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Thank you so much for all the info. After A LOT of calling and talking I finally did succeed in getting an on-base referral. My base is only 30 mins away but some of our bariatric surgeons are deployed so they were kickin' us off base. I feel fortunate to have made it this far. However, my surgeon isn't exactly a pro at band to sleeve revisions; he's only done one BUT he is a very sincere, caring, and competent surgeon he's done lots of bypasses. He spent over an hour with me to answer all my questions, he even drew pictures for me to really grasp what he may encounter when he gets in there bc I've had my band for 4.5 years there may be too much damage to do a regular sleeve. Anyway, thanks again it means a lot to have a place to come to that offers so much support.

Thanks Amy! Things are going well. I see my Dr. on Friday and will have drain removed. I'm hoping to have more energy and looking forward to adding foods I can "chew" soon! How was your consult for your revision surgery? Take care, Kim

Welcome! There is a band to sleeve revision forum here you may want to check out. I revised 3 years ago and have been successful with the sleeve.

I used lotion on my belly and it was fine, I can't see why not? Also as far as the steri strips, my Surgeon said that I would leave them on until they were pretty much falling off, I did this for my first surgery, but then I had a port revision and decided to take them off a little sooner - bad idea LOL, they were not ready to come off and I was tugging at my scab at my incision area - ouch:eek: So lesson learned, don't yank - duh right? I felt like a real genius after that experience. Oh, you could trim the steri strips, I did end up doing that to stop them from curling.

Sorry this is happening, but I do have some good news about Allergan.. My doc said he couldn't get them to help out, my doc was unsure what happened with my band-- I was self pay-- and I had to pay an extra 2k to have revision surgery.. Ends up it was a flipped port, but.. Before we found all this out, I went to Allergan's website, and wrote a haughty e-mail. I was fuming that their product messed up and they wouldn't get back to my doctor, while I'm out about 20k. So anyway, within the week, I got a phone call from a guy (I wish I kept this info so I could pass it on!!) who works there, very nice, he went through my complication with me, how the band is or isn't working, and said he would send out a kit that day priority overnight to my doctor, so they could send in the 'broken' piece and they would examine it and issue a refund on the 2nd band I'd have to buy. Ends up during my surgery, it was a flipped port, no defect, but the Allergan guy gave me his personal office contact, e-mail, etc.. and he followed up with me afterward to find out how it went,etc. I was EXTREMELY Impressed, I had so many bad ideas in my head about how they probably don't care, I'm just a paycheck, but pleasantly I was very mistaken. Try calling their # if it's on the website, otherwise write them an e-mail from the website and make sure to leave your info. Edit to add, their website may be under Inamed. I remember when I looked for it, all I found was a generic medical website that sold a lot of products, and I don't think I even saw the band on there, or it was an afterthought. I just went to their contact info.

I am a PA and have 4+ years in AGB care, fills, and have performed over 7000 barium swallows. Slippage and prolapse are being used as one in the same and they are NOT. Slippage is when the fundoplication (stitch) breaks loose and the band physically slips downward on the stomach. Prolapse is when stomach from below the band "mushrooms" up through the band, usually caused by an intense vomiting episode. However, both can present the same way. 1. epigastric pain and most described as "pressure" around the lower stenum. 2. Nocturnal reflux, liquids are "rolling" around in the back of your throat when you lay flat on your back at night. This will also make you cough and not sleep well. This is not good! You are at risk of aspiration pneumonia! Get up and sleep in a recliner. 3. Unable to eat solid foods and some liquuids without vomiting up soon after. 4. One day you feel fine and the next day these symptoms appear. See your provider ASAP!!! An unfill will usually correct the symptoms but if your provider does NOT look at it under fluoro, no one will know what happened. The point is, THESE SYMPTOMS ARE C/W 1. SIMPLY A PIECE OF FOOD IS CAUGHT IN THE BAND. 2. THE BAND IS SIMPLY TOO TIGHT SECONDARY TO A FILL OR POSSIBLY SWELLING AT THE STOMA. 3. IT IS A PROLAPSE (MILD TO SEVERE) . 4. IT IS A SLIPPED BAND. iF YOUR PROVIDER DOESN'T LOOK AT IT WITH AN X-RAY OR FLUORO, YOU WON'T KNOW. IF IT IS A PROLAPSE, YOUR BAND WILL ALWAYS PROLAPSE AGAIN AND AGAIN. SLIPS MAY HAVE A CHANCE TO BE REVISED BUT PROLAPSE SHOULD BE CONVERTED INTO A GASTRIC SLEEVE. Prolapse is under reported because providers are NOT using fluoro to diagnose band complications. Simple unfill procedures correct most all band related complications and in the case of prolapse........prolapse is going to be an ongoing problem. Cash pay banders beware. Source: Slipped band??

