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I am getting ready to revise from Vsg to bypass because if reflux. The test you need to ask for is the bravo capsule. They attach the bravo capsule to your esophagus and it monitors the acid coming up in your ESOPHAGUS for 48 hours. They give a demeester score from this test. If the score is greater than 14.72 this indicates you have reflux. Mine was 85.5. The test is very detailed in terms of diagnosing the reflux but the demeester score is indicative of the severity of your reflux

I was sure you were going to say you had vsg and was revising to bypass. I haven't heard of someone having Barrett's after bypass. I am very curious about this. I am interested in knowing what the surgeon says about this. I myself am getting ready to revise to bypass from Vsg before I end up with Barrett's myself. I'm sorry...I don't have any input on the insurance question

What was your original surgery? What are you revising to?

My doctor call me and is sending my case as urgent to insurance due to stomach pains I've been having and an egd positive for Barrett's Esophagus. I didn't have it before my original surgery. Anyone ever been is this type of situation? Will this expedite the approval process? I have blue shield of california insurance. Sent from my LG-TP260 using BariatricPal mobile app

I had a sleeve done 5 years ago. I was always hungry! Never got full. Just had a revision and did the full bypass. Now I’m never hungry and doing great! Can’t explain how weird it is to go from always being hungry to never being hungry! I love it!

So yesterday I got a tentative surgery date for the 21st of March. This one is hard. It seems that with my new job, I don't have TDI. So I need to file a ton of paperwork to see about getting donated leave to cover the 2 month recovery window for this revision. So needless to say, I'm very stressed out about all of this. I'm at a point where, if I can't get the leave, I can't get the surgery, because I can't go 2 months without pay. Very upsetting situation to be in, finding out that I don't have TDI really changed this entire process. I've been jumping through hoops for almost a year now trying to get both the insurance's and my surgeon's check boxes ticked off. And I've got my own goals. This year is my 40th Birthday and my 20th Wedding anniversary. So it's a huge year, I was hoping to be back to what I weighed when I was 20, for my 40th birthday. Not sure if that's going to happen now. Frustrated, upset and a touch angry.

Look into the SIPS procedure. I too was on the fence but my surgeon was studying SIPS and it’s been amazing so far. All the plusses with very few minuses. No dumping, GERD, cured my dt2 and has longer successes than VSG A majority of them are being done in Utah,NJ and at Duke. You can find some surgeons that are doing them around the country. Many have been doing it as a revision but I had mine done all as one

I am so happy for you! I hope the rest of your recovery goes smoothly! Height 5’6 HW - 275 SW - 265 CW - 209 GW - 150ish Sleeved 12/14/17 Revision to bypass due to complications 2/13/18

Wow that’s really neat. The price isn’t bad either! Thanks for sharing! Height 5’6 HW - 275 SW - 265 CW - 209 GW - 150ish Sleeved 12/14/17 Revision to bypass due to complications 2/13/18

My surgeon gave me the same option either would be approved. He told me he recommended the sleeve and if years later I hadn’t lost enough with sleeve I could do revision to rny. Revision!! My plan is to have one surgery, not a potential second. Also I have pretty bad gerd after telling him that he suggested it would be best for rny, he said if I suffer it would be worse after sleeve. 5 day until surgery!!

Wow. I was offered a free revision due to my esophagus not allowing food to go down well since surgery. It's super bad but I wouldn't do it with a bmi of 28. I wouldn't now of 30 ish. But goodluck to u Sent from my Vivo 5R using Tapatalk

Hi. Yes, had my surgery with Dr. Taggar. Just had my procedure on Valentines Day! Down 12 pounds so far. I’m back here in the hospital a week later because of my own doing. Tried to fast forward on the food stages. Before that had no pain after surgery, very little nausea post surgery on the same day, none after day one. I had a revision from a lap-band to SIPS.

I'm 52 scheduled to have my lap band to bypass revision on March 26. Hoping I can put my diabetes in remmission.

I’ve had my sleeve since my 26th birthday, I’ll be 30 in September! Ever since I revised my lap band to the sleeve everything has changed drastically. People started to look at me differently and not in just a friend way. I’ve been friend zoned pretty much my whole life, I can say with confidence that I have never truly been in a relationship. I always get the, “how is that possible!?” Believe me it is possible and has been this way my whole life. I’m not weird by any means, hahaha. My sister says I don’t realize when someone likes me and by that time the opportunity is gone. I’m still trying to figure out this whole dating thing but unfortunately have gotten no where. I would love to have a connection with someone but haven’t been able to do so online. I have never brought up my surgery, I just don’t think it’s necessary unless we are out and I get the question “you aren’t hungry?”. Hahaha I was actually really hungry guy! But that guy will never get that, my family still struggles to get that little part of a life altering surgery. If anyone is looking for a conversationalist, I’m your girl! I live in Seattle so meeting someone face to face would be lovely but having a pen pal doesn’t hurt either. I just would love to connect with someone who has had WLS of any kind because talking to guys that are only geared for one thing is getting old quickly.

