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Hey Crishell! My 2 year anniversary is Jan 11th. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I am about 8 lbs from my initial goal of 180 and am in my initial goal size of a 12 after my high of 330 lbs and a size 28. I had a tummy tuck in October and am feeling pretty good, although I definately got off track over the holidays! I've revised my goal for the new year and am now trying to get to 165 and a size 10 by July when I hope to have a thigh lift and finish my lower body lift. I'm 5'11, so at that point I will be on maintenance. I can't say enough good things about my band, and hope all my Jan'07 friends feel the same! ~Lori

K, I'll bite. I believe what they are saying is that almost 35% (of the group who were virgin sleevers) and 50% of the band-revised-to sleeve group were still with a higher BMI after 5 years. Basically that they never reached a goal weight that would put them out of the range of "risk" factors associated with having a higher BMI. They were still considered medically obese.

What are you revising to? With only 50-60 # to lose I'd encourage a sleeve over RNY, depending if your band didnt; leave to much damage behind. No you won't be able to drink 96oz daily straight out of surgery-- but eventually you will be able to. You build up to it. Be aware of the risk of complications so you'll know what to look for.

Hi Cheri, Your post brings back memories. I was very afraid to have Band to RnY revision before I had it done. Your story is a bit different than mine in that you are only 60 lbs from goal. I was much heavier, which is why it was probably an easier decision for me. That being said, my experience with RnY has been so much better than it ever was with the band. It's hard to believe that a procedure that is so much more invasive has had WAY less complications than the lapband. I am 6 months post op and have had ZERO complications. My 6 month bloodwork just came back and everything is in the normal range. I no longer take Prilosec or Get "stuck". I no longer cough at night and am able to sleep through till morning. The best part...I can actually eat healthy! Vegetables, Steak, chicken, Fruit, etc all go down. I don't need sour cream or condiments to get em down! Here's the deal. In my opinion, the lapband is a quick and simple surgery with a ton of bad side effects and post op complications. RnY is a more complicated surgery, but after the initial healing period (2-4 weeks), things get WAY easier. One word of caution...RnY still requires a ton of effort to lose weight. It is much easier to eat with RnY than the lapband. Like the lapband, gaining weight is possible if you eat the wrong things. The difference with RnY is that healthy foods actually go down (after a few months of healing).

LOL yup. Tore revision came up. Interesting. Never heard of that before.

If you are getting 50 ounces in at 3 days post op you are doing well. You are going through a healing process so you can't expect to get in so quickly. After my sleeve 2 years ago it took me 3 to 4 weeks to get that much Fluid in. You'll get to the goal amounts don't rush yourself. I am having a revision to RNY in August so I'm dreading having to do it all again.

I have had my band since 2009 and started having a lot of complications with it in 2012 so I am having the revision to Sleeve on 11/27/13. I have heard a lot of people say they had to have a hernia repair what is the causes of getting a hernia with the band? For the last month I have had swollen, pinching, stabbing, and pulling feeling around my port area when I move or bend a curtain way. Is this something I should be concerned about?

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.

I would not get a band. Had one and revised to a sleeve. Bands are very hard, everything under the sun affects restriction, complications are very high, and in three years of posting on message boards I have never met anyone banded for 10 years or more. I don't think many keep them for 10 years. We hear about these people but I have yet to meet one even on message boards. Sleeves are easier, far easier than banding. Complications are low, weight loss is better and faster, people are happier with sleeves than they are bands. BTW, welcome to the forum!

