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Hi everyone, My mom had bypass a few yrs ago and lost 80 pds but she needed to loose 120. She did put back on 35 because unfortunately she dealt with a lot of stress with my young cousin dying tragically, my uncle dying dying from cancer and finally her being diagnosed with cancer herself. Now that her oncologist said, she could go back to her WLS surgeon. He tells her he wants to perform this operation- put a band over her bypass. Did any of you ever hear of that? He swears its a great option! Has any of you had it or heard of someone who did? My moms been through so much so I don't want to jump on something we just "heard" of. Any help is appreciated

My mother had Gastric Bypass with duodenal switch 26 years ago, she turns 70 this year. I promise you, she wouldn't have made it this long if she did not have the surgery. Them saying that people dont live long after bariatric surgery is patently false.

Here I am before and after gastric bypass I see a bit of difference.... I had surgery on August 22 so I feel like I'm losing slow but as long as I get to my goal of 155 I will be a happy camper lol. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@@Frenchie1977 30-40 % regain is really vague. Almost all people are going to gain weight as they age, that is just life for the most part, and most WLS patients have some bounce back. If I had a Dr telling me that 30-40% of his patients regain all of their weight, I would look for another Doctor, obviously something is lacking with their program. Surgery isn't a magic tool, people have to work. Many people have surgery and aren't really ready for it, if forums are any representation of patients I would say over 60% of people that have surgery aren't really ready for it or good candidates. I went into surgery knowing the pitfalls. I know someone that had surgery, never got to goal, and regained. The reason why is pretty simple, they never changed their eating habits. They didn't take advantage of the time immediately post-op to learn new eating habits and to cook. They kept living their same lifestyle and just eating small amounts and added new habits like the occasional drink. They worked with a trainer and followed a fad diet, not a way of eating for life. When they got close to goal, they chickened out and decided they were losing too much, and stopped. Just a series of bad decisions. Now they have regained and are almost 300 pounds. This person had bypass not the sleeve. They eat all kinds of sugar and a lot of things I would never eat. Your success after surgery, as long as the surgeon is actually competent and can create a properly formed sleeve, is entirely up to you. A Dr stating 30-40% I would seriously doubt their skills to be honest.

Had bypass on August 10. Between then and Sept 08 I lost 14.6 kg (32 pounds) - but since then nothing. It's now been 10 days since I lost any weight and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Wondering if I should cut back on portion sizes (I have a small breakfast but lunch and dinner are around 150-200g each).

Yarah, As someone who recently replaced her band with RNY I am quite familiar with the "Revision" section over at www.obesityhelp.com I've read there that people have gotten the lap band after their RNY stopped being effective as well as other procedures. You might want to check it out and good luck with what you decide to do, Nancy.:juggle:

Had appointment with Surgery Center and final appointment with Doctor this am. Revision surgery is at 7 am Tuesday and I was told it would last about 45 minutes to an hour. I am more excited than nervous.

I constantly read all the blogs about weight loss - they are so inspiring. I never really imagined I would have the opportunity to become a wls blogger. Life changes fast. I have been trying to get Lap Band surgery for 3 years. My insurance company, Tricare Prime, excluded the procedure. Of course, I didn't find this out until I had done all of the leg work . . . let me take you back a few years. The year was 2006, I had been researching Lap Band and knew I wanted it. I checked with my insurance and the manual said wls is covered if you are . . . then it listed the types of surgery. One of the ones it listed was vertical banded gastoplasty. I just assumed that was lapband. I went to my PCM, he said that he thought it was a great idea, gave me a referral to the Dr. (Dr. Spiegel), who was in Network. I went to the seminar, met with Spiegel, he said that I was a great candidate. They said I need to have a psyh eval and to meet with a nutritionist. I waited forever for a psych visit. Finally got in. I tried to find a Nutritionist that was in network and couldn't find any - so I called my insurance company, I explained that I was trying to get a consult for lapband. They quickly informed me that lapband isn't covered. I was devastated. I couldn't believe it. Sure enough, I hadn't done my research well enough. It was an excluded procedure. (They quickly approved me for Gastric Bypass) So, I decided I would either change jobs to get medical coverage, or try to be self-pay. After talking with all sorts of people on lapbandtalk, I realized that most of them were under the impression that our insurance would change come January 2007. I waited with baited breath. January, February, March, . . . nothing. I made the decision that I was going to wait till the first of the new year, then go self-pay. Come December 10, 2007, the word came down fast - it was going to be covered. I had never been happier. I had to make another appointment with my PCM, to get another referral to see Dr. Spiegel. I met with Dr. Spiegel on December 20, 2007. I brought all of my paperwork with me, gave it to the nurse to put in my file with instructions how to progress with my Insurance. I should have been suspicious when she didn't write any of it down. I waited until January 3 to call back (Christmas and New Years). They had called, asked if it was covered, got a NO and sent it back. I explained that the change wasn't in the system yet. Explained again how to deal with it. Finally, they got it. My paperwork was submitted to the Insurance January 22, 2008 :eek: I am waiting ever so patiently for the approval. Please, please come fast.

