Search the Community

I really think it depends... some people did not address there underlying issues due to lack of support, insurance issues etc. But some people really screw up despite help and should not get revision unless they are truly ready for change but there are many reasons a revision may be necessary I kinda feel like some of us are way to critical, judgemental and even self righteous The government and many plans allow drug a alcohol addicts multiple expensive admissions into rehabilitation without a blink. People. Who smoke like chimney are allowed transplants,. Chemo etc Why are we so critical about WLS and eating addictions Nothing is really one size fits all...

There are many reasons for having a revision and it's not always due to eating too much. Just my 2 cents

Tracyde730, I'm having the same question but my situation is different. Like you I was banded in 2008 and am needing a revision because of numerous complications. I did loose a lot of weight but gained more than half back. About 3 years ago I started getting heartburn and GERD. I bought a bed that I could elevate. I adjusted my diet. I took PPI medication. It wasn't until I had an EGD that I was diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus. The Doctor said that the Lapband needed to be adjusted as he could see food stuck in the pouch (that after fasting for the test). The next week I went to my Lapband doctor and had all the restriction removed and had immediate results. A year later now I still have no heartburn or reflux unless I eat something stupid too close to bed time. I really want to get the SLEEVE but I do have concerns about the potential GERD. My new surgeon says it should not be a problem as I'm not currently experiencing symptoms. He says it was the Lapband that caused the problem. I can understand that. But then again I'm reading so many saying that the SLEEVE makes it worse. I just have a problem with accepting the idea of a BYPASS for some reason so I'm still leaning toward the SLEEVE. It is a puzzlement.

My goal changed as I went, mainly, I think, because I didn't think I would be able to lose as much as I did. My first goal was 170. When I got to that rather quickly, I revised it to 150, which I thought would definitely be my lowest. It was also the lowest I was in my adult life before gaining weight, so that is why I picked that. Once I reached and passed that, I aimed for 130. To me, I looked a bit too thin there, so my goal resides somewhere between 138-140. I met and passed my first 2 goals and am about 10 pounds from my last one (though I was 124 at my lowest and am working off a bit of regain due to serious illness). I think your initial goal is probably pretty arbitrarily picked until you start to lose weight and see how quickly it goes. You can always revise it.

I'm sure there are some who need a revision for medical reasons. I had a friend who had her sleeve revised to bypass because of ongoing reflux issues. If you are looking for it just because of regain, I doubt it's "necessary" per se. I lost 140 pounds initially, then I was severely anemic, requiring blood and Iron transfusions. This was probably a year long process and it resulted, because of the lack of energy and the resulting food and exercise choices, in a 27-pound regain. However, once the anemia was resolved, I felt more like myself with the return of my motivation and energy. I've been able to shed 15 pounds so far of the re-gain and I have 12 more to go. I didn't ever even consider a revision. A re-set of sorts is possible. You just have to get back to basics, get back to asking yourself if you are REALLY hungry when you are eating, and stick to the plan. The "tool" never goes away. Just my thoughts.

I had a revision front band to gastric sleeve.......I never "ate around my band" and it was highly effective for 8 years until I began having reflux during the night and aspirating. Aspiration pneumonia can kill you!! I was unable to have enough fill in my band for it to be effective, so without my "tool"......my weight began creeping back up. I developed pre-diabetes at end began having joint problems due to the weight gain. So glad you surgeon recommended the sleeve. He said it was a restrictive procedure like the band, and since I did so well with the band that it should work for me. Band failure can be completely unrelated to the direct actions of an individual. Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

Summerset, you are right, there is a difference between revisions due to complications vs regain (or failure to lose). The surgeon I mentioned would certainly not withhold treatment if surgical intervention was medically necessary. He did remove several bands and dId revisions after the damage from the band was healed. Sometimes it was bypass, sometimes it was sleeve, depending on the safest alternative. However, he still insisted on psychiatric intervention. And this only helped patients in the long run. Any obese person that doesn't think they got that way because of an unhealthy relationship with food is seriously in denial. The support group I participated in was a strong advocate for addressing both the physical and mental aspects of WLS. I believe that's why I have been so successful. And yes, any revision that corrects a complication and relieves the patients discomfort and restores their wellbeing is a success from a medical standpoint. But when it comes to successful weightloss, regardless of the reason and type of revision, it is still the psychological changes that determined their success or failure. Sure, some people can have the surgery, go home, lose all their weight and keep it off forever. But most can't. The statistics show that. And I saw it for myself in group. Not to mention on this forum.

