, correct or otherwise revise the original self-pay procedure it will not be covered. If, however, you go the emergency room for dehydration and that is what they code - you are covered. If I later require gall bladder removal - covered. So still a huge risk if I have a leak, infection, or bleeding due to the VS procedure itself. 3) Both are within 30 mins of home - so no travel issues. 4) The place without BLIS does VSG as outpatient, you go home the same day and come back in the morning for iv fluids and leak testing. The other is an overnight stay. 5) They both have all of the certificates and awards, centers of excellence, etc. 6) Both have fans here at Bariatric Pal - saying the center is awesome, loved the people, loved the surgeon, etc. 7) I am terrified that I will have a complication and bankrupt my family. But I never have never had complications in the past Self-payers in the US - what have you done? Did you have BLIS? Did you make your decision based upon the availability of BLIS? Has anyone had a complication that BLIS paid for? How did it go? I thought I remembered a previous post where BLIS was difficult to work with but I couldn't find it again via the search....

I am sorry this is happening to you. I am guessing you are younger and not post menopausal. I did not reading about this issue early on and honestly you can adjust your diet but the deficiency may not be overcome solely through diet and supplements or infusions may be your only option outside of having a revision that changes your surgery so that more of the Iron from the food you eat is absorbed. So many think that malabsorbtion in bypass ends after a period time. I cannot find anything that confirms that, everything I have read states it will continue and that is why we are on Vitamins for the rest of our lives. I really hope that your doctor can find a solution that works for you and I hope that you feel better soon!

I had the revision done 5/4. My wounds are healing really well. Bruising around wounds has diminished to almost zero. Today i get the drain removed from my abdomen. The drain is a bit of a pain because you have to try to hide if you want to go anyplace but it doesn't hurt and it's actually kind of interesting seeing and tracking what comes out through it. I had my first touch of reflux yesterday and today (days 11 and 12). I'm staying at my folks' house because I was told not to drive and I hadn't expected that. So...I don't have all the foods here that I had gotten ahead of time. While here I've been doing 2 costco Protein shakes a day, 1 small can of V-8 (just because it tastes good and feels like real food), 1/2 cup of chicken broth (some days) and Water (sometimes Isopure Protein Water). I haven't felt hungry. I have felt extremely thirsty but my surgeon requires you to pour all intake into a one ounce medical cup and drink it over 15 minutes. I think I have the reflux because I got impatient yesterday and drank too much Soup too quickly. Sorry to be so wordy! I've been cooped up in my parents' house for 11 days and trying not to drive them crazy. As I related in an earlier post, I have a nasty virus or infection giving me earaches, sore throat, sore jaw, sore teeth. Something I got at the hospital and it isn't getting better so it skews my perception of this healing process a bit. There is definitely no comparison between band recovery and band to sleeve revision recovery. By this time after banding I was back at work and I was a firefighter. My surgeon this time around doesn't allow weight lifting until 4-6 weeks out, driving and stuff like vacuuming the floor until 2 weeks out.

I wasn't as successful with the band as i hoped I would be. I started at 272 in March 2001. It took me a YEAR to lose about 70# (30 of those was during the first 30 days as my surgeon had me do a liquid diet for 30 days!) I exercised, i really tried the best I could but I was hungry still, just in pain when I ate. My band and I did not get along well. i vomited alot. By late 2002 I was having serious problems. Who am I kidding, I was already sleeping in a sitting up position and other things to try to control the reflux. anyway, i had to have all fill removed and i regained big time. By 2004, I was well over 300#. my highest recorded was 332, but I think I weighed closer to 350 at one point. I battled it out for many years, bouncing between about 240 - 300 ish range. In 2011 I finally had the courage to revise and began the sleeve journey at 308. My lowest weight post sleeve was 140, but I am currently in the upper 150s... 3.5 years post revision.

