Search the Community

That's such great news! Thank you for the feedback! I'm relieved to know that my weight loss won't stop them from a revision. I know I need it, I have all the willpower in the world but when it comes to food it's been a life long struggle. It's definitely and addiction i've been fighting all my life. Aside from the past 6yrs. Let me tell you, i've never been so happy with my weight not consuming my entire life. Thanks again!

Welcome...I'm a revision like 2bthinagn and hopefully soon Losing :-) Hope to hear from you all soon...

I was banded in 2011 and lost 80 pounds never quite got to my goal weight before I started having problems. Throwing up multiple times daily, bad acid reflux to the point I was needing 8 pillows to prop me up to sleep, frustrated. I was too tight at one point from the swelling from vomiting so much, that I had to get all fluid removed emergently so I could swallow my own saliva. I ended up getting all fluid removed and esophageal manometry done. I have a separate post about that experience. The manometry showed I had a slip. That was the documentation I needed in order to get a revision for mybinsurance to cover my revision. There needs to be documentation to support another surgery need. Unless you are cash pay. I initially wanted sleeve because I thought it was the best option....however after speaking with my surgeon, he told me that I would more than likely have problems with severe reflux due to the pressure from the sleeve and since I was already miserable from the severe reflux I had, I wasn't about to have to deal with any more. I also have several friends who had sleeve done and have significant regain with reflux issues. He said revising to RNY would resolve reflux and I wouldn't ever have to deal with that issue. I decided that was the best choice for me. I was revised to RNY back in 2015 and SO Happy! No reflux which is awesome! I can eat spicier foods again. I have lost a total of 125 pounds and at my goal weight of 175. I am also a Zumba Instructor and teach Zumba 4 days per week. I keep my protein first, then veggies and fruit. I take my vitamins daily and actually have not been sick as much either since revision. I have not had any issues. Love my RNY ❤ I only wished I had done RNY to start with. Do your homework, ask questions and decide what is right for you. Best of luck to you!

A revision won't cure mindless eating (I guess you're already well aware of this) but it can help with reflux issues. I got a revision to bypass myself and reflux issues got way better. If you're having reflux issues a surgeon will usually advice against a sleeve.

Huge difference between the sleeve and the band is that they cut out the part of the stomach that generates the homone ghrelin which stimulates hunger. Between the restriction of having only 15% of your stomach and not having that hormone, you will probably not feel much hunger. With the band, you still have your full stomach and full production of ghrelin, so it's no wonder that you were never really satisfied with food. I think it is a lot easier to make good choices for food when you are not hungry. You also will not be able to eat around your sleeve, unless you intentionally are choosing sliders like milkshakes etc. Again, when you are not feeling hungry, it's a lot easier to resist stuff like that. If you look at the success rates and percent of body fat loss between the band and the sleeve, you will see that you are much more likely to reach goal and in a much shorter period of time. My surgeon told me the band is more like hiring a personal trainer and was honest that he has seen a much higher success rate among his sleeve and bypass patients than his lap band patients. In my opinion, you should not judge the potential of your future success with the sleeve based on your past experience with the band since you are comparing apples to oranges with long and short term success rates. Good luck with your decision. I hope you get some answers from people who have been there. I think I saw a thread where someone posted a link of band to sleeve revision stories. I will see if I can find it and post it here.

I was revised to sleeve May10th 2012. Since surgery to date I lost 28 lb which does not seem alot but I am a slow loser and thats how much total weight that I previously lost with the band in 1st 6 months n then gained it all back cuz I could eat around my band. just like u no major complications but only acid reflux , food getting stuck n vomitting etc whenever I would get a fill to give me some restriction. I had the band put in in 2007 and no weight loss after April, 2008, only gaining untill i gained it all back. I was so nervous about the sleeve cuz I was afraid of failing it too, but I knew that I m not comfortable with bypass surgery so that leave me only one option and after thinking about it for 1 year, i finally did it and I am liking it cuz u m not that crazy hungary n when i eat i get full so soon. i can decide responsibly about my food choices . i also noticed that if i munch on slider food all day i dont lose but if i m sticking to rules I do loose weight, slowly but i do loose weight.

