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Sassyfrass,I recently read many of your posts since I have UHC also and waiting to hear requirements for revision to RNY from band. I'd be interested to hear about your progress and experiences. Do let us know.

Both are major surgeries! It blows my mind that people still think the sleeve is the “easier” surgery. if you have any problems with Gerd then Bypass is your best option, otherwise you’ll most likely need a revision anyway

Teri, I understand the Dr sucking, for me it was after the surgery they treat you different. And after this last farce, he was there and just stared at me. Why would I just show up, and on my 1 year anniv yet? Good Greif give me a break, he keeps you waiting hours, you think I am going to take off work for nothing! Enough of that, it just pisses me off again. So what is the revision? Are you going to have it removed? Let me know, I think of you a lot and do hope that things start working your way. Take care Debie

I did the band first because 7 years ago it just seemed right ! I was 22 and all i was worried about was getting skinny so i could wear cute clothes . Never really did no research just heared it was safe and went for it ! Plus everybody had a horror story it seemed back then about rny so i backed off . Then my best friend had rny a year after me and i watched her success and then many friends and family did it and all had major success . After six years and only a 40lb lost i desided to go foward with the revision . I had my lap band removed and rny the same day 1/29/13. Best choice i ever made i have lost 51 lbs and feel great ! To make a very long story short i pick the band for all the wrong reasons but now i got a second chance at success and i love my new life !

I had revision seven months ago, and feel so happy with it. I just feel normal, long gone are those choking feeling, no gagging, no forced or non forced puking, i can sit down and eat with my family (before i had to stand to eat, and that usually ended up with a rush to the bathroom)). With the band i was always hungry or thinking of food or feeding on sweet stuff that me feel better. Now i eat a small meal and im satisfied. I do not live to eat. I just live. I have lost just about 105 pounds, feel great and best of all get to live the life of an active mum! The only down thing of my weight lose in one of my daughters eyes is now she can't play hide and seek behind me!!! Good luck with the op! It will change your life!

My doctor requires a month of Optifast pre revision. I start optifast on may 12th and surgery on june 12th. Im praying the revision is a success and they don't just take the band and require me to come back for a third surgery.

Sure Michelle, I don't mind sharing at all! I believe that one of the biggest factors that has made me successful is tracking my food, fluid, and exercise. By doing this I find that if I fall off track I am able to hold myself more accountable for my actions. I exercise a fair amount, generally do at least an hour of cardio 3-4 times a week in addition to an hour to an hour and a half of hot yoga 2-3 times a week. The yoga has really helped me trim and tone not to mention it is a huge stress reducer for me. As far as what I am eating well.... for the most part I try to be good, but everyone has their slip ups right? I avoid pastas, breads, rice, and any other high carb content foods. My carbohydrate intake is generally about 40 grams/day and I try to eat at least 70 grams of protein in a day. I am a stickler for my fluid intake and I consume generally a minimum of 2 liters of water in a day. I avoid eating foods with high sugar content and for the most part stick to sugar free, if that is not an option I will not eat more than 5 grams of sugar in a meal. My average calorie intake is roughly 900-1000 calories a day. I am almost to my revised goal of 140 pounds, I know that to keep up my amount of physical exercise and to maintain 140# I will eventually have to increase my caloric intake which seems right now like it will be a difficult task. I stick to my vitamin regimen as well. I think my greatest challenge is getting past that little voice in my head telling me that I want junk food and that makes me want to eat even when I am not hungry. Also I have a 2 year old and an 8 month old + I work full time so fitting in all of my exercise is a challenge, but I have learned that if I don't I feel awful. Treating yourself is helpful too, get your hair and nails done.....makes me feel like a million bucks every time and it makes me want to try even harder to do the best I can. Good luck!

I'm now 6 days post op and every day I wake I feel better and soooooo happy I did this! Definitely needed my tool back. Minimal pain, I'm off all pain meds. I take Carafate acid reducer and reflux meds and nausea meds on occasion. I haven't gone # 2 and have taken colace so today gonna bring out the big guns (dulcolax) and hopefully poop. ((Sorry tmi))) ???????? backed up my belly is still beyond swollen, but can feel I'm losing weight. I'm sipping water and protein shake by day. At night I sit with the family and have my broth and a 1/4c tea before bed. So complaints here and so happy this is behind me!!! Happy Sleeve day to others and my revision sisters!!! ????????????????????

