Desperate for Help - Need Surgery Repaired

Hi. My name is Kimberly. I live in NY (Rockland County). I had a Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass done in 93' or 94' (can't remember the year). I was about 360+ before surgery and I got down to 178 about a year later (give or take). LIFE WAS GREAT! I was still technically "overweight" for my height (I'm 5'3") but I looked good and sure felt really good too. I even had a "little black dress" that I wore every chance I had. It was GREAT to wear clothes with the letter "L" and not with a whole bunch of X's (XXXX or 4X). I got pregnant and gained 54 pounds. Then I got pregnant again two years later and gained a few more pounds. Before I knew it I was over 250+. Currently I'm about 255-260. I have TRIED (honestly, I have) to lose the extra weight, but it's not working. Seems like I can lose a couple of pounds, but then about 250 I hit a plateau and I cannot get off of it no matter what I try to do. A couple of years ago I contacted my surgeon (he's in another state) and he had me go get a scope test to what was going on. The doctor who did the scope said that I really didn't have a pouch anymore. I just lost all it's shape and I have nothing to fill up to feel "full" anymore either. I'm pretty much hungry 24/7. I feel full only after I gorge myself on "stuff" and even then it only lasts for a short while. I honestly DON'T sit around eating huge bowls of ice cream (lactose upsets my stomach) or potatoe chips (fried foods upset my stomach too). If anything my "junk" food consists of popsicles, animal crackers, tea biscuits and cereal (like frosted mini wheats). I can't even eat hamburgers or fried foods. Yet I'm STILL overweight. Traveling back to where I had my surgery originally done is not an option. I have two small children and we don't have a lot of money so my family cannot afford to stay at a hotel for a few days while I am in the hospital. I NEED to find someone in NY who is "local" to me. I have contacted a couple of people about this and I am told either it can't be fixed, or they WON'T fix it because someone else did the surgery. Surely there must be something that can be done to fix it? Does anyone know if a Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass where the pouch lost it's shape can be fixed? Does anyone know any doctor's in NY who CAN and WILL fix the surgery for me, even though they are not the one who originally performed the surgery? Does anyone know if my Insurance (United Health Care) would cover a "repair"? Does anyone know if a "repair" requires a long hospital stay and/or being "out of commission" for a long time? Has anyone had their surgery repaired that could share their experience with me? I am ABOVE and BEYOND upset and depressed over all of this. Most especially with how I look and feel. For years now I have "suffered in silence" over all of this. Not even mentioning a word of it to my husband. But it just has got so bad and I am so unhappy right now that it's all come to the surface. I am so depressed and miserable right now and I feel that life is just passing me by and that I am not able to life to my fullest potential because the unhappiness I feel about how I look and feel is holding me back. I don't even want to be SKINNY... I would be BEYOND thrilled to be 175 pounds! Or anything under 200 pounds. I would GLADLY have lipsuction or plastic surgery done if it could make my body look better and if insurance would cover part of it (but I know that would never happen). I have TRIED to lose the weight. Doing it the "right way" (portion control, eating right, excercising, drinking lots of water) is not working for me. It's so bad now that I will starve myself if I have to or use OTC weight loss pills/supplements/diretics just to lose some of the weight. I feel so very alone. I know a couple of people who had weight loss surgery and theirs were very successful. I know one lady now from my kid's school who just had it done 5 months ago and she looks AWESOME! She is an entirely brand new person. She looks great and says she feels great. And I am SO VERY JEALOUS of her and I actually try and avoid her now when I go to where she works because she looks great and her surgery was a success and I look and feel horrible and my surgery failed me. For the record, her surgeon WON'T even talk to me about fixing my surgery. I was told that he WILL NOT repair another surgeon's work. My friend Liz had surgery done about two years after me and had two children like I did after surgery and she looks AWESOME!!! In fact she's TOO SKINNY if you ask me. She went from being overweight by about 100 pounds to be incredibly SKINNY. Her surgeon is in Georgia and I can't go out of state. Another person I know, his wife had the surgery done and she too looks great. Another success story. This is why I feel so alone because all those I know who had WLS all had success. I wish I could have had success too. I'm so lost. I just don't know what to do anymore. All I want to do it go and crawl in a hole and hide away. My life is passing me by!!! Please, I'm so desperate. If you have any advice or direction that could help me out I would be BEYOND grateful for it. Thank you in advance and thank you for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate that so much. Kimberly

Hi Kimberly, I am soooo sorry you are going through this... I noticed where you live... well.. I don't live to far from you... I used Dr. Marina Kurian in Manhattan. I would give the office a call and ask.. you have nothing to lose in asking if the doctors office would consider doing a revision for you. I am sure you will get other responses from other people on this board to help you more. It is scarey.. I must say.. it scares me to think I have gone this far and could possibly eat my way back.. I am only 8 weeks post-op. Doing really well... but still have ALOT of head hunger... still want to eat when I am not hungry. Well good luck... hope things work out for you! Hugs Marla

Kimberly - I'm so sorry for your issues! I know somewhat how you feel, as I had a LapBand that failed....I just had a revision to the RNY and am doing very well so far. You might want to go to the home page, and look in the left columns for the drop-down list of forums...one of them is Revision, which is what you're looking at having done, I think. People talk about all kinds of issues including insurance, etc. Best of luck to you! Alison

Thank you so very much ladies. I honestly appreciate your posts very much. I'm just so desperate and beside myself. I just didn't know who to turn to. I'll look for that message board that was mentioned. So it's a revision, not a repair? Gosh... I sure hope there is someone local who will do it and my insurance cover it. Can I Roux-En-Y be revised? Sure wish I knew. Thank you for the name of that doctor in Manhattan. I have made note of him. I was hoping to find someone outside of the city. I'm up in Rockland County (about 24 miles NW of the city) but I know NOTHING of the city and I'd be terrified to drive down and I honestly can't afford the parking fees or the fee to take the train down either. Know what I mean? THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH!!!! Hugs to both of you! Kimberly