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I'm not sure why anyone would choose it. I initially thought it is what I would do, but after a little research, I knew I would not and went with the sleeve. My physician and some of the other doctor's here in Dallas are not doing it, or doing it much less because of the problems and high failure rate. He can always go for a revision if he wants to. Maybe we should all send him a note. Congratulate him and then mention what we've done in case he has problems.

Hi Melanieleigh, congratulations search, you've come to the right place. This is a long, overdue story and I will also post it in “My Positive Experience w/Dr. Watkins Thread." This forum is awesome and I've been researching WLS HEAVILY since about June. I've read a lot on WLS. I struggled with the idea of partial stomach removal w/VSG, but knew that having a foreign object in my body would make me worried: slipping, rubbing, etc. - so I wasn't excited about lap band, but some have had great success with it. When I read about GPS on this forum, I KNEW it felt right. WHAT MAKES THE RIGHT DOCTOR? Initially, in my mind, I was all set to go to someone locally, so that if I needed support or had issues they would be there for me. I have never had surgery of any kind so this was all new to me. I also thought that I would ONLY choose a doctor who has had some sort of WLS and would be understanding in the weight loss/surgery/food struggle. I attended a seminar from a Dr. who I think had done only 3 VSGs (yes, I know, they have to start somewhere and make a living, but in this case, I didn’t want it to be me) and I found out later that certain things he talked about were incorrect, (like shoulder pain cause being unknown and that could be permanent) is actually referred pain from the diaphragm -per Dr. Watkins. RESEARCHING… THANK GOODNESS I RESEARCHED MORE! According to one of the WLS books I read, complications go WAY DOWN (like 80%) when you use an EXPERIENCED surgeon. Of course, this GPS surgery is NEW, but it would stand to reason that it is still better to choose a doctor who had done a lot of surgeries, especially weight loss surgeries. Naturally, I researched Dr. Corvala in Mexico because I think has had done over 100 GPSs by now plus thousands of other weight loss surgeries. However, the book I read also cautioned that while some hospitals/Dr. were terrific in Mexico (just like US-there are good and bad hospitals/Drs.) it may be more challenging to find aftercare in the US. However, there are many people happy with their choice to leave the country and I probably would have been very happy with that route, but I am a worrier. As I constantly read the forum and asked MANY, MANY questions of the patients and to a few doctors. Dr. Watkins was the most responsive doctor. I would ask him about the surgery details, what other patients experienced, emotional eating, what hunger felt like, hormones, genetic makeup, etc. my symptoms, how big the size of the sleeve, aftercare, etc. For awhile I thought I would try dieting and exercise one more time, and he directed me to the free YOU TUBE about weigh loss which again, shows that although he does run a business, he is really trying to help people. I came obvious conclusion that Dr. Watkins is EXTREMELY KNOWLEGABLE, DEDICATED and in always in COMMUNICATION when you need him, is ALWAYS helping on the forum (even if someone is not his patient) and isn’t pushy. I had a friend that wasn't sure about her GPS surgery, and he left it up to her - didn't pressure her. She had it and is doing fine. I researched him EVERYWHERE and found happy patients and a great track record. Like others have said, it is important that you have the hiatal hernia fixed when they are doing WLS surgery, and that was important to me that Dr. Watkins did that. Yes, I love Cincy Weight Loss-NO I don't get any financial gain or have anything to gain, no discount for my writing all of this. I do not work in any way with Cincy/Dr. Watkins; I am just a happy patient. WHEN ONLY THE BEST WILL DO..TOP NOTCH CARE- DR.WATKINS/CINCY WEIGHT LOSS & HOSPTIAL This Dr. does the right thing.. he even denied me surgery because it was the right thing to do.. Here is my story: After asking A TON of questions and doing lots of research, I was scheduled for Plication surgery in the fall w/Dr. Watkins a couple months ago. Everything went great up to surgery, did well on the pre-op. Visited Cincy Weight Loss, it was a VERY NICE, NEW upscale area, the OFFICE was GREAT. EVERYONE there IS REALLY & TRULY INTERESTED their patients! They had a great book with lots of before & after pictures of real people and it was so exciting to see the success. My husband and I chatted with Diane for almost 3 hours about the great things and weight loss challenges. We met the nurses and his lovely wife Pamela and they were ALL great! We made new friends and had a GREAT TIME. We met Dr. Watkins in person, and sat in his office. He truly is a NICE, SINCERE, DEDICATED & KNOWLEDGABLE PERSON. He is very humble, but it still made me feel good to see all of his certificates/accolades on the wall to know that I was getting a quality and knowledgeable doctor. Since they rarely talk about it, I’ve taken pictures so everyone can see HOW NICE & NEW, MODERN the hospital and his office are. Never