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My starting weight was 283 lbs. I have done all of the fad diets over the years including multiple attempts at Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Slim Fast, just to name a few. The most I ever lost on any diet was about 70 lbs and I gained it all back(and then some). I had reached a point where my health was really beginning to suffer as a direct result of my obesity. I had hypertension, heart palpitations, type 2 diabetes, and was on multiple medications. I decided to look into WLS in January 2013. The only 2 surgeries I was willing to consider were lap-band and gastric sleeve. I ultimately decided on lap-band because it is less invasive, reversible, and can be revised to the sleeve, if needed, at a later date. The reverse is not true. I was also very uncomfortable with having part of my stomach removed, concerned with leaks, and other post-op complications that can happen with the sleeve. I was banded on December 20, 2013, so less than a year ago. My current weight is 148 lbs. I have lost a total of 135 lbs. I have gone from a size 24 to a size 6 in pants and dresses, and from a size 3x-4x down to a size small in tops. The best part is that I am off all my cardiac, blood pressure, and diabetes medications. The only meds I take now are synthroid because I have hypothyroidism(and even that is only 1/3 the dose I was on before), zyrtec for seasonal allergies, a multivitamin, and calcium supplement. This was absolutely THE best decision I ever made and I would do it all over again! The only regret that I have is that I didn't do it sooner! Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do!

Pasta, red meat, or rice. Some ppl can and others cant. There's no guarantees which one you will fall into. I will lose weight. But I won't be able to eat like a normal person ever again even in moderation. 2) Acid reflux is a serious issue with the sleeve. I never ever had an issue with the band. I am dealing with rather bad GERD even though I am taking prescription meds. I have chatted with folks that it got so bad over the yrs that they had to revise to gastric bypass. 3) Vitamins! You can't live without them. Daily intake or I will develop issues. Are committed to do that? 4) NSAIDS! Even if your surgeon tells you that you can take them. There's significant debate on whether sleeved folks should take them or not. These meds are very hard on a normal stomach let alone a thin sleeve! Continous use will most likely lead ulcers which are very dangerous with little or no stomach left.Think about aging and the lack of NSAIDS. 5) You can still get stuck! I just had to vomit food yesterday. You still experience that nasty slime....eww! I cried the first time it happened cause I lived with that for 8 yrs. Please feel free to message me. Think about life beyond weight loss cause there's no turning back with the sleeve

There is honesty with positive support and then there is bullying. Being supportive and honest does not require negative attitudes. I'm sorry your surgery didn't go well,but don't push your opinions and negative feedback on people who need to hear about the good their surgery can do for them. There is always pros and cons to getting WLS. You don't need to try sabotaging others hopes. We all know the risks surgery has and we sign consent to have it done. Complications suck, but we deal with them as they come. Statisticly, more WLS goes off without a hitch than having complications happen. I hope you have a successful revision this time around.

A year ago a Port revision and Pbing would have meant something completely different. Probably, something about Peanut Butter and a new terminal for a cruise ship. I am about to venture into bandland, hopefully in Febuary. Needless to say I am full of nervous anticipation with a kick A** mentality (Im scared, LOL). All of Dr. Lopez patients who have had a problem, I just want to say that my heart goes out to you. Delarla your port problems have opened my eyes to what I am getting into. Problems like that can occur to anyone at any time, however, it is always the responsbilty of the DR. to follow up and take care over the patient who trusted him with HIS OR HER life. My HEART GOES OUT TO YOU. I just wanted to let everyone know how much your posts mean to me. I used to be a lurker, (its not a bad thing) but all of your posts and information has made me feel stronger. I feel like I have got hundreds of people behind me. Thank you all for your support and guidence. Rachel B 330/HOpeful/LUrker no more

It is just a pipe dream at this point, anyway, because the insurance company specifically said that I had to be at a 40 BMI for 5 years. I've been reading that the mini gastric bypass is not as expensive in Mexico. That might be the (only) option if I want a revision.