I revised my band to the sleeve in march 2017 with only 25lbs max overweight, I no longer have co morbidities due to my weight loss with the band 7ys ago when I lost 140lbs, my band too was slipped and although I no-longer had fluid in the band, due to complications my surgeon recommended it be removed and gave me the option to revise, I decided to do it because I wanted to continue to have a tool to assist me in weight loss and maintenance and I also felt the same way with food never being a friend, Once the fluid was removed from my band And I could actually swallow my own saliva again I would go out of control at times with food, it was always a battle. Eating now with the sleeve is so different. No chest pain, no stuck feeling, just actually fullness when I have had enough. It's great.

Livendanow16, no i still have the band. It has been completely emptied. The goal is to remove the band and do the revision all at the same time. Sent from my SM-T350 using the BariatricPal App

@@CowgirlJane, I love the advice you have been giving people. You are a true success story with the revision and I hope that I can be as successful as you are

I am 4 yrs out and my experience with esophagus dilation, also called pouch dilatation, is the exact same as yours. This is very important information for you to take to your doctor. My doctors are at Emory in Atlanta, GA, highly experienced with hundereds of these cases. Dilation can fix itself from and unfill and patients can be refilled again sometimes with success. The most important thing is that my surgeons told me that it is almost impossible for even the most experienced surgeon to detect a true slip on a barium swallow test. I had dilatation also but have also been confirmed with a slip. The doctor says corrective surgery for revision and/or replacement is mandantory as this is an "unhealthy band" situation and I am at medical risks of serious complications. He said that when the wall is weakened there is usually always a slip involved and that revision is necessary to correct this situation. By the way, my niece also had pouch dilatation after 2 yrs and is now being refilled. I'm waiting for her to have a fluro or 2 down the line to see if she also stretches out again. I have had 2 surgeons now say I have slipped in addition to the pouch and esophagus dilation and must have surgery. No one wants to but at least now I understand what is wrong and they are going to do everything they can to revise it. There is a chance of losing the band when trying to revise due to difficulty in securing in back into place but the surgeons are confident that can do it. Do not be fooled into thinking that this is all your fault. Good surgeons know not to over fill nor to allow patients to go too long too tight and also to look at patients regularly under fluro or barium swallow to look for signs of dilatation. I would absolutely get another opinion form a very experienced surgeon. Do not fool around with a chance of losing your band with a surgeon that does not seem committed to helping you keep it if this is what your want. Most are willing to tell your their success rate with revision and whether or not they are confident with your case. I'm sorry this has happened but I've been there and did not give up and was extremely happy when I got such a tremendous load of great information from 2 very experienced surgeons at Emory in Atlanta plus one amazing senior surgical resident who explained how slips cannot be always detected on the upper gi. Please let me know if I can help your further with more info. I have gained 45 lbs . this last yr due to this situation and was also going from one extreme to the other too tight and throwing up to too loose with only a .25 cc change.

I was banded in 2008. For the revision was in the hospital for 2 nites. I had no issues. I'm a pain weenie but this was no problem. I have also been nervous that I will fail on this because I had such limited success with the band. But I am older and hopefully a little wiser now and I prepared for this one differently. I was too cavalier before. Now I'm much better prepared and committed to the changes required for success.

I am 3+ years from revision and it was the best decision EVER. I am maintaining at half my former weight!

I had an episode of projectile vomiting and ended up with a huge hiatal hernia and I had to have hernia repair & band revision. I had PB'd before but nothing like the vomiting. I had been too tight and had been deflated a couple of times. Anyway, it wasn't pretty, and I will be more careful about all the signs that I was warned about.