I had gastric bypass in 2013. It was a revision from lapband to bypass. Everything has been great as far as weight loss. I am pretty much at goal and have been for over 6 months now. But I have had issues that I question whether they are from the bypass. I never had these things before bypass. I have "low blood sugar" attacks. I call them that, and my doc's office agreed it sounds like classic low blood sugar. But what happens is, first my thinking feels a little strange, weak...then my body is weak, I feel very dizzy, I sweat - immediately am wet head to toe, have to lay down. I was told to eat Protein every 2 hours, and sometimes I do forget to eat that often...but it has happened even when I had eaten about an hour before. I eat 2 string cheese pieces and wait for this to pass. It is really scary. It has happened twice as I was driving my car. Next issue is that I have developed severe GERD. Never had it before, even with the lapband. I am on Omeprazole now. I have had bad gas lately too. I can feel it in my stomach and all thru my guts. The worst thing that happened to me, and there is no research linking this with bypass, I developed an auto immune disease 4 months after surgery. It is Alopecia Universalis. It means that your immune system attacks your hair follicles all over the body and your hair falls out all over the whole body. I am 61 years old. It is very rare for this disease to start this age. It is a genetic plus environmental trigger type of disease. But I have been reading and 80% of our immune system in in our gut. And there are people who have found "cure" for alopecia by diet change. That isn't scientific, but I really wonder...I had allergies and had a weak immune system before bypass and I really think that the bypass pushed it past the point where the alopecia could come into activity. There is no cure but there are treatments and I have shots all over my scalp every month of steroids, which fight the immune response. I now have eyelashes and eyebrows back and some head hair, although I can't go out without a wig or hat. That makes me wonder if I regret the bypass. I can't say I do. All my life my weight and my addiction to sugar have been a huge problem. As I got older it was harder to manage my weight and I am so happy to be back to my young adult weight again! Also, I do get dumping syndrome so I don't eat sweets at all. It has really helped me. Tracy

Hi, everyone just wondering if there's any revision sleeve to bypass patient of there that have United Healthcare. If so was it extremely hard to get approved for the revision surgery and did it take a long time for the approval. Also I'm only 14 months out from being sleeved and just wondering if I would have to go through the entire process again. I'm having extreme complications with gerd not to mention I've only lost about 30-40lbs with the sleeve. My BMI is still over 40 and my health issues have become more complicated. My diabetes is worse than ever, my blood pressure is staying up and the GERD has me in pain and vomiting a lot. Any advice anyone??

Every time I get a flare up I am running to the doctor....oh yeah...they will see that getting a revision is cheaper for them in the long run.

You won't regret your decision to revise to the sleeve. My wife initially had Lap-Band. She lost a lot of weight, but was totally miserable the entire time. When I decided to have surgery, I definitely didn't want the band, I went with sleeve. I had a very positive experience, almost no problems. When my wife's band eventually failed, she went with the sleeve and has had very few problems since. She also lost a lot more weight.

I had lapband surgery in April 30th of 2012. I am 5"1, and I'm 49 years old. My highest weight was 223. I lost 100 pounds and reached my goal weight of 123. Then I had a port leak in early 2014 and had port revision surgery in September of 2014. I have had a huge regain. I am back up to 165. The insurance I have now doesn't cover my Dr's visits anymore. I am not at a good restriction. And I can't afford to get the fills I need at this time. Has anyone else had a regain? And if so, what did you do to drop the weight again? As of right now, I feel like a total failure. Two days ago I went to only liquids. Today I am on pureed. I'm trying to restart and refocus. I am walking again as well. It's tough because I have a really bad back. And I hurt a lot. I feel so lost. I don't know what to do. I am so off track, I don't even remember what I did in the beginning of my journey! Please help.... Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

skin is wrinkly I'm a mom of 3 my belly is still flattish considering I had my TT 10 years ago I'm due for a revision but that's just me being picky I guess

Great job . Sounds like you're doing everything spot on, especially checking in with your NUT. I'm only going on 10 weeks post-op revision to sleeve, and I'm so grateful that I had WLS. Keep us posted! ^^

@@finediva Hey! I didn't see your post before, let me try to answer your questions. I did stall a lot and I'm still not quite at goal. I started at 237 and my first big stall was at 196, which was around Christmas-time. When New Year came around I cleaned up my diet a lot and started dropping again. My next big stall which lasted like almost 2.5 months was at 166-169. I stayed here from the end of April until the begining of June. In June I really kicked up my workouts again and then joy, stalled again at 156 for several weeks. I finally broke that stall the week before I had plastic surgery and I went into surgery on 8/20 at 153. I came out of surgery at 161, and within a few days had dropped back to 153 after all the Fluid was gone. I'm now two weeks out and this morning I was 146. So..there are a lot of stalls that tend to come up, you just have to take a look at what you're doing and revise it. To break 166, I had to commit to running 3-5 miles everyday, and I did 2-3 hours of hard cardio classes at my boxing gym. Once you break through the plateau, I haven't really tended to gain it back, it's just a matter of sticking to the diet and working out and eventually the scale starts to move again. Good luck!