I can not believe that is has been two weeks since I last Blogged! Time goes fast when your have RESTRICTION! Yep! I have it! I went to see Dr. Feiz on 7/29, a week po and I was a wee bit nervous to say the least because I knew that I was going to have a fill! Everything went perfectly! It was such a great feeling to know that my band was working! I now know that I have an 11cc band and it is filled to 7cc now. I can eat pretty much everything that I allow myself to eat! I can feel the restriction but No BPing! Some times a wee bit nausea but it goes away really fast. I find all of this to be great since I really never had it before!!!!! The very very best part......I am down another 6 pounds making it now a total of 53 pounds! 12 more pounds and Onderland there I will be and over half way to my goal! Dr. Feiz would have given me another fill this last week but I opted out. He was really trying to get me to a goal that I had of wanting to be down to 199 by next weekend when we are going to Monterey for a Big Car Show weekend, BUT, when I get back I will go in and get another fill. Technically that will be my fourth fill then hopefully I will have found the "Sweet Spot". God this band is wonderful! A side note to anyone out there who is having faulty Band problems....I am checking into having the Ethicon or Realize people be responsible for all my medical bills since the Port revision. I believe they have already made a deal with the hospital for this last surgery but I am going to try for the port revision also. So far the second surgery is totally 3500.00 more out of pocket! My DH is not happy! If anyone needs updates on that part of my journey please email me and I will be happy to let you know what is happening! Life is so Very Very Good!

I can not believe that is has been two weeks since I last Blogged! Time goes fast when your have RESTRICTION! Yep! I have it! I went to see Dr. Feiz on 7/29, a week po and I was a wee bit nervous to say the least because I knew that I was going to have a fill! Everything went perfectly! It was such a great feeling to know that my band was working! I now know that I have an 11cc band and it is filled to 7cc now. I can eat pretty much everything that I allow myself to eat! I can feel the restriction but No BPing! Some times a wee bit nausea but it goes away really fast. I find all of this to be great since I really never had it before!!!!! The very very best part......I am down another 6 pounds making it now a total of 53 pounds! 12 more pounds and Onderland there I will be and over half way to my goal! Dr. Feiz would have given me another fill this last week but I opted out. He was really trying to get me to a goal that I had of wanting to be down to 199 by next weekend when we are going to Monterey for a Big Car Show weekend, BUT, when I get back I will go in and get another fill. Technically that will be my fourth fill then hopefully I will have found the "Sweet Spot". God this band is wonderful! A side note to anyone out there who is having faulty Band problems....I am checking into having the Ethicon or Realize people be responsible for all my medical bills since the Port revision. I believe they have already made a deal with the hospital for this last surgery but I am going to try for the port revision also. So far the second surgery is totally 3500.00 more out of pocket! My DH is not happy! If anyone needs updates on that part of my journey please email me and I will be happy to let you know what is happening! Life is so Very Very Good!

Hi I'm having my band removed on April 7th and getting the sleeve. Anyone out there had the same thing and could tell me what to expect? I've been banded for almost 3 years and am wondering how much more painful it will all be since I'm having more than just the sleeve done. I'm ready for whatever is to come just would like to know what the expect. Thanks!

Everyone's body is different and your mileage may certainly vary. But personal experience is the herald of all sorts of pseudoscience. I think the data is worth considering, because my personal experience may be wildly misinterpreted, as is so often the case when I've been shown my body is working differently than I always thought it was. In any case, the people in these studies are having all sorts of success (with less complication revision surgeries) and still eating and drinking fine. And their scans show the food exiting the stomach no slower than the control group.

