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Hello everyone. I have been lurking for a while but this is my first time posting. Sorry kinda lengthy!! I have a question and wanted to see if anyone could give my any insight. To give you a little bit of history-I was banded 2 years ago. I initially lost about 55 lbs. over the first 4-5 months. I then got an adjustment that resulted in me being too tight, learning to drink with my food just to get it to go down, then drinking all my food down. I maintained my weight loss for several months, but eventually over the last year have gained back about 30 of the 55 lbs. After researching VSG, I am very impressed with both how happy people are with their sleeves and the amount of weight that is being lost. My main question is this, over the last 5-6 weeks I have been trying to lose the weight that I had gained back on my own. I have been eating the band/sleeve/low carb way, with mainly Protein and occasionally some vegetables with one of my meals. I have eaten between 900 and 1200 calories and exercise on the elliptical for approx 50 mins 3-5 times per week. I lost 10 lbs in the first week and a half and nothing since. I am worried that through all the years of yo-yo dieting and then the band that I have made myself weight loss resistant! Has anyone had extreme trouble losing weight on their own or with a band and then had success with the sleeve. I don't want to go through the risks etc of another surgery just to fail again?!?!?

It completely depends on your insurance company and the policy you have with them. Some won't pay for sleeves under any circumstances. Some will pay for them for a revision, but not for a virgin sleeve. Some will pay no matter your BMI -- you only have to show you were compliant with the program and your WLS failed for reasons not under your control (like a band slipping or eroding). Others want you to re-qualify for the surgery (i.e., have a high enough BMI). If you self-payed before because WLS wasn't covered under your insurance and you have the same insurance, they absolutely won't pay to remove the band and won't pay for the new WLS. If you now have insurance that covers WLS, then they should pay for band removal, but they may or may not pay for a revision to a new surgery depending on what their criteria is for revisions. A lot of time, you can find their clinical policies on their web sites and then you can read the criteria for yourself.

As suspected the port has flipped. Surgery has been scheduled for Friday. It's odd, but, ever since the surgeon "dug" around trying to access my port, it seems like I am more restricted than before. I did not get a fill, but, I was very upset about my visit to the wlc. I thought at first it was maybe from being upset...but I am no longer upset or angry about Tuesday, but it still seems that something is different. After a few bites it feels like someone is poking me around my sternum. I had hernia repair when the band was done, but, was never really bothered much by reflux or such. I have read that sometimes when the port flips it causes tension on the tubing, which causes tension on the band...Should I mention this to the surgeon or just wait and see what happens. I can still eat and drink...just a bit uncomfortable at times. Also, anyone else that has had port revision know if I should expect a fill after surgery or will I need to wait to heal some?

I do not understand why, unless there are complications, a surgeon would put a patient through two procedures. Especially at your low weight! I had the Band to Sleeve revision on May 17th. All in one day. My band was a nightmare from the very first week in 2005. I vomited for 12+ years nearly ever time I ate. Never kept a fill. Rotated port. Scar tissue. Terrible pain. You name it, I went through it...and accepted it because I was too busy to do something about it. This sleeve has changed everything. Immediately. No return of reflux. My giant port scar tissue tumor is gone. And recovery was a breeze. The nightmare is OVER!

Thanks for the info Tiffykins. I really think that is what my problem is too. I would do low carb loss 30-40 lbs then gain it all back and then some. The same with the band, as soon as I learned to eat around it then I did. After reading and researching hours and hours over the last few weeks, I feel like the sleeve is the way to go-now I just have to convince my dr.-right now, he thinks that since there is nothing "wrong" with my band that we should try to get me adjusted properly and see if we can make it work. I appreciate his honesty and caring bed-side manner-he really is trying to do what is best for me and not just make money off of me with another surgery. The problem is that I think it is basically just prolonging the inevitability of eventually having a revision anyway. I am just terrified of failing again! I do now truly understand what you mean by the "honeymoon" phase, and plan to take full advantage of it to try to get to goal quickly and then work on maintaining!

Before subjecting myself to a bypass, if that is the recommended fix, I would consult with a surgeon who is more experienced with the sleeve and duodenal switch (DS simply by virtue that it has been done for a long time and uses the sleeve as its basis, so any surgeon who has been doing DSs for a while has also been doing sleeves for that time.) There are a lot of surgeons around who are comfortable with the bypass and just getting into the sleeve, so if they have any problems with the sleeve, their first instinct is to return to their comfort zone and do a bypass rather than fixing the sleeve as a more experienced sleeve surgeon would do. So, when one gets into complications such as this may be, it is doubly important to get second opinions to see what your options really are. http://www.dsfacts.c...h-surgeons.html The above is a list of well qualified DS surgeons around the world that may be handy if you need a second opinion from a doc who knows their way around a sleeve (and a few of them are also well qualified in revising RNYs to DSs, so if they can re-fabricate a sleeve out of an RNY pouch and the old remnant stomach that was set aside, they would likely have no problem un-twisting a sleeve - assuming that the twist didn't cut off the blood supply and kill off the tissue.) Good luck, complications of any description are never a fun thing,