Me too! This journey has been complex for me between the band erosion, gastric bleed, and now the revision. I feel for you but you are so totally safe in the hospital --lay back and heal.

Mimi, your incision is looking good, Sorry for the seroma, but it will get better, trust me, I had a wound seperation that took 4 months to heal and then I needed a revision to fix it, you will get thru this and look Marvolous!!!!! The pain pill are your friend, use them when needed, you dont need to have the pain. Josi, I too had a couple of those inner stictches not disolve and have to be picked at to get them out. I agree about the panties, I'm one of those that can't stand the thong up my butt, hehehe But I have been a very frequent shopper of Vistorias secret and I am proud to say I own WAYYYY to many pairs of size Medium panties in all colors and pretty fabrics. WOHOOOOO no granny panties for me anymore. :-) I'm going to have to go look online for this hanky panky panty line....

Well after almost 3 years of hell of almost constant vomitting, discomfort and pain, my band is coming out on May 23rd and I am having gastric bypass... The new doc that I see here in FL (I was banded in CA) says 60% of his business now is removing bands and revising to either the sleeve or bypass. I wish I would have known this 3 yrs ago and I would have had bypass to begin with. Well you live and learn. So off on a new journey for me. Wish me luck. Leah

As I have posted last week, I do indeed have band slippage (by the way with no apparent symptoms except vomiting/spitting up nightly) and was able to eat normal, solid foods so I must say you can have slippage and still be able to eat and drink and food go down fine. Scary that there are no symptoms I know.... I am supposed to hear from my insurance today on approval for revision and surgery for fixing of the slipped band. Please pray they do cover. If so I am to be scheduled for surgery either tomorrow morning or Feb 14th. I will keep you posted. I have faith in God that he will help me on this... Thanks for your prayers and concerns....

My surgeon's office should be sending in my paperwork to insurance today or Monday. I'm scheduled for revision on 5/16 as long as everything goes through with Aetna. They don't see any reason for denial, but that's the funny thing about insurance - you just never know! I'm concerned because I had my original surgery with BCBS FL and trying to get my revision from Aetna (same employer, provider just changed), but they aren't concerned. Oh well, I'm crossing everything that can be crossed!

OK... WARNING!!!! I AM GOING TO COMPLAIN!!!!!! I am trying to have a revision from a lap band. My insurance company informed me today, that even though I had good success with my lap band before my supposed slip, that I would have to start the whole bariatric process over. They said that because my initial surgery was in 2009 I needed current proof of bariatric compliance. However, they would accept the last four years of diet documentation because the lap band slip was of no fault to me. Sounds crazy right? I have to attend meetings, take nutrition classes, have another pysch eval, obtain another support letter from my doctor, and go through cardiac clearance. UGH!!!!! Meanwhile, I have an empty lap band, an uncomfortable port, pain while eating, excess gas,and a tingling numbing pain that radiates behind my left shoulder and runs down to my finger tips. I want out of lap band hell! I have to focus on the positive. I am able to get all of the above taken care of before my next appointment in April. (I just have to rearrange my life to do so.) Thanks for listening!