Hi and congrats on taking the steps to a healthier and better you. The sleeve is a wonderful and I absolutely love life post-op. As for your questions, I'll answer honestly and openly as I can. 1) I am a smoker. Smoking inhibits healing, and can cause ulcers. Not only that, it increases your risk of a leak due to hindering healing of the staple line. My surgeon knew my smoking status, but I didn't quit pre-op. Could it have contributed to the fact that I did have a leak, yes, but the biggest issue in my recovery and leak issues was because I had a band first that destroyed my stomach tissue. Smoking also complicates anesthesia recovery. Your abdomen is sore, causes more coughing and I had to use a spirometer to help prevent pneumonia. That really sucked because coughing caused major discomfort. I have quit twice since surgery, and am now trying to quit again. I actually went on Wellbutrin to help with the withdraws of nicotine as the patch, gum and cold turkey make life with me pure hell. 2) I had a huge panel of labs, a chest xray, psych eval, and consult with a nutritionist. Some surgeons require an upper gi and sleep study. 3) I didn't have a drain initially. A lot of surgeons use drains to make sure there is no leak, and some pull it before discharge, some require it stay in for about a week. I only had drains due to the leak repair surgery, and they stayed in for over 2 weeks. 4) I was not catheterized for my revision. I urinated before surgery, and was dry when I came out. 5) hair loss can happen to anyone that goes through surgery. It's a pretty normal occurrence. There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. It's a combination of anesthesia, surgical stress, and rapid weight loss. I lost hair for about 3 months, and I lost half of my hair. Luckily, I had super thick, coarse hair and no one that didn't know me before never guessed that I had lost all of my hair. The only thing you can do pre-op and during your recovery is to take hair/nail/skin supplements to help with regrowth. Biotin is usually the one most people choose. I didn't do anything to help with regrowth until I started losing. I used Folicure extra care shampoo. I started having new growth pop in while I was still losing. Currently, I look like a chia pet, and have chopped my hair off, layered it and bleached the top to help hide some of the new growth. I kept the back and underneath dark to help give the illusion of depth and volume. Unfortunately, hair loss seems pretty inevitable. There's several patients on this board that got in there Protein and extra protein, and they lost more hair and lost it for a longer period of time than I did, and I didn't get in my protein until I was on soft solids when I could eat chicken and other meat. My main advice is make sure you can handle the mental and emotional aspect of this surgery. It's a huge change, and no matter how much you read or talk to people will you really grasp it all until you go through it. I truly believe going in positive, and upbeat helps. Find strength within yourself, and know that you are doing something absolutely fabulous for yourself and your family. Know that recovery can be difficult, you'll be tested, you'll be exhausted, you might be mad at yourself especially during the post-op diet, but all of that is just temporary. Questions to ask your surgeon: What size bougie do you use to make the sleeve? What are your leak/complication stats? What are your expectations of my weight loss? Do you provide follow up care, labs, access to a nutritionist and psych if needed post-op (especially since you'll be self-pay find out what all is included in that cost)? Do you prescribe an acid reducer such as Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium to protect the sleeve, how long should I be on it? Post-op diet instructions? Pre-op diet instructions? How many sleeves have you performed? How many bariatric procedures have you performed? How long is the hospital stay? Leak tests, how many and when are they performed? That's all I can think of right now. Best wishes on your consult, and if you need anything ask away. We'll all be here for you through this journey.

Severe nightime reflux was also my only symptom of my slip. I sufferred with it for 4 mths before finally seeing my dr. I was afraid he'd unfill me and I'd gain back all 104 lbs I had lost. He did. When my reflux subsided, he started filling me slowly. By the time of my 3rd refill, my reflux came back. They took the previous 1cc out and told me it was now up to me, my band had done the job. Mentioned nothing of a revision or removal. 4 mths later, I had severe stomach pain and had to go to the ER. After a CT scan, it showed my band had finally had enuf and herniated (after continuing to vomit almost daily). I had an emergency total unfill and scheduled a sleeve revision. After a yr and a gain of 30 lbs, I finally had a light at the end of the tunnel. It's been a year since my revision (all at once) and I'm now 10 lbs from goal of 140. The first 100 lbs were easy peasy compared with the last 15. Good luck on ur new journey...

