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In 2012 I had the gastric sleeve procedure, it was very successful until several events in my life caused me to slip back into old habits. Adding to that, my surgeon closed his practice and I had no one to follow up with locally. The old habits and lack of Followup care led to the weight slowly creeping back on. Since my sleeve procedure I’ve been diagnosed with RA which I have under control for about the past year or more. Earlier this year I began experiencing severe acid reflux and my PCP suggested I see the new BS who had just come to town. The BS advised me (after scoping me) that I have a hiatal hernia that needs to be repaired. He also recommended that I have a revision to the bypass. Fast forward three months and several pre-op tests later and I receive a call from the doctors nurse telling me that the doctor has decided it’s best not to do the conversion to bypass because I have arthritis and take methotrexate. She goes in to explain, the doctor thinks the risk of ulcers from medication and the possibility of slow healing outweigh the possible benefits. I am a 38 year old otherwise healthy female with her RA well controlled. Has anyone else experienced anything similar to this before? Has anyone had the conversion to bypass who was diagnosed with RA before their conversion? I’m incredibly frustrated and not sure what do to from this point. Any advice you can share would be much appreciated.

Good question, i'm looking at revision from sleeve to bypass due to severe reflux. I'm not looking to lose much weight. 20 lb might be nice, but all in all, this will be for the GERD. I've heard it doesn't not jump start. You might lose 15 - 25 lbs but nothing significant like we did after VSG surgery.

I am considering a revision like you did and for the same reason, severe reflux. The surgeon I met with last week said he considers dumping a good side effect, it teaches us what to stay away from. I hope insurance will approve it since it's medically necessary, and hopefully I'll have good results.

Hi everyone my surgery was 5/19/2021 revision of the sleeve-I am 2 month and

How does bypass compare to sleeve? Have you or are you learning what causes dumping? If I have revision surgery it will be due to severe GERD that has developed since sleeve surgery. I've been dealing with it for about seven years. I'm trying to educate myself as much as possible on RNY.

I am hoping ins approves the revision from sleeve to bypass. I have severe GERD and also a hiatal hernia. When I had the endoscopy done in Nov 2019 there was also a stricture and ulcer. The prescription PPI worked until it didn't, he upped it to twice a day and it worked until 3 months ago. Now I'm back to needing Tums as well as the prescription almost daily. I like your post. I only have a regain of 35 lbs, so losing that would just be the icing on the cake. If I can get rid of the reflux I'll be so happy. I can't imagine doing this for the rest of my life! Tell me, what things can you eat that you couldn't after sleeve surgery and what about dumping. The bariatric surgeon I met with last week said they consider it a good side effect to help patients know what to be careful of or avoid altogether. Good luck!!!

I did. She had Dr. Camelo and I had Dr. Gonzales. She is a part of our patient support Facebook group for Oasis and has told her story. It is a bit different than what is portrayed here. She had a complicated surgery with some revisions. I am NOT saying what happened isn’t awful. It was absolutely tragic and should NOT have happened. Even so, she recommends the hospital itself and encourages everyone that their experience will not be like hers.

I have terrible Gerd. It’s. So. Bad. 😩 Originally I was going to have the nissen fundiplication surgery for Gerd but the surgeon talked to me at length about getting gastric bypass instead. I’m still pre op at this point, but my main motivator in this process has been to try and stop my severe Gerd. (Also I’m quite heavy.) I’ve heard from quite a few doctors at this point who recommended gastric bypass for greatly improving or curing Gerd. I’ve seen some people I follow on Instagram who have had sleeve surgeries revised to a bypass due to the Gerd the sleeve caused them. It’s definitely worth discussing with your doctor.

I've had wicked reflux and vomiting over the past few months, down 13 pounds which I think is from vomiting dinner almost every night. Anyhow, I had my endoscopy today and it's as the bariatric surgeon suspected. I have a hiatal hernia (6cm, not sure what that means in relation to the hernia) and they stretched my esophagus starting with a 10mm balloon, up to a 16.5mm balloon. Endo-doc says the pylorus is definitely narrowed but he could get the scope in there. SO... I am scheduled for the hernia repair and "anchoring" my sleeve in place on 6/22/21 and then... I don't know. My surgeon said if the pyloric opening was too narrow I might need a revision but I don't know if she'll do that on Tuesday or not. If she does, I have no idea of what a post-op recovery period or diet would be like (and we have summer vacations planned). I guess it's wait-and-see. I am just SO looking forward to being released from the horrors of the hernia, waking in the middle of the night with my throat and mouth filled with acid, and keeping my food INSIDE me, where it belongs!

I had my revision yesterday from lap band (2014) to mini gastric bypass....lots of trapped gas and pain still .....very uncomfortable!