My panni was just denied by insurance. I have a *** and needed to get a reference from my GP to see the plastic surgeon then approval from my GPs medical referral bc the doctor my Bariatric surgeon recommended was not in their office (eyeroll). I have lost 105ish lbs and I need one! I’m wondering a few things and hoping you all can help me figure this out. First I’m wondering if I got denied bc the surgeon I went to was not out of my GPs office? They had one to give me but when I researched him he was a hand doctor who did plastic surgery also. Secondly I’m wondering if the plastic surgeon I went to was ridiculously expensive and that’s why it was denied. Tummy tuck was 12,500 and breast lift was 12,000. I know only the panni part is covered but this surgeon does both for same price. Thirdly and most importantly I’m wondering what my rights are to appeal something like this. I plan to call in the morning but wanted to get my ducks in a row and have a clue what I was going to ask them at the insurance company. Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 177 GW: 160

I had my surgery with A Lighter Me and Dr. Elias Ortiz. There were a few things that I was not happy about, though are not necessarily related to the surgery itself. Dr. Ortiz was somewhat arrogant, in my opinion. He was assisted by Dr. Morales, who was an absolute sweetheart. Dr. Morales made the 'house call' to the hotel once we were released from the hospital. I had a room mate in my hospital room. Not intentionally, actually. She was picked up at the airport at the same time as me. We went from the airport to the hospital for the initial check-up, EKG, and blood tests. Then, we were taken to the hotel. The next day, we were picked up together. I believe that it was just a mis-belief by the A Lighter Me staff that she and I were 'friends' and were there 'together'. So, when they asked if we wanted a room together, we both felt like it was either each other or a stranger, we agreed to it. Of course, that all changed when we realized that nobody else had a room mate (aside from those who had a 'support person' along with them). Neither of us did. My room mate in the hospital was getting a different surgery than mine. Mine was VSG and hers was a revision of some sort OR a bypass. There was a lot of discussion with her around it. And she discussed some of it with me. First problem showed itself when Dr. Ortiz and team spoke 'unfiltered' with her in front of me, including her current weight and other personal details. Not cool. But then, if they thought we were 'friends' . . . Good for her, she called them on discussing her personal details too publicly. Even though they brought us to the hospital early on that Sunday morning, and even though they told us we would be first in surgery that day, we were not. And because neither of us had eaten since the early evening before, that was a long time to be waiting. They took her to surgery before me, but not until late afternoon. And so it follows that she came back first. Here's the problem that irks me the most: When I woke up after surgery, I was in her hospital bed and she was in mine!! Prior to surgery that day, she had been under her covers whereas I had only lounged on top of mine!!! And yes, I freaked out!! I was NOT impressed. IN. THE. LEAST! In fact., I was furious! Not at HER! She had as much control of it as I did - none! I was angry with the staff for putting us back in the wrong beds! And, yes, I really questioned Dr. Ortiz when he came to our room due to my outburst as to whether I got the surgery I was supposed to get, and that made her question him in the same manner about the surgery she got! I was not impressed. Yes, the staff, once they understood what the issue was (language barrier), changed the bedding and such. AND they moved my room mate to another room of her own. Good gawd!! Really?? As I said, these things are not necessarily related to the surgery itself, but to the overall experience. I have had no complications, no pain, no illness or anything related to my surgery. I did very well with the ice chips at the hospital. With tea and broth at the hotel. And I walked to WalMart (twice) from the hotel. I felt absolutely fine. It was six months yesterday since my surgery and I have lost only 47 pounds in that time. So, I am very disappointed with that. Others who I met at the hospital in Tijuana at that same timeframe have lost in excess of 90 pounds. So . . .

I currently have a band and am revising to a sleeve in 2 days. I don't understand when VSG patients talk about sliders. With a band, a slider was something that went quickly through my band's restriction, and into the major part of my stomach. With a sleeve, how can you have a slider? Where does it slide to, exactly?

01/01/06 Annual HCPCS coding update (revise 43848; add 43886, 43887, and 43888. Additional coding for BCBSFL

So I saw my surgeon today ... in process of all the crap I gotta do to revise to sleeve. Thank you all Sent from my SM-G928V using the BariatricPal App

Having RNY REVISION July 13 Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

If you have severe acid reflux (GERD), gastric bypass is better than sleeve because sleeve will only make the condition worse. Too many people who had lap band surgery had to have a revision due to problems. The band will sometimes erode into the stomach wall over time and this can become a life threatening condition. As a result many doctors have discontinues performing this type of surgery.