I will try to answer some of your questions. I was much farther along, over 2 years out from my original surgery when I got pregnant. So that part is different but the rest applies. Weight loss history. 376 when banded (1/08), down as low as 250 but then in 09 (8/09) my band broke, I regained about 40 and then had revision surgery in 10/09. (Band breakage was not my fault-just really bad luck). Got down to about 265 and then got pregnant (5/10). Now am hovering around 330. (Ugh) I had an "unfill" at about 4 weeks along. It was not total but had the effect of being total-I really did not have enough restriction to stop me from much. I gained about 100 lbs during my pregnancy (just like I did with my first son 9 years earlier). My doc actually wanted to remove a bit less than I asked him to but I had gotten so bloated at the beginning that I could not really even drink much for days so was literally starving when I got my unfill and thus not very rational. It does not have to be completely open, you will have to check with your doctor and OB and preferably have them in agreement with you. I did not slip and have not known anyone who did. I think that they way they put bands in now, by stitching the band to the stomach make is very unlikely for a slip to occur. I vomitted plenty. I did not have any medical complications due to my weight other than my being huge. I had my baby on Jan 31, 2011. The band cord is in a totally different part of your body so the baby does not even get near it let alone get tangled in it (I asked my doc the same question!) I have had a horrible time losing after having my son. I lost 40 lbs in the first 6 weeks and have plateaued since then (it's now been 6 mos). I am terrified of getting a fill because I am loving nursing and am really committed to it and do not want anything to mess that up. So still have not decided about when to get a fill. If I can help in any way-let me know! Good luck!

Hi Frios, I UNDERSTAND. YOU ARE NOT ALONE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE!!! I too have a Lapband and can relate to every struggle that comes with it. I've had mine for 11 years and it has slipped twice (once required surgery,)and now it has a leak. I had not been able to hold any saline fluid for 2 years & I've gained EVERY single of the 135 pounds that I lost & more. I can go on and on, but I won't bore you with my woes. I finally stopped beating myself up & made the decision to get revision surgery in Mexico. Thank goodness that your band still works. You just have to remember that it's a tool and like every "tool" you've got to know how to use it. You've already had success with your Lapband which means you CAN do it again. I know it's not easy, but I can be done. You're going to be okay☺

Hello, everyone! I am in the starting phase of the process to revise from my band (2013) to the sleeve. Since getting the band, I've changed jobs so no one here knows that I've had WLS. I didn't have much success with the band and am now heavier than when I got the band so I don't exactly want to announce that I'm looking into WLS to fix what I couldn't make work from my previous WLS. But with the process to revise, I'm meeting with a nutritionist (every two weeks), getting blood work, getting an EGD, meeting with my PCP, and many other doctor's appointments. This month alone I have over 6 appointments. I always try to make them first thing in the morning or the last appointment of the afternoon as to miss as little work as possible but I can see my manager is wanting to ask if something is wrong (she genuinely cares, not just nosy.) but I'm just not comfortable disclosing anything quite yet. I will certainly have an honest conversation with my manager once surgery is definitely happening and is scheduled but until then, I'd rather keep this to only family. Did anyone else run into this? I feel like I need a generalized excuse to give her to explain the abundance of appointments. I know she'll never ask but I feel like I need to give her something. Ideas?

