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Hi All! I’m scheduled for a VSG to Loop DS revision next Thursday 9/26/19 with Dr. Walter Medlin In UT. I had VSG in SD with Dr. Takata In 2013, insurance covered it. It was successful and without complications. Pre VSG I was 297+... at my lowest I was at 180, With time and two pregnancies I lost restriction and gained. I was able to lose weight after both pregnancies but was not able to maintain it, or return to the post VSG pre pregnancy low. Despite maintaining a medium level of activity (depending on the week spin class/ triathlons/ 5ks/ 18-30 mi relaxed bike rides on the weekends/ lots of walking), I hovered around 235, now with low activity I’m at 250. I’m in my 2 week preop diet for the revision which is just as tough as I remember it the first time, maybe more. Little nervous for this surgery-more than I remember being for the VSG. This time I’m going in self pay. Confident in my decision but nervous about the immediate aftermath, toilette issues/ rate of loss/ nutrient deficiencies- the usual. Dr doesn’t plan to touch the sleeve, unless any problems are seen in the EDG. I’m loading up on vitamins and supplements now To get ahead of any deficiencies caused by malabsorption in the long run. Dr will determine Common Channel length at time of surgery at the moment it looks like it will be ~300 cm. Has anyone else had Dr. Medlin for their revision? Any tips for immediately after surgery? I’ll be flying back to SD the following Saturday-Anyone have to fly 2 days after surgery? Tips on flying post op, any general post op tips for this specific Bariatric surgery would be appreciated. I plan on updating this thread as I go along, and hope others might find it helpful in their research too. Thanks!

Good luck!!!! You will do amazing!! I had the band to sleeve revision as well and it has been the best thing I've ever done other than having my kids and marrying my husband [emoji38][emoji38] Wishing you a safe surgery and speedy recovery!![emoji253][emoji253] Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi! I’m new here. My surgery is tomorrow, a revision from a 10 year old band to the sleeve. I have to be there at 5:45am. Yikes! I haven’t been nervous but am starting to get really nervous now. I appreciate all of you sharing your stories! It’s helping to calm me down.

I had VSG in feb 2016 lost weight rapidly in the first 12 months my starting weight was 134kg (295lbs) and my lowest was 71kg (156lbs). By December 2016 i started getting excruciating pain in my upper abdomen and ended up having an emergency gall bladder removal. Up until December 2018 I continued to experience these gall attacks and would end up in the ER in agony almost once a month and managed the smaller attacks weekly and sometimes daily. I ended up having an ERCP procedure for sphincter of Oddi and since then have gained weight like crazy due to being able to eat without fear of an attack. My current weight is 92kg (202lbs) and I am now considering a revision to RNY I am seeing so many mixed stories of weight loss after revision even some who went on to gain weight. Has anyone had revision for weightloss successfully? Would love to hear your story.

I'm not a revision patient, but at over four years out I can eat anything. Even at two years out, I could eat anything. Most of the restrictions and food intolerances are in the first few months post-surgery. as far as volume, you can eat more and more as time goes on (although just because you CAN doesn't always mean you SHOULD). Right now I would characterize myself as a "light eater". I highly doubt anyone would guess I've had WLS (whereas early out, it was obvious that something was going on). I eat normally, but fairly lightly. Not any different than my regular weight-conscious, normal weight friends eat, really. If I go out, I typically get an appetizer - or a salad - or I'll order an entree and bring half of it home. Most of my naturally thin or weight conscious friends do that, too.

Wondering what is the normal or average experience. I most likely will need a gastric bypass revision surgery, because of stricture issues after sleeve. I’m wondering what I should expect as normal after What is a normal bite full for you? (I currently can only eat a portion similar to a is your limit for food, 1 cup? Currently I can maybe do 1/4 Anything off limits? I currently can’t eat meat unless it’s a crumb size, pills stick, more than tiny sips hurt. Hoping there is a light at the end of this and I can be someone normal. I’m ok with eating less, and also no junk....I just want a normal meal...veggies.,,,meat...... a salad would be heaven

I had never taken vitamins before with the lapband so it was hard to get used to, but I'm four months out from revision to RNY and just had all my labs come back perfect! Here are the two things that helped me be successful: 1. I got one of these pill organizers with multiple compartments for each day and fill it up every Sunday. Plus I have it sitting right where I see it every morning so I don't forget to take it to work. 2. I got a free app called Round. You set up the reminders and it's a bit of a nag if you don't tell it you took your pills! I'm sure there are others but I found this was easy to set up. hope this helps. Oh and also for calciums I prefer the bariatic advantage chews- chocolate. But I think everyone is different. Get a sampler pack before you buy a whole bag. You don't want to get a flavor you dread taking three times a day! I made that mistake with peanut butter and coconut. Finally I just gave them away at support group! Everyone else thought they were yummy!

