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U should do the rny anyways. Has been around longer worked out more kinks and better results. Also the rny is the only one I know of where people don't need to do revisions. There has been many revisions for the band and the sleeve is working its way there. Believe me insurance is only covering it bc it's the best end results for u and them.

I'm getting my band out on Dec 22 due to having complications. I ended up going to a different bariatric doctor because the doctor who placed the band never un-fill me when I would see him. I had constant acid reflux for a couple of years, no matter what time of the day it was and whether I ate or not. I complained to my primary care doctor and he gave me Nexium. That still didn't work and I wasn't sleeping. I finally told my doctor that I wanted further tests because I was scared of getting cancer of the esophagus front the acid. He finally mentioned that there was a bariatric center in my town (that I wasn't aware of) and referred me. I got an appointment where the doctor unfilled me and and then I went back every couple of weeks to try and get my fill right. The acid reflux subsided while I was unfilled but I started get spasms in my esophagus more frequently. I am now getting the band removed on Tuesday and the doctor expects there to be scar tissue, which he will remove. I hope to get a revision to RNY in February or March depending on what I look like inside. I'm afraid that i will be so messed up that he will not recommend I get it done. I loved my band because it helped me lose 100#. I was never able to get all of my weight off and have since gained 40#. I wish I wouldn't have been so afraid to the the RNY done in the first place. I just hope my insurance will approve the new procedure.

Ya know I had that feeling! My doctors office told me on day 1 it was covered now by them as of just a few months ago but something is just not sitting right with me. I had a feeling it wasn't. I don't want the bypass. Now I'm really bummed ???? So did you pay for your sleeve out of pocket? I may end up just doing just that myself. Thanks for your informationHello Cladd, my husband is active duty Navy. As you know, we have Tricare prime. I had the sleeve done Dec 30, 2013. And BC of almost 2yrs of a stricture and acid reflux, I had to have a revision to GBP on Dec 4, 2015. Unless something changed recently, they pay for the sleeve. Hope this helps and sorry if this is a repeat answer, I didn't read the entire posts. Good luck:)Thanks so much for your answer! It was not a repeat post and thanks forctsking the time to answer me. Sorry you had complications with your sleeve! That's terrible. Hope you are doing well now

You had the knee done twice - thats awful! How did you know that the knee needed to be revised? And what was it like the second time around?

