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So sorry to the both of you. This is one thing that stays in the back of my mind. What if. I was self pay and can't afford anything else. I can't even afford to have it taken out. But if I have the insurance if the need arises then praise God. Then if insurance would let me do a revision it would be to the sleeve. But I can only imagine what your both going through. Thoughts and prayers are with you both.

Patti - I have cigna and the requirements for revision/reoperation are different from those of a virgin surgery. Reoperation and Repeat Bariatric Surgery: Page 2 of 40 Coverage Policy Number: 0051 CIGNA covers surgical reversal (i.e., takedown) of bariatric surgery as medically necessary when the individual develops complications from the original surgery such as stricture or obstruction. CIGNA covers revision of a previous bariatric surgical procedure or conversion to another medically necessary procedure due to inadequate weight loss as medically necessary when ALL of the following are met: ? Coverage for bariatric surgery is available under the individual?s current health benefit plan. ? There is evidence of full compliance with the previously prescribed postoperative dietary and exercise program. ? Due to a technical failure of the original bariatric surgical procedure (e.g., pouch dilatation) documented on either upper gastrointestinal (UGI) series or esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), the individual has failed to achieve adequate weight loss, which is defined as failure to lose at least 50% of excess body weight or failure to achieve body weight to within 30% of ideal body weight at least two years following the original surgery. ? The requested procedure is a regularly covered bariatric surgery (see above for specific procedures). NOTE: Inadequate weight loss due to individual noncompliance with postoperative nutrition and exercise recommendations is not a medically necessary indication for revision or conversion surgery and is not covered by CIGNA. I have lost over 50% of my excess weight but I'm no where near 30% of a normal BMI (and I've put on 15lbs since they took the Fluid out of my band). I'm hoping where they approved me for a new band that the sleeve wont be a problem because it is a "regularly covered bariatric surgery" per their list. I hope get your people fixed and we can both be sleeved!! Good luck

Hello All! I wasn't able to find a thread that had this in it - or maybe I wasn't looking for the right things. I wanted to know what post op patients have been told is a good ration on foods when it comes to the Total Fat for the amount of Protein. For example; Calories - 160 / Total Fat - 13g / Protein - 11g I'm a 6-month post op DS patient (previously had Lapband - but this was tech not a revision). Only 15 lbs away from goal so now i'm looking for ways to maintain.

Hello there First off, I hope that your surgery went well. I'm thinking of having my band to sleeve revision with Dr. Lopez in Guadalajara and I was wondering what your experince was like. I would so much appreciate your feedback as I can't seem to finda as much info on this Dr as other Dr's in mexico. Many thanks! Hi Helen, Dr Lopez has his own company called Specialized Bariatrics. I am having surgery with him on 3/7/14 in Tijuana. I will be posting my experience from beginning to end.

Hello there First off, I hope that your surgery went well. I'm thinking of having my band to sleeve revision with Dr. Lopez in Guadalajara and I was wondering what your experince was like. I would so much appreciate your feedback as I can't seem to finda as much info on this Dr as other Dr's in mexico. Many thanks!

Hi everyone. I am one year and six months post op gastric bypass surgery. I originally had a sleeve but got a revision due to bile reflux and a hiatal hernia. It seems like I am constantly nauseous off and one. Some days nothing and other days it's terrible. I have had a lot of testing done and I was told some can just have this post op. I have tried a ton of different medications and no luck. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly helpful and appreciated. Thank you! Sent from my LM-Q730 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello everyone my name is David, I'm 34 and live in the Philly burbs. I had joined this website years ago when I was researching surgery, but I never wound up using the forums. I had the Realize Band placed 4 years ago back on 8/24/2010 & I started at 379 lbs and I ended up losing 100 lbs the first year. The past 3 years my weight has yo-yo'd up and down a bit, but for the most part I've stayed in the 280 - 290 lbs range. While I'm very happy to have maintained around a 90 lbs weight loss, I still have at least 100 lbs more to go so I'm thinking of revising to the VSG. When I was first looking into bariatric surgery the surgeon of course was recommending the DS or the RNY for me because of the amount of weight that I needed to lose. For years and years I've suffered with tons of GI/stomach issues, including Rapid Gastric Emptying/Gastric Dumping, so the idea of getting my insides rerouted and changed was not appealing to me (and it still isn't, actually). Since I already was suffering from dumping before any type of bariatric surgery, I most certainly did not want to have bypass surgery in which one of the side effects could be dumping syndrome. So I decided on the band at that point, and it also is why I'm not considering a revision to one of the bypass surgeries now either. As of right now I've been maintaining around a 40% loss of excess body weight which my surgeon says is a good result for the band. I currently have around 9 cc's in my band, so there isn't too much more that can be added. A majority of the time I have little to no restriction with my band, while sometimes I eat just a few bites and food gets stuck. The inconsistency of the restriction is driving me crazy. I just went and spoke to my surgeon this past week and I discussed revision to VSG and what I need to do to start the process. Pending insurance approval from Keystone Health Plant East for the revision, I am hoping to have the band taken out and be revised to the VSG sometime in December or January. The surgeon tells me that he will most likely do it as one surgery, but he of course will not know for sure until he goes in and removes the band to decide if it can be done at the same time. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, and I look forward to reading about everyones weight loss journey.