Hummm, but if the revision was made because of GERD or complications and the revision fixed these issues - isn't that a success in itself? Luckily my surgeon (she was the one recommending revision, btw) didn't insist on this after I made up my mind of actually getting the revision - might have been that I would have been admitted as an emergency during this six months period because my band was beginning to erode into the stomach when it was removed. Gastroscopy didn't show it, they only noticed it during the procedure of band removal so in the end I was lucky. I wasn't so fond of revision and between the first consultation and the second one was a time period of six months. I hoped, things might resolve on their own (kind of stupid, I know) because I didn't want to take the risk of two surgeries, even though I gained some weight back after the fill was removed from the band a year before I made the consultation at this center because I still had volume reflux and dysphagia sometimes, though removing the fill helped these issues quite a bit. I'm now back where I was before the fill was removed weight wise, a bit lower maybe. What I'm trying to bring across here is, that it depends on the reason you're getting revision if therapy or nutritional counseling makes sense to try before getting a revision. I agree it makes sense if the reason for revision is weight regain. However, no amount of therapy or nutritional counseling will free you of certain complications. It might even be dangerous to postpone revisions, depending on the reason the revision is taking place. However, in general I think most surgeons are a bit more differentiated in their opinions than it might come across on these boards sometimes. The OP wanted thoughts on someone elses post in another forum. She also added her own and they included special circumstances. I would imagine that they would be mechanical problems etc. As for my opinion, I hope everyone gets a good understanding of what they are about to do to their bodies and the requirement of their minds. The surgeon will help with the mechanics, but the mental part is totally up to each and everyone getting wls. If you're not able to change your relationship with food, any amount of surgery won't help in the long run. Well, with the exeption on having your mouth sewn shut... And again, if there is a mechanical problem (slippage, gerd...) with your first wls, I'm absolutely for revision, if it is a viable option. It's a touchy subject and I hope everyone gets surgery without complications and gather the emotional strength they need, before the surgery, to change their lives. Nilla

Yes, the center I got revision at doesn't perform them anymore, too, AFAIK. Too many complications in the long run compared with other procedures. I think the problem here might be that you quoted someone from another board, being the messenger whose head is now chopped off.

I'm quite surprised about the (not really sure what to call it) "dynamics" that take place in the WLS community regarding revision surgery, weight regain, or lack of sufficient weight loss, complications etc. - there seems to be a strong urge to blame the patient for everything. Also insisting on programs, education, compliance etc. (not saying insisting on this is wrong, so no discussions about this, please!) while patients going in for e. g. elective coronary bypass don't have to jump through some arbitrary insurance hoops like a drilled seal at the aquarium to get approved for surgery. However, when looking at e. g. patients suffering from PAD (peripheral arterial disease) getting treatment, including angioplasty - there don't seem to be these strong emotions involved I can see in the WLS community, even though patients continue to smoke, don't care about blood pressure or blood sugar levels enough or their lipids. Yeah, doctors might be frustrated sometimes but I have to say, I'm not really when having to perform another angioplasty on the same patient and the patient still hasn't quit smoking. I just do it. I don't really get emotionally involved. So maybe the surgeons performing WLS or WLS revisions don't have these kind of emotions as well. The WLS patients themselves seem to be the ones with the strongest emotions regarding these issues. (At least that's my impression.)

Hummm, but if the revision was made because of GERD or complications and the revision fixed these issues - isn't that a success in itself? Luckily my surgeon (she was the one recommending revision, btw) didn't insist on this after I made up my mind of actually getting the revision - might have been that I would have been admitted as an emergency during this six months period because my band was beginning to erode into the stomach when it was removed. Gastroscopy didn't show it, they only noticed it during the procedure of band removal so in the end I was lucky. I wasn't so fond of revision and between the first consultation and the second one was a time period of six months. I hoped, things might resolve on their own (kind of stupid, I know) because I didn't want to take the risk of two surgeries, even though I gained some weight back after the fill was removed from the band a year before I made the consultation at this center because I still had volume reflux and dysphagia sometimes, though removing the fill helped these issues quite a bit. I'm now back where I was before the fill was removed weight wise, a bit lower maybe. What I'm trying to bring across here is, that it depends on the reason you're getting revision if therapy or nutritional counseling makes sense to try before getting a revision. I agree it makes sense if the reason for revision is weight regain. However, no amount of therapy or nutritional counseling will free you of certain complications. It might even be dangerous to postpone revisions, depending on the reason the revision is taking place. However, in general I think most surgeons are a bit more differentiated in their opinions than it might come across on these boards sometimes.

RKI mom, not one person said that revision of a malfunctioning lap band was not appropriate. The thing is that forum gets comment from people who gained all their weight back and Plame the surgery just about every day. Not all of them had lap bands or surgical complications. That was what Babs was asking about. I really try to be helpful to my fellow WLS travelers but after being here just a few weeks I already mostly just ignore questions like "can I eat sausage 3 days post op?" but I do wonder about the competency (and integrity) of the surgeon that did not educate this person properly. I am concluding that many of these surgeons view this as cosmetic surgery. That they don't care much about the outcomes as long as they get paid. Again, sorry you felt the need to defend yourself. I certainly did not intend that with my comment.

