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Hi there, I wanted to post a review of my experiences though I know a lot of you have been following me in some other posts I wanted a new topic so that others who are researching could easily find it. Here is my story. I left my house 5 am (Eastern time) on Thursday and after a very long day of travel and one delayed flight I made it to Star Medica around 2pm (4pm Eastern time) No trouble at all crossing the boarder, in fact we didn't even have to stop the van. Also, I had some worries (okay A LOT of worries) about Juarez but once there I actually felt silly! Everything appeared completely safe and I never gave it another thought. In fact had I not been scheduled for surgery same day, I would have went across the street for dinner and not thought anything of it. Which brings be to my first bit of advice...for me personally, flying in the same day as surgery was just way too much ! I did not get to surgery until 7pm (9pm to my body) and I was EXHAUSTED, GROUCHY, and STARVING to death. Be aware, if you are someone who feels they need to know every little detail and what the plan is at all times, you may have some trouble. Things really kind of just happen when they happen and you're just along for the ride. Surgery itself went great and I was in recovery by 10pm. Mine took longer because I had a revision from sleeve to MGB. I felt pretty good and slept on and off through the night. They do not hover over you so don't expect that like in the US where they come in every five mins. However, they did come immediately if I called for someone. I stayed one step ahead and asked for a spirometer before they offered and I was up walking as soon as I was able. I had pretty bad gas pain in my left shoulder and I had a drain (some do some don't) and it was very uncomfortable for me. I walked as much as I could and took gas x strips but it still was very uncomfortable, I won't say I was in pain though, just very uncomfortable. They brought me ice chips that mid morning and around 1pm some broth (delicious) and Jello (yuck) and hot tea and apple juice. It was wonderful to have anything really by that point. Dr. Rod and the other two came in to check on me twice that day, all were very nice but they are busy and they come and go quick so have your questions ready! By 5 that evening I had my drain out and my leak test then more broth. They gave me a sleeping pill to rest well to prepare for travel the next day. My hubby went with me, he ate in the cafeteria for $5 a meal including drink and we thought that was great! It wasn't the most comfortable sleeping for him but he managed. My only other complaint would be that the shower was cold but others I talked too said they had plenty of hot Water so not sure what was up with that. Also, as you've read I'm sure not all the nurses speak English especially overnight but we managed. I'm happy with the experience and would have no problem recommending Dr. Rod and his team. I'm happy to answer any specific questions anyone has.

I also have bcbs fep. I need to get my 10 year old band out because of slippage and dilated esophagus. Doc thinks they will approve revision at the same time. My bmi is 30 which is low for surgery but with my band I have gained back 30 pounds over the last year or so. I guess the way the doctor describes it to insurance they realize the cost effectiveness of revision. I have a 3 month wait. The doc said they haven't gotten denied yet for a case like mine so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Its only been 2 weeks so I have lots of praying to do

I appreciate your advice. I was trying to descretely ask the head of HR today, how much more would seemingly be taken out of my check if I chose the higher plan, and he was saying he'd only choose it if I were to see a doctor often, while he knows I have lap band, I'm not ready to tell him of my plan for revision (even though we're friends and I've known him for the past 11 years) I think I'm going to keep the middle plan and just hope the hospital will come up with a payment plan to work with me. Thank you again

Hello, I am having my revision surgery on June 12th. The past couple weeks I have been getting stuck more often and have been throwing up more than usual and with more force. I am wondering if I should just do liquids and puréed (things that will not get stuck) until my surgery to prevent things from getting worse in there. There violent throwing up/stuck spells are prob just getting things all inflamed and worse in there.I feel like I am having this surgery just in time but am afraid what the doc will find when he gets in there. I am having my surgery in Mexico with Dr. Jose Rodriguez. He placed my lap band 9 years ago so I figured he would be best to get it out. Do you guys think me sticking with liquid/ pureed food until my surgey is a good idea to give everything time to calm down in there and not cause anymore damage?