The port area was by far the most painful part of my recovery. I had hoards of scar tissue around that area, and it bothered me for months until I had my gallbladder removed at 8 months post-revision, and my surgeon went in and removed all the adhesions and scar tissue that had developed. It's the one area that, even at 2 years out, still has sensitivity in a weird way. If I bump a countertop or corner of a table "just right", it hurts more there than any other incision/scar area on my stomach. As for the bump, or swelling, I've read of others getting hematomas or seromas from their port area so watch it carefully, and ask your surgeon if you should watch for any signs of those occurrences. Best wishes on a successful recovery ! ! !

Hi There!! I had my surgery with Dr. Ortiz on April 16th 2012 and I can honestly say it was the best decision I have EVER made!!! I am down 142 lbs and I feel amazing!! I am actually on his before and after section of his website and I have a featured youtube clip. I am an advocate as Dr. Ortiz has changed my life. He and his staff took such great care of me! I have posted several times about my experience so if you search under my posts you should find more info. One of his coordinators, Lori Wrights had her band to sleeve revision the same day as me.. She has turned out to be a great friend!! We call each other "sleeve sisters"!!! LOL I have pictures posted of the facility and of my surgery day if you are interested in looking.... As always... I am here for support as well... So, if any of you have any questions or concerns please let me know.. I am glad to help! Best of Luck!!! Emily

I am sorry I didn't go with the sleeve to start with. I chose the band at first because it wasn't a permanent solution that couldn't be reversed. Big mistake. I could no longer eat chicken or turkey in any shape, sort or form. 2 years in I started throwing up everything including liquids. I couldn't get adjusted properly with the fills. I had to go every 8 weeks for adjustments. The port would move inside and scrape across a nerve and make me scream. Or my son would poke my and hit the port and OUCH! I don't regret having revision surgery at all. I'm much happier with the sleeve.

Hello everyone, Feb. 1st surgery date. I have my first follow up appt. tomorrow. I am having some bad cramping and hoping its just my bowels. I have been walking some but it's rainy here in AL. I am not sure how much I have lost. My surgery is a revision from stomach stappling done 35 Yrs ago . ( YES, I'm old.) Lol anyone else here with a revision?

I only had to do low carb/high Protein for both my band and my revision. There's no scientific evidence to prove that the "liquids" only diet does anything more than low carb for a pre-op diet. Nor, did I have do the 6 month wait, or lose any specified amount of weight before either surgery.