I currently have a band - gettin a revision to the sleeve on Aug. 5. WIth me, those pains occur when something is getting stuck or a little too big of a bite - it was from my esophagus having spasms because of the stress of getting something down. WIth the band, it is/was a common pain. I'm not so sure if it is normal with the sleeve. I hope not, because one of the reasons I am getting a revision to the sleeve is because I don't want to be in pain every time I eat!! I hope it goes away soon. Try to eat slower - even smaller bites in the beginning.

I'm new to this forum. I have had a band since 2009 and just got approved for revision to sleeve. My surgeon can schedule it as soon as December 22nd but I am traveling 12 days later to be a bridesmaid in a wedding. In your opinion, will that be too soon for travel? I've waited so long for this and now I'm so disappointed to have to postpone it. Thank you in advance for your input.

Hey guys I'm Courtney I'm 22 years old and I've been big my whole life. I have tried losing weight so many times and different ways. So I have been doing my homework about the bypass and the sleeve and I believe I'm gonna go with the bypass but I still have to go to the seminar which is July 21 it's for middlesex hospital in Connecticut! Then after that I'll make an appointment to see the surgeon for the first time ever. I'm really nervous for all of this. Could anyone give me some insight on what to except? Or what I have coming to me in the next couple of months like pre op testing? And pre op diets I heard that it's a 6month wait before even getting a approved because I have to lose weight before? Anyone info would help thank you all Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Yes I was not quite prepared. I had my first appointment to discuss my band to sleeve revision and then 2 weeks later I was in surgery. And I had to make an unexpected trip across country for work in that 2 weeks. But I was determined to do it so I just went with the flow.

Connie, Comparing to the time with the band the sleeve is wonderful for me.It took me 3 months to adapt to eating very tiny,very tasty portions of food.I am satisfied and happy.I feel better when I eat very very little. And I have lost 55 pounds even without doing regular exercise (play squash once or twice a week)With the band I had to diet and exercise like a maniac all the time.Not one pound came off by itself.Not one! The band is a bad idea as far as I am concerned,a temporary cure for a permanent problem. Hope you can get your revision approved. xxo

Laci: there are two directions we can walk each day....one is toward our goals and dreams....we may tire, we may falter, we may even crumple in the dust.... Our success is not measured by how many times we fall but how many times we arise and take another step toward the Light.... We can choose our path....or it will be chosen for us; we can act in our own interests....or we can remain trapped by forces that hold us prisoner; we can move ourselves by discipline or we can be imprisoned by our old habits. The energy we lose bemoaning our fate can be better used to move us yet another step in our journey. Which do you choose? Jack posted the above message to a woman who was struggling because she seems to have lost her wind. Jack is one smart mofo. Its all a personal choice, isnt it? Its all about if youre willing and able to focus and if you truly want to change who you are. I have said to my bestie ray a few times, you know dude, if I had had the gastric bypass, it would have been much quicker, and much easier. Then I remembered why I had the lapband in the first place. I didnt want easy, I wanted to OVERCOME. I needed help slaying the beast of the fatness. I have gone from eating 10000 calories a day (believe it or not) to eating 1200-1500. I have gone from eating out every single day, sometimes two or three times a day, to cooking my own food (imagine that). I have gone from sitting down all day long, and being exausted, to walking around the building I work in (circle it twice and its a mile, I try to circle it 6 times a day), plus doing a work out tape in the morning. I have gone from not giving a shit about my apperance to actually caring, to painting my nails, and doing my hair, and taking care of myself in a way that I was almost embarrassed to do when I wasnt doing anything about my weight. Look, my weight loss has been slow, and it doesnt take a genius to figure out how to eat around the band, but it takes a helluva lot of will power to stay on track. Sometimes I stumble, sometimes I falter, but my LIFE is changing. I'm proud of MYself and this is causing a huge shift in my life, in the way I carry myself, in the way I generally feel about the world. I wake up in a better mood, smile more often, I dont always 'look mad' anymore. My band is the best decision I have ever made, and its been difficult, but I would do it again a million times over. Now then, speaking of cooking, I made a sort of low carb something last night, and its really really good. Okay, so I got 3 chicken breasts, threw them on the foreman, a decent sized can of green chilie, 2 tomatos, and about a half a cup of onions. I have this new awesome little vegetable chopper, I dont have to cry when I want to use onions anymore, and it minces it up really finely. So after the chicken breast were done on the foreman, I threw the can of green chilie, some cheese, the tomatos, the onions and the chunked up chicken in a glass baking dish and put that in the oven for about an hour. That stuff is SO GOOD. HA. Angelica, master chef. -A :thumbs_up:

