Failed Almanza Sleeve

[vickie6866 4]

I had a lap band that was removed in the USA in 2010, then I had a sleeve done Jan 2011 with Dr. Almanza in Mexico. During the first six months I lost a total of 40lbs but during the last six months I have gained back 20pounds. So now I am a year post-op from my sleeve with only a 20 pound weight lose to show. I can eat quiet a bit and I am hungry often. I have been in contact recently with the doctor and all that was offered was a resleeve or a resleeve &DS. I know I have to have something else done if I want to move forward with my weight lose but I am so frustrated and mad at times. Now I am having to pay about the same amount again to have a second sleeve when I thought the first one should have worked. The corrdinator said that this has happened in the past with a couple dozen of his patients. I feel so cheated but I must continue forward and try to fix whatever is wrong. Is there anyone who has had a similiar experience who would like to share with me.

[tfletch23 4]

Just curious, how can you be "resleeved"? Either 80-85% of the stomach is gone or it is not. If I was going to have to fork out the money to have it redone or whatever, I'm not sure I'd use that same surgeon.

[vickie6866 4]

I was told that more staples would be put at the top part of the stomach if needed.

[SouthernSleever 228]

If they didn't remove enough of the stomach to give you the proper amount of restriction they can resleeve you. A doctor I spoke with in Nashville said that after he had his first leak he started making his sleeves bigger but then saw that patients were only losing 1/2 of their expected weight loss and went back to a tighter sleeve. Good luck Vickie. Dr Aceves does great band to sleeve revisions and he's an excellent surgeon. Almost everyone I know has lost all of their excess weight with his sleeves and no leaks.

[Goslin 13]

I saw a doctor on the internet in S. Louisiana that can do revisions to a gastric bypass. Basically, it was for the people that had gained weight back, and he would go in endoscopically and make their stomach smaller. I don't remember the clinic's name, but I do remember it was in LA. You might want to search it, and see if they can help.

 

So sorry this has happened.

[circa 333]

The sleeve is not a guarantee. You did lose weight and that is great. I know you may not have lost everything you hoped for, but there is no guarantee. There are options and every doctor has had patients where the sleeve has not worked with them. There are options to be resleeved, have a mini bypass, a ds, Hope you find an option that works for you.

[rahnava 30]

What size bougie did you have?

[Afro_Cyster 74]

Just curious. What is your current weight and your goal weight?

[KellyL 173]

At this point you may want to look into a DS. Sometimes due to metabolic reasons, a person has to have the malabsorption part. There's a lot of things I would consider before having it though, and you have to be careful with your Vitamin regimen and regular blood work. But the most important thing about any of the weight loss surgeries is what we choose to eat. Any of the surgeries can fail if we don't follow the rules of Protein first, lower carbs and then only good carbs, no junk. Have you had lab work done, thyroid tests, and allergy tests? Certain food allergies can prevent us from losing weight, and if our hormones are out of balance or if we have a sluggish thyroid. Good luck to you!

[FishingNurse 1,211]

^{I wish you good luck with your revision! I really hope you get some results!!}

[PdxMan 4,292]

For those researching, I think a good question to ask your surgeon is how tight to the bougie do they sew.

 

Just because they use a 34 bougie doesn't mean your stomach will be that size. It is merely a guide and keeps them from accidently sewing the stomach too tight or closed all together. If they stay an inch away from the 34 bougie ... guess what? You have a size ~70 stomach. Enough to do a re-sleeve, for sure.

 

Vickie, I'm sorry you have to go through this. Good luck.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

Your story is shocking! I would totally freak out if I needed to do the surgery over. The doc isn't willing to give you any discounts? Or do you trust him to do another procedure? Wish you luck in what ever you do. BTW, have you tried LilMissDiva's 5 day boot camp?

[tfletch23 4]

what is "bougie" and what is "DS"?

[KellyL 173]

Bougie is a tool the surgeon uses to help guide the tool as he's sizing your sleeve. DS is Duodenal Switch and is a weight loss surgery that has the sleeve that we have plus the malabsorption similar to the Gastric Bypass. There's some differences between those two surgeries, but that's the simple answer to your question.

what is "bougie" and what is "DS"?

[PdxMan 4,292]

Duodenal Switch = DS

 

Bougie: A thin cylinder of rubber, plastic, metal or another material that a physician inserts into or though a body passageway, such as the esophagus, to diagnose or treat a condition. A bougie may be used to widen a passageway, guide another instrument into a passageway, or dislodge an object.

 

Basically, it is something they put in through your mouth into your stomach to use as a guide to sew the staple line. Don't worry too much about size, the difference between a 32 and a 40 is VERY small.