I'm still in the pre-cert process, finished my 3 month waiting period. But for a revision for a RNY done 25 years ago. I've tried and failed even with the surgery so for me really needed to do something more than just going it on my own. I did my psych eval with a licensed therapist who was in network for my insurance provider who specializes in eating disorders-- the gamut, not just for folks who are overweight. I decided to continue therapy with her-- to address eating disorder issues and what I believe to be some mild depression (most likely tied to the weight, maybe). I've never gone to counseling or therapy before besides the stuff you might get with weight loss programs. We've been meeting weekly thus far. No magic bullets, still feel like we're in the getting to know you phase. She eventually suggested meeting with a bariatrician in the health system who prescribes weight loss medications, she felt like they would be a useful adjunct to my effort to try to lose weight (and keep it off if I get there) whether my surgery is approved or not. I did that and just started those this week. The bariatrician had a list of meds and we talked through the mechanism of action and which might be the best for my eating triggers/issues, she also provided a list of dietary changes, exercise plan, etc. I'll continue to meet with her for tracking. She said average/best loss with meds is 10% so doesn't get me close to where I want, but could help. She has a lot of patients who had WLS who she follows and use meds-- some til they get to goal weigh and some who have stayed on them longer term. ALL of that say I encourage you to continue exploring those other avenues and perhaps consider what other formal supports you might be able to identify (licensed counseling, support groups for accountability, etc.) that you haven't yet tried to help you be as successful as you can.

I was sleeved on 12/14/17 and it was not a good choice for me. I ended up with severe reflux/GERD and a stricture that made life unbearable. I couldn’t eat or drink anything without vomiting. After having 3 endoscopies that didn’t last, my surgeon and I decided the best route was a sleeve to bypass revision. That was on 2/13/18 and I feel it was the best option for me. I haven’t had any heartburn or nausea since. As far as the pain/healing process goes this time around I’m more sore, but I’ve also had 2 major surgeries in two months. This was just my experience, but had I been more informed prior to my 1st surgery I would have gone with the bypass just based on the reflux relief. Height 5’6 HW - 275 SW - 265 CW - 209 GW - 150ish Sleeved 12/14/17 Revision to bypass due to complications 2/13/18

I have Aetna, I still had to jump through hoops for my revision. More testing than with my band but that is my surgeons requirements. I did the 3 nut visits and 3 mo supervised diet.. the usual Aetna stuff. But approval was quick and easy.

I can speak to my situation and what others have shared previously. I had my band removed and the revision done in the same surgery. I still didn’t get any bonus points for previous things I had done in the past.

I had the lap-band (2006) and revised to SIPS just six days ago. I’m down ten lbs and glad to have that awful band out of me. So far, I’m glad that I made the decision to revise. There are others on here that are much further out and have had wonderful success, but they put the work into it.

I had my band removed last June and am now going through the process for my revision to a gastric sleeve. My insurance is making me jump through all the hoops again as if I never had the lap band. Very frustrating and now surgery is at least another 6 - 7 months away. They are requiring 6 months of nutritionist visits. Sigh. I suppose it will depend on your insurance company. I have BCBS.

I was a lap-band patient for 12 years and had my band removed last June due to complications from the band. Now looking at revision surgery and was recommended to do the gastric sleeve. I've attended the sessions to review and my surgeon has done these for the past 8 years. Feel comfortable going this route. Wish me luck!

I just passed my 3 anniversary since my gastric sleeve. I really wish I was posting my success. I had lost aa minimal amount of weight in the first 8 months, and have slowly gained back to just above my surgery day weight. I was told by my 1st clinic that I am that the 1% that doesn't lose. Shortly after the sleeve I fell and damaged my knee and needed surgery. And then I had an icky gyn issue also needing surgery. Those problems put difficult barriers to being active. In 2 weeks I am going for a revision consultation with a different surgeon. I now know that I was the 1st of only 15 sleeves my surgeon preformed and he is no longer practicing at that hospital. I was hoping to hear about others who have spoken to a surgeon about revision options.

Will I likely need all of the same pre- testing ( endoscopy, ekg, psychiatric screening etc) before having my band out and sleeve done? My dr does them at the same time.