I heard about Lap-Band late in the year, 2006. I attended an informative seminar in Tampa, FL and became intrigued with the process. I'd had an uncle who'd had gastric bypass and he'd ended up losing weight, then gaining it all back after returning to normal eating habits. But SURGERY? to lose weight? Wasn't that taking drastic measures? Couldn't I just do better with changing my eating habits to healthy ones? Was I too weak to do what I had to do on my own? What would people say/think? And if I did do this... everyone would know that I'd taken the "easy way out" by the way I would have to eat. And surgery was forever. And what about that port thing... would it be visible? if I were intimate with someone, would they feel it and be repulsed? Not to mention all the risks surgery intales. If I did this, would I end up like my uncle and go back to my old ways, stretching out my stomach? I just couldn't resove it in my mind and heart. It was tempting.. sounded ideal (Other than the whole money aspect of it all). So I let it sit on a back burner til just a few weeks ago. It was then that I started my own research on the internet about LB and found this site. So many people's opinions and experiences were just what I needed to hear - good and bad. Then one kind-hearted individual answered all the serious and silly questions that I asked. Her openness really allowed me to come to grips with what this surgery would mean and how it could effect my life. So now I am in the process of journalling my eating habits on Fitday.com (which I heard about here) to see just what I am eating and how it breaks down. This has been seriously eyeopening. Once I have a week or so documented, I plan on working on reducing my caloric intake and eating my protien first, then veggies, then carbs. Basically I am going to start changing my eating habits now, in hopes that when I do get insurance and can afford to do this surgery, I will be setting myself up for success, not failure. I feel positive about this life change. I think I can do this. And I don't feel so bad about myself for it. :whoo: So this is where I will journal and document my journey. This is where I will voice my fears and concerns, my joys and accomplishments. And if someone else can get some info, support, or comfort from reading it, then praise be to God. Woohoo! I'm on my way to a brighter day!

Before the band, I used to sometimes measure time in terms of "pounds ago". 100 pounds ago was quite a while ago, high school years. 60 pounds ago would be more recent, about when I was 19 and 20. 40 pounds ago I met my husband. Twenty pounds ago I started to give up on losing that 20 pounds from 40 pounds ago. Now that I have the band, I suppose I could try it in the opposite sense. It is sort of strange in a way, having my linear sense of time disrupted. Maybe its a good reminder that life and time really are cyclical. Now I can say that 40 pounds ago I had weight loss surgery and was waiting to see if I got into grad school. 10-15 pounds ago, I found out I got in. Hmm... I've also been working on my rules for when to not follow the rules. Normally there is a stage in every diet for me, when "just this once" starts to happen more and more frequently until its always just this once and I think we all know that it is pretty downhill from there. ) So I have my rules on when there can be no rules. If it doesn't fit in here, then sorry, I have to be good: 1) My birthday; whole day is a free for all (if my birthday is "missed" due to illness I may reschedule for a later date. 2) Celebration dinners (and no, everyday cannot be a celebration) 3) Christmas, New years eve, the eight major pagan holidays, and maybe a couple other holidays I specify in advance. 4) Cinco de Mayo. Its mexican food and margaritta goodness. 5) the times I order movie theater popcorn so long as these times do not exceed 8 times per year and the bucket never exceeds a medium (probably won't be bigger than a small). I get soda on those days too. 6) vacation If its not on that list, then its not allowed to be a free for all. Naturally, I reserve the right to revise my list, but I think this is a good starting one.

That was fun!!!!!! I got to the hospital and they were all ready for me! This part was just like the banding surgery in March. This is the tale of what happened next! First of all what is a Port Revision? Most of you already know but for the few who do not......it is when there is a leak in the port itself or the tubing going to the band! It is possible for the port to be damaged when the Doctor is doing a fill or adjustment. When there is a leak the doctor must go back in thru the belly button and fix the leak or replace the port. He finds the leak or problem with the port with a dye that is put into the port/tubing. This is all done with a local anesthesia so you are awake the whole time they are working on you and what ever is broken gets fixed, done, it was really quite fun......but then you hear the words of the Doctor, "Cheryl, The port has detached itself from the tubing and the tubing has gone up inside of you and I can not get it without doing it laparoscopically!", okay cool here we go on a nice trip to who knows where for a little while, I told them all night night and thanks for the great job and out I went! I woke up in the middle of a cartoon version of The Road Runner, it was really funny! I only had to stay at the hospital for a few hours, then I went home. So now today, it is almost the same as when I came home from the initial banding! I have three cuts from the laparoscopic part and the belly button cut! A bit sore today, feels like a Mac truck rolled over me a couple of times. BEST OF ALL!!!!!!!!! even though I am only on liquids, RESTRICTION, SWEET RESTRICTION! Oh how great it feels to have my old friend back in my body! Doc Feiz gave me a fill yesterday also just a little one. I can not say this enough, This young Doctor Feiz is amazing, kind, caring and very very special. Even my husband thinks so! So now back to loosing the tons and back to eating small portions. Just a side note! I was without any restriction for over 2 weeks, I ate a little more in portion size then with restriction and officially at the hospital yesterday I had only gained 2 pounds which I am sure is already gone with being on the liquids! This says to me that even with my band not being tight, I stayed in control of my hunger, the band was still doing its job, I still one night got food stuck eating too fast! I love my BAND!