I've never blogged before but I'm going to give it a try. This is basically me trying to work out whether to have another weight loss surgery (got a band in 2008) and, if yes, which one. It will probably be extra long and all over the place. To be honest, I've pretty much decided to have another surgery. I hate it and it terrifies me but after 40 plus years of fighting and losing, its becoming pretty obvious that diet and exercise aren't going to work. And I'm just so tired of fighting every day and never winning. And I'm not just mentally tired. I'm physically tired, also. I can barely get myself up for work in the mornings. I'm sucking air like a fish out of water just walking from the car to the office. My knees and hips hurt. Somehow, I've managed to aggravate/pinch my sciatic nerve while sleeping (yes - sleeping!) twice just this year. I know I've been very lucky up until now with being this heavy and not having too many medical problems. But I think that is changing. Forty four years is just too long to put this much weight on my poor joints and bones and heart. I can only hope I haven't done so much damage that I can't come back from it. As I said, its felt inevitable for some time but I just got back from vacation with family I hardly ever get to see. There are so many things this weight keeps me from being able to do. I'm constantly stressed over where I can sit/fit and can I walk that far and that fast. I hated slowing everyone down. I even had to take a rest while walking to a restaurant. Granted, it was hilly and three blocks but no one else had issues. Just me. Everything I do is impacted by my weight. In fact, everything about me has been shaped by my weight. I haven't told too many people yet but once I get the insurance approval and the appointments start, I will tell everyone close to me. When I got the band, I kept it a secret from my co-workers and cringed whenever family would try to discuss it. In fact, I still don't really tell anyone. I'm really very ashamed at my failure with the band. I think I don't tell people about the band because I don't want people to know I'm fat. As if they can't see me trying to bust out of my size 26/28 clothes. Also, I think it was sort of a fail safe for me - if I don't tell people, they won't see if/when I fail. This time, I'm going to be open about it and take away my ability to deny everything after the fact. I'm also going to start seeing a therapist to help with my food issues and binging. I am hopeful that the surgeons office will have someone to refer me to. I think this will be very important for me. If I could do this alone I'd have done so by now. I'm also thinking maybe some medication to help with mood swings and cravings. When I first decided to consider another WLS, I was not really aware of what the sleeve was. I thought it was just another new type of gastric bypass. So now I'm trying to decide which WLS would be best for me. The gastric bypass truly scares me. Re-routing intestines just seems like playing with fire. If we didn't need them just like they were we wouldn't have them in the first place. I like the idea of the sleeve. Cut out most of the stomach and hunger hormone. No hunger and a tiny stomach. My cousin got the sleeve and has lost 200 lbs in 3 years. She says she often forgets to eat cause she's just not hungry. Wow - what is that like? Just the idea of not being hungry makes me hungry (yeah, I'm broken). But the sleeve is restriction only and I already have a restriction only device inside me. I was hungry immediately following my band surgery and it never made me feel full, just sick but still hungry. For my own decision making purposes, below are some questions I think I need to address in order to make a decision: 1. Do I want to be normal sized or just not so fat? Weird question, I know, but a friend of mine had the gastric bypass a few years back and lost so much weight the docs wanted her to gain 20 lbs, She is a couple of years younger than me but she looked so old. Nearly twice her age. BUT, she had a lot of bad complications and is/was very malnourished. Maybe a sleeve would allow me to lose enough weight to get healthier but not too much. Yes, I'm very vain. I'm not sure, though, that going through surgery to maybe lose a little weight is a good idea. If I'm going to have surgery, why not go big and try to lose the majority of my excess weight? 2. Can I give up food? This should be number 1. A tiny little voice in my head is telling me this is the real source of my fear. Food is my ultimate frenemy. Seriously, I only just gave food the title of frenemy yesterday. I smoked for over 20 years and quit 10 years ago. To date, that is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But to give up food - the thought terrifies me and nearly brings me to tears. When I think of it, I think of an episode of My 600 lbs Life about Lupe. She is 39 years old and immobile. She's nearly died a few times. She hides food and binges. Food is her comfort. Because of her heart issues, she gets a sleeve instead of gastric bypass. At one point, she asks out loud if she can give up food because its been her comfort for so long. I think about her asking that a lot. For her, it wasn't just maybe food was killing her. It had already tried a couple of times. Food has such a hold on her that despite the knowledge, she was still asking if she could give it up. I realized watching that episode that I would have to give up food if I have surgery. I don't believe I can have both because food (my frenemy) wants me to be sick and tired and die young. I will definitely need the therapist for this one. 3. What will I do without food? Breakfast. lunch and dinner are currently the highlights of my day. What will I do without them? I'll need something to look forward to and concentrate on. This is probably where the therapist will come in handy. 4. Can I handle the post surgery diet? I'm going low carb on Monday to sort of get ready for eating high protein after surgery. Not the same, I know, but close. Sort of. I diet well for a limited amount of time and then I start to slip, eventually binging on all the forbidden foods. I've never been able to maintain the momentum of a diet, though. I lose interest. Get tired of it. Confuse myself by reading about a different kind of diet and then fall off and into a binge. 5. If I choose gastric bypass, will the fear of dumping be enough to keep me away from my fave foods - cake and cookies? This probably goes with #2. I'm scheduled to attend a WLS seminar on 16 April. I can't wait. The surgeons office said its about two weeks after the seminar before you get an appointment with the surgeon. I feel like he would recommend the gastric bypass due to my BMI of 59 and because it would be a revision from the lap band. My health insurance currently offers a free weight loss coaching program that I am participating in (not successfully). It uses the DASH diet. I'm wondering if they would consider that to be medically supervised. Also, my primary care docs office has a weight loss program I'm doing. Maybe that would also count. Not that either have really helped me much. They've actually been kind of non-starters for me. The one through my insurance allowed me to get weight loss drugs at a lower cost but they didn't really do what they were supposed to do so I didn't continue. Definitely my insurance has records of my weight issues, though.