After struggling with my weight since middle school, I attended a seminar on weight loss surgery in January of 2015, fairly certain that I would have the lap-band procedure if I decided to go through with it at all. My weight has always been a sensitive subject for me, so I told no one that I was going, not even my husband. I listened to everything the surgeon said, including the issues that people with lap band were having, and that many people who had opted for lap band ended up getting a revision to the sleeve eventually. I left the seminar, impressed with the surgeon and his knowledge, but very embarrassed that I was even considering surgery. After all, I had known a few people that had surgery and gained all their weight back, and for me surgery meant that I was weak, and couldn't do it on my own. I immediately hid all the materials from the seminar in one of my dresser drawers and decided I would give losing weight on my own another shot. I decided to do a Whole 30 (for those not familiar, it's essentially an elimination diet where you get rid of all processed food, sugar, wheat, soy, alcohol, etc.) and I just knew that this time it would stick. I adhered to the Whole 30 program for the full 30 days, lost 18 pounds, and felt great about myself. Then, as is what always happens, I slowly reverted back to my old ways, and ended up gaining 25 pounds back. Just as I had every year, every diet, every resolution, every demonstration of will and determination, I had failed. Flash forward to January of this year, when the time came to consider making a change again, I gave another thought to bariatric surgery. This time, I had examples of a couple of people that had surgery and were successful. I researched more on the sleeve, and began to see where it could work for me. I had a tough conversation with my husband about my decision, who wanted to support me, but was very apprehensive. The man, whom I adore but who has never struggled with his weight a day in his life asked "Can't you just try to diet and exercise? This surgery seems very extreme." I explained all that I knew about the surgery, and, for the first time with anyone, I was completely honest about my weight and my struggles with weight loss since I was a child. While still apprehensive, he agreed to support my decision and be there for me. I attended another seminar with a different hospital in March, met with the surgeon and made the final decision to have gastric sleeve surgery. Everything was going well. My surgery was looking like it would take place in August. My insurance only required 3 months of supervised diet, I quit smoking as the surgeon required, had an endoscopy, sleep study (where I was diagnosed with sleep apnea), visited a cardiologist, was trying to do everything I was supposed to do. Then I called my surgeon's office at the end of June to check in and make sure I was still on track for an August surgery. The program coordinator got on the phone and told me that she was going to contact me, as the surgeon had made the decision to stop performing bariatric surgery, and I would need to find another surgeon. I was devastated. After everything I had done so far, I was going to have to start over. What was the point? I allowed myself to wallow for a bit, then decided that I was going to get right back on track. After all, the worst that could happen was that I may need to start from the beginning again, but if I did, what was a few more months delay compared to decades of struggle with my weight. I wound up contacting the surgeon whose seminar I attended back in 2015 and made an appointment to see him. Fortunately, they were able to get all of my records and fast track me through. After an initial denial, my insurance approved on the second request, and I was able to schedule my surgery date for August 24th. So, here I am, 5 days post op. The gas pain in the hospital was unbearable for the first 2 days, but that subsided. Right now I have pain in my upper right abdomen that is exacerbated depending on how I move or sit. Hopefully that will go away soon. I joked with my husband that this is probably how I would feel if I had stab wounds in my abdomen. I have only lost 1.5 lbs since my surgery, but I'm guessing that may be due to Fluid retention and lack of nutrients, as I am only now starting to drink my Protein and take my Vitamins. I am excited for what the rest of this journey will bring, and love reading about everyone else's stories. Sorry for the long post, this is the first time I have ever sat down and wrote about what led me to this. I hope to have some positive updates in the near future!

I'm getting revision on August 8 with Dr. Suh in Murrieta. Hopefully he can do it in one surgery. Sent from my iPad using VST

So, I was helping out this lady who told me she recently lost 100 pounds and was looking for a new motorcycle jacket. I told her I recently lost 40 pounds myself and we started to talk a little more. I'm open to how I've been losing weight and it reallly doesn't bother me one way or another how people feel about it. So I told her I had Vertical Sleeve. She then confessed to me that she has the band. So We started to compare notes and look at each others bellies (sounds weird 'eh?) I have to say...I'M SO HAPPPPPPY I DID VSG! She let me feel the port thing that they do the fills in and I think I'd freak out if I had that in me. It felt like a big piece of scar tissue. Plus I HATE needles and would not be happy with "fills" She was totally rad and actually was interested in revision herself. Said it was the best thing I ever did. I'm not knocking the band, but I'm glad I didn't go that route.

Revision to sleeve one month ago... Now experiencing the dreaded 4 wk stall.. What is everyone else doing to move past it?

I had my port replacement done yesterday . Much easier time than original procedure . Only have two large incisions which hurt only on movement. My surgeon said the port was defective and nothing wrong on my part. I feel like I am starting fresh and excited to finally get the scale moving in the right direction . Thanks for all the support

At first i was upset cuz now i have to pay $14,500 for the sleeve revision in the same surgery. Shouldnt there be somewhat of a discount since im already under anesthesia and ins is covering that? Anyway. Trying to see it as glass half full. Paying will give me more of an incentive to follow the rules and be successful since im investing hard earned money. Potential July 18th surgery date!!!!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I had a revision surgery with Dr Fernando Garcia on September 10, 2012 at MI doctor hospital. The staff then may be different but the doctor is an amazingly skilled surgeon and I would recommend him to everyone. Best wishes!

if you haven't already, you should have a complete workup so they can figure out what's going on. Some of this may or may not be related to your surgery. Are you really diligent with your vitamins? I've read vitamin B deficiencies can cause nerve issues, for example. as far as revision - yes, RNY is technically reversible, but they only do that for severe medical issues that can't be resolved any other way. Also, if some of this IS related to the surgery, you'd see some improvement after revision, but it's not going to be the same as it was before you had the surgery.

This is for thise who had band removed...then had to wait for bypass revision. Laparoscopic-gastric-bypass-surgery.html How many incisions do they do for bypass? Do they use the same incision site (that they used for port removal) again for bypass? If so.....Has anyone had any difficulty with incisions healing, after they used the port incision again? I understand that when they use the same incision sites, that the tissue and muscle can become weaker and healing might be a problem. Please share any info. Thanks!