once did we feel “rushed” or pressured, or cut off in conversation, they listened answered our questions thoroughly-my husband and I were REALLY impressed. I was VERY scared, because I hadn’t ever had surgery or been put under other than my wisdom teeth. However, being put under and waking up was a breeze. HOSPTIAL was MODERN, NEW and I felt VERY confident with my surroundings. They even offered me a hospital gown with state of the art technology where warm air was blown in. I walked with the Dr. and staff into the OR, and laid down on the table. Everything was state of the art, clean new and I was out like light, felt NO pain (except for the initial IV). It felt odd when I woke up, like it had only been a couple of minutes. Unfortunately for me, the surgery didn’t happen because I had surprise stomach polyps for no good reason. I was VERY disappointed and asked Dr. Watkins about 5 times if we could do surgery later on that week, but it was important to have some other tests & due diligence done. Even though he faced disappointing me, he did the right thing. Some surgeons don’t even do an endoscope, which can reveal polyps, ulcers, hiatal hernias, etc. My family was also grateful for the level of care and professionalism from this Dr. Later on that day and few times over the weekend, he called us to see how I was doing with anesthesia recovery, and I didn’t even have the surgery! But he is that caring. After many tests, (gallbladder, H Pylori, blood test, gastric level tests, gastric emptying test and colonoscopy) it looks like I am fine. I have one more I am going to have done on Friday but I am SO happy that I SHOULD be having GPS surgery with Dr. Watkins in about a week! I am praying that there will be nothing from stopping the surgery and the new life.. Here are a final few words on what I’ve learned..1) It is NOT normal to have stomach pain/throat burning. I lived with this probably my whole adult life. The pain/burning I experienced feels the same as STARVING HUNGER-GOT-TO EAT-NOW was actually acid and was GREATLY reduced on the pre-op diet with the PPI/Prevacaid. Dr. Watkins and his staff have kindly and patiently helped me through this lengthily process of research and tests. Hopefully, no one will have any surprises like I did, but it only made me feel better about my decision. 2) Keep researching until feel comfortable w/your doctor. If you research their website you’ll see they SUPPORTIVE & HAVE GREAT FOLLOWUP: http://www.cincyweightloss.com/ Here are my pictures.. Info from Cincy Weight Loss Site Cincinnati Weight Loss Center is owned by Dr. Watkins, not a large corporation. This allows us to provide you with the kind of customer experience that family owned businesses like ours can provide. Most of our competitors focus on surgery. We focus on weight loss. There is a huge difference between the two philosophies. Other practices try to compete with us by lowering their price. We focus on maximizing your weight loss success. We don't strive to be the "cheapest in town". That is not a good weight loss model. We strive to provide the best weight loss success in every patient. We offer value - the lowest cost per pound lost. We get a lot of transfer patients who had gastric band surgery elsewhere and are disappointed with their post-op program so they transfer to our practice where we help them achieve their weight loss goals. Many practices don't monitor their weight loss success. We do, and have published five scientific articles on gastric band weight loss. We started doing band surgery shortly after it was FDA approved in the United States (June 2001). Since then we've completed nearly 5,000 gastric band procedures and have experience with band adjustments that number in the tens of thousands. That extensive experience has taught us many import things on how to perform gastric band surgery and how to take care of patients afterward to minimize their frustration and maximize their weight loss success. We repair/revise a lot of band operations done improperly by other practices. Patients who choose our practice want it done right the first time and want to maximize their weight loss success. People who only care about getting the cheapest surgery and don't care if they lose weight afterward go to our competitors. Dr. Brad Watkins Dr. Brad Watkins is one of the few surgeons in the United States who: · Has completed well over 1,000 gastric band procedures · Has experience with nearly 5,000 procedures in his gastric band clinics · FDA proctoring surgeon for both band companies (Allergan, Ethicon) · Published five academic papers on gastric banding in the surgical literature · Performs band-over-bypass procedure · Performs the new incisionless ROSE procedure · Teaches other surgeons on primary gastric banding · Teaches other surgeons on band-over-bypass · Teaches gastric band courses · Teaches ROSE courses · Consultant for Allergan Company, LAP-BAND® · Consultant for Ethicon Company, REALIZE ™ · Consultant for USGI Company, ROSE procedure · Completed many advanced bariatric courses and bariatric CME programs · Involved in multiple clinical trials for adult and adolescent obesity · Nationally recognized on the "Today Show" · Member American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery · Member Council for Advances in Bariatrics

