Help! Being revised from band to RNY on Monday. I don't know what to expect!

[PrincessErin 64]

Hi everyone! I am literally laying in a hospital bed due to complications from my Realize band! I am receiving antibiotics and my new Dr plans on taking out my band and revising to RNY at the same time. Any advice? What should I expect for recovery? What can I eat afterwards? In sure he will go over all this, but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

[kparadisek 115]

First let me say congrats on getting the revision at the same. I have to go thru the same thing but my Dr. Is making me do them months apart. The nutritionist told me to do liquids for two weeks after then puréed for another two weeks. Then soft foods for another week or two then I can gradually introduce a regular diet. I will tell u that she said the sipping is nothing like with the band that u will have immediate restriction and it will take an hour or more to sip for oz of Water. She said the pain is about the same. You'll do great and I'm sure they'll give u a diet to follow before u leave the hospital. Keep me posted!

[SoccerMomma73 1,867]

Yay for you!!! I had my band out August 1. The original plan was to convert to bypass at that time but I had so much inflammation and scarring from my band prolapse that he felt it safer to send me home to heal for 6 months (would have had to have made my pouch larger...who wants that,?!?!??). Six months was up February 1, my surgery is Monday!!!!! Yay!!!! Healing from the band removal was a piece if cake except EXTREMELY sore where the port was removed for about 6 weeks (my surgeon said the actually scrape it off the abdominal wall, ouch).

I've attempted to attach a copy of my diet progression for you. I have 6 days full liquids, 1 month gastric bypass soft diet (meat must be spreadable plus soft squishy stuff) then 2 weeks of the same except meat should be ground and I can add toasted whole wheat bread. Then 2 weeks with shaved deli meats then normal foods with caution. 2 months and 3 days post op I will be back on essentially a normal but healthy diet. My doc does not forbid anything but recommends a healthy low fat low carb diet. I am allowed (as tolerated) bread, rice, potatoes, popcorn, etcetera just in moderation and prepared in a healthy way. A lot of folks on here are totally anti-carb so every doc is different. I like my docs approach of anything in moderation though, it does seem practical to me to never eat bread or potatoes again!

Good luck!!! Keep us updated!

HW 312, pre-op (lap-band) 294, pre-op (RNY) 255, surgery date 2/11/13, goal weight 154, current weight 241.6

[PrincessErin 64]

Thank you so much for your replies! I am about an hour away from my surgery. I'm so nervous because I will either wake up with RNY or without it! It really depends on the damage my band has done. I'm sad to see my band go, but relieved as well. I just hope they can do the RNY ar this time!

[tzbandtobypass 48]

Good luck! I was converted 4 weeks ago and was able to do both in one surgery. I too had the Realize band.

For me, the surgeries were totally different. The band surgery was easy for me to deal with and I didn't have any issues during recovery. This time around, it has been really hard. I have been extremely tired and I just don't feel like myself. The doctor has told me that I have to keep in mind that I have essentially just had two major surgeries at one time and that I need to take it easy on myself. He told me it could take more than 6 weeks before I start to feel like my normal self.

I had pretty bad pain those first couple of days and it seemed like walking the halls was the only time I wasn't in awful pain. I was off the pain killers after the first week and stayed home from work for only two full weeks. I've had to adjust my work schedule a bit and I only end up in the office about 6 hours, but it is better than nothing for my team!

I have one of the docs that is very anti-white-carb, so for me that meant giving up the popcorn (so sad) I relied on heavily during my time being banded. It was one of the foods that no matter the amount of restriction I had, I could always eat it. So if I was having a really bad day (meaning throwing up a lot and not able to get anything down) I would switch to Protein shakes and popcorn. I do miss it, but there are so many people on here that can have it, that I just figure if I give myself some time maybe I will try it.

The other huge difference to me was that when I was banded, I had no saline in the band when I came out of surgery. It took 3-4 weeks to get my first fill and that really didn't help any. I think I had a good few months of almost no restriction and following the diet was really, really hard for me because most days it was like I didn't have a band. From the moment I woke up from the band removal and RNY, it was like a whole new world. Gone was my ability to drink like the wind and test the limits of my tool. Also, it stopped feeling like liquids and soft foods were sitting in my esophagus like it was with my band - the noose effect I have heard people refer to when talking about the band.

Oh and that damn port is gone. I hated my port. It could have been the placement of it, but it got in my way quite a bit and I had pain on and off in that area the whole time I had it. Having it taken out means I had one extra incision for the RNY surgeon. The one incision is a few inches long and it was one of the most painful areas during recovery. RNY causes a lot of left side pain because that is where all of the "work" is done on the insides, but I also had the right side pain to go with it because they have to scrape the port off the wall of your abdominal muscle. Not pleasant, but nothing that pain killers didn't fix!

Good luck and I hope you are able to do both the band removal and RNY in one surgery! The best part of that is no fear of weight gain between the two (my biggest fear of all) and only needing to go through one recovery. I was terrified that I was going to wake up bandless with no RNY. I have so much respect for all the folks on this site that have had to go through two surgeries.

[kparadisek 115]

Newbie, how did your surgery go? I just spoke to the Nurse Practitioner/approver or whatever her title is and she told me that both surgeries could be done at the same time so don't pay the Dr. any attention. I guess that explains why I felt his visit was scripted since he told me previously that both could be done at the same time. She said I don't have anything to worry about and that they have not denied any removals after the 12 month pre-op. I'm relieved to hear that.

[PrincessErin 64]

There was entirely too much damage from the band and the Dr couldn't dothe revision. My bad was 80% eroded and there was a hole that had to be repaired. So now I am left wondering what is next. I'm so disappointed.

[SoccerMomma73 1,867]

There was entirely too much damage from the band and the Dr couldn't dothe revision. My bad was 80% eroded and there was a hole that had to be repaired. So now I am left wondering what is next. I'm so disappointed.

I had to wait 6 months between band removal and RNY...it sucked but was well worth the wait. Good luck and let us know when they figure out a plan for you!!!

HW 312, pre-op (lap-band) 294, pre-op (RNY) 255, surgery date 2/11/13, goal weight 154, current weight 240

[PrincessErin 64]

After almost a year wait, I am scheduled for my RNY on February 3rd. I've gained back about 25 pounds this last year. I'm so excited to finally have the RNY procedure. I can't wait!

[kparadisek 115]

After almost a year wait, I am scheduled for my RNY on February 3rd. I've gained back about 25 pounds this last year. I'm so excited to finally have the RNY procedure. I can't wait!

Congrats! I'm excited for you. Go ahead and start preparing yourself because the day will be here before you know it! Keep us posted on your progress!

[iamsoworthit 430]

After almost a year wait, I am scheduled for my RNY on February 3rd. I've gained back about 25 pounds this last year. I'm so excited to finally have the RNY procedure. I can't wait!

Congratulations! I was converted from band to rny june 2013 and am so happy with the results. It is night and day between the two.

[PrincessErin 64]

Congratulations! I was converted from band to rny june 2013 and am so happy with the results. It is night and day between the two.

Tell me more about the differences!!