Hi Everyone, I go by SnohoGal98296 - I have been visiting and posting for a few months now. At first I was lurking to learn about your experiences and your pre and post surgery successes and failures. I also wanted to learn if you had the same experience as I have and if those experiences helped lead you to weight loss surgery. I did this research to determine if WLS was for me - and through this site, my outside research of specific surgeons and my own family who have made the leap for themselves and are very happy, I have made the decision to get weight loss surgery, specifically the sleeve. I am just in the process of determining which bariatric surgical center at which I will spend my hard earned money. I am self-pay, well employed and well insured, but with a WLS exclusion. As this is a huge investment for me I have closely examined specific reasons why I want this procedure. Below is my list (I apologize in advance for any TMIs :-D): I have tried nearly every diet on the planet - I am 45 years old and first realized I was overweight when I was about 10 years old. Here is a list of diets I have tried over the past 35 years: Lowfat / Nonfat liquid VLC diet (I snuck my Dad's Optifast in the 6th grade) Jenny Craig Weight Watchers Acupuncture Hypnosis Grocery Diet (Lean Cuisine, etc) Starbucks Diet Subway Diet Atkins South Beach Medically Supervised Optifast Medically Supervised High Protein / Low Carb (I was most successful here) Here are my physical observations since my last diet and regain, I don't make this list to complain but to remind me why I need to be proactive for my health, in no particular order: I am 5'6", I started my last diet at 275lbs, I lost around 50lbs. and was feeling pretty darn good about being in the 220's. I thought I could lose more and keep the weight off and did for almost a year, unfortunately the diet was too hard to maintain and I ended up gaining back the 50lbs. plus another 20lbs. Actually I am fluctuating between 295 and 298. At my first surgical consult their scale, fully clothed in the afternoon, said 302lbs. I have finally eclipsed the largest size of my favorite work slacks - Lee "khaki" style slacks. Their largest size is 24W. I wear 24W in other brands but not in Lee anymore. I have been on two business trips since October and on both occasions I had to ask for seat belt extenders, (funnily enough on the USA based airlines but not on the Japan based airline). When I bend over to tie my shoes I feel starved for oxygen, I often need to prop my foot up to reach. I am unable to wear my favorite pair of boots anymore, my calves won't fit anymore - and they are men's boots. I have resorted to fastening my bra before I put it on because my arms don't bend that way anymore. I have a few creases in different areas of my body that get raw and irritated if I get sweaty. I have had to have prescription yeast infection treatments for these areas. Needless to say I hate to sweat now, in fact it makes me itch. I barely fit in my son's car and the seat belt is fully extended when I fasten it. It is close in my car - but I have few inches there yet. Some public restrooms stalls are too small for me, I have to use the handicap stall to have the space to reach, if you know what I mean (sorry TMI). At a recent meeting at work, the chair I was sitting in broke, snapped underneath me with a loud crack and I barely caught myself before tumbling over backwards, and I yelped! My only relief from complete embarrassment? A normal size guy broke his chair too, a short while after mine did. When I go to bed at night, I have to sleep with 2 or more pillows because I can't lay on my back without my own neck flesh choking me, I also need the pillows to sleep on my side due to my body is larger than one pillows width from the mattress surface. I have borderline high blood pressure. I do not have type II diabetes, although my surgical consult reminded it hasn't been tested in a couple of years. Climbing the single flight of stairs at my work, walking between buildings, or trying to keep up with my family while we are on walks causes me to be out of breath. Walking or standing for more than 20 or 30 mins makes my feet and back hurt so badly that I have to sit down. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year was excruciating. Doing normal housework is now a workout. My hips brush the armrests of my office chair, not too small yet, but close. There is a woman at work who had to have facilities order her an XL chair and everyone knows about it. Regarding my family - My husband is truly supportive, he backs me 100%. My 17 year old son wonders why I can't diet and exercise more. My daughter really hasn't weighed in - I believe she supports me. I have a cousin who weighed over 440lbs. when she got the lap band, she got down to 300lbs and all weight loss stopped. After her band failed (i.e. broke internally, she didn't regain very much) she got a revision to RNY and has begun loosing again. Her son just got banded this year and has lost over 150lbs. and just got engaged. I feel comfortable within my own family with this decision. Regarding work - I have told my Boss and she supports my decision but I will only tell my coworkers on a person by person basis. Some will understand and support others just don't need to know. So these are some of the reasons why I have decided to get weight loss surgery, what are some of your reasons?

Im having a revision from lapband to sleeve and hiatal hernia repair at the same time on February 8 Sent from my SM-G935P using the BariatricPal App