@@Travelmego Yes you can revise from the sleeve to the Rny Gastric Bypass, but why would anyone want to have a surgery going in thinking they want to revise? One bariatric surgery is difficult enough and with every revision the complications skyrocket. It's always better to choose the best surgery for ourselves by making that decision with looking at all of the pros and cons of each one and getting suggestions from our bariatric surgeon. I am revising from the sleeve to the bypass due to extreme GERD issues which is causing a lot of other health issues for me. I wish I could just stay sleeved but I can't, it would kill me eventually. That is the only reason any good surgeon would revise someone, for medically necessary reasons.

I had the band in 2008. Went from 310 to 175. After six years severe complications began. Feb 2016 needed emergency removal and switch to gastric bypass. Six weeks later i could not drink liquids. Er called it stricture. From 11/2016 had ten ballon endoscopies , a stent which broke lose causing three surgeries, two surgeries for total small bowel obstructions . In the six months since removal of band my weight went from 175 to 235 my weight one year post revision is 157. Rough ride but what in life comes easy I switched hospitals to columbia presbyterian in NYC to finally get it fixed It was worth the rough journey but risk of adhesions is always present

Hello everyone, I've finally had all my appointments before the surgeon and just need a few follow up calls but then I should be moved onto the surgeon. I just have a few questions: 1. Do you normally have to lose a certain amount of weight before the surgery? I've seen people say they had to lose 25 lb before the surgeon would operate, does that normally happen? Or is that in extreme cases? 2. What's a revision? I've seen posts about people getting a revision a few months after having the surgery but what is that for? If you have any advice that would be greatly appreciated!! I'm from Ontario, Canada! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Great, amazing, wonderful news!!! I heard back from the surgeons in Phoenix, and they do revisions. The are SO encouraging. I've already been assigned a patient advocate. She said I should call and get an appointment on a Tuesday, so I can take their WLS 101 class while I am there. My sister lives about 45 minutes away from there, and I think I can stay with her if I need to spend the night. i have several "assignments" to do this week. Call me cardiologist for an appointment for clearance. Find a psychologist for the psychological clearance. call my PCP for his letter of recommendation. I downloaded all the forms to give the doctors so they can just fill them out, so the process will be a little easier. I have hope again! Now I can go back to my plan of trying to replace a meal a day with a Protein drink. I think it will make it easier to try different protein powders, and get used to eating less. In a week or two, I will try to go to replacing two meals a day. Since I know the surgery is in the future, I hope that will motivate me to stick with it. Thank you all for your encouragement!

Unfortunately, it's hard to say regarding the losing weight prior to surgery. It seems most doctors will have you diet for ~2 weeks prior to surgery (ranging from low carb to liquids only), but it doesn't seem as common to need to lose a certain amount. For myself, I've gained 5 lbs since my consult (completely my fault, I went a little crazy with food between the consult and now) and so I need to lose those pounds plus a few more before my surgeon would operate. So I've started my 2 week diet a few days early. When I've seen the term revision, it's generally referring to lapband to sleeve. I haven't heard of a revision of the sleeve itself.

This was my exact experience. We are stationed 800 miles from all of our family. My family is in Texas, my husband's family is in West Virginia, and they were in "shock" as they watched me via Facebook drop pounds. At one point several of my long term friends started questioning the whys, hows, whats, on my changing appearance. Even some friends thought I was drinking or using illicit drugs as they all knew that I was quite the partier a couple of years before meeting my husband. I "had" to come clean via FB about what I had done in regards to my decision to revise from the band to VSG. They already knew I had the band, but they were not aware that I had revised, and since I was dropping weight so rapidly, the questions and messages, phone calls/texts started rolling in. They were genuinely concerned. When we traveled to WV just 5.5 months after my revision, I was down about 100lbs, and my MIL decided to tell my husband that I looked way too skinny. Mind you, I'm only 5'2", and still weighed 165-170lbs. Least to say, when I dropped down to 125lbs, the comments really became harsh. I heard "you look like an Ethiopian child, you look like a cancer patient, your bones are showing" and for people that had never seen below 200-270lbs for over 20 years, it was a big shock. The last time I weighed 125lbs, I was around 12yrs old and in the 7th grade so of course my younger brothers don't remember a "small" sister. I broke down and told my brother to look up pics of 115lbs-130lbs celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, Miranda Lambert, Dana Kirkpatrick, and remember those chicks are 3-7 inches taller than I am, and that he could see bones on all those women. That really helped put my "size" into perspective for him. I wanted everyone to Celebrate my success, and be elated with my results. Unfortunately, worry and concern really took over and they couldn't see that I was still healthy, and thriving. One thing that did help was when I traveled back to Texas in March 2009(almost 10 months post revision), my family could watch me eat, and see that I was eating a well-balanced, and nutrient diet every day. They saw me eat enchiladas, fajitas, steak, chicken, all veggies, and it really helped ease their fears. The whole "eating like a bird" is the perception they had, and it's just not realistic long term, and they needed to witness it firsthand. Just be prepared, and acknowledge their concern, but do not allow anyone's comments to steal your joy in all of your successes. It's easy for me to say that now, but back then, it was very difficult for me to convince my loved ones that I was still healthy. One thing I did remind them of is that I was under close monitoring by not 1, but 3 medical professionals. My surgeons, my PCM and a nutritionist therefore they are not going to allow me to wither away or die because I "caught" skinny.