I'm going to be totally frank with you... this whole journey with the band, from the day it broke, has been a nightmare. I don't want to sugar coat it. No, I didn't get it replaced, no ALLERGAN wasn't willing to help (they even told me I could just "leave it there, it won't hurt you"). A local doctor (not the one who did my original surgery) told me the same bullshiz - keep it in, no big deal. Well, it turned out to be a pretty big deal. I was self-pay, and my insurance wasn't going to kick down anything to help... the local doctor that my insurance recommended me to wanted 10k for REMOVAL (yes, this was just for removal, to replace they were going to charge a total of 18k). It was going to be impossible. The final outcome... I got a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy last week (Feb 1, 2010). However, that's not the whole story... In March of 2009, I had the band removed in Mexico with an excellent doctor... We had planned to revise to a sleeve at that time, however, when they go in there they found I was severely eroded in three places, and they had to literally cut the band out in pieces, five pieces to be exact. I was not able to get the sleeve at that time. This was a terrible experience, waking up with no band, no sleeve, and a bunch of scars on my stomach from the severe erosion. I was pretty unwell for a while after that, both mentally and physically. Took me a long time to heal, and it was just rough... So after that, I had to save up and wait ANOTHER year (until last week) to get my sleeve. I gained back 60 pounds during this ordeal. It has been one of the most mentally trying times of my life... I wish you the best, and am glad to hear that your doctor is at least going to try to go for a replacement, if that is what you want. Personally, before you jump right into getting it replaced, I might recommend that you do some research on the success of replaced bands and associated weightloss, problems, etc. I have read a few studies and bits of material here and there about this, and the stats aren't very good... Many have slips and other problems with a second band, many don't lose the weight they've regained, etc. Just do your research, and I'm sure you'll do what's best for you. I guess the best research in regards to this was my gut... At first I wanted another band, I was so freaked out, I had lost 78 of the 100 pounds I needed to lose, I was so happy... I didn't even consider something else. Then my gut told me (along with the associated research): This might not be a good idea. You might need to do something else. Do you really want another very expensive piece of plastic that can very likely just break again, BACK into your body? The ultimate answer for me was NO, so I moved on... I am not saying you should do this, I am just saying you might want to consider ALL of your options... I hope everything goes well for you. Hang in there, sister! :thumbup:

Sorry clever, I never saw your response.. and sorry you're still not getting anywhere :thumbup: I will go through my old emails at work tomorrow and see if I still have the email from the guy I was talking to at Allergan. I am selfpay so I had to pay for my revision surgery, it was approx. $2,000... but this included a replacement band, which I did not end up needing, so they refunded $1,200..the rest went to the hospital/anesthesia.. since my doctor felt bad of my self paying, he actually did not charge for his service. Call around and see if you can get quotes from other reputable doctors in the area.. since you may have to pay for yourself. That way if insurance stands firm (let your current doctor keep trying to fight it), you have a back up plan. And it's reading posts like this, that make me all the more happy with my doctor.. heh.

Well I have had my band since 9/24/11 - not even a year and it's coming out!! Last week I went into office to see about band removal. The thought of a sleeve had crossed my mind. I was told insurance denied just the band removal but has approved the band removal to sleeve revision. I don't quite understand that. They want to do surgery next Thursday!! I need to wait until mid July for a few reasons. I am excited but also very nervous. I knew when I got the band if I had problems it could just come out (so I thought), not so much with the sleeve . I'm 34 yrs old and need to get off about 100lbs. I have two kids and a great supportive hubby. I know he is worried about procedure. It's hard when you go through 1 WLS and it doesn't work out.... Then hope for another. My band had 11 cc in it with no restriction and had pain throughout the day when not eating.... Ugh I love hearing others stories!! I'm glad this forum is here. Amy

How’ve you been feeling? I’m 6 weeks post op revision as well.

Questions to ask during consultation: 2) Research the doctor. What kind of follow up care is provided? (ie: fills, unfills, endoscopies, fluroscopies, port revisions, removal, etc). Ask to speak to about 5 or 6 of his patients before you make a decision. Ask those people if they have any complaints or issues with their care before, during and after the procedure. How many of the procedures has he done? What types of complications can occur from this procedure and how frequently do they happen? (ie: perforations, etc) What types of complications has he personally ran into doing this procedure? What is his policy when a complication occurs during a procedure? (ie: does he discuss options with family or immediately convert to bypass or other WLS). Is he Inamed approved for the procedure? If not then who qualified him to perform the procedure and can you have literature to verify this? 3) Research the procedure. How is the procedure performed? Will you use the Pars Flaccida approach? What type of sutures do you use? Can I request glue and not staples? Will I have a catheter placed? If I am on my menses, can I wear a tampon? What will I need to have prepared when I get home in way of food items? What are the short term issues? What are the long term issues? How will I be able to take my pills? Will you write today for liquid pain meds? Do you want me to take antibiotics post-op? If so, will you write for Diflucan? 4) Follow up care. What is the schedule for fills? When can I get my first fill? How is the fill procedure performed? (ie: with or without fluroscopy) What is the cost for fills? (under fluro and not) How often will I need to be seen? Will I have access to a Nutritionist? How do you handle unfills? Is there a direct line in case of Emergencies? Does your doctor have email address? Should I continue to take Metformin? What Vitamins should I be taking? Will I need to crush my pills? If so then for how long? Are there any pills that cannot be crushed? If so then how will I be able to take them?