Never trust a fart. I hear that Lipstick Lady. LOL. Jacobsmommy. Why would your first doctor completely reverse himself? That would really bother me. You have a good relationship with him because he operated on you before, with good results. I would go with doctor #2, because I think that it is better to do it all at once. The more surgeries that I have, the harder it is to bounce back afterwards. My doctor did my original band surgery and my sleeve revision. This was over a 10 year time span. He has lots of experience at this. He said that if he saw problems while operating and wouldn't be able to finish, in a timely manner, then he would stop after removing the band and then let me heal and then come back for round 2 to do the sleeve. He said that he has never had a problem with doing both procedures at once. The patients all did well. His main concern was that if the surgery was going to take too long then he would stop because it is not good to be under anesthesia for too many hours. My surgery took about 4 hours and he did both procedures at the same time. He removed the band, performed a Gastric Sleeve, and fixed a Hiatal Hernia. I am 4 and a half weeks post-op and I feel pretty good now. Your first doctor is being very cautious and that is a good thing too. You have a tough decision to make. I just went through the surgery and I am glad it is over and it was done at one time. Good luck to you.

I have been through so much in the last year..... I originally had my band done on April 27, 2012. Over the course of the 2.5 years, the majority of my diet was liquid. I could rarely keep things down. When I was lucky enough to keep something down, I'd eat it at a later date and then it would come back up again. The 1 cup of food I was supposedly able to eventually eat never happened. My surgeon kept saying I was fine. I had to go to the hospital twice last year, a CT and ultrasound done and was told everything was fine...no slippage said the surgeon and again, I was fine. I don't think so. The last 6-7 months of last year, I kept growing sicker....toward the end only keeping Water down. But supposedly I was FINE. I sought a second opinion the last part of last Oct. by another physician...this time one specializing in bariatrics not just a general surgeon. He said that not everything can be seen on a CT scan or ultrasound. I had an Upper GI in Nov. and was found to have a slipped band...quite slipped and was eroding. I saw the pictures. So it was immediately deflated. I already had some relief. On Dec. 5th, my band was removed. My band had eroded two complete holes in my stomach and the port had become encapsulated in the muscle. No wonder I felt so bad! It was such a relief, I cried. I also saw surgery pics. Needless to say, I could not have a revision done at that time. The doctor was quite sure that I could get insurance to cover the revision. But, I knew that there were no guarantees. I wanted to believe but there was always a little fear in the back of my mind. I tried not to think about. I just concentrated on recovering and trying not to gain too much weight since I could finally keep down food. I have gained 10 pounds. I would normally feel bad about that but the dr. said that even if I was eating very little and the best of the best, compared to water, I'd gain weight. Anyway, I got word today that there is medical necessity for the sleeve gastrectomy. I had to read the "medical necessity" part of the letter about 7 times. I then broke down in tears. My surgery is scheduled for a little over a week away. Will be starting pre-op diet tomorrow. I am so looking forward to being healthy again and finally lose my weight after almost 3 years on this journey. At my lowest on the band, I had gotten to 185 lbs but had slowly regained to 208 (when I could drink more than water, I had some ice cream shakes as the Protein shakes and Soups were getting old. Imagine eating only Protein Shakes and soups for about 90% of your diet for 2.5 years! So yes, I added the ice cream shakes. I asked my new surgeon why it had eroded and so badly. He said that it usually happens when too much pressure is put on one side of the band and stomach....that usually happens when it is put in(which could explain why I never really could eat). Also, I am sure my GERD had a little something to do with it. They said that because of my GERD, the acid attacked the food before it ever got to the pouch (everything is slower) forcing it to be attacked and me losing it before it ever got to the stomach. Then when I vomited, it could have shifted the band a bit putting too much pressure on the one side. So, I wanted to update my story and am hoping that my story may be of some hope and help to others struggling out there. I am so looking forward to next week. Thanks for listening.

You know I had revision surgery 10 mos ago And when I went to the sergeant he said for my height and weight that I with the revision surgery Would only lose 50 pounds So I still went with the surgery And you know what he was right the more you weight and the heavier you are the faster you will lose If I wanted to eat Protein everyday I would have Just stayed on a Akins diet Now my weight loss has came to a hold I try to get protein in I only get around 40-50 grms a day And it's hard getting Water in Does anyone have any ideals how I can get my body losing again I'm about 45 pounds away from where I want yo be in my whole Weightloss Journey Give me some ideal please on what to eat a And drink Would like to lose these 45 pounds before my anniversary date Any help would be appreciated Thanks

Did you revise from the band or the sleeve?