My rant on revision from vsg to sips

[Peggy D 124]

"I'm new here and just had revision from sleeve to sips Dec 20"

How long did you have the VSG before having revision?

I am looking into the same and looking for what ever options & detail may be brought before me by the Dr..

THX

My starting weight was 303 on my scale. I had the gastric sleeve done on 8-22-2013. My weight the day before surgery was 259, a loss of 44 pounds in 4 months pre-op. Over the next 5 months or so I lost about 33 pounds & then I stalled. Nothing would break the stall. I did lose another 5 pounds over the next 10 months. On 12-8-2014 I had a panniculectomy where my surgeon removed 15 pounds (!) of excess skin & fat. This was covered by insurance since I had documentation of recurring severe rashes under the "apron."

I did hit a low of 201 pounds about two months after the panniculectomy but that was very briefly & I have gradually regained to a weight of 218. My BMI was still just over 35 & I still have the co-morbidities, although markedly improved, that I did when I started. I can’t say the sleeve didn’t work. After all, I was down 84 pounds from my starting weight & 95 pounds from my highest weight. When they say patients lose an average of 65% of their excess weight, there are many on both sides of that average. I’m just one of the lower percentage people.

So, after much consideration I decided to have the duodenal switch as my surgeon originally suggested. The major malabsorption of the classic duodenal switch still scares me so I had decided to ask Dr Srikanth if he would do a longer common channel when I learned of the single anastomosis duodenal switch, AKA loop DS or SIPS, which has an even longer common channel. He & I agreed on a 300 cm common channel which I am comfortable with. I got insurance approval one week after I completed the pre-op testing. On December 29, 2015, I had a revision of the sleeve, the loop DS & an hiatal hernia repair.

Recovery has been a bit rocky. A week & a half ago I spent the afternoon & early evening in the ER getting IV fluids & a CT scan because I was having difficulty getting my fluids & Protein in & was vomiting quite a bit - four times just that morning. Two days later I had a repeat upper endoscopy & my surgeon dilated two strictures in my sleeve. There was still a lot of edema in the stomach but I'm doing much better now. I do wish there was a way to speed up resolution of the edema. I still feel a lot more restriction, especially in the afternoon & evening, than I ever did with the initial sleeve.