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Yes i would do it again...as a matter of fact i am doing it again. Revision from sleeve to gastric bypass due to reflux...on wait for it......10/19....dont second guess...if its for health reasons just do it. Good luck Sent from my SM-G928V using the BariatricPal App

shedo82773, I just thought I'd respond to this since no one else did. Carnie actually had a procedure called BOB or Band-Over-Bypass. They didn't "revise" the RNY, but instead placed a lap band over the original bypass (I'm paraphrasing, obviously, not using the exact technical jargon). It's another type of wls procedure. You can read more about it here: http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/weight-loss-surgery/band-over-bypass

I paid cash for my lapband many many years ago, and I only had to take a blood test. I just had the sleeve revision 6 wks ago, and had insurance but I'm going to guess that they would require much more than blood tests since it's a major surgery. Maybe you can call and ask different bariatric centers to get a better answer.

The healing hunger is due to a swollen stomach (more applicable to sleevers though) and excess acid due to changes in the stomach. I knew with my band, I had a lot if acid, and that mimicked hunger sometimes. I sure wish I was taking a ppi back then. I didn't learn about it till I got the revision. There is a good video about swelling stomach and hunger sensations on YouTube made by Dr. Alvarez. Sent from my SM-N910V using the BariatricPal App

I have an appointment Wednesday to see if I can get a revision to the sleeve. I am paying cash since insurance won't cover it. I was wondering if I will have to go through all the testing again if I am paying cash. I really don't want to wait another 6 months to have surgery. Also, did anyone have any complications from the revision? Any regrets? Were you finally able to lose the weight?

I had a band and had some of the same issues. My band was supposedly in place according to the scan but I had vomiting, certain days I could eat the whole house and certain days I ended up in the ER because I couldn't even get a sip of water down. It was horrible. I had pain in my chest/back/ shoulder from it. I was just revised to a sleeve in August and am down 40 lbs since surgery and am down 70 since I first saw the surgeon (i started eating better and exercising so I could be healthy before my surgery) the difference is night and day. My surgeon said I had a lot of scar tissue and I only had my band since Dec of 2013. I would hate to see what it would do to my insides in 5-10 years.

I had quite a few food funerals between my lap band unfill and my pre-op for revision. With my lap band, I lived on sashimi (which is still my favorite food) but eating steak was pretty much impossible for me so I went to Fuddruckers and ate a rib-eye steak sandwich with fried dill pickles.

Hmm, good question. I had a revision to the sleeve because my surgeon suggested it. First, I want to say that I loved my band. I had it for 7 years. It helped me lose 129 lbs. and maintenance was relatively easy. The weight loss was steady. No hair loss, nothing drastic. For me, the band problem was never severe (no erosion, no slipped band) but it was time and money consuming because my band tended to be fickle. The band can be a successful tool if you're dedicated to it, as with all tools. I think the most important part of it though... Is having a good surgeon. My first surgeon knew exactly how to fill it but then I moved, and as your body changes, sometimes the Fluid need changes. It was hard for me to find another surgeon who did the fills correctly. I was either too lose or too tight, and if you get too tight, you get a pouch dilation, and when you have a pouch dilation, they remove all your fluid for months, wait for your stomach & esophagus to normalize, and then you go back through the phase of finding your sweet spot again. During those months with no restriction, you gain back some weight, and it's harder to take it off again. I went through that cycle twice which is why my new surgeon suggested the revision since Yo-yo dieting is one of the most unhealthiest things to do to our bodies.

In the interest of efficiency, I copied a response I posted on another thread to give my story: I started at 283 in July 2009 with the band. I got down to 218 and maintained between 223-228 until I got pregnant in 2012. Although I was still very overweight, I was happy with my band and much healthier. I would've been satisfied and would've had the band again just for that weight loss. During my pregnancy, I didn't gain much. I got up to 244 thanks to preeclampsia. I had hyperemesis during my pregnancy, and I had to have a complete unfill. My daughter came early, so she was in NICU for 58 days. I stayed with her the entire time. Between being hospitalized before her birth until she came home, I lived at the hospital for over 2 months. By the time we came home, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I tried to get fills again and could only tolerate 1/2 of the fill I was at before I got pregnant. (I had 5ccs in a 10cc band; now I have 2.5ccs) Ever since the fills started again, I have not been able to get to a good spot. I still can't get food down until the late afternoon 3-4 days a week. My thyroid has also taken a crap. I gained back up to 270. My thyroid levels are not stable. I am constantly having to increase my meds. I am bordering close to diabetes, and I've been back on the diet rollercoaster (but with little success losing, so not much to gain back) and my endo says enough is enough, and I need surgery. I had not been to my surgeon in over 2 years because I didn't see the point since I wasn't needing a fill. Come to find out, my band may have slipped while it was unfilled, so that could very well have been causing my issues. In any case, I'm now on the road to revision to RNY. My surgeon feels it's a safer revision due to the location of the band and where these two surgeries require staple lines. So...that's my very long story as to why I will be having a revision. So, I had my EGD today, and we were quite surprised. He told my mother-in-law, who accompanied me, that my band was "perfect in every way," and that I could, "have either one I want." So, now I'm filled with questions: First of all, if my band is perfect, why am I having these issues? Then, do I really need a revision or could I get my band adjusted and lose this without a revision? If I do need a revision, which should I go for? If I don't need a revision, where do I start working with my band again? I had my head all wrapped around this, and now I'm full of questions and wonder. If anyone has been in a similar situation or has any other advice or insight, I'd sure appreciate it.