My band worked for me for a few years until I got pregnant. I had a de-fil during the pregnancy and I don't know if my innards rearranged with the pregnancy but I could not do a full fill afterwards. Even with a partial fill I could not wear a bra with an underwire or I struggled to get Water down. If I needed to eat I had to undo my bra, but then there was little restriction (in the evenings). I struggled to get anything down in the mornings. I developed acid reflux so bad I would wake up choking. I suspect maybe a slip during pregnancy while it was de-filled? WHo knows...but it was miserable. Then one day I woke up starving...I knew something was wrong...Went to the clinic and I had less than. 5 cc's left...it had a leak and was no longer holding a fill...so yeah the equipment failed. Love my revision!!! I would never recommend the band to anyone after my experience. The equipment can fail and does. A significant number of people have complications like slips, gerd and erosion. This is why my doctor no longer does that surgery. I do know that some people just don't lose a significant amount of weight after wls of any kind. I like dr weiners video where he talks about the impact of genetics being the primary indicator of weight loss in the first year...it has nothing to do with compliance according to the evidence he's seen. That some people will struggle despite sticking to the plan and others will drop past goal weight without a care in the world..most people will fall in the middle. Where compliance and healthy weight starts separating the herd is at the 3 year mark where you start to see regain in patients. i follow a you tuber who failed to lose despite following her plan. She had a bypass and then stopped losing (a bit of regain) so her doctor put a band on top of the bypass stomach and still no success. So she is trying to get a DS. Her doctor won't do it because it is too risky. I haven't looked into this deep enough to know what the end results are in these types of revisions. Are they successful? Sleeve to ds. Bypass to ds?

I don't know how a person gets obese without overeating on a regular basis! But I have seen those posts too. I have no idea. As far as food addiction, I think I used and sometimes abused food but I'm not one of those that struggled to comply with the food stages/rules after surgery by any means. So I actually don't think I was ever a food addict. But if we are saying food addict is like other substance addiction, there must also be recovery right? Sent from my SM-N910T using the BariatricPal App I got obese not by overeating, but by having to take 60mg of prednisone a day, monthly decadron IV infusions and the inability to be active due to a debilitating illness. The end result of the steroids? No metabolism. Little to no adrenal function. There are those of us around here that didn't overeat. I'm no better than anyone else because mine wasn't a food addiction, I'm simply saying that there ARE other reasons for serious weight gain and inability to lose it. I personally know several people who had Lap Band and serious repercussions from it. Horrid stuff!! Two went on to have Sleeve, one did nothing after it was removed. The two sleeve revisions have been Ubër successful. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

To be honest, even though I had quoted the person talking about an eroded band and still eating around it, I wasn't really even considering lap band revisions when I brought the subject up. Those are one of the 'special circumstances' I was talking about. It can't be argued that a large percentage of lap band surgeries are failures due to mechanical and functional issues. Heck, my surgeon doesn't even do them anymore.

I'm having revision from Lapband to RNY on December 15 Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using the BariatricPal App

So my question is to all of you, how many of you are revisions from LapBand? I tend to get really pissy about people who haven't lived with a LapBand judging me for having revision surgery. If you haven't walked in my shoes, don't judge-you haven't experienced multiple "stuck" episodes where you feel like you will die because you cannot even swallow your own saliva. You haven't experienced the feeling of food sitting in your esophagus, not getting past the band, because the Band has impacted your ability to swallow. My request is that you not be quick to judge what you don't know. Don't make assumptions that band failure is strictly caused by the user. Don't judge my ability to be successful with the VSG because I had a device in place that did not work the way it was supposed to. Don't for a minute assume anything about any of us that are forced to revise-I was prepared for my LapBand surgery and I fully expected to have the band until I died. I was compliant with routine maintenance-saw the surgeon, bariatric Doctor, weight management center staff including dietitian and exercise physiologist for over six years and sought out therapy to address my food issues for three years. I don't need any of you to judge whether or not I was worthy of revision surgery. Bottom line is, if this isn't your journey, don't make assumptions about those of us who are. And while I'm on this, why does it matter to you WHY someone is revising?? Does it impact your life if I choose to revise and I am approved by my medical care team? Just saying... Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I sort of hate the tone of many of these replies. So, if surgery 1 didn't work for a person, they need to just be unhealthy because that's what they deserve? I'm not sure about that one. At least they keep trying. JMO. Not referring to the OP btw. I'm not a revision patient, but really if things were different I would absolutely explore all options. Sent from my SM-N910T using the BariatricPal App

Great question, @@Babbs ! I understand the revision when it's medically necessary. Band to sleeve because it eroded or sleeve to bypass because of GERD issues, but the idea of revising because "it didn't work"? It's confusing. No judgement because it's not my journey, but confusing.

