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Hi Mook, I don't know if you've seen many of posts but personally I'd say go for the sleeve as it has a better success rate - the GPS has failed me, no complications but just not enough restriction. See below for details: overall weight loss was considered satisfactory in 78.6% of the patients who underwent gastric plication and in 97.5% of those who underwent sleeve. http://www.skrekas.net/surg_hemstatistics.htm As you're a revision you really do want to go for a reputable surgeon as it's a more complex surgery. BTW what's your current BMI?

I had Gastric sleeve for about 5 years. I was wondering if the pouch can be fixed to the point that it can go back to its original stomach size (as in being reversed) or being revised to a different procedure? Like Gastric Bypass, Mini Gastric Bypass, etc. Anyone know this info?

I'm sorry. I can definitely understand your fears. I cannot imagine being without my band now. Have you thought about a sleeve revision?

Please share how your consult goes including price. I am still about 35 lbs from goal but have the exact same problem areas. Sent from my SM-N910P using BariatricPal I posted this on another one but forgot to update here: I had my consultation with the plastic surgeon today. The first thing Dr. Weiss said after I told him I've lost 130 lbs. is, "Well you look great!" And I laughed and said, "Well yeah, with my clothes on!" He asked what my biggest concerns were and I told him stomach, boobs and side boobs (that bit that spills over the top sides of my bra). After I got undressed he was impressed with the amount of excess skin I had. It was funny sitting there and him gathering and poking to see how much is skin. The good news is he said I can get away with an extended tummy tuck, I won't need a body lift (whew!). He said he should be able to remove nearly all of the loose skin, including my stretch marks on my stomach. He showed me where he would cut and I could not believe how high up he would be able to go. He said I should end up with a nearly flat stomach and he and his assistant said I have a very nice body shape/build because I'm a natural hourglass and under my loose skin is a small waist so I will avoid looking boxy like most tummy tuck patients. He said there is quite a bit of loose skin in the breasts and showed me where the nipple should go. Again, I was surprised. We are talking about six inches or so. He also said I really REALLY need implants because I have zero upper breast. I'm basically pectoral muscles and then breasts below that. He wants to remove all the loose skin, some of my existing breast tissue and then put implants at the top where I'm completely lacking anything. Without them I can get a lift but will end up with the man boob look I'm dreading so much. Right now I'm a 36DDD and I told him I'd like to end up a 34DD. He also said he can easily fix the side boob issue with expanding the lower incision line. I asked him about my back rolls and he said they are all loose skin. He basically said there is nothing to lipo. I'm just skin! Which blows my mind because I still feel so fat when I look in the mirror. But he said that could be fixed later down the road if I decide to do any other surgeries. He said there is an increased bleeding risk when there has been extreme weight loss which is defined as losing more than 60 lbs. However, he has never had to give anyone a transfusion and he is very confident I will have no issues since I've never smoked and my skin is in great condition. He does want me to have a CBC done to make sure I haven't developed anemia from bariatric surgery. He said I could probably return to work after a few weeks if I'm sitting but I still plan on taking at least three, if not four. I can begin light cardio like walking after four weeks but no high impact exercise or lifting for many months. Also, no resistance exercise for many months although I can use my own body weight. It will cost $8,150 for tummy tuck only or $15,310 for tummy tuck and breasts. He offered to repair the side boobs for free. The cost includes all post-op care and if I'm not happy with my results he will do a free revision. He said, "If you're not happy with the results, I'm not going to be happy with the results." Now on to the mental/psychological part of this. I had a bit of a meltdown on the ride home. Part of it was because I made the mistake of listening to "Reflection" on the way home and started bawling. "Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me? When will my reflection show who I am inside?" So I did a lot of thinking. On one hand, I feel selfish for spending $15,000 on myself. I don't feel like I deserve it. I don't know why I feel that way. I also don't know why I feel so weird about implants. I've always had very large breasts. But I've always kind of thought of women who got implants as phonies trying to be something they aren't. Just accept your natural body! But now I'm trying to replace what I've always had. And now I'm becoming more understanding towards those who want/need plastic surgery. On the other hand, when I see myself in the mirror I can see my potential but I feel like I'll never feel complete until this excess skin is gone. I really want to finish my marathon and get the medal at the end, my new body.