This is truly just a rant b/c I'm fuming about something. It's my catharsis. Please don't even read unless you're really bored. My graduate program unfortunately involves a lot of group projects. They're not my favorite, but I understand why they do them. So far, they've been tolerable experiences, and a few have been positive (was in a group of self-starters, we could agree on natural work divisions, etc.) This semester is a completely different story. I was put in a group with 3 other people. At first it seemed ok - up until it was too late to request a group change, anyway. We have a project due tomorrow. It's a very large project that required several additional documents, a lot of research, a nice presentation, etc. As of Friday, two of us had submitted work for the project - kind of. I had submitted several paragraphs to paste into a final presentation, and all of the attachments we needed except for one. One other person in the group had submitted a half-assed final project document (the skeleton -- still needed all the text/attachments/etc.) -- based on a template I built and submitted. It had a total of about 6 sentences in it. Of the two other people in the group, one had offered a lot of criticism on the work I had done, but had not offered up anything of her own. The fourth person has not contributed one single piece of anything. She has asked us for clarification on the assignment, and told this week she wouldn't have internet access for one day (that was on Wed). We haven't heard from her since. I'm working to maintain my GPA and this is my last required course so I'm being extra careful. So I took about 10 hours yesterday and built the entire document. Places where I didn't have the data, I just made something up as a placeholder, then highlighted it so it could easily be found when whomever owned that piece decided to get it done. I created about 3 powerpoints, 5 word documents, tons of tables & graphs, etc. I then told the peolpe in my group that since the template was hard to use, please don't make changes to the document directly. If you don't like the template, that's fine -- you're welcomed to redo it. But if you are ok with it, just printscreen or copy what you want to change into a basic word doc and indicate what you think should be changed. Do you think anyone did that? Nope. They made their suggestions right into the document, so not only did I have to line-y-line compare with the original to see what was different, I also had to spend about an hour reformatting everything. Then, they had a lot of criticism on some of my tables. I told them "These are just drafts I created so we would have something there, these will need to be refined for submission." I guess they can't read, because those disclaimers were completely ignored and they kinda jumped on me about how they want to see something more professional (umm... then freaking SUBMIT SOMETHING?!) One girl, while making changes, managed to delete 11 of the 14 pages in the document. When I reverted it back to a version that had all the pages, she became irate that I had "disregarded her feedback." Umm -- no, I just had to get back the content. I figured that was more important than your suggested revisions, which were poor quality and not accurate anyway. I've written the proffessor, emphasizing that I'm not a whiner or tattletale, but trying to elicit her help in getting these people motivated. This project, though it's large, is just a very small piece of an overall semester-long project and I can't solo that one. I did make it clear that the one person had contributed nothing. She hasn't yet responded to me. The rules for grading this are -- everyone shares 95% of the grade, with the last 5% coming from peer evaluations that the rest of the group does on you. That means that if our group gets 100% on the project, everyone is guaranteed a score of 95%. Including the one person who has done zero. And I've been pretty direct wtih them, telling them they need to quit deleting the content, quit messing up the template because it costs me more time, etc. Of course part of the peer evaluation is how well they liked working with you. And Ive butted heads with 2 of these people in prior classes, and two of them are buddy-buddy. If we get 100% and everyone has their 95%, it's within the realm of possiblities that the buddies could give each other good feedback, give me crappy feedback, and they'd walk away with a higher score than me even though I've essentially soloed the entire project, and have to submit it with the group's names. I hate it when dead weight gets free rides. This professor has been very reasonable about some things that have happened in other classes I've taken with her. Hopefully she will be able to do something in this case. If not, I'm one irritated student, and going to have a serious talk with my group about the amount of effort they expect from me toward the larger semester project. Fooking deadbeats.

My surgeon would not do the sleeve for me because he said my GERD would get much worse. I had the gastric bypass revision from Lapband last July and the GERD is completely gone!

I had revision lapband to bypass 12/17. I had horrible gerd before my bypass, but since the surgery I have not had one single episode. The bypass completely solved the problem!!

I am curious to know how long did you have to wait after band removal before revising