I just found out I have type two diabeties today. I am scheduled to be sleeved on june 30. Now that I have diabeties should I be considering bypass instead of sleeve? I was going to go with sleeve as there appear to be less complications but I heard bypass typically cures type 2 diabeties.

I had my band for almost 8 years. (just 2 months shy) and I did the yo-yo weight loss all 8 years. I never lost more than 50% of my excess weight, and it always came right back on, no matter what I did. I started having issues keeping anything down last Feb (2013) and by the end of March, I had been in the ER 4 times with uncontrolled vomiting. (still didn't lose any weight) I had an endoscope, and a stomach emptying test, nothing abnormal other than reflux in either test. I was also checked for spasms in my esophagus, all normal. I had my band placed in Chicago, and had moved to Florida in the mean time, so I didn't have a band doctor. I knew someone that had just been sleeved, and she LOVED her bariatric surgeon, so I set up a consult with him on the suggesting of my GI doc. Because I was having issues, they waived their program fee and agreed to see me, knowing my band would most likely have to be removed. He did a barium swallow, and saw instantly that my stomach had prolapsed into my band, and the band would have to be removed. This was already the last part of April. The surgeon submitted to my Insurance and they were fine with the sleeve surgery, but didn't want to cover the band removal. How stupid is that???? He called them when they received the reply from the insurance, and told them if they didn't approve the band removal, he would keep me in the hospital on IV fluids and bed rest until they got their head out of their asses and approved me. I was approved within 48 hours, and had my band removed, and the sleeve done on May 8th last year. I was at goal before Thanksgiving. I'm now 115 pounds, and a size 4/6. I have managed to actually get under my original goal. When I get the sleeve I said I would like to be in single digit sizes, for the first time since highschool, I surpassed that goal, and then I wanted to be 135 pounds (that would put me in the middle of the "healthy" bmi scale) now I am borderline underweight. I don't regret the revision for one single moment, and I made him swear to me that he would do my sleeve if at all possible at the same time, and if not in the same surgery then as soon as I was healed I would be sleeved, the surgeon agreed, and the rest as they say is history. I can't tell you how very happy I am.

http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/394-band-to-gastric-sleeve-revisions/ Here is the link specifically related to band to sleeve revisions. Good luck.

I know right! That was my theory also. I really thought that I should be doing more. I'm not a revision patient.

Hello Malcolm!! Welcome to VST!! If you're anything like me, I love my sleeve far greater than I did my band. However, I didn't have close to the success you did with yours either. Big congrats for you did exceptionally well with it! Take a look around here, you will find so many of us who have revised. The sleeve by far is everything it's said to be. PS, we also have a Man's section here, since you asked about it.

Anyone else on this day?

Well I attended DR. Maremas Seminar tonight in st. augustine, fl. It was pretty good i think. He seemed alright he seemed to push the gastric bypass more than the band, but i know i will NOT get bypass, he also seemed to like the realize band more than lapband, not sure why he said he likes the contour more i dont know, but i will research both, does anyone have the realize band? Well i weighed in my weight was still 230, bmi was 40.5. So i'm not sure if when i go approval they will go off that what that says, or whatever weight i am at when they submit my approval, i still have to do the 6 month diet.But the insurance lady said my bcbs ppo state employee plan was the best one to have that they take cause she said they are easy to get approval from. And with my bmi at 40 i dont have to have 2 co-morbilities. Not sure when the procedure will be, still have to talk further to them, about all the info that i need for approval, also i'm stll no sure if they want the several thousand upfront, phew still quite a bit i have left to do i think, but we'll see the 6 month diet will be the hardest and longest part to get thru.......... So yeah anyone know the difference between realize and lapband and do the insurance company go off your bmi from your weigh in, or do they go off of the latest weight before approval? thanks LaLa

You are not alone! Im a revision too and am so tired of people asking me how much I have lost. (not that much) I dont count anyhow..and im not perfect..but yes I can relate to the slow loss:) I still have 45 pounds to loose =/