Hello all, I am having trouble with my band and want to get it removed. I have acid reflux constantly and I'm worried it's ruining my esophagus. I always feel like I have a lump in my throat. I was advised to remove the band and get a gastric bypass in its place so I don't gain all the weight back that I've lost and will continue to lose weight. My presurgery weight was 315 lbs. I got down to 195 over a five-year period but I had some issues. I had a slippage a couple of years after I got it and had to get it repaired. I had an incident where I couldn't get anything down (even water) so they removed all of the Fluid. I was afraid to get it filled again. I've gained back quite a lot of weight. I weigh 243 lbs now. I'm 5-6" so I'd like to get down to around 150-160 lbs. My primary insurance, Florida Blue, excludes all bariatric surgery. 😡 I have great secondary insurance, BCBS Michigan, that covered my original band surgery (at almost 100%). I had the office coordinator at one of the doctor's offices that I called about a consultation tell me that my secondary won't cover anything if my primary doesn't cover it because they only pick up costs after a claim is filed. This "coordination of benefits" is pretty crappy for the consumer. I'd love feedback, especially from anyone who had health insurance issues like this or had a revision surgery to a gastric bypass. Was the band removal surgery and gastric bypass done at the same time or did you have two surgeries? I'd like to get it all done at the same time rather than have two but I've read that some doctors will only do the two procedures separately. Lastly, I've also read that the band's "shelf-life" is around ten years due to possible erosion issues. When I originally got it, 20 years ago, I was told that it was for life but could be removed if there were any problems down the road. Sorry this is so long. 🙂 Take care, Holly