My revision from lap band to bypass is on dec 10th. My question is what else did you drink during this stage besides the generic guidelines provided. (eg; water, broth, jello, diluted juices, powedered drinks, etc.)

I ended up being in the hospital for 3 nights and 4 days due to some complications but I didn't care what I was wearing. I put my robe on over the hospital gown so I could walk the halls. I brought some lip balm because my lips got very dry. A notebook and pen for writing down notes and information given by medical staff. Due to the meds you may forget a lot of it so its better to write it all down. Your cell phone or Ipad will be great company, and maybe a magazine. Other than that you really don't need much more than your toothbrush and toothpaste, brush, and some lotion for your body. You will be dry from drinking so little. I brought too much stuff to the hospital last time but when I have my revision at the end of the summer I will travel a lot lighter. lol

Looking hot!! And healthy! Great job! What did you revise from? You did amazing!

Thanks for all of the response to this, glad I'm not alone. All of my incisions are the same size, however one (when looking down, it's to the right side above my belly button) was all red and irritated. I asked the nurse and the doctor and they told me that this is where the stomach was pulled out of. This morning, the redness is going away, but that is the only spot that I have significant pain. Reaching, standing after sitting, etc. is bothersome, but bearable. When I had lap band the first time, the port revision, and ultimately, the removal, they used a larger incision and it was also sore. I haven't noticed a dent yet, but now I'll be looking for it! Thanks for sharing!!!

I got my lapband in 2007 in Mexico. After a year it just quit working and it stayed dormant in there for seven years and two children. In April of 2014, I went to my Kaiser general doctor who referred me to the bariatric surgeon of my choice (through Kaiser, of course). After an upper GI was done, it was determined that my lapband needed to go. It was old & rusty and doing irrepairable damage to my esophogus. I was scheduled for a revision to sleeve in 10 days and I don't think I met the BMI requirements. With Kaiser, it all depends which doctor you see. Some are great and want to help, others not so much. May I ask where you are located?

I had band to sleeve surgery July 11th. I know I'm only 6 days out but I still have to have help getting up and down due to great pain on my left side. Anyone else experience this?

I belonged to an all woman gym after my lapband surgery in 2009 (I'm now a a sleeve revision). I paid $60 a week for a personal trainer. Loved her. She kicked my butt every week. We spent 90 mins (30 on nutrition choices and 60 on weight training/cardio intervals). I told her I didn't like the elliptical cuz it was hard and made my legs feel like noodles. Guess what she chose for my 3 mins cardio intervals? Yep, the damn elliptical. By the time I left, I felt like Jello. Had a hard time walking to the car. After about 2 mths, I cut back to every 2 weeks (just cound't afford the $240 every month). I would weigh, we'd discuss my food intake and then she'd work me out. Everytime I got on the scale, I saw a loss. Even after not making the wisest choices at times. After a couple more months, I cut her back to once a month. Still saw losses every month. Then I met my now-husband. He had a membership at the Y, so I started going with him. He couldn't go to the all female gym with me and we didn't want to work out alone. So I gave up my trainer. Something she told me early on that I still remember: "You don't have to give up ur favorite foods. Just take a few bites and throw the rest away. U still have the taste but also have the control over what ur eating". She got me off my almost daily Tamale Pie (Found at Vons and Safeway on the West Coast). I cut back to once a week. Not giving it up but cutting back on it. I rarely eat them now.

Just trying to relax here in my hotel room. Suprisingly, I am not too nervous, just hoping to not be in too much pain when I wake up. Had my preop testing completed this afternoon and the driver will be picking my husband and I up at 7 tomorrow morning to take us to meet w/Dr. Aceves before surgery. Prayers are welcomed and please make room for me on the looser's bench! Much love, erika

Hi Keke, welcome to VST!! Dr. Aceves did my revision in Sept of 2010. He is excellent, professional, his hospital and staff are top notch and very attentive, and his technique is absolutely amazing!!! I've had nothing but success with my sleeve where I had none with my band. I was very nervous and even skeptical going in, but I didn't have a choice. I needed to do something. My first choice was Dr. Cirangle w/ LapSF. Unfortunately I couldn't gather enough funds to use his services and my insurance was not helpful with my revision what so ever. So, I chose the next best option in my area. Just so happened he is in Mexicali!! I was going to go to a very reputable Dr. for what I could afford. I don't regret my decision AT ALL! Good luck to you in your decision.