Hi everyone! I had the lap band in 2015 and thought I would be completely different within a year. I initially started to lose weight but even at the beginning felt like I shouldn't be able to eat as much as I could. I was constantly hungry and felt like I was starving all the time. I had several adjustments and even got to the max allowement then had to have it drained because I couldn't even drink Water.. It was aweful! My heaviest weight was 289.7 and I didn't even realize it! I seen a picture of myself and had no idea who that person was. I am 5'8 and have always been told that I'm curvy and look "good" so it never occurred to me that I was actually that big since I carry my weight well. Don't get me wrong, I knew I was a big girl but still felt like I wasn't that bad. My horrible motto and cop out was, "You can fix chubby but you can't fix ugly!" How horrible right?? Smh.. Well, I had pain, brusing on my belly button and could no longer hold down real food. But let me tell you that chips and candy went down super easy. I ate the big Reece's cups everyday! I felt like a complete and total failure and started feeling like everyone who loves me was being nice to me and telling me I was beautiful because they knew my heart. I am currently 33 and was 17 when my beautiful mother died and 19 when my amazing father died. I raised my 2 brothers and 1 sister when that happened and worked 3 jobs to make sure we had a roof over our heads. I sang in a band for many years and always felt like the fat girl. I even had a miscarriage 5 years ago that devastated me to the core. I was tired, and tired of being tired. Last week, October 19th I changed my life!! I had the revision to sleeve!! Let me tell you the honest raw uncut truth... I NEVER EXPECTED THIS! My amazing, supportive fiancé got me a scale yesterday as a surprise. I almost felt like maybe my doctor didn't actually do the sleeve since I don't notice any changes. I went into surgery at 281.7 and I weighed myself this morning at 262.4!!!!! I AM IN AWE!! I go to the doctor today for a follow up and am honestly in pain (mostly super tenderness) and man oh man do I want a cheeseburger.. Lol.. But this has been all worth it! I know that if I stay focused, stay connected, stay honest and give my all.. I will have amazing results! This site has been so inspirational. I have literally been reading stuff all night!! Haha.. I had to tell everyone a part of my story and really stay accountable. Thank you for reading my extremely long story. I hope that someone out there can relate and feel encouraged. My new motto is, "Live the life that you want to live and live it well!" Bee Sent from my LGMS550 using the BariatricPal App

Thanks so much for the responses. I am learning from everyone. I need to let everyone know why I had the sleeve. I was looking at my second port change and my insurance wouldn't pay. It was going to be 7000. So I went to Mexico and had the revision plus sleeve for that amount. I didn't get enough information. I am a NP and my patients did well that is basically all I knew. I honestly not sure what I would have done if I had all my facts. I am losing weight. I have lost 20 pounds. My surgery is two months tomorrow. I am still hungry. I stopped my PPI and that was a mistake. I have restarted taking to see if that will help. I am feeling a restriction now but feel like I have I have eaten too much. Do you know a food diary that include protein, carbs and calories? My facilitator want to see where I may be going wrong.

Praying for you that all will go smoothly for your surgery, and your weight loss journey - giving God all the honor, glory, and praise! I'm one month out from my surgery (Lapband revision with Gastric bypass).

way easier said than done- but I am trying!!! my rate is higher because I am having a revision too. i also have anxiety on a Normal day! i take meds for that. thank you Jesus for Zoloft!!!! LOL!

Is anyone else losing slowly? I have lost 20 pounds in 5 weeks Tuesday will be 6 weeks. I hit a stall week 3 for 2 weeks and this week I have not lost anything. I am able to eat 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup which is more than I was told which was 1/4 cup. I have a lot of head hunger. Trying not to get discouraged. I am so afraid I will be one of the lap band revision to RYN that doesn't lose. Any advise appreciated

Now that I've chosen the RNY as my revision surgery it was reccommended by ladiesassie to ask about Protein shakes.... A person at work told me I should drink the already made Low Carb Slim Fast shakes- 20 grams of Protein and -0- sugar..... Is this something I can drink right out of the gate? would it be too sweet for me? Also what other types of drinks in powder form are GREAT tasting? I don't mind blending them up as long as they taste good. I really don't want to lose my hair ( My hair has already thinned out from the lap band) So it's important that I get in enough protein to keep what I have left :tongue_smilie: Any in sight would be very helpful to me. So let me know what your favorite high Protein Drink is- It must be sugar free though- I'm sure it will be difficult to find good tasting drinks that are sugar free.....:thumbdown: Hey you guys have a great Tuesday today!!!! Only two more working days left this week!!! :thumbup: Thanks again for your insight!!:biggrin2:

I bought "Recipes for life after weight loss surgery" the revised/updated version for nook by Margaret Furtado. Lots of recipes and includes some sleeve specific info.