My revision to bypass is July 13th

Hi. I guess I should've posted this question in the Revision Forum instead of the Gastric Bypass. So here it is again lol. I had a lap band and then revised to sleeve. Lost over 100 lbs with band and then 40 something more with sleeve. I have to have a revision due to gerd and other complications from my sleeve. Luckily, I did not lose any of my hair on either procedures listed above... And I know losing weight is much slower after each revision so maybe I'll be lucky again this time around. I was wondering if any of you lost your hair after revising from sleeve to bypass. Thank you in advance.

Hi. I had a lap band and then revised to sleeve. Lost over 100 lbs with band and then 40 something more with sleeve. I have to have a revision due to gerd and other complications from my sleeve. Luckily, I did not lose any of my hair on either procedures listed above... And I know losing weight is much slower after each revision so maybe I'll be lucky again this time around. I was wondering if any of you lost your hair after revising from sleeve to bypass. Thank you in advance.

Morning :) I’m booked in to have a conversion from sleeve to mini bypass. I’m wondering if anyone can tell me how their surgery went and recovery times. Also if they lost much weight? I think my original sleeve stretched out - I had it 8 years ago. I started regaining weight 2 years ago and have now put on 20kg. The surgeon isn’t doing a sleeve revision - just the mini bypass. I am aiming to lose the 20kg within a year. Is this realistic? I’m worried about complications and not losing any weight. Thanks for any replies!

I had the gastric sleeve and am disabled. I did not exercise and lost 131lbs the first year by sticking to the plan. I did however have to revise due to GERD last year.

My original surgery was 8/22/2006 and I had the RNY. Starting weight was 287 and I got down to 139 in about 14 months. I turned into a counting calorie and workout machine. I kept my weight off for the last 11 years and then BOOM my thyroid died. After a trip to the Mayo clinic in FL and seeing the top endo in the field I am now on an encapsulated pill but it just barely sustains the actual thyroid function. I started regaining weight about 4 years ago - mostly due to the thyroid issues but have to take personal responsibility for bad choices as well. I gained 87 pounds over the last 4 years even with counting calories and working out. When I say working out I was riding a bike 10-15 miles a night, hiking mountains (The Adirondacks in Upstate NY) running, weight lifting. I just couldn't get it under control anymore. I went back to my original surgeon who basically told me there was nothing he could do so I reached out to my primary and he sent a referral to another surgeon who did revisions. I started my new journey on July 17th 2020. I still had to jump through the 6 months of hoops, and lose 5% of my weight to qualify for an endoscopic revision (tightening of the pouch). My appointment was on January 8 2021 but on January 4 2021 our hospitals closed for the 2nd time due to Covid! I finally had my revision on March 8, 2021. Day of surgery weight was 214. I had to do the 2 week liquid diet prior to surgery and then follow all of the post op diets after surgery. Well today is June 16, 2021 ( 96 days post op) and I am down to 170 pounds. I was told that endoscopic revision surgery weight loss is usually between 20-25 pounds and the rest is up to me. Well I am at a loss of 44 pounds now. I still count all of my calories and walk everyday on my lunch break, take my dogs for a walk at night or get on the treadmill, hike mountains on the weekends and have just started weight training again. I am determined to reach my goal of 140 pounds. I take this 2nd chance very serious. So to all out there....there is hope - keeping pushing - keep moving forward. Life will get in the way but if this is what you want then you have to make the hard choices. For example: between the beginning of April 2021 and May 2021 (1 short month) we lost 1 of our dogs, my niece who was only 27 passed away and my best friend's son who was 24 passed away. I buried my niece on a Saturday and my friends son that Monday. I could have given into food and ate my emotions but I didn't because I cannot make excuses as to what I put in my mouth. I am in control of that. I hope you have enjoyed my story.

When you pick a doctor, definately ask about their experiences with patients having acid issues after sleeve. How often does it happen to their patients? What treatments do they pursue? How many of them need surgical revision? Some doctors will have a better handle on this than others. Also ask...how have you modified your technique to avoid acid issues with sleeve? Do you have fewer patients with post surgical acid issues now? Have you done any recent continuing education on patients who experience acid with sleeve? Go to someone who is part of the conversation for the newest ideas in surgery. It's not a guarantee you won't have problems, but it increases your odds for success.