My gerd is awful im revising to bypass i was a band to a sleeve but the reflux is so bad vomiting everyday hard to Excercise down to 187 im scared but the acid is awful

I had surgery Thursday 4/23 around 7 in the evening. I'm a sleeve to mini bypass revision. I had pretty uncomfortable gas pain and I had a drain that was miserable till they took it out. I'm on clear liquids and they are going down fine. If not for a dull headache I can't get rid of I would feel great ! I have low energy but I'm prob only getting 300 calories a day right now. I'm going back to work tomorrow.

Im getting ready for revision 2 im a band to a sleeve now going bypass the gerd is unbearable even with 3 medications ive5been dilated 7 times didn't help

I had my sleeve revised to a mini bypass on Thursday. Physically I'm doing fine but it's been hard on me emotionally. Do a lot of research !! Think long and hard and decide what is best for you !

Thank you all. My doc office said my band has slipped. They say I meet all the criteria for revision just that my bmi is 30 which they say is the only issue but they think they can get the insurance to pay. I have the 3 month wait with the psych eval. So far I've only waited 2 weeks I hope I find out sooner than 3 months. Reading all the success stories is very inspiring. I hate having all these old obsessive thoughts again. Plus I have a closet full of clothes and heels that don't fit! Lol. Thank you Janelle. I will email you.

I am not a bariatric specialist or surgeon so all I can share is what I have been told/advised. When you have part of your stomach removed, nerves are damaged. It can take about 6 weeks before you actually "feel" accurate sensations from your stomach. I personally found that tidbit of knowledge scary and it really made me rigid about complying with my "food progression" from liquids to solids. I was scared of causing damage. I was terrified of developing a leak or other complication. What is done is done - what you can do now is immediately get back on your program and just do it. The big mistake would be to let this be the first in series of "messing up" in these early weeks. Truth is - none of us are perfect but we all know this is serious business and need to do our very best to have much success and get healthy. Now, I am guessing the reason you didn't have diarrea is you didn't eat lactose (milk/dairy products) and you didn't eat sugar. The worst and I mean worst experience I had was about 2 weeks post op when i added some creamy Peanut Butter to a Protein drink. It was Christmas and I was still on liquids and feeling sorry for myself not being able to have the holiday meal with my family (I had a very slow progression to solids since I was a revision from band and had lots of scarring - surgeon was being extra conservative for me) . OMG, I think I had what is called dumping syndrome - but I felt like I might die. I am sure it was the richness and sugar in the peanut butter. You should count your lucky stars you didn't have that happen as I thought I might just die right there. (diarrea, sweats, hot and cold nausea, and general feeling of horrible)

Hi Diane I am Janelle. I too had a band in 2008. It failed in 2012 (had it repaired) lost most of the weight I had gained. Then we moved a year ago and about 6 months ago I realized that it wasn't working again! Test showed it had slipped. So I went in for a revision. I too have BCBS FEP. It did take a couple months but they approved me. I too had gained about 30 lbs. The one thing that I did was to talk with the nurse at BCBS once they had all my paperwork. Luckily I got to one of the supervisors and she pushed my case through. You have to advocate for yourself and then make sure the insurance company advocates for you. I am 11 days post op. Not having the band in has brought a sense of relief. I can eat without restriction, pain and throwing up! I thought I would have more resistance but I have read that people who have the revision sometimes don't feel it like the people who just were sleeved. Which is ok for me! I lived way to long that way! When I say eat please understand that I am still on liquids and some soft foods (eggs, etc). Probably once I get on food it will probably feel different. If you want more info about BCBS and how I did that I am going to leave my email address here for you. Good luck on your new adventure. jmshields122@aol.com

I've been reading again for the same reason. I joined when I was banded back in 2007 long story short I lost some weight down to 224 band was too tight for a long time I gained to 246 and then had an unfill due to dilation so I gained up to 276 and now from there I'm sitting at 320. I had Fluid added back in last year, but all it has done is stop the weight gain. I visited another surgeon hoping to have a revision to sleeve. My insurance right now is UnitedHealthcare Plus Choice (something like that) my RN told me that if it was approached as a revision surgery I would have to show some kind of complication with the band which my doctor said would be slippage, erosion, or the band somehow failing mechanically, otherwise it would be treated as a new surgery and I would have to go through the 6 month supervised diet, psych evaluation, and would have to show a 5 year history of heights and weights from a doctor to prove a history of being morbidly obese. Because I haven't had complications my surgeon believes that it is likely my insurance will deny the request for revision and possible deny it as a new surgery because I don't have the 5 year weight history I need so right now I'm looking into self pay options. I hope your insurance will approve you and you can get the sleeve. I've also struggled with feeling like I failed so I understand that. If I had just found the money to go back and get the band unfilled instead of living with it being too tight I might've kept losing weight. I just try to learn from it.