Mine did not heal correctly. I had an infection and was told after the infection was treated to let it heal on its own- it was an open wound. Totally gross ... After it looked like it healed, I found out my port flipped. I wasn't crazy about having another surgery and they were able to manipulate it to still give me a fill so no big deal. Then my incision got really red and they thought my band was eroding. Did an EGD and they found nothing... It was all fine. Then I slipped on ice and fell really hard. The tubing broke through and tried to come out of that port incision. I had no choice but to have revision surgery. They moved my port to the other side and re-opened the original incision. They found dead tissue where the port incision did not heal correctly. Removed the dead tissue and left the old port incision open. I now have to pack it with gauze everyday to make sure it heals right this time. You should not ignore this. Get another opinion and get that thing healed or it can lead to major compilations.

I read a couple of posts from people who were told by Kaiser that skin removal and other post bariatric plastics are not part of their plan. I don't want anyone to suffer for years as I did because of being told the wrong information! I'm learning to push back when told NO since often times the people on the other end of the phone tend to not have all the answers or are told to derail people with questions from learning the real truth in order to save $ Anyway, there was a class action in 2015 against Kaiser sparked by post WLS denials. And as it turns out this can have repercussions for insurance that systematically deems skin removal as an elective surgery that isn't covered in cases of extreme weight loss. Link https://blog.cvn.com/kaiser-ordered-to-broaden-reconstructive-surgery-coverage-after-class-action-trial https://legalnewsline.com/stories/510629463-calif-judge-rules-that-insurer-at-center-of-class-action-over-skin-removal-surgeries-must-broaden-coverage When I went to be evaluated for plastic surgery in 2017, we were told we could have one procedure. Dr said I didn't qualify for a panni because it didn't quite hang low enough, just to clarify...their measurement is 'abdominal skin must cover pubic region entirely'' which is BS with the years of skin rashes I have had. He said I just barely qualified for breast reduction surgery which I had 5 months later, the waiting list was long. He said I would be a C cup (from a DD) and I wasn't happy when I ended up a B but worse things could happen. I'm 16 years Post Gastric BP and should've had a revision 4-5 years ago when weight gain started creeping up, no longer going down... about 15 lbs a year since 2018. I could never break past 170 to reach goal of 155 but I'm goin to pursue the distal revision as of this week. It's now or never, I have to get a social life! The rule is you have to be at your goal and stable for months before a skin removal surgery will be covered by insurance so I'll have to wait longer even longer for that as consequence of procrastinating on a revision! I've been disabled with an autoimmune illness so I never returned to the job I enjoyed after the WLS. I didn't put much effort into pursuing solutions for skin removal after research showed it would be very costly out of pocket expense and not covered by insurance. So I haven't really felt the freedom of losing 140 lbs because I still cover up my body! No swimsuits, no sleeveless anything or clothing that accentuates the possibility of a waist, LOL. I wish I had the confidence of those who wear what they want, no matter their size! I've wanted to leave Kaiser to return the awesome Dr I previously had who actually listened and treated me like a human being. Staying with Kaiser only until these surgeries are done and I'm out of there! Kaiser ruling.pdf

Thanks everyone for the insights. I've been stuck at about 190 lbs for over six weeks now. Was hopeful to get down to 175-180, so it's very frustrating to be within sight of a goal but not able to get there. I am thinking I'll give it another month or so to see if this is truly a stall. If things don't move I may vary the program (i.e. adjust macronutrient and calorie levels) to see if I can break through it. With regard to the comment about food capacity, I am noticing that I can eat more at this stage of recovery than I could when I did the sleeve surgery in 2015. Even though my sleeve has been replaced by a pouch, I'm able many times to eat the same amount of food now that I could before the revision. Not always, and sometimes I'm still full after an ounce or two, but it seems like overall capacity returned faster this time than before. Could be part of the challenge.

On 2/15/22 I underwent revision from VSG to RNY due to hiatal hernia and reflux issues. My surgery weight was around 230 lbs, actually a few less due to three days of liquid diet. In the 5 months since revision surgery I've lost about 40 lbs, but have been at a steady weight for over five weeks. I'm currently around 15 to 20 lbs away from my final goal. I had a post surgery follow up with the surgeons office and they just suggested I try to stay closer to the dietary guidelines. I probably was a little short on protein but in the couple weeks since have worked diligently to increase protein and reduce carbs. Yet the scale hasn't moved. Looking for experiences from others who had revision without a large amount of weight to lose. How did it go for you? Is this just a stall or my new normal? Should I expect to continue to lose, or am I pretty much at my new set point after five months?