Well I go back to the doctor in 2 weeks so I will let you know for sure what happens. In the meantime I find that if I put a wrap tight around my stomach that seems to help a lot with the pinches and pain. Its almost as if I am keeping it in place. I just had revision surgery 1 month ago and 2 weeks after surgery is when I noticed this pain. Its been another 2 weeks since and still not much better. I am hoping in 2 weeks when I see my doctor that he will have some answers for me. :redface:

I am finally approved for my revision!! It has been a long month... I am now just waiting for the date, hopefully it will be soon so that I can get the contraption (band) out of me!

It is hard when you see so many people post how quickly they are losing. I had revision surgery 2/4 - no pre-op diet and have only lost 11 pounds. I'm starting to get scared to face the scale and keep thinking I should stay off Bariartic Pal so as not to get frustrated reading about everyone's success but at the same time I need it to see I'm not alone

I also had mine around 2002 and am planning on a revision to reduce my pouch and tighten my stoma. I was around 350, lost 140 and have gained it back. My bypass is already distal. What exactly are they going to do duringyour surgery? Thank you

Long story short: 2010: Band...minimal loss 2011: band slipped, repair surgery past two years...several small slips, reflux, and constant daily vomiting. I did lose weight! ha. but at what cost. Five weeks ago...band slipped, all Fluid removed GAINED 25 lbs. I went out of control. My own fault. Going to Mexico FRIDAY for revision with dr. jaime Ponce de leon He has been very honest...saying he won't know until he gets in there if he can do both procedures (removal of band/sleeve) in one surgery. IF you have had band to sleeve in one procedure...please share. And all good thoughts are welcome! Laura

Well...let's see. Banded in 2006. Got the typical probs...reflux, vomiting, uber restriction w/fluid removal. Fast forward to 5/20/13 and had removal, revision AND hernia repair all in one surgery. Now...I am 70% down in weight and in a size I've never seen in my life! I got the best reaction on my visit home this summer. One of my best friends of 20+ yrs. walked right past me until I said something to her back and then she recognized my voice! This surgery is what I hoped my band would do. Good luck to those upcoming revision folks. Work the plan, stick to your mini goals and long term goals and it WILL happen for you!

Just heard from United Healthcare that my appeal has been denied for a revision to VSG. They already approved the Lapband removal but not the revision. I don't have the paperwork yet but the coordinator said their response was several pages long but amounted to that they felt I didn't have success with the Lapband so would not have success with another restrictive procedure. I feel there is no comparison to having VSG vs. Lapband and I explained that in my appeal letter (which was 42 pages in total since it included years more of medical records). I'm told my next step is to submit for a Level 2 appeal which will be reviewed by my employer (a major corporation). I'll post this on the Insurance forum too but am just hoping for some encouragement and advice from others who may have been through the same thing. Thanks. Susie

I'm just starting my revision journey due to erosion so haven't been down your path yet. Just wanted to wish you the best of luck in your next appeal. Keep fighting!

You aren't alone. The others will chime in I'm sure. But, OregonDaisy had zero issues drinking post-op with her revision. Maybe y'all are quick healers? OregonDaisy said that Dr. Aceves made her slow down while she was there because she could drink so much so soon after surgery. If you want, she's really great about answering questions, so shoot her a private message, and she'll reply back if she doesn't see your thread.

I am being revised to sleeve Tuesday! I am scared that it will fail just like the band, but I see a lot of ex banders felt that way and are doing fine. This IS the right decision for me and I have to trust that it will work and that i will be able to use it as a tool. Thanks for the info on no feeling your sleeve in the beginning. I probably would have freaked out...

What's a band to sleeve revision?

Just scheduled my surgery for this Saturday October 3 with Dr Fernando Garcia in Tijuana! This is for a revision lapband to RNY, very excited but nervous since Im going alone... Anyone scheduled Oct 3? Anyone with the same Dr or experiences with him? Thanks!

I'm about to. On Friday. banded in 2009, modest success (lost about 40ish pounds), 2015 gave me lots of band issues and I'm making the move to sleeve. I've seen many people post about being very successful with this revision, and some have not. I'm hoping I'll do better with the sleeve and not have to worry about being stuck or the band being too tight, etc.

Hi, I revise next week if you want to stay in contact! Hit me up!