Hi All, I have had the lap band for two years now and now my insurance doesn't cover any revision surgery. I have a slip and need surgery, but since my insurance isn't going to help then I'll have to fork out $14,000.00! :-( so now that no matter what I need the surgery I'm debating on getting it removed or not. If I were to get the revision surgery it doesn't guarantee that I won't get another slip, but if I remove it, I'm worried that I'll gain all my weight back and that terrifies me. Do you think that if I act as if I have the band and eat right and exercise that I'll be okay? I need help with this, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hi I am from Lakes Entrance, Vic and was banded last July at Latrobe Hospital. I have been having ongoing problems with diaphragm irritation pain even after revision surgery to move the tubing out from under my diaphragm. Has anybody else had this problem or heard of anyone who has. I am desperate for answers as even my surgeon has no idea what it causing it and I really dont want to have to have the band taken out!!!

Yes, my port scar used to be above my belly button about half way between my ribcage and my belly button. It moved down about 5 or 6 inches. Now I want a low profile port but I don't want the added scar so I'm not sure what I'll do. I should have had it put in when I had the TT but I was chicken. My uncle's actually a bariatric surgeon and offered to do it while I was under, but I just didn't want to mess with it -- mostly meaning my fill level. I wound up needing an unfill later anyway, so in retrospect, I'd have had it done. Live and learn. Dad was fine with doing the TT 30 lbs before goal -- actually it was more like 50 lbs before goal because he cut off 12 lbs, I've lost a little more since then and sitting here today I'm 30 lbs from goal. His view was that for patients who are paying and are going for a one shot deal, wait to goal to get the best results. For me, I knew I'd be having revisions anyway at some point. Plus I really wanted the pannus off right then. I was really, really sick of it, even if it meant having a looser end result. For my DAD (as opposed to my surgeon), I think he thinks I'm going to have children anyway and he'll be doing it all over again anyway, so a few more lbs lost isn't causing another surgery. Of course, I'm not at all sure I'm going to have kids, but I think that's his view. It was better for MY butt/thighs to be done at goal -- that's not the case for everyone. My stomach was pretty much done and just hanging skin even 20 lbs ago. But, my thighs still carry a lot of fat. That's where most of my remaining 30 lbs is. It's like how many surgeons will do a BL with 30 lbs to go but want you to be within 15 for the TT. Most women lose in the upper body first. Hips and thighs are the last to slim on many, me included. The thighplasty doesn't do the inner thighs at all. That'll be done in a separate surgery, if I decide to do it. I definitely need it cosmetically, but it doesn't really affect clothes like the outer thighs do. I'm a clothes horse, so I care more about that than I do about looking perfect naked. It's a good thing because I'll never be a swimsuit model.... Nite.

I had the gastric sleeve 9 years ago and now Im having a gastric bypass revision this tuesday feb 23rd. Gerd issues and I gained 65 lbs back throughout the years.

I had my psych and nutritionist visits plus a follow-up dr's visit when I got my date for Banding about a month ago. I was under the assumption that we went in for a final visit BEFORE the procedure when we were officially weighed, put on the pre-op program for 2 weeks and then BOOM-the Banding Day. I did hear from the office yeterday and the message was..'wait'. It seems like I was scheduled for an ekg and anesthesiologist visit this week, but the Faulkner people never got back to the secretary to confirm it. She sent another 'nudge' and is still waiting to hear from them. Still in the waiting game. As for "official' to-the-letter pre op diet, I am beginning that tomorrow which will be exactly 2 weeks before . It's Chinese tonight!!!! I guess I have to revise my ticker below since I had pizza last night also. One final fling! But while I was on that mini- weight loss since my last visit, what a difference I notice in my sleeping. I feel well rested in the a.m. because of not having to digest all that food.(I am tired today LOL) ~That's all she wrote.~

I am a band to bypass revision. Surgery was November 26th. I have lost 60 lbs. I have 60 more to go to get to goal of 140. For the last 4 weeks, I have not lost anything and before that it was eeking by at 1 lb a week. I am following the guidleines almost to the letter. I do drink a glass a wine a night. I find I can eat more. I am writing because I am freaking out. Anyone else have this experience? I konw you really have a year to lose the weight. I am worried that there is something wrong with me and I will not get there. Any responses from experience are welcome.

I had a desk job and I was out of work less than a week. Dr. Aceves is very skilled at doing revision surgery. He did many of the revisions of people on this board!

