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I found out today there's leak either in my port or the tube right after the port.. So I have to go in next week to have revision surgery, and they're moving the port while they're there so it's easier to access. While I watched the contrast go into the port and then just SPLOOSH into my body, it made me cry and I feel like the band is not going to work for me.. like I'm doomed for failure. That's why I never felt proper restriction, so I know the PLUS SIDE is that when they fix it, I'll be able to find a sweet spot.. But for now, I'm dejected about the whole situation. How long does the depression of knowing you have to be 'fixed' last?

I have Aetna. Mine was a revision, band to sleeve. Their policy specifically states that to qualify for revision I needed to have had lost less than 50% EBW on prior WLS and it had to be more than 2 years prior. I fully qualified according to the policy but they denied me for being under a BMI of 40 anyway. We submitted appeals twice, the second appeal I was at BMI 40 and they approved it.

I just had my arms done in August, also a breast lift, of the two the arms were by far the worst....pain wise. But I'd do it again tommorrow! They are now healing nicely...what does the revision do for you? My scar is quite thick- my band surgeon told me that is cuz my skin has lots of collagen therefore not too many wrinkles on me...so I guess that is ok....I am scheduled for TT and Thigh lift in April.....will take 4 weeks off, is that too much time? Or will I need it? Wish you all well getting rid of your "wings"...as I said, I'd do it all over again. Nancy

Hi--I had my initial surgery done 1/15/08. After the first couple of fille, it became more difficult to access my port. X-rays were done, looked ok. Then in April, the port was totally inaccessible. I was going away for 2 weeks, plus insurance had to approve the port revision, so surgery was scheduled for a month away. On 4/20, the port was reattached. The surgeon said he had never seen anything like it, the suture material broke at all four attachment points---seemed like defective suture material. Anyway, I went home three hours later, and except for minor soreness, felt fine. The hardest part was going on a vacation with no restriction!! I ended up gaining a pound. Best of luck. Carol

CristiOT - Glad you're feeling better. I saw my dr. He still didn't do an xray as someone had suggested to me. He said that wouldn't do any good. But he said he guesses he could do a revision and move my port, but there is a real risk for infection if he opens the incision. Or we could try pain pills for awhile and see if as the weight comes off if it will stop hurting. I'm opting for the pills for now. I don't want another surgery if at all possible, no matter how small.

My surgery is Dec 6 and I still have not decided what I will be revising to, as soon as I make up my mind, I will find more information and change it again. Lol...I am so lost! I dont want this to be another failed surgery for me.

I’m looking Into the same thing now. Band in 2010, sleeve in 2014, and now another revision to ??? Due to acid reflux and weight gain post hysterectomy. Any recommendations regarding the next surgery choice and insurance approval based on your experience?

Good luck! I was also there a few weeks ago. Revision on Marc 22nd. Hope all goes smoothly!

Were you a revision from band? Otherwise I cant figure out why you would have the bleeding at the port site? Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

If it were so easily remedied then you would think I would have gained some weight by now. I eat nuts all the time. Roasted, salted pecans handful after handful, roasted almonds, granola with nuts, P3 with nuts, cheese, and turkey. I can put away an entire can of the Planter's Nut·ritious within 24 hours. That stuff is like crack ???? It's definitely not my lack of eating. It will sort itself out, I'm sure. Then one day I'll be whining about needing a revision ????

I amseriously considering getting a revision from lapband to the sleeve. Can you tell me what your incisions are like? How many, how big? I am just so vain!!

I just got my bill from the hospital. Band to bypass revision totaled 64000. Aetna contracts with the hospital which lowered it to 24000 but has a life time max of 10000 for any WLS. That left me with a bill for 14000. I called the billing office to see if they had some kind of payment plan they could put me on and they said I could pay 500 a month until it was paid. No interest or charges just the amount of the bill. I would not have known this without asking. It is crazy to me that the insurance would pay so little towards this but that is the era in which we live.

I have been relearning how to eat because I too would trick the band. Drinking lots of water, enjoying a lot of oil and butter to help the food slide through the stoma, Self-induced bulimia due to overeating, etc. I had a revision on March 27 and I can tell you that it is really truly different trying to eat because there is nowhere else for the food to go when you are full. There is no waiting to wash it down through the stoma, no adding extra oil and butter to get things to slide down, et cetera. I am not a very good rule follower, but with the sleeve I have never had an incident where I had to vomit due to overheating. Again, I do have a really good shrink who helps me through the detours on my path of reinventing myself. It's a really hard struggle, but I am worth it.