I was banded in 2008. Never felt full. Never reached a sweet spot. Random foods would get stuck. Sometimes the same food I'd eaten earlier without a problem. I never told anyone about my band either...and I'm glad because you can't tell I had WLS. I'm grateful that I never had a slip or erosion. However, the little weight I lost has all returned. Throwing up every day since 2008 got old...excusing yourself from the dinner table, etc. Even at 260 lbs people are thinking I have an eating disorder since I leave the table so often. 12/2012, I had all of the fluid removed from my band. I was hopeful for a revision, but the main goal was to get this band removed!! I am fortunate and have been approved for a revision on 4/25. I don't want to fail again. I'm going to give it all I got and not look back. I've decided to put the lap band behind me. I don't want to compare recovery, eating, digestion....anything. As of 4/25 (for me) the band never existed. I MUST do this. This band has been worse emotionally than any bad relationship I've encountered. Best to you all. I haven't even been revised yet and I know that it is a better decision.

Hi All, Several months ago my gastroenterologist of 5 years whom I trust suggested bariatric surgery. I've spent the time since abusing my access to scholarly journals through work and had initially settled on the sleeve. I've got an initial consult with the local sleeve expert surgeon 1 week from today. It's all he does and all he's ever done, I was so excited! I wanted the sleeve! However, while continuing my obsessive research last night, I decided to look specifically at "super-obese" patients with a BMI between 50 and 60 (my BMI is 54.1) and what I found was devastating - according to the NIH, among the super-obese, the average EWL for VSG is 40-50% whereas the DS has averages of 70-90% in the first year and early studies suggest a much higher success rate at 10-years post-op. Anyone here go through a similar experience? How have you handled it and what results have you had? I am a teacher and can't qualify for a loan large enough to cover DS without a few years of saving just to qualify, but don't want to waste time and money on VSG if I'm only going to have to save for several years and take out a second loan later for revision to DS with only 40% EWL in the meantime. I know DS is often done in two stages with VSG as stage 1, has anyone here done this? How does the cost and experience of doing it in two parts compare with doing the full DS in one fell swoop. Thanks for putting up with this rambling post. I'll be posting in the VSG forum as well, please forgive the cross-post.

These responses give me some hope too, lol. I have a friend in Texas whom I met in Mexico getting banded 10 years ago. She had the revision to sleeve and loves it. She says that bread is really hard for her to eat, which is just like a band. She says the bread swells up and it is too uncomfortable to eat. I have been really asking her a lot of questions since my husband is getting sleeved on May 2 and hopefully I will follow if I am approved. Initially she had lost a lot of weight post sleeve but regained 40 pounds because of the sweet tea she loves so much. She says she just can't give it up.