Please don’t forget to contact your Surgeon/team. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for their help. Perhaps you can get a good look at how to optimize your diet with a nutritionist, habit building with a therapist and there are a lot of new weight loss medications recently approved that may help before revision surgery is needed. Good Luck ❤️

Hi Notorious Novembers! I'm a little late, but I did make it below 200 lbs - I am now happily in ONEDERLAND!!! :wink2: :wink2: :w00t: :sad: :smile: :thumbup: Please update me on the spreadsheet - and I've revised my goal weight (after much pressure from friends and family and my doctor) to 175. Only 21 lbs to go! Keep at it, everyone - we are all doing great!

If you can work the band definitely do. I have had so many complications that mine needs to come out. I thought I was going to have to self pay for a sleeve which I just can't afford but found out I am covered by my provincial health care for revision. Have you had any complications or that with your band?

I cannot believe I can wear a size 6 (28) designer jeans. In all my life I never was under a 12 or 14. I do have a big problem however. 9 years ago I had a breast lift. It was sort of a gift to myself after my divorce and 24 yrs of marriage, 3 kids, breast feeding, and gaining, losing weight 100 times. The surgeon said if he did not put in an implant i would be flat on top. I said ok, but just wanted to fill out the bra I was wearing which was a D cup. I weighed 220 at the time at 5'9". He said I was a big person and my breasts would go well with the rest of my body (still planning on a D cup). Well, when he was done I somehow ended up a 44 DDD!!!!!!!!!!!! I am now down to a 38 DD, but needless to say I have a very difficult time buying blouses and dresses are out of the question. I have to stick with stretch knits for the most part and I feel like I look a bit like Dolly Parton now. I have no money for a revision so I am stuck with this problem. I wear a size M top, but like I said if they are not stretch I probably cannot button them.

I am SO glad to see the support that those who are having problems with the band are receiving. It hasn't always been that way. When I finally decided that the band had to go, I received--on another site--a ton of advice on how to make it work, or lectures on giving it another try or hate mail telling me that I was there to bring everybody down. (What I was TRYING to do was explain that for many people the Band Reality at three years is a whole different ball game than the Band Reality at six months.) What started out as my magic tool became a choke chain that was hurting me. I started to hate it and want it out. (The only other time I felt that way was when I discovered that Ihad cancer and I just wanted those parts OUT. Now!!) (Not saying the band is like cancer, just saying the the urge to get it out when it became problematic was similar.) NOW what I get--from some of those same people--are LOTS of e-mails, mostly asking me to keep it quiet and telling me that they are ready to move on and have made appointments for consultations regarding revisions. Even some of LapBanding's biggest success stories--people featured in commercials and on websites for YEARS--are talking gastric sleeve because the reflux issue has become too much to deal with. I feel very bad for anyone who had so much hope and was so disappointed. (And I feel even WORSE for the self-pays...because I was one!) No surgery is perfect. If the prize was not behind Door Number One, that is no reason to give up and go away. There are other doors. Do not give up. (And, no...I do NOT get paid a recruiting bonus for drumming up DS patients, but so far, it is serving me well and I'm down about 90 pounds in about 9 months. I SHOULD be able to say that I have "learned" something and that I'm working my ass off. I haven't and I'm not. Not ONE of those pounds was because I made an effort. It has ALL been the surgery...I just sit here and eat crap and don't exercise. Which is probably why my weight loss this month is either one pound or zero, depending on time of day. The free ride may be over...it may be time for me to take SOME responsibility...but I was kind of burned out after the band experience.) Anyway...do whatever you need to win the WAR...the battles are irrelevant. Sue

I chose the lap band because it was the less invasive procedure. I had never heard of the sleeve when I started researching. My insurance only pays for gastric bypass and lap band anyway. I didn't like the side effects and permanency of RNY. Also, I have a friend that had it done, and she has gained quite a bit of her weight back. All she can do now is either have her RNY revised, or get lap band on top of it. I would rather just get another fill.

Hi i am also from maryland ! I just had a revision on jan 29th . I am very happy with my decision ! I have lost 40 lbs . You do get full alot faster ! Proud mommy to three amazing babies!

No she didn't have a revision. She went right to RNY. She did have problems with the anesthesia. She was hospitalized for 5 days. My youngest sister also had RNY but she is younger and has been doing great. Do you know anything about the drain that's left in when you the the hospital?