How do I put a link to this thread on another thread? I see a sh#t storm brewing on "are revisions really necessary" all I can say is that bans has passed off someone has a giant ax to grind and she's trying to grind it an emery board.

Well SHOOT!! I typed all of my stuff and lost it!! I have heard people say that my WLS didn't work. I don't totally agree with this. But like was said it is the choices that we make. Now the Lap Band failing I have 1st hand in knowing about. As you see my hubby had his for 13 years. He lost 100#'s with it but never met his goal. Yes, he did eat around it but it also was damaged during a fill, more surgery. Then in 2013 he went in for a revision to a RNY. It had eroded into his liver. Failed surgery. Then he got abscesses. Was deathly sick for 9 months 3 of which he doesn't remember. His Surgeon dropped him in the middle of his treatment, told him to go to his PCP or the ER. But hubby was so desperate he went back to this Dr again. Then he told him that he was a PROBLEM CHILD and he wouldn't do the surgery. He referred him to Portland, Oregon OHSU one of the best Bariatric Centers. They said they would try to do the RNY but he needed to lose 25#'s and get his A1C down to a 7 or 8. Which doesn't sound to hard right. He couldn't do both, if his Blood Sugar was good his weight went up and the same for his weight down BS up. In the mean time we find out he has Kidney Cancer but there is nothing they can do until he loses 150#. So down to Mexico self paid surgery. When they get in there he couldn't do the Rny because his whole right side is solid scar tissue so he gets the SLEEVE. This was June 3, 2016 to this day he has lost 60#'s. So pardon me when I say it isn't always easy to get another WLS. It makes me so mad when I hear someone say well, I'll jus ge a revision if it doesn't work out. We don't always get what we want. Now I'm not saying he did everything he could to lose his weight but darn the problems his weight has caused us!!! So I guess I'm saying in some cases yes a revsion is in order but if it is just because THE WLS didn't work, then they do need to go thru more counseling to make sure that their mind is on what needs to be done!!

My personal opinion is that some surgeries fail due to equipment, mostly lapband patients. Many others fail because they dont do enough research and choose the wrong surgery and their "lazy" surgeons allow it because it is easier for them. Sometimes i actually wonder if this is because they can get two surgeries in the end. $$$ dont know this for sure but i certainly wonder sometimes when it is clear that someone likely should choose a different option yet their surgeon tells them it may be ok. But mostly......people simply dont educate themselves enough about what they need to do or they simply choose to keep the same habits. It is definitaely easy to do because the first year "honeymoon" pretty much allows you to eat whatever you want and still lose weight. However, when the honeymoon wears off you are screwed if you have not changed your behaviors. Again....simply my opinion but I tend to agree...I have seen people on this website actually say, if this doesnt work i guess i can always have a revision to bypass. Ugh.....what?????? How ridiculous!

Revisions are only necessary if the surgery fails, which does happen with the lap band but how can removing most or all of your stomach "fail"??? Some people like to believe that if they gained back all their weight the surgery "didn't work" for them or it "failed" .Making bad choices caused the weight gain. Why they believe that ANOTHER surgery is the (magical) solution is beyond me. And expecting insurance to pay twice? Please. If the surgery they already had still works (it probably does) the patient needs to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY and do their part. The thing about this that is craziest is how often people post that there new surgeon is trying to get them approved. This seems to validate the belief that the previous surgery was somehow flawed. Sure the surgeons staff is trying to get as many pt as possible approved. That's how they make their $$$. I think a competent surgeon would have the integrity to say no.

If only I had a dime for everytime I have to deal with ignorant statements... Huh? So there is a failure of the material and it's the patient's fault and "ate his way through first surgery"? Yeah, right... I think that statement is quite ignorant because it ignores the fact that there is revision out of very different reasons, even though weight regain or losing not enough weight might be the more common one. Many revisions are taking place because of severe GERD after GB or sleeve or because of bands eroding into the stomach.

I saw more than just a handful of revisions in my support group. A LOT of band revisions due to complications, and some sleeve to bypass due to GERD or regain. The former banders were generally more successful the second time around. But bottom line with any of them was if the patient didn't drastically change their lifestyle, the revision was just as much of a failure as the first time around. It was very frustrating for me to watch so many make the same mistakes and come to group with all the same complaints, never really holding themselves accountable for the failures. Or worse yet, knowing what the problem was but not taking the steps to correct it. There was one surgeon in my area that refused to do revisions unless the patient first went through six months of psychiatric therapy to address their food addictions and/or eating disorders. The psych had to give two thumbs up before surgery was approved. A lot of patients were pissed and looked for another surgeon. But for those that didn't, they were very happy with the help they got and were quite successful the second time around.