I have the banded plication. I was banded originally in Dec, 2001 and did well with the band for about 7 years. After our daughter was born I never could get the *right* fill amount plus my port had flipped almost immediately so fills were problematic. Over about a 2 year period I regained about 80 pounds with pregnancies, a torn achilles and 5 months of bed rest. I went to Dr. Billy after consulting with my doctors at Cedars-Sinai for a second opinion on a revision. I, like a lot of plication patients, researched the sleeve gastrectomy. I liked it a lot but had difficulty with the idea of my stomach being cut out and discarded. After a few months of research and speaking with 4 doctors, I decided plication was best for me. I have a lot of experience with Drs. Ortiz and Corvala so Tijuana was an option but I was lucky enough to find Dr Billy here in Southern California. I chose to get rebanded mainly for insurance purposes as they don't pay for plication. I don't plan to ever fill my band but it is there if needed. I am happy with the plication but like others have said WLS is a tool. I exercise almost every day in some form and try to stick with protein first, water then fruits and veg (I'm not allowed many yet). I've lost about 26 pounds in 6 weeks. I'd like it to be more but so far, I'm happy with my surgery and results. I have about 60-70 more pounds to go and I'm okay with it taking me a year to lose. So far the plication is everything I thought the band would be. I get full on about 1/4 of what I used to eat and more importantly, I'm not constantly hungry!! Head hunger is a b*tch but I'm dealing with it with the help of a therapist. Good luck to you in whatever path you choose.

Hello, I was banded back in 2008 and now considering doing revision to gastric sleeve as well and I have Aetna. The requirements should be the same if you had Aetna for the lap band. I just finished doing my 3 month physician supervised diet, psych eval and nutrition eval. You can always go to Aetna.com to view the Clinical policy bulletin on obesity surgery(http://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/100_199/0157.html) and it will give you all the requirements in detail. I would also contact Aetna customer service just to make sure that your plan does not require you to have this surgery done at an Institute of Quality for Bariatric. That is the problem I am currently running into. The facility I chose is not an IOQ and they denied me for that reason. So, I'm appealing to try to get approved. Hope that helps! Please keep me updated.

Dear Cait I just want to say don't give up, don't lose heart, and don't let it get you down. It must be so frustrating, give yourself time to make progress and be kind and patient with yourself in the way. I wish I was postop. I am stressed about being stuck preop! I'm waiting for a date for revision surgery and feeling frustrated and demoralised. I so want to get a chance to turn things around with a sleeve. I want to wish you good luck and good health and that you get your good weightloss over time. kind regards Betty

I had BCBS Fed Basic but my BMI was higher than that and I was also a revision from band. I wrote a two page letter explaining my issues and advocating for myself. You might want to try to do that. I would note that your weight has been climbing steadily and that you don't want to see that keep happening. According to your notes you met the 35 BMI requirement in October of 2014, correct? If they turn you down you can always try again in October. Since it is open season right now you might want to check into the other options available and see if one of them might have different guidelines and switch for the year. I love my Fed Basic though. There are several of us on here that have been approved by Fepblue, you might want to do a search and look at those threads. Good luck!

Okay, I feel kind of like the elephant in the room and it's making me nervous. I'm only 5 days out and have so much energy that I'm nearly bursting at the seams. I had a sleeve and was in constant pain for two years and now after revising to the bypass my whole world spun around in one day. I now have zero pain with eating, nothing gets stuck, no nausea at all, nothing. I'm starting to wonder if my recovery is going to drop off and be more like what you are describing here. I literately got in my car today and had the engine on before I realized that I can't drive because I just had surgery..my family said it might be because I felt so bad before that now that I'm pain free it feels like I'm flying. I mean, I still have some soreness from surgery but seriously, I feel amazing. I'm getting enough Protein and Fluid down and let me just mention one more time that I am completely pain FREE! I never ever thought I would say that sentence this far out, I honestly think the hardest thing to do for me is to take it easy and not push myself so hard that I go backwards. Has anyone else experienced this? Am I going crazy?

For those of you that had revisions, did your insurance cover it? I did very well with my band (lost 100 lbs and was at my goal weight) then got pregnant. As we refilled post pregnancy, it took lots of tries to get it right, and although I lost some weight, it didn't seem the same. Then I got a REALLY BAD flu bug, violent vomiting and all. Called the doc when I couldn't keep anything but broth down (waited waaaay too long to call) and he said it likely slipped. So now I have to have a complete unfill on Friday without knowing for sure if Personal Choice will cover a revision and change to the sleeve or bypass. When I called my insurance company, they said it'd be based upon my doctor deeming it medically necessary, and dependent upon the "coding" as to whether or not it'd be covered. Did anyone get denied for revision? I don't have $25,000 for self pay... not even close. Thanks for the feedback. I can't imagine living in this body after living in a healthy one.

I was unfilled 12/17/12. I'm scheduled for revision 4/25/13.