Hi everyone - my first post here! I was going to have revision surgery on my band (insurance had approved the revision), but decided that the sleeve was a better move for me for a ton of reasons. So i'm meeting with surgeon, anesthesiologist, PCP, nutritionist and psychologist on Jan. 17 to get all of the needed paperwork started and into my surgeons office so the insurance stuff can begin. My first question is related to scar tissue when removing the band. I've had the band for about 5 years (was successful, but it slipped, so it's now useless) and i'm concerned about the damage when puling the band off. Any experience and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Andre

I'm curious about revisions. What are the criteria for qualifications for such? Do you still have to be a 40 BMI or just have a complication from original WLS?

I had a sleeve 7 years ago and am revising to bypass with a surgery date of March 1st. The process after approval for my sleeve was bittersweet. I was working with an elderly man who died suddenly, we were very good friends. He died just a few hours before my final pre-op appointment. My surgeon's final appointments are LONG (2 hours, one with the nurse and one with the surgeon) and as much as I tried to be happy, I just couldn't because I was so sad. This followed me to surgery day too. Here I am, surgery day #2 coming up on March 1st (68 days away!!!). I'm trying my best to enjoy this pre-op period. As a team, they decided I don't have to do the 10 day pre-op diet, but I'm going to do one anyhow. I'm going to do a week of 2 shakes and one lean protein, low carb meal per day, as a way of getting my mind in the game.

I was a revision from band. We didn't do an endoscopy pre-op, but found that I also had a hernia while the doc was doing the VSG. He fixed it during the surgery with no problem. This is pretty common and not normally an issue. Best of luck!

Curious you why didn't revise in the same surgery?

Well I figured it was time to start documenting everything, so here it goes. On March 10, my best friend was telling me about how we should get the lapband to lose weight. Now being a member of weight watchers for many years at first I was very against the idea (if you even mention it on the weight watchers boards you get yelled at!) Then I decided that maybe I should look into this and talk to my doctor. So I say my doctor on March 14 and she said that she thought it was a good idea. I called the surgeons office to sign up for his seminar on March 29 and the moment he started explaining everything I knew this was for me. He gave us a packet of everything we would need to do as far as clearances so I started making appointments. Here is my timeline: April 2 Psychologist April 3 Gastro (need endoscopy) April 4 Cardiologist (need echo) April 5 Chest xray April 11 Pulmonary April 16 Echo April 23 Endoscopy April 23 Nutritionist 1st appt May 8 Nutritionist 2nd appt June 12 Nutritionist 3rd appt June 10 Surgeon!!!!!!!!! June 16 Hospital bariatric coordinator So before I started this process I had called my insurance company HIP and asked what the requirements were and I was told it had to be medically necessary (yeah no six months) then on May 5 I just happened to be on HIPs website when I see that bariatric surgery was revised on April 15, 2008. I almost died when I saw that. According to their website you now needed six months diet. I called HIP and the girl had no idea what bariatric surgery was and I had to give her the link to the website and of course she had no clue and said whatever it says on the website is what it is. Well I was pissed. So I told the nutritionist this and she said ok then come to me for six months. Then I thought did I just open up a can of worms? Although I didn't want to not say anything and get everything else done and then have to start over with a six month diet. So I figured let me just tell her. Then I decided I should probably go talk to the surgeon, even though he doesn't want to see you until you have every clearance including the nutritionist. So I get the appointment and tell him everything about the insurance and he tells me that he probably won't be taking my insurance much longer! I almost cried. He then tells me that he was going to submit everything I had up until this point and for me to get the nutritionist to sign off on the three visits I went to. Well 2 days later I was approved. I could not believe it. Thank God. My surgery date is July 16 and I couldn't be happier.

Today is so bittersweet to me! I reached my initial goal of 150.0 lbs (I was 217.1 surgery day) today! I am thrilled beyond words, but I'm scared too. This is the lowest weight I have been my entire adult life! I have dropped weight a couple times before (the lowest being 155.0 lbs), but always gained back and then some. I want to maintain my weightloss! I also however, am scared of losing too much weight! I was revised (band-to-sleeve 6/15/12) and I honestly feel like all I do is eat! Not a lot each time, but still! Plus I don't exercise (I know this is terrible, but its the truth). I really don't want to get below 140ish...