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Bypass... I’ve seen too many revisions with the sleeve.

Don’t get discouraged. When I had my revision for GERD I left the hospital weighing more than when I went if for surgery by 5lbs! It eventually came off even when I stalled a lot and for a long time after, too. Trust the process and keep seeing your dietitian.

I was scheduled to have a lap band revision on June 22nd to move to the sleeve. Life had other plans! I found out yesterday that I am pregnant! I am very excited, but also surprised as we were not trying (but we also were not trying). I currently have the lap band, and have had it for years. Anything I need to be aware of?

Yeah. I got my revision to bypass last week. So far, this has been easier than the sleeve, and I’m just exhausted, but nothing hurts. I had horrible GERD, so they corrected a large hernia and cut my prior sleeve even more, to make it look good (it was enlarged). After all, the surgeon said everything looked great, and I felt ok. I’m hungry, but I think this is more mental than anything. I need to lose around 50 pounds to meet my goal. I was around 20 pounds short with the sleeve, but I could not do it.

What a Christmas present!!! :wub: My approval was swift as I was scheduled for a total hip replacement revision surgery on 10/24 that got cancelled as my surgeon wanted it done in a bigger hospital and will be done in Traverse City, maybe in late March. I was immediately approved and got a date of February 25th. Barix called this morning and they had a cancellation and my new surgery date is now January 4th with a pre-op in December 26th!!! I am so glad I have been reading these forums ahead of time to try to avoid some of the pitfalls. I am going to need outside support as my daughter is totally against this and my husband is not too crazy about this either. We know quite a few who have had this procedure done - some breezed through it, a few had some issues, a few had major issues but the girl that worked with my husband died. It had something to do with the anesthesia, but it was still during this type of surgery so they think this is more dangerous than anything else. Four years ago, I had a gastric band put in. I guess it slipped right away and I have been bullemic and fat for the last four years. Right after I had it done, my husband's place of employment closed and now my primary insurer is Medicare with a BC/BS Medigap back-up plan and at that time, Barix did not accept Medicare so I was stuck. They now accept it and as I was already pre-cleared for the surgery that was cancelled, everything went quickly. My surgery will be January 4th at Barix in Ypsilanti, MI by Dr. Taylor. I live up north in the middle of the Huron National Forest.

Chiming in as another that got gerd and hiatal hernia from sleeve. I just had my revision to bypass on Friday. I wish that I had listened to gut instinct and went bypass from the start.

Whilst its great that you're happy, some of those stats are a bit dodgy. The sleeve hasnt been around for ten years - oh, there might be some early experimental patients but it is almost impossible to state that the sleeve keeps weight off for longer than the lapband - even the band hasnt really been in common use long enough to make that comparison. That said, lapbands often work and work well but they ARE a pain in the butt. Mine is acting up after seven years, I have no doubt some kind of revision surgery is on the cards for me. I definitely do not feel this thing will be in me for another twenty. I would not change a thing about my journey and I always understood that lapbands didnt last forever. I think I would be brave enough to convert to a sleeve - my initial reaction of reluctance towards that surgery is kind of overshadowed now by the major surgeries I've had since. i live perfectly well without half my bowel so I wouldnt mind saying goodbye to part of my stomach in the name of health and normal weight for the rest of my life. The only thing about the sleeve is that it IS permanent and it ISNT really known what the long term outcomes are. It probably wouldnt stop me and it shouldnt necessarily mean that you dont do it, I mean so what if something better comes along if its working well for you? But its a bit early to go out shouting how much better than the band it is. Also, if you only had your band for four months, again, your right to convert and your gut instincts may well have been right for you. But you hadnt even had it long enough to gain proper restriction yet! It may well have kicked in better for you down the track.

I know lots of people who had to wait a few months between band removal and revision surgery, usually because their stomaches needed that time to heal. I tried to do band removal and sleeve revision in one operation this spring and my surgeon wasn't able to do the sleeve because she found an esophageal stricture we didn't know I had, so I ended up waiting about 3 more months for my sleeve surgery. My surgeon says that any kind of revision surgery is riskier and more difficult than a first surgery. And unless the patient is himself a bariatric surgeon, I doubt he's qualified to decide whether a one-step or two-step revision is safe. Nothing wrong with telling your surgeon that a one-step revision is your preference, but if your surgeon says no, I think you should take his/her advice. If you don't trust your surgeon to make the right decision for you, why are you letting him/her operate on you?