I originally wanted to go with the band, but my surgeon said he'd seen too many complications and revisions, to recommend it. Did you experience problems or just poor results?

I am 60 years old and weigh about 80 lbs more than I 2 ant to. I had trouble with my band sliding so we my do and I to have me do the bypass revision. I am doing good no problem getting enough protein or water, see the Dr Monday for 1 week check up. Little worried about hair loss. Anyone got ideas to prevent it

I take 5000 mg of biotin every day and was a band to bypass revision my nails and hair look amazing now I am 4 months out from revision surgery.

what could you be revised to? Have you tried the 5 day pouch test to get back on track?

Band to sleeve revision. Surgery was June 26th. 2 days in hospital. Surgeon had me on puree's from day 1. Dairy has not agreed with me. My belly is far too irritated. I went to Clear liquids and I seem to be tolerating that pretty well. Mostly only having lactose free Protein shakes, broth, popcycles, and hot tea.

I had a band to sleeve revision that went flawlessly. I thank God that I did not have any band complications, such as excessive scaring. My surgery was June 2nd. HW 375 Post-band weight 338 SW 332 CW 305 I see a lot of people talk about stalling out, but please realize this is normal. It's how our bodies "catch up" to what is going on. Stall's are healthy for our bodies, they suck, don't get me wrong. Try going to a monthly support group and the people there will be very open about this stuff. I am currently in one (a support group and a stall Also, I know it is all psychological. Seeing that scale go up sucks, especially after all this...BUT, let your body do what it needs. Sit back, relax, and don't rush this. If you gain weight, it is not actual fat. It is simply Water weight your body is retaining. I know whenever my body retains water and I go up 3-4 pounds, I am about to drop weight. It's just how my body works, before I go down in the scale I retain water for a few days. Then it drops off. Take a deep breath and just ride this out.

Monica, congratulations on your revision; happy healing! You say you would have been stuck with the band but I really can't believe there is even 1 person on this planet that will be able to keep their band as a lifelong weight loss tool. Even people with no outward problems/complications suffer extensive stomach, liver, scarring and adhesion damage. I hope the band will be banned soon; I will be telling anyone who will listen about the horrors of the band. I feel so much better now that it is out of my body; I really had no idea just how miserable I had become. Anyway, I'm happy for you and knowing that there are good band to sleeve revisions gives me hope. Gas dissapating prayers goin' out to you! And Thank you to everyone for the "love" that is so freely outpoured; this is just the best, shiniest spot on the whole internet!! Y'all rock!!

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).

I had mine at Forrest Park Dallas and there were only 2 others on my floor. Everyone was pretty sleepy and we all walked at different times. I would have talked to them but we all seemed grumpy. There was a nutrition class we all went to but some slept sitting up lol. Oh and I was number 1 of the day on my day. I was a revision And my surgery lasted 50 minutes from wheel back to notifying my hubby. My hubby said 50 min later Dr Nick came out to notify another family. Efficient and great success rate with leaks!

Hi Jules! I had much the same experience as you, I was banded in 2008 and spent the past several years throwing up daily, no fun! I too have a young child (turned 1 June 11th) and my pregnancy took a toll on my band. I had band revision in August and then band to bypass on May 21st. It has been like a rebirth. I feel like I have to work harder to keep myself on track because of the years of band habits but I has been great. No more gurgling and sliming, I feel normal again Miri

Hi all… has anyone gotten sleeved quickly after having a band removed and not have great results? This was my Story and now I am scheduled for a revision next month. I am Really hoping I have more success this time around. Anyone else similar story?

Everyone I know who has had revision has new scars. I don't know why they can't go through the same spot.