I too had to have my band replaced with another and they gave me a 14cc band. (after having a 4 cc band) The explanation they gave me was that on revisions they always used the largest bands because of the possibility of scar tissue. It look a lot of time and a lot of fluid to fill that band! I gained back 30 pounds while I waited for restriction... It sounds like you are not to the sweet spot yet. Is there any way you could find a more agreeable doc? Would he even be willing to do a fluroscope to check to see if you have any problems? (although problems are usually caused by being too tight, and if doesn't sound like you are) If he won't check you, I'd find a new doc, even if it meant traveling. Your health is important. The guy sounds like more of an ass then most surgeons. (mine is a sweetheart, I'm lucky. If you are around Ohio let me know) Don't be so down on yourself. It sounds as if you had a complication, yes, but it was out of your control. Now you can step up and find out what is going on. If you have another slip, it's not your fault because you haven't been throwing everything up (that's what causes slips). Just find out the facts and go on from there. Please keep me posted. I wish you the best and I hope there is nothing wrong and all you need is a little fill to go on your merry way to weight loss. If there is something wrong, there will be a way around it. Good luck,

Maybe you should post this question in the gastric bypass revision forum. There should be more people there that can answer you

My name is Jamie and I started my weight loss journey many years ago but my surgery journey started in February 2010. I was 330 pounds at 27 years old. I was always a healthy person but after 4 knee surgeries I gained over 100 pounds and tried EVERYTHING to try to loose the weight. When I hit 330 I knew it would end up being life or death so I attended a barbaric surgery meeting at my mothers suggestion. After meeting with my surgeon and discussing all options with my husband we decided on the lap band. (Man was that a mistake) I had the lap band surgery in May 2010 and it only took me 3 weeks to recover!! I thought I had done enough research to prepare my self but I was very wrong. Eating was hard and I was seeing the Dr almost every 4 to 6 weeks for 3 years trying to figure out where the perfect fill was. After 3 frustrating years of throwing up and learning how to cheat with the band we decided it was time to revise the band. I decided to do the a use it seemed like a safer and less invasive surgery. I was very excited to start this new journey after seeing co workers have great success with it. I had my revision to the sleeve May 2013. The recovery was much harder then the recovery from the band and I think it was due to doing the band removal and the sleeve revision at the same time. After 6 weeks I was as good as new and dropping weight at a nice pace. I was very excited to eat right and exercise because I was actually loosing weight!!! After the first 3 months I began to get really painful chest pains. Being a person that never delta with acid reflux, herd or heartburn I didn't know what the pain was from. I went back to my Dr and he began seeing me every 2 - 4 weeks and we tried every acid reflux, hernia, heartburn and GERD medication we could. By the time I was 10 months out I was in such bad pain and no medication would help my Dr decided we needed to revise my sleeve to the full bypass to eliminate the acid from being created in my stomach. I am very unhappy with this decision so I went to 3 other doctors that specialize in acid reflux and weight loss surgery and sadly they all agreed with my surgeons prognosis. We began the insurance approval process and it was a little harder tot get the bypass surgery approved this time since I am 178 pounds and they didn't see a reason for the surgery. Last Tuesday the pain got so bad I ended up in the ER for 6 hours as they tried to figure out how to make the pain stop. The prognosis was esophagus spasms so I had to be put on a liquid diet since eating hurt. Finally my insurance approved the surgery and my doctor is rushing the surgery date due to the severity of this issue. My revision to bypass is scheduled for May 13 2014 and I am completely freaking out!!!! This is not a surgery I want and I am concerned that I am going to have all the bypass side effects I really never wanted to have! I am telling my story because I really need help from others out there that may gave went thru the same issues I am and what did you do to resolve it? What should I expect to be different from the sleeve to the bypass? Please help! I am really scared and really don't want to have to go thru this again!!!

My doctor insisted on a full week off. Surgery was this Tuesday and back to work next Wednesday... I was a revision from lap band to sleeve, so that might make a difference.

because when I talked with a local surgeon he seriously discouraged the band eventhough he would give me one if I wanted. because if you look around this board you will see many who have had the band and are now having to have it removed and have revision surgery to the sleeve because either their band slipped, or stopped working for them and they gained some (or all) of their weight back. because I don't have time to go have the required maintenance on it (filling, etc) because the thought of that foreign object in my body gives me the heebiegeebies..