I was offered both options, and I went with bypass from the beginning. My reasons were because I have reflux and nausea on my own (the sleeve can make this worse), and there has been years and years of long term studies done on the bypass, but not the same for sleeve. Years ago, people thought lap band was the way to go, but we're now learning that it doesn't work all that well and there have been many complications, and lot of revisions. I'm not saying that the sleeve will turn out to be the same "fad" surgery, but the research just isn't there for it like the bypass is. Also, there have been studies that show the bypass is actually more effective at long term weight loss than the sleeve. I'm 5'2 230 pounds, so I qualify for both surgeries, but I'm not so big that I need more drastic measures, I just want to have only one surgery, done right the first time. I don't want to be sleeved and then have to do revision surgery later because it's not as effective as bypass. As far as the dumping goes, I actually WANT that as a tool to keep me, and my weight, in check. I feel like my weight is a big enough problem in my life to have surgery for it, so I'm going to go all-in, and get the bypass. My surgery is scheduled for December 29th. SO excited!!

That's interesting about they make garments differently based on size. I am still wearing the same clothes I did the day I had the revision surgery but they are VERY loose. The tops I can get away with a little longer but the dress slacks will need to go after another 10 pounds is gone.

The band never gave me restriction so I fought to lose the weight on my own and fought everyday to keep it off. The problem was, the esophageal burning from the acid reflux and the not being able to get sleep was getting to me. If I slept in bed, I woke up choking on acid so I slept in a chair for a few hours. With esophagitis and gastritis, you eat foods that kill the acid reflux and those are creamy, non-spicy, soft foods... packed with calories. I could have easily gained 20 pounds in a month. The reason I got the revision was firstly for my quality of living and secondly, to lose weight.

Having had a band in MX means nothing regarding insurance today. It's all a matter of if your insurance covers WLS, revisions, and sleeves. The only thing that does matter is that some of the really bad doctors have pretty horrible reputations with US doctors and they won't take on their patients. But it's not because it's MX, it's because of the doctors that did their surgery. Same holds true for really bad US doctors, nobody wants to take over their cases either.

Have you found your insurance company's bariatric policy yet? It should list what their criteria is for revisions. Some policies are kind of buttheads about it -- won't pay if your weight is below 35 BMI, for example. But most of them will pay if the revision is medically necessary. With your band problems, you should easily qualify on that score.

Hi all! I was banded back in 2003, and it took me 2 years to reach my goal weight. Then came the great lap band slippage of 2005. I went for the corrective procedure and was told all was well, since then I have had nothing but trouble - I've regained 60lbs and can't seem to loose any of it. It's as though EVERYTHING I eat causes me to gain weight - even though my diet consists mostly of veggie Soup (cause its about all I can keep down) and I wake every night choking on reflux, not to mention the constant pain at the port site. So today i went back to my surgeon and as suspected, the band has slipped again. I've discussed my options with Dr.D and have decided the best plan for me is to remove the band and have the revision to a sleeve. Dr.D tells me that I have to remove the band, wait 3 months for my stomach to relax then have the sleeve done. I've tried to argue with him re; the 3 month rest period but considering he is the surgeon, and I have no idea about surgical matters, I didn't get very far in my attempts to get him to do the removal and sleeve in one surgery. Has anyone had the same experience - Band out, few months wait then sleeved? I'm so worried about the weight gain in those 3 months - can anyone share their story? Did you gain weight? How rapidly? Or how did you maintain your weight loss over that time? I'm not going to lie, this is terrifying me - so I thought I'd reach out to fellow banders for support!

I was a virgin sleever and my cost was $9500 -- I think the revision is about $11,500 -- you could email Nina and ask her. Daisy and Ruthie were both revisions, so they may be able to chime in next time they are on line. If you need Nina's info, pm me and I'll send it to you.

