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I know this is an old thread but what was your reason for wanting the lap band removed? I met with a surgeon last week about revision surgery and he wants to do plication with lap-band over it, told me it was the best option to be successful this time. I see you are in NJ and I am as well.

I chose the sleeve because I didn't want to mess with the rearranging of the intestines in RNYGB. The research I read said that the complication rate was lower. Friends that just went ahead with bypass asked me why not just get the 'gold standard' since its reversible and some sleeve patients have to convert to bypass anyway. The way I figured it, I had a less than 5% chance of needing a revision to RNY from GERD. Then if I was that 5% and needed bypass then I would have a 20% chance of any complications from RNY. I didn't want to jump to that 20% complication risk right from the get go. I didn't care that the sleeve wasn't reversible - why would I want to reverse it? Some people need to have their bypasses reversed because of malnutrition, but because the sleeve isn't malabsorptive the risk of losing TOO much isn't nearly such a problem. There are a lot of surgeries that aren't reversible and no surgery has zero risks involved. Both surgeries are a TOOL. And your long term success is determined by how you use it when making a lifestyle change in eating habits. Those friends that had their "gold standard" surgery? They follow an everything in moderation diet and some are still working to get to their goal weight. I've eliminated a majority of sweets, breads, rice, potatoes, fried foods from my diet. I've reached my goal and have lost an additional 14 pounds beyond it.

I'm right there with you, this reflux is the worst. I'm having revision surgery on Monday and I'm much more nervous this time around than when I got sleeved. At this point I'm ready to get the surgery over with so that I can have some relief from the heartburn.

Hello All!!! It's so nice to see all your stories, success and struggles. Thanks for giving us all a voice of a different perspective. I'm here to gain some inspiration as I'm currently banded since 2010 had great success but as of late a long and painful digression having gained almost half the weight I originally lost from complications. The band is failing me due to reflux and trouble swallowing food but insurance denied removal so we're in peer to peer review to appeal it. Maybe they would cover a revision instead but we'll have to see. Not sure how I feel about not having the band but it's not serving it's purpose anymore. Should I go the distance alone or opt for another surgery? Decisions......

I had my VSG to RNY revision May 3rd. It wasnt bad. The gas was the most painful part. I am almost a week post op. Trying to get used to the smelly gas and the sharts. A part no one ever mentioned lol.

Hey you guys, I am absolutely miserable with my reflux getting soooooo much worse than it was before sleeve surgery and apparentlyhappens a lot with the sleeve. I was told that it would totally get rid of the reflux. That only lasted 6 wks and when food actually got added back to my diet it has gotten so bad. I am in process of getting approved for the RNY revision from my 2 insurance companies due to the fact that it's gotten so bad that I have just been diagnosed with Barrett's esophagus due to the reflux. Good luck with your surgery's. I'm more concerned about this surgery than the first one but it has got to be done. Allie in SC Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm in process of getting approved for the RNY revision after sleeve surgery because of my reflux getting worse since surgery. I am absolutely miserable and hoping to get approval and surgery quickly. I live in SC where do you guys live?? Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Look at revision surgery from lapband.There maybe a forum for it. Good luck Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Has anyone had a revision from lap band to the roux en y Sent from my SM-G950W using BariatricPal mobile app

Melody is the duodenal switch the same as the RNY?? I'm waiting for approval from my insurance companies for the RNY revision after the sleeve 2 1/2'years ago.My acid reflux disease has gotten so much worse than it was before the sleeve surgery. How many days of all liquids are you having to do?? Hope you are doing great. Allie in SC Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I am getting excited! I am having a revision done (from the band). Anyone else have a revision from a band? Any tips and tricks for me?

Hi Y’all! My revision from sleeve (2014) to Duodenal Switch is set for 5/20/2019! Im on my 3rd day of preop diet. All liquids has been really hard. Hope to keep up with all the May 2019 peeps...I’m excited for this second chance! :) Melody

Hi hoping someone where can help. I just had my final meeting with my doctor and scheduled my revision RNY to DS. 2 years ago my insurance denied my revision so I am 100% self pay. I got all my payment information today and the woman at the doctor's office told me she would need to "run the insurance info through" for the hospital just so they have the denial info? huh? the LAST thing I want is for my insurance company to have any info on this surgery. I majorly understand the risks of any complications in the hospital and being responsible for the costs personally since I am paying for the initial surgery. I understand that risk and am willing to take it. I also understand that if I go home a few days or weeks later sometype of complication happens, that I should be able to run that through insurance and have it be covered (different medical coding). So with all this being said the LAST thing I want is for the insurance company to have any inkling of this surgery Has anyone ever had this experience? I am very concerned now that she said that this morning and I cannot think of anything else...any insight would be appreciated.