Kind of. Mine is technically labeled as a revision, but it’s because I had a nissen fundoplication (I surgery to prevent heartburn).

Hi @veisor, Sure........I've went back and forth and for the most part was Pro-sleeve..Back in April of 2019 my surgeon recommended bypass but said sleeve would be okay and my PCP said sleeve....The sleeve seemed easier, less complications. sure there was the increased acid relux risk with sleeve but I've never had that so not a risk for me. But for me, someone who is overweight not from overeating but from pcos and other things, somone who diets and can't lose a pound, i needed the true metabolic change that the bypass brings. Also....in the pre op stuff they did discover i had acid reflux, although it never presented itself to me. additionally, my bmi is 50...so I want the proven long term results that the bypass brings. If you know of anyone or follow these boards, for some reason many people gettting the sleeve gain the weight back or have to have a revision. Not everyone, mind you..but a lot. My pre-op psychologist said it best. Whatever surgery you decide on, you have to believe it's the one for you or it won't work. She said don't get the sleeve with any doubts in your mind. Don't get the bypass with any doubts in your mind.

I'm still pre-surgery...hopefully will have a date in october......I've went back and forth too and for the most part was Pro-sleeve. seemed easier, less complications. sure there was the increased acid relux but I've never had that so not a risk for me. But for me, someone who is overweight not from overeating but from pcos and other things, somone who diets and can't lose a pound, i needed the true metabolic change that the bypass brings. Also....in the pre op stuff they did discover i had acid reflux, although it never presented itself to me. additionally, my bmi is 50...so I want the proven long term results that the bypass brings. If you know of anyone or follow these boards, for some reason many people gettting the sleeve gain the weight back or have to have a revision. Not everyone, mind you..but a lot. My pre-op psychologist said it best. Whatever surgery you decide on, you have to believe it's the one for you or it won't work. Dont' get the sleeve with any doubts in your mind. Don't get the bypass with any doubts in your mind. 🙂 Good luck!!!

Ok, so I went through all the months of nutrition classes, blood work, stress test, EKG, and x-rays. I am revising from the sleeve to the bypass because of really bad acid reflux and a hiatal hernia. After Aetna kept giving me trouble I was losing all hope of getting approved. Yes, after all the work I did they said my appeal was DENIED! However, I received a letter in the mail on Friday that ordered Aetna to approve my surgery within 72 hours. Medicare had stepped in and said basically that Aetna is my fiduciary in the medical insurance and they are responsible for keeping me healthy. Due to the fact that bypass is proven to stop reflux Medicare overturned their decision and I am now on my way to getting a surgery date. I am praying that above all other things the bypass is good for that it just relieves my acid reflux and helps me loose another few pounds. I had my sleeve June of 2016 and I'm still doing good. I've gained about 25 lbs. back so I hope it helps me lose and I'm positive it will, but haha to Aetna and don't let these insurance companies dictate what happens with you're health. Stay vigilant and keep pressing forward to your weight loss goals. Thanks for listening. [emoji171] Sent from my SM-J337P using BariatricPal mobile app

I have had the sleeve and the RNY. My sleeve failed - for one I had a leak, so was in hospital for 3 months... they tried to place several stents and think they probably stretched things out. Upper GI confirmed my stomach was stretched. So, I have the RNY now. It is a slow process - apparently weight loss is slower with a revision, but I am happy. I woke up from the sleeve hungry and that hunger did not go away. I woke from RNY and I was not hungry and I still find I have minimal hunger. I still have demons that drive me to want to eat that I am working on, but the restriction I have from RNY helps me a LOT. I hope this helps.

Personally, if you KNOW your tum empties quicker than normal, then I would want to start with the sleeve procedure where you keep your pyloric valve. When you do RNY, you cut out the valve and only have a stoma, so it's an open system. I think you will have issues with satiety in both surgeries. But you might have a better chance with satiety in the sleeve where more of the vagus nerve is cut, more of the grehlin producing portion of the tum is cut away and the pyloric valve is intact. Also, if you have to revise, you would be able to revise to DS with more malabsorption for better weight long term sustained losses. Also with DS, you can eat quite a lot of food due to the malabsorption. So if you were struggling with satiety, would have better tools to deal/manage it. An RNY surgery is pretty much the "golden shot surgery" and no really helpful revisions can be made from it.

I would agree. I'd revise to a DS. You probably need that surgery. I don't think you will be happy with the RNY and think you will likely not get to your goal weight with it. I can say this because I have RNY (virgin surgery) and have a larger capacity. So I do not feel a whole lot of restriction. And food goes through my stoma very easily. So I have to be extremely careful of what goes in my mouth, calorie, volume count and limit food in the face of hunger. And I got to my goal. But it took iron balls to do it. And not everyone can put that kind of limit on themselves. If you haven't already, you need to have your sleeve evaluated to see if they left too much of the fundus in tact, or if it can be revised to make the sleeve smaller in a re-surgery. If it's surgeon error, they should have to fix it. If it's your error through overeating or eating around restriction, then a new surgery won't necessary fix your head and you will need to consider counseling along with a new anatomy if you want to avoid having this same discussion in the future.