Please let me know how your doing im going in 5 weeks nervous im revision from sleeve how much have you lost any pain

Welcome to the forums. There are a lot of people on here who have been revised from band to sleeve, so you should be able to get a lot of advice and experiences from those folks. I'm really sorry to hear that you feel like a failure. From what I've read from others, the band just doesn't work for everyone. Some people have tremendous success with it. In fact, it sound like YOU had some success with it yourself. But it's not a long-term solution for everyone and many many people have undergone revision. I hope you are approved for sleeve and that you find it to be the long-term tool you need for sustained weight loss.

Im scheduled for June 4 second revision band to sleeve now bypass. Im nervous but i have severe reflux and throwing up every day yet gaining because of sliders

Hi. I'm Diane. Just joined. Been lurking and reading. Was banded in 2005, lost all my weight, had many plastic surgeries. I'm am in the process of going through insurance to be revised to sleeve. The years of overeating has caused me to have a dilated esophagus with no chance of it going back to normal. I started at 206 5'2 was 135-138 for 10 years by eating and throwing up all day, every day. My own undoing. I'm at 166 right now. My doc office thinks I will be approved for revision. One way or another I have to get my band out. It's been unfilled for 1 1/2 years. I pretty much feel like a failure. I have BC/be fep. Anyone with the same insurance in the same predicament please let me know if you got approved

Everything was great ! Gas pain and pain from the drain was the worst but as of today I feel good except occasionally moving wrong and feeling pulling in the incisions. I'm on clear liquids for a week and they are going down well. I'm still resting for the most part mixed in with some laundry, dishes, light cleaning ect but I go back to work tomorrow.Great to see you the other side . BUT BACK TO WORK TOMORROW? DId your surgeon OK that. Most folks I know take minimum 4 weeks off. Please take good care of yourself and your new WL tool. Xx 4 weeks! Lol that's crazy, I would go nuts ! Remember this isn't my first surgery, I had lapband on a Friday and went back Monday, I had my band to sleeve revision on a Friday and went back Tuesday. I'm not over doing it, I work at a desk and believe me, I'm doing great ! I never understood how anyone could need more than a week at absolute max !

When I had my Lap-Band placed in 2009, I had met a girl at a support meeting who was having the band the day before I was. We've become great friends, and it was fabulous having someone going through the same thing at the same time to talk to, bounce ideas off, question, etc. I don't know anyone having revision surgery. My revision to bypass will be on May 19. Anyone in a similar situation need a virtual revision buddy?

Hi there! I'm scheduled for a revision from Lap-Band to gastric bypass on May 19. I have had my band for 5.5 years and have just had too much trouble with it almost the entire time but worse for the last two years, and I'm looking forward to having it out. I initially wanted nothing to do with bypass and thought the band would be my perfect tool but of course didn't anticipate all the negative effects. It took me a while to decide to revise and now it can't come quick enough!! I am most nervous about my port coming out as I've read that it can be quite painful, and it's been sitting in there getting all encapsulated for more than five years, whereas it seems like the majority of revisions are only two-year-old bands. My biggest hurdle will be my Protein shakes. I can't tolerate artificial sweeteners too well and don't really like whey protein, so I've been researching alternatives. I have an egg-white Protein powder and a vegan powder ready to go, which both are highly rated by consumers. I tried a sample egg-white powder and it was far better to me than whey. They are both sweetened with stevia, also better for me personally. I am also planning on purchasing unjury chicken Soup, which is whey but (apparently) better hidden with the savory flavor. Most of my prep is done and I'm just waiting. PS, I'm not too patient!!

Looking like May 11th for me. Revision from a lap band to the sleeve. Today is my pre op medical clearance. Tomorrow I meet with the doctor to go over all the details. Then Thursday I meet with the dietician to go over pre op and post op eating guidelines. Holy crap! I can't believe it's only 2 weeks away!

