Hello from a frequent lurker!

With my surgery approaching in less than a week (exited eek!), my Mother, who had on open RNY back in 01 (or around there), is considering a revision.  She has a hernia that needs to be fixed, and, she says she always felt like her pouch was too big.  I think that most likely her pouch stretched - her doc never told her no soda, avoid bread and red meats.  She actually says that is her only regret about her surgery - back then she didn't get the counseling and help we do now....

Have any of you had revision surgery?  Did it work?  Did your insurance pay for it?
If it did, what needed to be done to get it covered?

Thank You,
Melodie

Glad to see you come out of lurkdome. Good luck on your surgery coming up!!! I can not answer the revision question but had one of my own. Why no red meat? I've never heard that. Thanks!

Hi Melodie!!!

Now that you've outted yourself, you CANNOT go back to lurkdom!!!  We claim you!!!!  I'm sure you're excited, scared, nervous, etc. - it's all normal.  As everyone will tell you - you wouldn't be normal if you weren't.  But it's gonna be great!!!  Let us know if you need anything.  Do you have anyone on the board for your family to call and update us after your surgery?

I don't have any words of wisdom for your Mom, but I know my surgeon, Dr. David Von Rueden, at St. Agnes, does revisions.  Might be worth giving his office a call for at least a consult.

Good luck to both of you!

Tia

I found this on the web for ya ;o)

   

Weight gain can come back after gastric-bypass surgery

 

Posted: Jan. 16, 2009

Weight loss from gastric-bypass surgery might not last, but a minimally invasive procedure can correct the problem.

Six years after she got gastric bypass surgery, eating became uncomfortable for Stacey Ruffin and she started to gain weight.

"I noticed that when I would digest my food ... something just wasn't right," Ruffin said.

 

WATCH VIDEO
Weight can return after gastric bypass  

 

Doctors found that her stomach pouch, created during the bypass, had stretched out and needed to be repaired.

"Up till recently, there were only two options, and both of them entailed a surgical procedure," said Dr. J.L. Holup, associate director for bariatric surgery at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City.

Advances in medical procedures, though, enabled Ruffin to undergo a nonsurgical technique called stomaphyx.

In it, a doctor inserts a device through the patient's mouth and guides it down to the stomach pouch. Using an endoscope, the doctor staples the sides of the stomach, making it smaller again.

In Ruffin's case, doctors brought her stomach pouch from about the "size of a juice glass" to that of "a silver dollar," Holup said.

Stomaphyx can take less than a half-hour – about half the time of surgical repair. The procedure doesn't have a risk of infection, causes far less pain and requires a much shorter recovery time.

Ruffin had her stomaphyx on a Thursday and returned to work on the next Monday. Since then, her biggest problem has just been not eating everything on her plate, Ruffin said.

"How I grew up is that you should always finish what's on your plate. And I can't. That's the bad part about it," Ruffin said. "But my sons and boyfriend love it, because I bring home food to them."

Thank you all!

I'll try to stay out of lurkdom - but - find that I'm a pretty quiet person, usually with very little to say.  I very much appreciate the warm welcome - again. 

My sister did her surgery with Dr. Von R - Mom really likes him, so I'm going to try to convince her to at least call them about a consultation.  Maybe her pouch really isn't too big - she may just need to eat healthier.

When I went to the initial presentation Dr. Singh gives, he said a little about the Stomaphyx.  He didn't seem too excited about it, but, it may be that Mom didn't do a good job of making it clear that she has already had the bypass.