Yes I had it out May 8th. I was in the hospital 8 days due to an infection. They also thought I had a leak so went back in for surgery on the third day to check around for a leak but apparently there wasn't one. They put drains in on the second surgery and I got a lot better after that. I have lost 38lbs since may. Day of surgery I was 216. Now I am 178 and half way to goal. I have lost 53lbs all together since January when I started the revision process from a high weight of 231. It's the best thing I ever did!

I had revision on 6/18 due to many of the same reasons as you. I'm glad I switched and love my sleeve so far. I have Kaiser and am glad I didn't have to go thru all the hops to get approved. Since we had 3 years of documented testing, issues etc that was enough to get it approved and paid for.

Here's my saga. I posted this elsewhere in the forums and was kind of surprised at the negative response, so let me say, this is just my story. I'm not bashing the band, I'm very thankful for the success I had with it. I'm not bitter or angry, it just didn't work for me long term. I had a Realize band placed in February of 2009. My starting weight was 268. The band was fantastic and I lost weight steadily, with the exception of a few months when I realized how easy Cookies were to eat. In December of 2010, I hit the 100 pounds lost mark, I also found out I was pregnant that same week. At about 4 weeks pregnant I had a really nasty 3 day stomach flu. A few days after recovering from that, I started throwing up again. I could keep food down for a few hours, but it was all coming back up. I lost another 15 pounds in 2 weeks. I thought it was just severe morning sickness, even though in 5 previous pregnancies I'd never had morning sickness. I saw my Ob who told me to immediately get my band unfilled and if I was still throwing up the next day he'd have to admit me into the hospital. I got a complete unfill and immediately felt better, but with no restriction and absolutely no mental/physical/spiritual preparedness for no restriction, my love affair with all things bread and pastry renewed like we were never apart. I gained 40 pounds in the first 4 months of my pregnancy. I managed to gain back a little control, but ended up gaining about 60 pounds before I had my daughter in August of 2011. The weight gain took a great emotional toll on me, but I just knew that 6 weeks postpartum I'd get a fill and be right back on track... You know where this is going, right? In October of 2011 I got my band refilled. Pre-pregnancy, my fill level was at 7.2cc in an 11 cc band. We filled it to 3.5 cc and 3 weeks later filled it to 5 cc. I had very little restriction and it just didn't seem right. I'd also started getting heartburn. I went back a few weeks later and we filled it to 5.5. That lasted 24 hours, I had to go back in for an unfill and we went down to 5.2 so I could get Water down. I still didn't have much restriction, but I did have terrible heartburn and vomiting in the middle of the night. I lived with this for a few months until I couldn't stand it and went back in and had .5 cc removed. This made the heartburn manageable with daily meds and tums always at hand, but there was no restriction. I could eat all the bread, Pasta, rice that I wanted. I knew I had a slip, but didn't have insurance to cover bariatrics, so I lived with it. I tried eating less, exercise, weight watchers, even a juice fast but I've gained 20 more pounds on top of the baby weight. Fast forward to now and I finally have insurance to cover bariatrics. I went in a few weeks ago and had my upper GI. It showed a slip above the band, virtually my entire stomach is above the band, which is why there is no restriction felt, but the band was so tight that flow into the rest of my digestive tract was severely restricted. Food just sat there for a really long time, and the results of that we're just kind of gross. We unfilled the band completely to see if the slip would fix itself, although, we all knew what that result would be. The pregnancy hadn't caused the slip, the stomach flu had and 9 months of an empty band hadn't helped it unslip. I got that confirmation this week. My band is still slipped and the restriction is still severe even empty. I'm frustrated, but quite relieved that there has been a real issue this whole time and it wasn't just me. We're now going through the process of getting insurance approval to revise to a sleeve and I couldn't be happier.