I am having revision surgery next Tuesday - 11/10 - and it's covered by my insurance - Cigna. My band has a leak and hasn't worked in 2 years. During that time I beat myself up thinking that I was losing my mind because I was so hungry and could eat more than I knew I should. My doctor had to write a letter to my insurance company and must have made one hell of an argument on my behalf. I was fully approved and scheduled within 2 weeks. Hopefully your doctor can make a good case to your insurance company and get it covered for you. Good luck and keep me posted.

Mine was over 2 hours long. I was a band-to-sleeve revision plus hiatal hernia repair.

Hi! I am in the Seattle area, and would love to start a support group for people either considering surgery, revision surgery or is post-op. I believe there are not enough of us to support each other through this time. Unless you have been in the situation, it is hard to understand. It is so hard in the Seattle area to create friendships, I thought that this would be a great way to begin. It is about common ground, support and trust. I am 10 years, post op sleeve surgery. I have been recently approved for revision surgery, however, the surgery would be a sleeve to bypass. Completely different. I would love to hear from you all and hear your stories. Maybe we can get a little group together once a week and share over coffee? Yes, I am an addict, a slave to the coffee bean. Jolynn

I've had both done, first the lap band in 2007 and it's removal and then the revision to RNY in 2009. I wasn't the type of person who did well with the lap band and was never satisfied and would eat around it. Also wasn't aware ahead of time all the foods that would go through without an issue. I had type 2 diabetes and always had cravings for sweets which never went away with the band and since they were the easiest to get down I ended up gaining back the weight I had lost on the preop diet. So you have to know what your "issues" are before you choose a surgery. Of course there are risks with all types of WL surgeries but chosing one that will work is also a very important part of the decision process. Good luck to you with your decision, Nancy.

The more I think about this, the more simple it gets. Those of us who don't feel restriction have pouches that are just too big to make any (or very little) difference. The pouch is guess work for the surgeon, unlike with the sleeve where they use a bougie and sew around it to create a fairly uniformed sleeve, depending on the size of the bougie used. There are several articles out there that say the size of the new stomach is a major factor in the success or failure of bypass surgery. Given this, and the fact that the first 6 months are the most important in weight loss surgery and the fact that the pouch will stretch over time (according to veterans on this site), I have a question ... If your surgeon were to offer you a revision to reduce the size of the pouch further, would you do it? Would you put yourself through another surgery?

Many of you probably don't 'know' me from these forums, but I have been around for several years. i'm almost 4 years post VSG. I have struggled through many chapters in my life since my surgery and have regained a good amount of weight. since I carry ALL my weight right around my middle, I look horrible and my self esteem has tanked. Since my surgery I changed jobs and moved, lost a parent, had to change doctors, and gained a master's degree. I'm currently in the final few classes to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. on top of all that, I had managed to lose enough weight initially to be off all my medications-GERD and BP. Now i'm back on both. My GERD has worsened with the weight gain and i'm at the point where I can't lay on my left side if I've eaten within the past few hours because the food and acid will backwash into my throat. i'm miserable. I have been to the psych doc, the NUT, to the surgeon, and to my GP. none of them can give me an exact direction of what to do. my GP says they simply don't know enough about bariatrics to guide me. The bariatric team trialed me on Contrave, I got so sick I had to stop. I tried Keto and spent two days in misery from all that fat. My brain is the issue and I don't know how to get it back under control. I am taking straight Welbutrin for the time being to see if that will help with behavior AND with appetite. my surgeon is very concerned that from the GERD, i'll need a revision. I don't really WANT a revision, I know that the GERD has worsened because I carry ALL my weight in my waistline and it's pushing up on my sleeve- badly. I have an EGD this week with my GI doc which will look at the GERD and also the condition of my sleeve. I have no excuse, the regain is completely my own doing. One day about 20 months ago, I thought that drinking a diet ginger ale at work would be ok, and it has spiraled out of control from there. I am trying badly to get off of soda again, which I think is really the first step. As I walk this very difficult road to get back on the path where I belong, I ask for your prayers, positive thoughts, and vibes.