Hi I'm Traneé from Houston Texas! I'm scheduled for a revision from lap band to rny next Tuesday April 30th due to a slipped band. Very ready to get this band out and start on my new journey with rny!! I'm considered a light weight so I'm a little worried the weight won't come off as quick as it should :-/ Thanks, Traneé

Hi all, I'd be interested to hear any experiences with the Omega loop (mini gastric bypass)! Im from south australia. I had a band in 2007, lots of reflux and developed terrible eating habits. Went from 118.5kgs to 83... Lots of deflations and inflations to try and manage the terrible reflux. Then got pregnant and deflated the band again....Back up to 102 by the baby's birth. Then had the band removed in dec 2012, after I found out it had slipped. Waited 6 month and revised to a sleeve in may 2013... and went from 107 to 93 within the first 2 months and since then.... well, nothing. Up and down on the same 2 kilos my surgeon said my stomach was so damaged by the band that he just couldn't make my sleeve small enough. I can eat normal sized meals... The only positive is that I don't have any reflux! Surgeon recently went to a convention in Vienna about the omega loop and thinks I might be a good candidate... So I'm booked in for October. I feel like a failure that this will be my 4th surgery related to weight loss, but hopeful that this might be the one! Any experiences would be greatly appreciated!

I smoked a pack a day for 20 years. I stopped when I went 911 in 2009. Before that I went to the ER every month due to lung problems, severe and ongoing bronchitis...etc. I switched to vaping shortly after my 911 episode. I've been a hardcore vaper now for over 6 years. In the 6 years I've vaped, I got the flu like only 4 times, never again to have bronchitis. For my band to sleeve revision surgery this year, I went through a serious of intensive testing. I passed with flying colors all my heart and lung tests, nuclear stress tests... etc. I was told that my chest x-ray was clear as if I never smoked, absolutely no scarring, no evidence of ever smoking. My blood and urine tests are all perfect. So congrats and glad you switched over. Vaping saves lives.

I am scheduled to see Dr. Illan or a gastric sleeve surgery but am now wondering if the mini gastric bypass is a better option for me. Although the rerouting of the intenstines scares me a little. I have a BMI of 51 and i dont know if the sleeve will be sufficient to take me to my goal and i dont really want to have a revision later.

Hi There, Nice to see some Aussie voices on this site. I am due to have my band removed on 10 July for revision to Rny scheduled for October. (The mandatory 3 month wait with my Dr). I had around 4 yrs of success keeping weight off with the band and was down to around 85kg from original 145kg. Unfortunately I developed esophigal issues (too much vomiting I suspect) and ended up having all Fluid removed from my band. Now I'm back to my pre band starting weight and feeling incredibly depressed about it - can't wait until Oct but very scared all at the same time. Would love to hear from others especially anyone in syd - what doctor / clinics are u going to.

Hi there I had my band to bypass revision on the 13 may. I'm from Perth western Australia.. Where are you all from. When did you have your surgeries..??

A lot of people just assume that because there are band problems, that we did not follow the rules. They claim they are doing better because they follow the rules. I followed the rules. I did lost a lot of weight with the band. I would have gained all of it back too, when I started having band problems. I gained back 15 lbs in a very short time, waiting for my revision. I did that following all the rules!

Hi Dave, welcome! Your story sounds veeery familiar. *wink* I just wanted to wish you well for your revision surgery coming up next Saturday. Please check in and let us know how you're doing when you feel up to it. Take care!

See, I was kind of comparing it to college. Many times (not all times) kids whose parents pay for their college tend to goof off more and not take it quite as seriously as those who have to pay for it themselves. I know for me, since I am self-pay, I can't afford to do anything that would jack it up, because if I were to have to go in and do a revision, it would be out of my pocket. I agree with what many of you said that you have struggled to get to this point and have done your research and you will work the program like it should be worked regardless of how it is or was paid for. Thanks for all of your thoughts and feedback.