I had the revision from lap band to gastric bypass 2 days ago. To the great surprise to my doctors,I was up and walking and passing the mandatory fluids so I only needed one night in the hospital. I'm just on clear liquids but so far so good. Originally (11 years ago) the lap band worked for me and I lost about 100 pounds but when I had my gall bladder removed the band had flipped and it was replaced. The new band never worked for me. I constantly needed adjustments and fills. Over the last 5 years I gained back 55 pounds. My esophagus is enflamed. I have been dehydrated for years because I could not tolerate water. I had difficulty taking any medications because they would just sit in my esophagus. Now that the band is out I can drink water, soup, protein shakes and take all my vitamins and supplements. I am feeling tired but excessively positive

I am not necessarily on a diet....meaning I eat whatever I want and do not restrict any foods. I had a revision 1/25/13 but had my lap band for almost 2 years prior to the revision. I monitor my protein and know the best ways to get high protein and less calories but I do not have any food that is off limits. I have had soda, alcohol, and other junk food items (chips, ice cream, etc). I restrict the amount of those foods but not the type of food..... of course I can't have that junk everyday. I have lost 80 pounds and have not gained any back. Food doesn't taste the same to me anymore so I don't chose to eat a lot of the foods that I used to love. Soda burns, I have been off bread, rice, and pasta for 2 years so I don't even want it anymore, I can only eat about 3 chips, and sweets like cookies make me nauseous. It's really weird now that these things aren't tempting and don't taste good. I do have a small addiction to jolly ranchers that I am working on.

I went to Dr. Aceves for my sleeve surgery, not a revision and the cost was $9500. I flew into San Diego and Ernesto the driver picks you up at the airport or if you stay at a hotel till the next day, they rec a hotel with a special rate which was very nice. (my flight got in too late to go on to Mexicali that first day). The drive is 1 1/2 hrs and then you have your pre-op tests done. On your pre op day you will meet with the anesthetist, Dr. Aceves and the nurses that will be working with you and there to answer all your questions, health issues etc. Then off to the very nice resort for dinner and sleeping pill to help you sleep. Next day picked up by Ernesto to go to the hospital for surg. You will stay there 3 days with the best care, responsive to anything you need for comfort, 3 leak tests and then sent home with meds/ Nexium, pain pills etc. and instructions. Very clean hospital, wonderful staff and the best is Dr. Aceves and his staff. I felt very cared for and safe. Everything included except your flight and the extra night at the hotel in San Diego if your flight comes in late. I am one of many on this site that has used him, not one bad experience reported. The last I heard he has done over 700 sleeves. Research very carefullly and there is a site here on picking your surgeon you might read. Good Luck Linda

Hi Mica I too had the band and it worked great for awhile, then bam I started having problems. I just had my revision done 6 days ago and already I love it!! I can actually drink without it coming back up. I tried some refried beans and they went down great! The sleeve even tells you when to quit eating, I had 4 small bites and felt a little discomfort. I took one more bite and it turned into a little pain, BAM you know when to quit!! Get the sleeve and never look back! Good luck to you! Bernadette

What is a revision?

Hi. I'm a revision as well (11/6/14). The pain was more significant than post lapbamd for sure but the surgery was much more invasive as well. I will tell that it does get much better around week 4. My weight loss seemed slow in the beginning as well but I seemed to be more swollen after this surgery and because of the pain the first few weeks there wasn't a ton of exercise going on for me. I honestly thought something was wrong. I felt pressure and a pulling sensation that was quite annoying the first few weeks. I am just a little over 2 months post op and am down almost 30lbs (I need to update my weight ticker). We have to get the exercise on ladies...it really does help, at least for me it does make all the difference in losing a fwe ounces a week to losing a few pounds.

@@Hammer_Down I love this analogy! There is no way a 47 gain in 3 months would be considered slow. Similarly, I don't understand how anyone could consider a 47 lb loss in 3 months slow. If surgeons are placing unrealistic expectations on their patients, they need to stop. If patients have unrealistic expectations and somehow think they're going to wake up from surgery thin, that needs to stop too. As far as the stall, you've lost almost 50 lbs. Your body needs time to adjust to the loss and settle in. Taking photos is a great idea. So is taking measurements since it's likely that you're losing inches even if you're not losing lbs. For example, I'm 4 months post revision to RNY and 2 lbs from goal. I keep gaining and losing the same 2 lbs, yet my clothes are once again falling off me. I may not be losing any weight, but I must be losing inches/my body must be adapting, otherwise everything would be the same. To the OP, I hope you listen to the smart vets on this site and ratchet down your expectations a bit. You're likely to go through many more slow loss periods or actual stalls and if you don't make peace with that, you'll likely be unhappy with the process.