So your post sounds just like me...add a few advanced nursing degrees AND the fact that I had RNY done 25 years ago to make me feel like even more of a failure. I'm back going through the process of considering a revision to my original surgery at my highest weight ever. IF insurance will approve. While it would be awesome to get a total do-over with the RNY process (not just the reducing the stomach which is essentially what I'm not a candidate for) I don't regret my decision 25 years ago. I am sad that back then there was little/no follow-up, no real rules on diet/caffeine/timing of water intake/etc --maybe I'd have had better long term success. BUT I did lose just over 100lbs. Felt better than I had in my entire life and did more than I'd ever done - travel, marriage, shoppig in normal size clothing stores, etc. I have been morbidly obese since 6th grade and overweight since I was 7. That surgery got me closer to "normal" than ever. No diet I did before that or since then has been so successful- a year long protein shake diet did result in 70lbs lost but then I regained all + some much faster than after surgery. But, I realize now that I half-assed the process and expected that it would just magically work on its own. I'm sure deep down I probably still sort of think that way. I'm older have a couple kids that wish mom was more active and am restricted from doing things because of my weight and that makes me sad. This time I'm throwing everything at it...sort of feel like it's my last ditch effort. After my mandated psych eval for surgery I opted to continue working with the counselor who specializes in all types of eating disorders and am seeing a bariatrician who will prescribe WL meds. I've long thought until someone fixes the chemicals in my brain WL will never be long term, so I believe in meds. I'm taking the process so slow unlike in the past where I jumped into huge lifestyle shifts that were only sustainable for short-ish periods of time. I didn't even start a legit "diet" until just this week even though I've been going through the pre-cert process since October...and it's not really a diet- just replacing one meal a day with a shake per the changes prescribed by the bariatrician. On the advice of the counselor I've been setting one really small goal each week that is hopefully attainable and I'm able to maintain. Who knows what will happen with the WLS approval process. I'm hopeful the other adjuncts I'm working on will help me be successful for the long term. IF surgery is approved, it's really just another piece of the WL puzzle though a really nice one in terms of the ability to lose weight rapidly. It's up to me to keep it off though.

I don't have tons to offer on the recert process, but am sort of in a similar place. I have Aetna PPO. Had RNY in 1992 (gulp) dropped 100#s, regained most and tried to have a revision 8 years after initial and went through ALL the hoops only for insurance to deny saying I didn't have any comorbidities. I'm hoping that was a LONG time go and things have changed since. I went to surgeon in October (had to view online webinar or go to in person session first). Even for a revision the nurse who does pre-certs said Aetna would require me to do the 3 month diet/multi disciplinary approach. Had to meet with dietitian x 3 1 1:1 sesssion and 2 group sessions-- the group sessions were pretty lame), exercise specialist (not super helpful), get a pysch eval and met with physician a couple times. I had an EGD and upper GI done. Upper GI showed my stomach was near normal capacity, stoma stretched out and small intestines enlarged-- I didn't need the test to tell me that I can tell by the quantity of food I can eat. My insurance actually covered all the pre-op visits with no co-pay except for the psych eval. If I went through their office it was going to be $300 cash. I asked about using a provider in my plan, they made a suggestion and I did my psych eval with her for my regular behavioral health co-pay. She is a eating disorder specialist (all kinds) and I actually opted to end up continuing sessions with her for the time being. It's covered as part of my behavioral health benefit. If I can't figure out what is driving me to eat so much and eat through my surgery having another won't do much good for the long term. I had everything done as of the end of January. The office could have submitted as of Jan 20th but I guess forgot and I didn't think to call to remind. I was in yesterday meeting with their bariatrician and asked and they said they would submit for pre-cert right away. It takes 2-3 weeks. The gal in the office said she's 80-85% sure it will be approved. Since I went through all this years ago and was rejected I'm super anxious. I read through my insurer's coverage documentation for WLS before going to see the doctor. One of the options he recommended is not covered by my insurer because they consider it experimental-- even though it is the least expensive and least invasive. So that is off the table. He said revisions can have A LOT of complications, so I need to think long and hard about revision surgery. If it's approved...I'm going for it. In addition to continuing with seeing the counselor I also opted to see the bariatrician they have in their medical group (they are affiliated / part of the large health system in our area) just yesterday. I figured if surgery isn't approved, I need a plan B and even if it is I need as much concerted effort/focus on trying to make this work as possible. The counselor has suggested medication with or without surgery as an adjunct after our third session based on my eating patterns/habits. The bariatrician prescribed Qsymia which I started today (I'd already had a batter of labs, tests, etc. so knew I was healthy enough to start). She said she has a lot of WLS patients who use medications in addition to or after surgery once they plateau or if they start to regain. She listed out all the med options and I chose this one in particular. It was also the one she said her patients have the best results and least side effects with. She also had me start a food diary and replacing one meal per day with protein shake and gave me an exercise plan-- so not just the script for meds. My insurance won't cover but got a manufacturer's card to help reduce the price. I did find in their coverage determination documentation IF I had tried to lose with for months and was not successful then they would have covered. I don't want to wait around... She said the variety of medications provide a nice arsenal of adjunct support and she has moved patients between different medications if they build up a tolerance. In the past I've responded really well to phentermine and this has that in it, so I'm hopeful. Before hooking up with the bariatric group at the health system I couldn't find a counselor who specialized in eating disorders for adults who are overweight and finding a physician to prescribe the newer WL meds was impossible (I tried both independently). SO, if nothing else, the process has helped me connect with those resources. While I do feel a little like they "herd" patients through the process in some ways (group dietitian visits that weren't super great) they really seem to know how to manage the process. I know I overshared-- more than what you asked about-- but thought some of this might be of use since we are in a similar spot having regained after our first surgery. Curious to hear from anyone else AND how your process shakes out. Best of luck to you! Jolie