I had a lapband revision - to sleeve - done two weeks ago. I can tell you EVERYTHING about sliming, and copious amounts of saliva . . . . I lived with it daily for 5 YEARS! The sliming is actually your bodies way of trying to "wash down" something (food) which is stuck, The longer it's stuck, the more saliva your body produces (it thinks you may choke on the food). The reason your getting is stuck is a bit trickier. For me, it was almost always due to me not chewing my food until it was liquified. Also, if/when you over eat, your food will begin backing up your esophagus, Just slow down. I know it seems hard, but you're not doing your sleeve any good with regurgitating. Don't force yourself to eat more. Like "Spatters3" said, take a bite, put down your fork/spoon, chew, chew, chew, swallow, look around, chat a bit, or read a page of a book or magazine, then take another bite. Most importantly - DON'T GET TOO DISCOURAGED -- you'll get there.

I had severe gerd prior to surgery. I saw the surgeon with the idea that I would have the sleeve. After seeing him and then getting a second opinion from my gastroenterologist, we decided the RNY bypass would be the better option for me. Since having my bypass 2 years ago, I have never even had so much as a slight heartburn. Bypass cured my gerd and i take no medication for it whatsoever. I could have had the sleeve, they would have done it but I was told i might be looking at a revision to RNY down the road and I wanted to have one surgery and be done. So here I am two years later at goal with all my comorbitities in remission or cured. Best of luck to you!

There are a lot of revision lap-banders here and we all are so sorry to hear about the damage you sustained. I am also furious when I see lap-band ads or "medical" shows discussing lap-band. The real problems are never discussed with any sincerity - especially the reversable claim. I would also recommend that you get a second opinion on your damage and possibility for a sleeve - it seems that if they can do an RnY, they can do a sleeve? Take the time to heal and take care of yourself. You will get better!!! Lara

Ask for an EGD to stretch the scarred tissue a bit for an opening--they did this for a friend of mine for GERD. Then, after healing, maybe your revision with VSG would work. good luck! Thank you all for the well-wishes; this board is such a blessing! I'm so sore today; they spent an hour inside me cutting out adhesions and scar tissue so I guess I should expect to be sore. Tiffykins and I share the same surgeon, Dr Michel; I trust his decision, he said that I may still have quite a bit of restriction due to the very narrow scarring (picture an hour glass). It is that narrow scarring that didn't leave enough tissue to create a sleeve; I'm praying that it will eventually stretch just enough to get a sleeve in there. It was the perfect set-up for an RNY with the pouch on top all they would have to do is cut off the narrow scarring, hook up the intestines then Voila! another nutritional deficiency case walking out the door. It sounds like Swizzly lives in a place of good values and common sense; I wish all bariatric surgeons would ban the band! And I can say my quality of life is much improved without the horrible GERD!! I will still be scanning this board looking for people who are trying to decide whether to get the band or sleeve, you can bet I'll be chiming-in with my opinion. Whether you all know it or not, you are my friends that I turn to for a pick-me-up; I know I can always count on being inspired by someone or something said on here so Thank You! I hope to be telling an inspirational story of my own someday (soon I hope).

My Instagram is anew_Sara my surgery is scheduled for July 14th.. I'm revising from a lapband to a sleeve Sent from my SM-G955U using BariatricPal mobile app

Yeah the pain meds don't help the gas pains. It sucks. When I had my lap band removed last year, I did take activated charcoal capsules for the gas pains and it did help. But I won't take it after my revision surgery because it can cause prevent absorption of nutrients. Do you use CBD oil for your chronic pain? I use it and it helps me a lot. I have RA.