I posted not too long ago thinking my week 3 stall had broken and I was right! 7 lbs down in the last week and half. It’s so hard to trust this process but we really have to. My weight loss is extremely slow...I expected that being a revision patient and I am totally ok with that. As long as it keeps coming off!

I am from atlanta and looking to get a revision ! I previously had the sleeve. Any suggestions on surgeons?? I will be self paying as my insurance does not cover 😞😭 Has anyone else had surgery in Georgia and have a surgeon they love?? Anyone had revision surgery here in Georgia? I previously had my sleeve surgery done with Dr Richards at Gwinnett but wasn’t too thrilled.

I recommend Dr. Carlton at Lonestar Bariatrics. He does all of the surgeries! My surgery date is 5/20 and I will be revising from the sleeve to the dswitch.

Hello! I just scheduled my surgery for Dr. Alvarez at Endobariatrics. I will be having a lap band revision to a sleeve. to say I am nervous is an understatement. I had always had "thoughts" previously about having surgery in Mexico but after a ton of research I feel good about my decision. Did anyone else have surgery with them? How did it go?

Hey! Seeing this a little late, but Dr. Bagshahi (Bagshahi Bariatric in Fort Worth) is amazing!! He specializes in complicated revisions and also does the duodenal switch. He actually does the DS in one surgery rather than two separate surgeries like some do, if possible. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and did his surgical internship at the Mayo Clinic. He did my sleeve in March and my husband’s last week! Very thorough. Love him!

I wish now I knew how boring a prolonged liquid diet can be. Sometimes I hate my body for not. behaving better, no I don't hate my surgron, I don't hate that I had the surgery or even the type of surgery it was, just the fact of structuring/ulceration. NP assured me at appointment last Wednesday that my stomal opening was " patent"(medicalese for open) albeit still narrow, well I will concede it might have been. on THAT day, my point is- it did not remain that way. The tenderness of my pouch, which I feel most at and just below my sternum, and my right subcostal. pain which Dr Noria has told me is my jejunal ulcerations are still twingy'paining me. And 4 out of the last 6 days I have vomitted up my evening meal, 3 of those next days I woke up nauseated enough to not be able to keep anything water included until noon. And I am precaious with my fluid levels when that happens. If things are are calm enough gastic-wise that I can do 2 at minimum of fluid in my little baby shot glasses every 15 minutes, I will make my 64 oz quota, before last endoscopy I was doing 3oz instead, that made it to 72 oz which was better. Then if I had my soups, which I have been brewing myself instead of relying on prepared and canned, the fluid from them would make me up to 84-87 oz, that would be enough to keep #1 tickety-booming and #2 soft enough to pass well. And yes I do have 2 doses of Miralax worked into fluids and protein- enrich the soups. Made myself some sugar-free - made with stevia tapioca pudding. When Precious Pouch behaves very very good, I reward her with a couple ounces of that. But mostly I spend my evenings curled into an ball over the wastebasket or with one of my emesis bags I got at the hospital. I never expected this kind of grief this far from surgery. I really feel I have followed all the directives to the letter. Thursday I have an appointment with dietician, let's see if Roy and I can formulate something. And I have another niggling thing, I am husky- voiced, my ENT Dr Suzie says my vocal cords are bowed so I will be having speech therapy. There are 3 possible reasons for it, #1 A normal consequence of aging #2 pressure from my thyroid nodules doing it- this she doubts and #3 and this is the one I believe, so many endoscopies- I am up to 13 lifetime and 10 of them at OSU- that it has traumatized my vocal cords and speech as a consequence. So I guess I resent how long it is taking to heal to a "normal "state, it is wearyin g/boring and feeling futile most days. Do I wish I could be revised back away from my pouch? Not really, it would be a traumatizing long open surgery, not easy to endure maybe at my age even fatal, not easy- peasy like laparoscopy was. I do like the fact I am now even smaller than I was when I delivered Tomkitten, 40 years ago the 12th of June, yeah if you look only at my weight loss, 100 pounds in 8 months, you could say "Good on YOU Frustr8" it's just the miserable way, with PICC lines, Total P Nutrition, and the minor setbacks, this was not what was advertised in pamphlets, pre-surgery consults and even the Post-Surgery clinic visits, I did not request to be this "unique" maybe it is good I am One of A Kind as most practices do not deserve more than one. But , like the happy child singing in a room full of manure, with all this, there has got to be a pony somewhere! Your bewidered but comitted for the journey friend, the 1 the only--- Frustr8

I got my approval today and my surgery date is June 3 and I am so excited. I wanted a May date but oh well at least I got an approval. I was sleeved in 2015 however it was unsuccessful. I am determined for this bypass to work. I wanted the bypass the first time but the surgeon suggested the sleeve. This is the last and final time can’t get another revision after this but I wouldn’t one another one.