I always see posts without an update, so I wanted to be sure to come back & five one! we were all correct. The daily regurgitation was not normal. I went to a new surgeon in October. He was skeptical & wanted to blame it on too big of bites or overeating. I kept insisting I would have a feeling of being overly full eating less than one chicken finger, and I would still regurgitate it even an hour later. He decided to run some tests while giving me some food counseling. He was not a fan of the fact that I had little to no aftercare post surgery with my old surgeon. I went back on purées. Basically every time you vomit, it causes swelling & takes about 3 days for the swelling to go down. We needed to get the swelling down for many reasons. Getting it under control helped me move back onto solid foods with small bites & portions. We did the barium swallow test which showed liquids were going through fine, but I have a twist in my esophagus. Going in for my EGD scope, my surgeon was still claiming it was all bite size. He walked in after my scope & said, “yeah. So your anatomy is screwed up!” Along with the twist in my esophagus (which basically means if I need to be tubed, it could be “more difficult”), I have a major kink in my stomach from scar tissue on the outside of it. Instead of being sleeve shaped, as it should be, it is like a capital N or S. In the middle there is a kink that he had a hard time even finding the opening of. Basically if it’s not liquid, it has to sit to digest to go down. This explains why I resorted to drinking my calories & eating easy carbs. He said it could have happened when I threw up right after surgery (a staple could have caught on something) or anytime in the initial healing. So where does that leave me? I’m going in for a laparoscopic surgery to remove scar tissue January 13th. He can see the shape of my stomach from the scope, but he can’t know what the scar tissue is attached to or how bad it is til he gets in there. It could be attached to my liver. Yikes. So surgery could be half an hour, it could be 3. He may have to revise my sleeve to a bypass. I don’t want that because I have ulcerative colitis, so that’s very much so not recommended. However, I want to have the ability to eat without losing it. I’ll be on a 2 week pre-surgery liquid diet, and then after surgery, it will be the post sleeve progression. I have about 30 lbs of regain. He expects I’ll lose that fairly easily by the time I’m on solid foods again. That’s good news. Knowing I actually have something wrong with me, and I’m not crazy has been HUGE for me. I knew something was wrong, but I kept being told “bite size bite size bite size.” I have multiple friends with sleeves, and what I was experiencing was nothing like them. The eye opener was looking online & finding no one like me. So if you’re here because you’re searching, go for answers! :)

I am 17 months post surgery and am just now eating 1000-1200 calories a day (I know some vets have different experiences and ate more calories more quickly than I). I can't imagine being able to get 1200 calories a day in 2 months post surgery. Also my nutrient macros are much different than yours. I aim for 100 + grams of protein a day and I drink 90-100 oz of liquid a day. I've lost 130ish lbs on my plan (not that my plan is anything special or the only one that works). I would make a few suggestions: (1) check with your surgeon or NUT about the 1200 calories which seem more like a maintenance level and less like a weight loss level; (2) ditch the half cup mashed potatoes (and similar carb heavy foods that lack nutritional value) and substitute for a soft veggie if you still have room after eating your protein; (3) try reducing your calories to 1000 and see if it kick starts your weight loss. Since I was not a revision patient I don't know how that affects loss or calorie consumption so my advice may not apply to you at all. Good luck!

I was banded in 2005 and suffered many of the same issues. My revision will be in two steps. My band was removed about 3 weeks ago, my gastric bypass is scheduled for Feb 27. The band removal went very well. My post surgery pain was primarily in my shoulder from the CO2 used in laparoscopic surgery. All was manageable with Tylenol. All the best on your journey.

I'm going in next Wednesday for revision from sleeve to bypass, very excited to start this journey again! For those who went through this already, I was curious about eating/drinking after the surgery. After my sleeve, they had me eating real food the next day, starting with eggs for breakfast and then for other meals chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, blended very smooth. I was able to take in about 4-6 oz per meal with no problem, also got my liquids and protein in. I know that the bypass pouch is significantly smaller than the sleeve, so I was wondering what the diet is like after surgery. I know they want us to drink 64 oz of water a day, but is that even possible with such a small pouch? Thanks!

I agree with tek. Your surgeons office will be the advice you should follow. However, after I had my revision (for gerd) I drank liquids pretty well right after. I managed broth, crystal light and water for my meals in the hospital the first couple days with no problem. After that I was on full liquids (including pudding and jello) for 2 weeks then purées for 2 weeks. With a revision you won’t have a pyloric valve so liquids will likely be easier but as you move on you’ll feel restriction from food.

I don't know about revisions, but at my clinic, they had the sleevers and the bypassers on the same eating plan.

For those that have had revisions from Lap Band to Gastric By-Pass, did your weight loss happen as you expected? What difficulties and advise would you share? My band was removed Dec 10, and the gastric by-pass is scheduled Feb 27. With my band I had already significantly reduced my portions, and eliminated many foods, like pasta, etc. I have been told that the life style changes required may easier due to my 14 years with a band. However, the weight loss may take longer.