I posted this on another thread... I had band to sleeve revision on 3/13. Here is what can tell you: food always got stuck on my band even when it was all the way open and even after I would chew, chew, chew. I would throw up at least 3 times per week from the feeling of food getting stuck. Since revised, I've only thrown up once and not because food got stuck, but because I took Vitamins that did not sit well with me. I've never had a stuck feeling since the revision and in fact can eat anything now, just very small amounts. The reason people throw up with a sleeve is from eating too much and/or too fast in one sitting, drink when they eat or too soon after they eat and/or something didn't sit well with their new tummy. Your tastes definitely change. If you just listen to your body and follow the Protein guidelines and liquid rules you will lose the weight pretty easily. I'm rarely hungry and actually struggle to get all of my calories in. Way different than the band when I always still felt hungry. My weight loss would be much higher if I could eat more each day (35lbs to date). For the actual surgery, I took off two weeks from work and should have gone 1/2 days on the 3rd. After the 1st week I had no pain, but the extreme weakness I felt week 2 made me feel as though I might had made a big mistake getting the surgery. I was worried it was going to last forever. It carried over into the 3rd week, though not as bad. It gradually improved every week and today I feel better than I have in a long time (prior to surgery even). One more thing to add...I wish I had chosen the sleeve over the band in 2009 because today I would be sitting at goal. I feel it works much better than the band. No complications and soooooo happy I had it done. I feel great!

I had to have both, but I think my insurance required the endoscopy only because I had a lap band and had to prove there were issues (like gerd or whatever) to prove that the revision is best for me at this stage. I had an upper GI, it showed I had a dilated esophagus (2nd time in 9 years), but it wasn't enough since the doctor can remove the liquid, rest my esophagus for a couple of months, and then put the liquid back in. The sleep study wasn't mandatory by my insurance, I think I had to have it done because my surgeon is ultra careful. I had no history of sleep apnea. Do you have to have a cardiac clearance for surgery? That seemed to be the most important to my surgeon...

I had revision band to sleeve surgery on a Friday, went home on Sunday, and was back in the office (I work from home) part of the day on Monday. I only took pain meds for a few days. I also had my gall bladder removed and a hiatal hernia repaired. The hardest part of sitting at my desk was that my back got tired pretty quickly. So just take lots of breaks if you can - get up and walk around, etc. They'll have you up and walking in the hospital a few hours after surgery, so this is something you're supposed ot be doing anyway. As for a pump - my doc gives an automatic pain pump that you wear on a halter that lasts about 3-4 days post-op. It had 2 tiny tubes running out of it that went directly into my abdomen below my breastbone. When it was empty I pulled out the tubes myself and tossed it all in the trash - easy breezy! And thank goodness you aren't having a band! Those things are a pain the booty!

Hi Paul Curious why you had your sleeve revised to bypass?

Hey! So can anyone who experienced dumping with a sleeve and revised to bypass and also experienced dumping with that tell me if it felt different? I’m currently sleeved and just found out the IBS I was diagnosed with after my surgery isn’t IBS after all and it’s actually dumping syndrome! I didn’t think sleevers dump so I was shocked but it totally makes sense now... anyway due to my other issue with GERD, I may need revision surgery.... sooo I’m curious, I hear a lot about bypass and dumping and know that it’s personal and not all patients dump and if they do it may be different triggers for everyone but if you experienced dumping while sleeved then after bypass, is it the same? Was it worse?

I had gastric bypass revision on June 6th. I lost 16 pounds after surgery and have not lost a pound since. I'm very frustrated. Is this normal? Are my expectations out of whack? Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

I had my band to sleeve revision April 9,2012. My doctor told me the same thing, he wouldn't know about scar tissue until he was inside. I was scared too, but after, he said the band slipped right off and no scar tissue. I am 4 weeks post op and down 38 lbs with no more band issues. It will be fine. Don't let your nerves get the best of you!!!! Good Luck!!!!!!

We're submitting to insurance either today or tomorrow! The coordinator thought we'd have a better chance of approval if it was submitted as an original surgery (different insurance company than my first band and rebanding) than as a revision, so I had to jump through a few hoops (slightly fast-tracked). Hopefully, will hear back relatively quickly!

Hi Jeri, So glad to hear about you. I'm also having a revision from lapband to sleeve. People like you keep me going. Thanks, Linda