I didn't realize she went from the RNY to the Lap Band. How could they do that? I thought it was a way risky surgery to revise from the RNY. My hubby had his Lap-Band for 13 years and himself among other has had nothing but trouble with them. Does she think the band will be more successful?

I tried chicken every way also it still doesn't agree with me. I just gave up on it and other meats. I was revision from lapband to sleeve in August. Good luck! LadieT

This is such an interesting topic and I am enjoying everyone's answers. I have changed my goal weight about a million times since I started my journey. My surgeon and NUT never set a goal weight for me , they only told me what was considered my excess body weight and the average % of excess body weight they see most patient's lose. I set an inital goal weight of 160--starting at 242 it seemed impossible to lose more than 80lbs in a year. It is just impossible to wrap your mind around the rapid weight loss phase until you're actually in it. I hit 160 at around the 6month mark and mentioned it to my surgeon at my checkup. Again, they never suggested an actual goal weight for me , but mentioned that most of their patients see the most significant improvement to health just from getting out of the obese BMI even if they remain in what is classified as an overweight weight. I had then revised my goal weight to 140 which would be just a hair over into the overweight BMI for my height. I also vainly thought it would be a nice number to tell people that I've lost 100 pounds, when asked. I met with my NUT this week for my 9month followup ( don't see surgeon again until a year) and told her I think I've changed it yet again to 145 lol I have been bouncing back and forth between 146-148 couple of weeks to a month. I'm 5;2" and this has put me mostly in size 8 pants ( some 6s thanks to vanity sizing) and Medium shirts/dresses and more importantly all my health issues are gone. Plus, I worry about setting my goal weight so low that I have to constantly diet to maintain. I know I will still need to be diligent about eating to plan, but I don't want to put myself in a position of subsiding on 800 calories a day for life just to maintain. I see folks post stuff like that in some of my FB groups all the time.They claim to be several years out , eating to plan but constantly having to do a 5 day reset just to maintain........

OK so I was denied a lap band to sleeve revision by BCBS MN due to no issues (slip, erosion, etc) with my lap band. ???? Have had the lap band for 9 years, did OK at first, then a lot of obstruction issues. Surgeon consultation, EGD, NUT, psych evaluation all completed. My hubby is joining Navy and we will be switching to Tricare in December. What are my chances on getting approved thru them? Will I have to start process all over? #tryingtostaypositive Sent from my SM-G930V using the BariatricPal App

A pre-op diet unto itself is not such a big deal, though I certainly question those who do the fully liquid diets as those don't seem to offer any benefit over a simple low carb diet, but do present potential negatives to the patient. If they have other reasons why they may want to do such a diet, other than selling a product through their practice, I have not seen them expressed - it's always the 'shrink the liver' thing. If it is the policy of the practice or hospital, I would question the seniors involved in establishing their policies; if a hospital recruits a respected surgeon to practice in their facility, it is the surgeon who establishes such policies, one way or another. It is really tough evaluating these guys - the surgeons themselves have a hard time at it unless they actually see their colleagues at work in the OR, or have occasion to see their work after the fact (not a good sign if another surgeon has to revise their work!) Some guys may be good at settling claims before they become official, so their record remains clean even if their skills may be marginal, others may have a clean record because they never do anything challenging while another may be more skilled and experienced but have some bad marks on his record because he takes on challenging cases and may have lost one or two. Which is better? Who are you most comfortable with? Patient reviews only scratch the surface (we aren't awake during surgery, and most of us aren't qualified to evaluate them if we were) only touching on tangential issues like bedside manner and office staff and rarely on long term outcomes - which is the most important thing. We need to look for indicators where ever we can. My preference is to look for DS qualified surgeons (those who actually perform them routinely, not just list them on their CV and then sell you something else,) for the reason enumerated in the post above, but also owing to the DS being a technically challenging procedure (that does use the sleeve,) such that those who adopt it as a primary procedure tend to come from the top half of the class. They also tend to have broader experience, as most started out doing bypasses and moved to the DS in search of a more effective procedure, so they don't have a problem recommending an RNY if that is really in the patient's best interest; with most other bariatric surgeon, if they recommend a bypass over the sleeve (or wanting to revise a sleeve to a bypass,) there is always a question as to whether they are looking at the patient's interests, or what is most comfortable for them to perform. Given that the DS has maybe a 5% market share, at best, this leaves another 45% or so of other surgeons who are also in the top half of the class that I have excluded. I don't know how to evaluate them, other than the basic number of specific procedures under their belt, and that isn't particularly helpful if you don't live near one of them, or can't travel to them. My surgeon is about six hours away from me, even though living in southern California there are bariatric surgeons on almost every street corner (though there are a couple of others I have found in the area since then that I would go to, though they came more from networking than from the usual vetting methods.) It is certainly an imperfect selection process, but it beats randomly picking whoever is local that's in the insurance network.