Hi I am in a similar situation. Band fitted 2007, lost 120 pounds, life was great... Sort of. My band would self tighten on a regular basis requiring an emergency unfill and then it would take many fills to try and get back to anything like a sweet spot. I persevered, but 18 months ago I started with A persistent cough, then things just went down hill. I have silent reflux, GERD gastritis. My throat was red raw and I was hoarse. My band had been checked and it hasn't actually slipped but it does have a fine tipping point between restriction and total closure. My sugeon advised me against the sleeve due to having reflux. I am now due to revise to an MGB in June. If you have not been tested for H Pylori I would suggest you get this checked. I was positive and it magnified my symptoms. Good luck with whichever route you take.

I completely understand. I have UHC also and i have to do the 6 month diet. Even though I'm a revision patient, going from the band to bypass. May makes my 5th month. Good luck to you, hope you're doing well.

My surgery is May 5th excited but sooooo nervous! Who else is scheduled for that day? No doing any pre op diet other than eating lots of protein. Having lots of food funerals, I have the Lapband so they unfilled it 5 months ago when revising to sleeve was decided, gain 20 pounds since! Nervous but ready for my sleeve!

We all have biases - so frankly our voices are just the "knowledge" of ourselves. I am strongly biased but I recognize that there are very many people who have a different story to tell and i greatly respect their successes too! I had the lapband for 10 years. While there are many success stories, I would try to talk anybody out of it for a couple of primary reasons. #1 the "complication" rate is understated - I thought it was the least risky surgery but it was actually fraught with complications for me. Many people do great at first, but the complications over the long haul impact a high number of people. I personally think the primary reason for that is that many needed a fairly tight fill to restrict food and that leads to problems. I found out that "restriction" alone does not work for me. #2 OMG, my life was hell due to the vomiting. enuf said #3 If you are high BMI, it is not likely the best choice since high BMI people tend to need a little "something more" I revised to the sleeve over 3 years ago and have been maintaining a normal size/weight which I never attained with the band. the sleeve is also mentioned as "restriction only" but there is definately more to it then that. It reduced my hunger from an all consuming 24/7 obsession to something I can manage. It restricted how much I eat, not by vomiting, but by reducing my drive to eat. I chose sleeve over bypass frankly because I was freaked out about the bypass at the time. I think I had negative views about it due to someone I knew that did it in 1994 - open procedure and her recovery was hellish. I have a much more open mind about it now as I am more educated. I think it is a good choice too. i think education is key. I strongly encourage that you not only speak to surgeons and get educated but also GO TO SUPPORT GROUPS AND MEET REAL PATIENTS! You can do that prior to your surgery! My basic plan was to get the sleeve and if that wasn't enough, do step two and get the DS. (Reduced stomach, the sleeve, was stage one of the DS for many years. For very high BMI people it was too risky to do it all at once). Due to hard work, great surgeon, and good luck, I didn't need DS as i have been maintaining a normal weight/size for a couple of years now. I lost over half my body weight. I spent most of my life morbidly obese, or super morbidly obese and to be just normal is a dream come true.

Honestly if you have gerd now, the sleeve can make that much worse. I would spend sometime with your doctor and go on line and read about the statistics of each surgery before making a decision. You will get a lot of opinions on here but you still may be left with confusion over what to do. I was originally scheduled to get the sleeve done. After meeting with my surgeon and going over my history, he suggested that I change to the RNY. I was absolutely devastated because I had my heart set on the sleeve. For some reason I was scared about the rerouting that happens with RNY. Then, I went to see my gastroenterologist who told me that if I had the sleeve and my gerd got worse, there was nothing he could do with medications as I was already at the max. He suggested that I go on line and do some additional research but his recommendation to go to the RNY was very clear. He was concerned I would be looking at a revision down the road. I only wanted to do this surgery once. After spending many hours reading on line and books I decided to go with the RNY. I have not regretted it for one second. I can eat anything I want, I do not have to take meds for gerd/reflux prevention and I have never had a single episode of either. Research until you feel comfortable...... good luck!