I had the RNY in 2001. Loss 200 lbs but was still over weight. Kept the weight off for nearly a decade then gained it back. Recently I had a revision to DS. I was told by many the DS is the best for the very large to lose the weight and keep it off. So far I’ve lost 50 lbs in two and a half months. I hope this helps. I know I don’t have much info as to the revision outcome still but so far it’s been worth it.

I had sleeve surgery in 2015, 6 months later I stopped losing weight, and felt no restriction. I am still obese and need to lose alot of weight according to several of my Drs. and A1c and other bloodwork. If you've had revision are you happy with RNY. Is it worth another surgery? I have an appt next week to discuss with WL surgeon.

Good luck n all the best but why are you having a revision if you don't mind me asking Sent from my SM-G925T using BariatricPal mobile app

Good luck - what problem(S) are you hoping to address with a revision?

Anyone had gastric bypass revision?

I have an appointment n 2 weeks to see my options

My date was September 6th. So far so good. Go for follow up on the 13th. No issues so far, soup, soup, protein shakes, water and did I say soup? 😊 Previous 2x lap band (revision done 3 yrs after original surgery). Originally lost about 80 lbs only for about 45 lbs to come back over last 2 years due to band and esophagus issues. Excited to have this opportunity and looking forward to my progress.

A few random thoughts, in no particular order - You will likely lose some muscle mass as you lose weight irrespective which procedure you get; the main emphasis in general for WLS is to minimize muscle loss as we lose. Some maintain that it is impossible to build muscle mass while in a caloric deficit (needed to lose that fat) and while I never like to say "never" on such things, I would say that it would be exceptionally rare for it to happen, Typically, we lose what we need to lose to a healthy weight and body composition, and then work on building additional muscle mass if we so desire. The bypass and VSG have very similar weight loss and regain characteristics - there isn't much to choose between them from that aspect. You may lose a bit quicker with the bypass owing to its malabsorption, but will ultimately end up in the same place. The caloric malabsorption of the bypass is a temporary thing - it dissipates after a year or two - so weight maintenance is similar for both; nutritional malabsorption is a long term affair, however. As long as one stays on top of supplements and lab tests, both are good for long term health. The bypass, however, is somewhat fussier in its supplement requirements - minerals are malabsorbed, so one usually needs to supplement iron and calcium more than with a sleeve (and that may not be enough, as the need for iron infusions is usually greater with the bypass than with the sleeve. Iron and calcium is somewhat fussy as they need to be spaced out during the day. it's mostly a matter of establishing the habit, but this will bother some more than others. The sleeve has a predisposition toward GERD or acid reflux, so if one already suffers from this, the bypass is often preferred unless there is a specific identifiable cause that can be corrected during surgery (such as a hiatal hernia.) In contrast, the bypass is predisposed to dumping, reactive hypoglycemia, and marginal ulcers (which precludes the use of NSAIDs such as ibuprofin or aspirin, which are better tolerated by the sleeve.) The sleeve is conceptually a more straightforward, or simpler, procedure. However, it still takes some time and practice for a surgeon to master, so it is well to ensure that a prospective surgeon has performed several hundred of them. In the US, that isn't a big problem these days as most have been doing them for several years, but in other countries where they have been slower to adopt it, this may be a consideration. Owing to their national health policies, Canada is running about five years behind the US on their learning curve, and other countries seem to be similar. There is a recent poster (from AU, IIRC) here who went through a quick revision from an initial sleeve to a bypass within the first week or two, that is likely an example of this. So, if your surgeon is recommending one over the other, it is well to pay attention to them - their recommendation may (or may not) the absolute best thing for you, but it is likely to be the best that they can do for you, or are most comfortable performing on you.

Revision

I have had my Slimband for 11 years and I am trying to offer my support to those that have been feeling abandoned now that the company is no longer doing the surgeries and do not have the support that they once had or promised. I am not involved in pursuing any legal action against Slimband. But I can offer guidance if you need support, fills or defills, or need/want to have it removed and are considering getting the revision from band to sleeve, bypass or duodenal switch. DM me to talk. I should disclose that I am a former Slimband employee, and worked there for about six years, and left on my own free will in 2016.

I was banded by Slimband 11 years ago and still have my band. However, I have helped others have their band removed and have the band-to-sleeve or band-to-bypass revision surgery done and they are soooo happy. I can also help ones that just need to have their band adjusted to a proper level of restriction. DM me if you want to talk about getting fills/defills or about revision to a more effective weight loss surgery.