Hi Manatee, welcome to the boards! I am not very long-term, as I just revised from the band to the sleeve in April. I was having a ton of problems with my band and even my surgeon agreed that it was time to change. I can tell you there is a world of difference between the two. I no longer have to worry about fills and getting to the elusive "sweet spot." When I had my band, it literally occupied my mind 24/7. If I had a lunch meeting, do I dare try and eat at the meeting and risk embarrassing myself with the inevitable pb, or do I wait and take my food back to my office to eat after the meeting. Same thing with dining out. It was no longer about enjoying dining out with family and friends, it was worrying about whether I was going to be able to keep my food down or not, what is safe for me to try and eat, etc. Now, I just enjoy life. Dining out is about enjoying being with friends, family and coworkers. I just have a smaller tummy and cannot eat as much food as everyone else. No more pb's, no more getting stuck, no more fills, nothing. It has made a huge difference in the quality of my life.

If your band was placed by Dr Aceves originally your price for revision to sleeve is $10,500. If you are going there for revision after lapband surgery elsewhere it's $12,500. VSG as a "first" bariatric surgery is, I believe, $9500. Tracy

Mine just got changed from July 29 to July 22nd. Yikes! a week earlier. sooo excited and nervous. Band to Bypass revision

I'm having a revision from band to bypass July 13.

For me the Sleeve was the easiest choice. First, I did not want a foreign object in me. I didn't have time for fills. And I began to see a lot of revisions to sleeve as well. Though many can be successful. I did not want the Gastric Bypass either for several reasons. The Sleeve, I Love it! I wanted a slight slower weight loss the the Bypass I did get my wish. Lol

Hi guys, I'm having a revision from lap band to sleeve on Sept 29, @ Kim Bariatric in Dallas Texas, I have to do liquids for 3 weeks. God bless and keep posting

Hey hey family. I had a really good day today. My 3 month check up with my surgeon and nutritionist was today. Eavann my nut asked me do i remember what i said during my first consultation on what weight I'd like to achieve with my surgery. At the time I was 156kg 345lb (ish) and said 100kg or about 220lbs. I then proceeded to completely and utterly forget about this. Fast forward to today and i had my weigh in and I was 101kg. She said that congrats were in order as i had essentially achieved my target weight. I was floored.... For two reasons. Firstly the obvious one. I had attained a target! like whoah! Then I had a rush of sympathy for the old me. At one point I genuinely felt that getting to this weight was a stratospheric target.... high high in the sky and possibly unattainable. I thought that 220lb was a realistic expectation for me. Even when asked a lofty pie in the sky question I was unable to even imagine that I plus surgery could achieve normal healthy BMI. My response was a genuine and true..... "but, but, I feel like I've only just started??" She then said that they get that a lot. My revised (official) target is now 76kg or 167lbs and in line with what I've had here on bariatric pal since September/October. She said that I'm 2/3 of the way now, so still a little bit to go. My response to that was a jovial yet deadly serious "Sure, no bother to me". On a more serious note I am so delighted with the changes in my head. Much more so than the body changes. The body is great don't get me wrong, but it's upstairs where the real change lives. My identity crisis is throwing up the most lovely of artefacts. The old me would not in a month of sundays let alone in an instant like that be so sure of himself and while I had genuine sympathy for the Des who sat in that far off consultant's office and murmured that he wanted to be 100kg, I couldn't help but smile at how distant I felt from him than at that point. It was literally like Eavann was describing the actions of another person. In other news Oliver my surgeon is delighted with my every progress. He's asked me to get a Vitamin B12 test done but the rest of my blood panel has caused him to wax lyrical about me! Bad cholesterol down, good cholesterol up etc. etc. the list goes on.... Blood pressure is good and still very much in control. All told things are pretty much in fine working order under my proverbial bonnet. So that was my day. Walking on sunshine right now to be honest. Chat to ye again soon. Des x Man on the veritable cusp of non obeseness.

Did you have revision because of regain or gerd? I don’t have any issues except regain.

Ok so you did not get weight loss surgery for the weight loss. It was due to this tumor on your stomach. Ok now i get ya. You may need to end up getting revised to bypass if your reflux is getting this bad. Its always a fear for most that get the sleeve on having to revise it to bypass and its something i fear because my insurance does not cover these surgeries. Maybe talk to your doctor about other PPI medications. There are better ones than Omeprazole.

Thanks I see its fairly common to stall around this time. I am waiting for it to kick back in ! I see you were a revision too ! thanks