Just had my revision yesterday and got the same vibe and comments from my sister..."hope this one works for you - gosh you've had a lot of problems with your band...this is my diet (shows me smoothie)". To that I had to say...gosh I take a sip or two of coffee or my water and I am so full...sure hope this lasts. Needless to say she has a significant weight problem as well but has never been supportive of my struggles or successes with the band over the years. What it comes down to is some people are not empathetic...and most people, especially those with weight issues are probably jealous that you have a tool to help you. Glad to hear your doing great!

Dr Kurian was my surgeon, I had my lap band revised to gastric bypass.. I love her to bits. Just saw her yesterday for my six week post op appointment. I highly reccomend her!!

My story us similar to yours. ..i lost 30kg in first 2 years and slowly gained it back. Next month i am having surgery revision to a mini gastric bypass. My very experienced weight loss surgeon said there is no point trying the sleeve. If the band gas failed the sleeve wont be right. Also the band has been eroding my stomach, caused a hernia and affected my esophagus. A dangerous and unsafe procedure in my opinion. I can never recomnend the band. ..ive spent so many nights in emergency!!! Cant wait for the bypass. Sent from my GT-I9505 using the BariatricPal App

Hi everyone! I got banded in 2007 and am looking into revision to sleeve. I had to do all the pre-qualification stuff for insurance coverage before my band. For those of you who got covered by insurance to do revision, did you have to do all the pre-qual stuff again? I have BCBS.

Congrats, I just had a revision Monday from the sleeve. So worth it : )

Snuff, I am a revision patient also. It sounds like you were full. The same area where I feel full now is around the area where my band used to be.

I've had some pretty intense bouts of gastritis but lately it's been hard to control. I take 40mg omemprezole daily, 150mg ranitidine with meals, tums in the morning, and carafate drink with flare ups. I currently have a flare up and none of its helping. The pain comes in burning waves and sometimes is so intense I wanna cry. I also get "hunger" symptoms like irritability, shakiness, and dizzyness. I used to mistaken this for low blood sugar but know now it's just stomach acid. Anywho... has anyone had stubborn gastritis that hasn't responded to the above treatment? Any idea what can be added ? I know that they do a revision to bypass for stubborn gerd, but I havnt heard much about gastritis. And only being 11 months out I don't think docs are even considering it. I'm curious what other treatments are available.

I can also empathize... mine has been awful over the past three weeks since my gallbladder came out. I am on pantoloc twice a day, sulcrafate four times a day and buscopan twice a day. For pain i am on tramacet every 6 hours. Been hospitalized twice now for a total of 5 days. ???? Have a follow up appointment this week to see how next steps for medication and if I stay on what i am or if they want to change it. For the past few days it has at least been bearable. Prior to the pain medication i couldn't cope with the tearing and sudden pains . They would last 20 to 120 minutes and would happen up to 6 times a day ???? Needless to say eating was tough. My surgeon also said a revision to bypass would be the next steps if the gastroscopy shows it is worse and cant be managed by pain. I have been drinking happy life Water with a ph of 7.4 and i think it does help soothe the stomach a bit.... Have you had a gastroscopy and ph test and stuff ? I also try and eat a small amount of food every 2 hours while i am awake. I try and stick to foods with a ph level of 5 and higher if possible... very hard to do and still get Protein... so i definitely rely on the medication. Oh and i also have a couple plain dry almonds and some alkaline water after every meal. And i sleep partially sitting up.... Sorry for rambljng... those are the things that come to mind. I feel i have been obsessed with this since the awful pains started! ????

I understand what you are saying. I always called my VSG my sleeve or stomach, not pouch. I can kind of understand the pouch idea with the gastric bypass because things get stuck in our "pouch", which is the size of an egg, and not our stomach. Thank you for your response. I only threw up once with my VSG in many years. Then again, I had a very conservative surgeon who made it 10 ounces instead of the 3 - 5 ounces. I wish I could say the same thing that I never foamed or threw up about my revision to RNY. 😆

Try not to worry what other people tell you; if you and doctor agreed that WLS is the way to go, then that's what you should do. I think some people tend to think in order to have WLS you need to be 400+ pounds. WLS helps a lot of people with their weight, but also healing joints, getting rid of diseases that can be caused by excess weight, etc. I had the sleeve and am currently getting a revision to bypass, and am at 35 BMI. Some would say i don't need the surgery, while me and my surgeon have decided that's what's best. Do what you feel is best.