Most practices have support group/information seminars - online these days but some may be going back to in person soon - where you can get some idea of how the practice works, their biases and philosophies, which are useful in helping to make a decision. Looking at their websites is OK< but that's a bit like choosing a car dealership based upon their website - they are heavily marketing oriented; they are designed to bring you in the door rather than provide much useful information. Many list all of the WLS procedures, including some of the obsolete ones that haven't been done in years, while in reality they only offer one or two of them. It helps to be familiar with the different current procedures that are offered in the industry (the ASMBS website has good coverage of all of the commonly approved procedures, as well as some of the newer, more investigative procedures.) Have some idea which one or ones may be most appropriate for your needs, and then go to the seminars or do some surgeon consults and see what their opinion is. They will want a lot of information before a doctor consult, as will any doctor, so that they can better see who you are and what your issues are. UCLA is good by reputation, though I haven't had any dealings with them. I have had some dealings with Cedars Sinai bariatrics and would be comfortable with them, though I never went through the whole program with them. Most programs offer the VSG and the RNY; some now offer the SIPS/SADI/Loop DS which is gaining acceptance (though doesn't seem to quite be there yet,) and a few rare ones offer the BPD/DS, which is more complex than the others (hence fewer practices offer it) but generally works better than the others, particularly for those in the higher BMI range or with more severe metabolic problems. For the VSG or BPD/DS, I would go to Dr. Ara Keshishian, who is in the Glendale/Pasadena area working through USC. Patients travel from all over the country to see him for the DS or complex revisions. When I had my VSG ten years ago, I went up to SF to have it done as no one in the LA area at the time had much experience with them yet (and Dr. K was still working out of the Central Valley at the time.) As a start, I would try to attend, online or in person, as many of the informational seminars as I could, and get a feel for the personality of the practice. Good luck,

They're likely concerned that since you already have issues with heartburn and thus stomach acid that the VSG would make it worse. Some 30% of people who have VSG end up having acid issue and many end up having to get revisions to a Gastric Bypass. But then the other 70% either have no difference or nothing significant changes. I have acid issues from my EoE so my gastroenterologist was pushing for the Bypass, but it was MY decision in the end and I went for the Loop Duodenal Switch which has a VSG stomach (just with the intestinal malabsorption bit added) and my acid issues hasn't got any worse. In fact, I believe it's slightly better than it was. So just weigh the pro's and con's and choose whatever makes YOU happy because it's your life and YOUR choice in the end because you are the one that will have to live with it. Not your doctor or anyone else.

I had a VSG in 2015 and had gained almost all of the weight back. On May 27th I had a revision to a gastric bypass. I'm about 3 weeks out and this stitch pain is no joke! I can barely bend or walk at times. Aside from that and unlike my VSG, I feel great. So much so that I feel as though this will not work for me. Nothing is making me sick, I feel like I can eat without issues. I lost 21 pounds the first 2 weeks, now this week I've gained. I'm starting to feel like this will fail like the last time.

We’re the same height & about the same weight. I struggled to find my maintenance point too & lost about another 12kgs. I’m only 2yrs out but it took me a year of increasing my calories to find the right balance & stop losing. As I couldn’t really increase my portion size for my meals (I physically couldn’t eat any more) I added snacks - what felt & still seems like lots of snacks. I was eating 5-6 nutritionally beneficial snacks a day. Now I eat 3-5 a day just depending. I’m pretty consistent in what I eat. My lowest weight was 48.2kg but for the last 6 months I usually sit at about 49kg (swing 48.5-49.5). I have dropped a bit lately (been 47.9 a couple of times) because I haven’t been overly hungry or interested in eating. I’m sure this will pass. If not I’ll have to work harder at getting in my 1200 calories which seems to be my golden number. Are you still tracking & weighing your food? Do you have a caloric goal or average number you consume in each day? I do random checks to ensure I haven’t misread caloric or nutritional information or am misjudging portion size - it’s easy to under or over estimate. I suggest going back to your dietician & revising your daily food intake for a few weeks with them. There may be something you’re missing & they should be able to recommend or advise on a plan forward. My medical team were concerned at first especially when I was still losing but they’re ok now cause I’m stable. I’m pretty small boned so I don’t mind being on the lower end of the BMI scale. (For years I was told I was big boned but it was just fat - lol!) Congratulations on losing your regain. Good luck.

Had my revision on 3/15/21 and I feel amazing. I had been fairly successful keeping the weight off with the LB (however, I still wanted to lose more weight but wasn’t anywhere near to being as heavy as I had been pre-LB). I also had a horrible hiatal hernia and GERD that was pretty severe. HH was repaired during surgery and have not experienced one episode of reflux since. I am down 30 pounds since surgery. Weight loss has been steady but slower this go-around (very common after revisions, just FYI), but I am 10000000% happy I did the revision!

Sending you lots of love today! I hope your revision goes well!

My revision is scheduled for 7/13

Me, too I will have my revision from sleeve to DS surgery on 7/6/21 due to gerd/heartburn issues. 👎🏾😫🤦🏾‍♀️