First, 54 lbs in a year sounds good to me! When was your last fill? Have you had a fill since Oct? How many fills have you had? Have you called the dr's office? If so, what did they say? Do you have the Realize band? Are you exercising? I notice that you didn't mention anything about exercise in your post. My first fill was going to be 5 cc's. I say 'was' b/c (incase you missed it in the previous postings) I have a flipped port and they are doing a port revision this week. However, I know that they are going to put 5cc's in during the revision.

Hey Taylor (don't worry about not taking my advise, I wont' get offended and call you out for making your own decisions.) I hit 370 sometime in 2010 and decided to do something about it. I chose the band, the sleeve wasn't fully approved yet, and the bypass scared me. The idea of it being permanent changes to my anatomy bothered me. I wanted something that could be removed at a future date. So, I went with the band. Nov 2011, I had the band installed. Surgery wasn't that big of a deal, I was kept overnight because I have sleep apnea. Pain was moderate but tolerable. After what was covered by insurance, I was out of pocket somewhere around the 5k mark. I took 2 months out of work, mainly because I had to drive to and from Boston, and travel times were minimum 1 hour, upwards of 4 hours, so I wanted to be 100% healed before doing all that driving. I followed all the instructions I was given, got my fills and adjustments as required, and ultimately lost 70 lbs within a year or so. (combined with the pre-op diet etc). I'd get stuck on things maybe once or twice a week. Leafy greens and other fibrous veggies that didn't chew down to "baby food" were uncomfortable enough where I started to avoid them. I got stuck on lean meats, etc. So I got frustrated that, the healthy foods I was supposed to be eating, caused issues thanks to the band. I gained a bit back, then fought to lose it again, this happened a few times. I never could break that 300 mark, no matter what I did. The band was easily eaten around, things I shouldn't be eating... were the things that didn't cause issues. I became depressed, I felt like a failure, the band was reported to have all these amazing benefits... and I wasn't seeing them, I stopped checking in with my surgeon unless I needed some adjustments due to illness or getting stuck badly enough where my stomach swelled up. I was still way too overweight, wasn't eating as well as I should be, I just wasn't happy with how things were not living up to the bands reported outcomes. After almost 7 years with the band, I finally dragged myself back into my surgeons office, defeated, and I confessed to my surgeon that I was a failure. Boy was I surprised when she told me that my outcomes and dealings were typical, and that it wasn't me that was the problem, it was the band. She went out to tell me that 2 of the major manufacturers have stopped making bands and replacement parts for them. We discussed our options for revision, I was set on the sleeve. My surgeon said she refuses to do band to sleeve revisions because the staple line for the sleeve runs right across the band area, and that scar tissue build up at the band site increases the chances for staple line failure. She advised that others in the same practice would do the sleeve revision, but she won't because of the added complication rates. I trust my surgeon, and I really wanted her to do the revision because she installed the band in the first place. So, I pondered for a bit and finally decided that the bypass, as scary as it sounded, was my best option. Restriction only didn't work for me with the band, why would I think that restriction only with the sleeve would be any different. I needed the malabsorption to ensure that I would lose the weight I needed to. March 2nd I started my pre-op diet, March 21st I was revised to the bypass and I'm down almost 60 lbs since March 2nd. I truly wish I went bypass from the get go. The revision surgery was not uneventful. What should have taken 2 hours, took 6+. My band, even though all scans, imaging, scoping showed nothing wrong, the band was 100% completely encapsulated in scar tissue and took my surgical team more than 3 times longer to remove. I'm not even sure what would have happened if I left it in place. Hopefully that answers some of your questions, if you have more, please feel free to shoot me a message.

I lost band and had revision April 19th, feel great! Good luck Sent from my XT1254 using the BariatricPal App

let's stop dealing in generalities and put some numbers to this, backed by research. 25% of RNY patients will ever experience dumping syndrome. and of those 25%, most actually LIKE the symptom because it helps them avoid bad food. whereas 40% of sleeve patients will develop mild to severe GERD that they did not have before surgery. of those, 0% enjoy this symptom and leads to this message board being flooded with posts of sleevers going back to revise to RNY.

you have two very different options here... 1 - you get the lap-band. it fails. you go get a revision surgery to the sleeve. it fails. you go back for a third surgery to go to the RNY bypass, which works excellently for the rest of your life. 2 - you get the RNY bypass, which works excellently for the rest of your life.