Hello All- Any NC patients have surgery with Dr. Ellen Carraro with Novant Bariatric in CLT? I am trying to get in to see her for a surgical opinion about my 2011 VSG. I have horrible GERD and major malabsorption issues even though the sleeve isn't supposed to come with that. I am thinking a RNY revision may be necessary to get rid of the GERD. Looking for both the positives and negatives about your experience with Dr. Carraro. Everything I have read has been super positive so I hope she can help me. Thanks in advance! Teachkdz0507

Interesting...I wonder if this is a long-term outcome that was unanticipated. I had a Lap-Band that slipped within 2 months and I waited almost 1 year until insurance would pay to fix it. It was ridiculous-I had to lie down to eat without throwing up. I had the sleeve revision on 12/27/11. It was actually pretty good for the first 2-3 years although I am now 100% reliant on Prevacid daily. It is AWFUL if I am even a few hours later with the dosage. Some days the 1 Prevacid won't cut it and I need to chew on Tums or something because it feels like a heart attack. Fast forward 7 years out. The GERD is over the top ridiculous and I find myself eating things to just keep my tummy from throwing up the food I eat. Last year I started having huge problems with malabsorption. My surgeon told me I was crazy because the sleeve doesn't cause that. My typical "blame it on myself" alongside my "I am embarrassed I have gained weight back" self just went quietly on while watching my blood chemistry get all jacked up. When I had to get IV transfusions of iron I knew I had to get answers. I have bounced from specialist to specialist. I do not have a disease based issue. It has to be anatomical. I am seeking an opinion from a new surgeon to get a new point of view. Hope she is worth her salt because I am truly sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am starving nutritionally even though the sleeve isn't supposed to do that. I can only pray that answers are found and insurance will pay for a revision. I have been reading quite a few peer-reviewed journal articles about this phenomena. They correlate what I am finding and say what I am claiming is indeed real and a duodenal switch or RNY is my answer. I avoided bypass due to malabsorption but I think I need to stop crying over spilled milk because I am indeed here and the issues need to be addressed. I am currently 33.8 BMI so "obese" but nowhere near where I started. I have read that RNY is a better bet than the switch for my situation. The duodenal switch promises permanent weight loss but GERD is still prevalent in those revisions. All I can say is: NOOOOO! Bad road! Long post to ask if anyone has had similar issues and found success with RNY revision from their sleeve? Is anyone in the same place I am and just trying to find answers? I feel so dumb that all of my initial research was worthless because here I am with basically a self-inflicted life long problem. Add in the "I failed" thoughts and psychologically I have regressed to the blame game stage. Ugh! Would love to hear from you if you can relate to this posting. Please tell me if you are RNY patient and love it. I really fear it for the exact reason I am seeking help-the malabsorption and GERD. Teachkdz0507

I had the DS a month and one week ago. I’m still new to all of this but I don’t regret my decision. Like a previous poster said the sleeve part is what controls hunger and it’s the malabsorption part that helps you lose more weight. If you do get the revision you do have to make sure you are taking all your vitamins everyday. With the DS you only absorb 40% of the calories you eat from complex carbs and protein, 20% from fat and 100% of the calories from simple carbs and sugar. So you will have to learn to control your cravings for the sugary simple carbs. Before surgery my surgeon did say that there is the possibility of the surgery working too well and you lose too much weight. He did tell me there are ways to revise the surgery so the part where the food and digestive juices mix is longer and the key is to keep your surgery team aware you are having problems when you begin to have them. I have learned a lot about the surgery from shrinking violetds on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfDprJMbSy-J3MILnRPT8Yw She is currently maintaining and had the DS.

Hello, I'm scheduled to have a revision of my RNY Thursday May 9, I had my original surgery 2/2010, my surgeon has chosen to make my pouch and stoma smaller