Absolutely. I used it for both my lapband surgery and revision surgery. It's was a lifesaver for me.

Priority Health. They've just revised their revision policy so I'm in a waiting stage now. My surgeons office should be submitting for approval this week. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm a little curious why you wouldn't go back to Dr. Ortiz for your revision. Do you think he is in some way responsible for your current GERD situation or is he just too expensive? I know he's on the pricey side.

I don't think so. Talk to your surgeon. I had revision surgery and it was all done at once. My doctor told me beforehand if the scarring was too much he could do a sleeve or just remove the band and have me come back in 6 months for a bypass (I gather the scarring must break down over time). I did my research and found a surgeon with experience with revisions. Mine had done over 250 revisions and could tell just by looking whether I was good to go. Revision was the best thing I've ever done and I'm mad at myself for waiting so long. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

That's who did mine ! Dr. Rod was great ! I had a wonderful experience at the hospital, no it's not like the US but it was extremely clean and they took good care of me. They don't fuss over you constantly but all my needs were met. They don't give strong pain meds but i didn't want or need them. I'm a revision so former band and sleeve patient so doc went longer on mine which is recommended for revisions.

Revision from LB to bypass next month ???? I'm not going to do well. Sent from my LG-H634 using the BariatricPal App

I was sleeved 4 years ago by Dr. Ariel Ortiz. Since then, I have had GERD. I have gone through several diets and tests to get rid of the pain, but only a high dosage of Omeprazole twice a day helps. I also have about 40-45 lbs to lose. So I have been considering revision to the Bypass. Would love to hear from any of you who have gone through this major step: What were your reasons? What were your results like? Most importantly, who was your surgeon? And can you tell me about your experience? I am currently in the process of deciding on a revision surgeon in Mexico. Looking into having surgery by December or so. Thank you for reading and for anything you can share.

I'm going for revision. We met on the 26th to discuss (if that was a monday??) And we are shooting for the first week in December. I have to do nutrition consult and support group (did support group !) barium swallow (Monday) and EGD (Friday). After those tests, I should get a date unless they show no issues with my band which is. Erythromycin unlikely since I throw up 3-4 days a week. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using the BariatricPal App

Hi there, I recently had my band removed due to several issues since placement in sept 2008. My insurance company revised there policy on their revision surgeries. I had appealed it all the way to the state level in 2012 and denied, they said not medically/clinically necessar . Gained all my weight back since the after having 2 babies. Made an appointment to see my surgeon in July after I found Priority Health's revised policy on a fluke.fHe mentioned the BPD with DS is an option for the "super obese". I had to decide after my appt on Tuesday so they can submit for approval. I went for long term success over safety. With 2 little girls at home, I hope I chose right! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Kirbykendall06 My hubby and I went thru BeLiteWeight in June. The Dr and his son are very good. But...I don't want to alarm you ..... the Hospital wasn't much like we were told. The nurses didn't wear gloves or wash they use handsantizer, they don't have wash clothes we had to take our own. The language barrier was terrible. We were told that we would get a suite but instead we got a very small room and I slept on the window sill pad. The pain medication was really weak. The DR's have surgery one after another. He was there until 9:30pm. When he was released we didn't get discharge papers. My hubby was supposed to have the RNY but due to past surgeries for the revision in Sept 2013 and the abscesses he got afterwards made it impossible for them to finish a RNY so he had the Sleeve. We had info for the RNY and I also had my RNY 3 year's ago but was told that the RNY and the Sleeve are pretty much the same. So we really didn't have much to go on. Just try to be more verbal about things and push for your rights. I really don't want to upset you, Dr. ROD was great for sure. When I told SYLVIA about our concerns she said they have tried to get them corrected but their work ethics aren't like the USA. Good Luck Hon. Do you have someone going with you? Maybe you won't have it like we did. The Hotel that Slyvia told us about was awesome and as were the Shuttle drivers. Please let me know how it all goes. BTW We are just glad that the DR could do something for him...he has cancer in his kidney and they can't do anything about it until he loses weight, so we are THANKFUL for him!!

@@gowalking - Thank you for your reassuring words. I have to admit that part of why I chose the sleeve was because if I fail yet again, there is still one more option available to me (revision to RNY). I need to keep a positive mindset - I'm working on it. Hearing that this is normal and other people feel the same fears is helps me beat back the doubt that creeps into my thoughts. Thank you!