Unsure of which way to go

Hi there everyone, I'm just putting this out there in the world and hoping that someone might be able to give me some insight.  I'm unsure of which revision surgery would best suit me. I had the VBG in 2002, lost 115 lbs. and have gained all but 6 lbs. of it back.  In 2004, I had a baby, which was a total blessing because with all the weight I had on my body, I'm sure that is why I never got pregnant before.  With that pregnancy, I started eating more, and slowly, over the last almost 4 years, I have gained almost all my weight back. Well, I got a hernia before the pregnancy and it was small, so I wasn't going to do anything about it.  It wasn't painful.  With the pregnancy, it became huge and open. After the pregnancy, I had a hernia repair (umbilical hernia) and had my gallbladder removed.  So, now I have mesh covering the hernia, which the surgeon said started out as 14 inches of mesh.  I am not sure which surgery would benefit me the most, and how much I could lose with a revision surgery. Could anyone help me out in choosing which is best?  I am very interested in the Lap-Band and the Duodenal Switch, but to my knowledge and research there are no docs in Oklahoma or surrounding states that do the DS. Help, please. Thank you.

The lap band and the DS are two very different surgeries.  My advice is to research post op life for both surgeries and decide what is best for you.

I agree with Hoodo...research your info and just remember the surgery is a tool the work is up to you...good luck

If you post on the surgery type forums, you'll get a lot of responses, some good, some flames, etc.  On the main boards, people tend to get passionate about which surgery is right-but there is no surgery that is right for everyone.

The mesh probably does make a difference with any intestinal rerouting.

I think it's interesting you've picked surgeries on both ends of the spectrum as far as cutting is concerned and I look forward to hearing what yu'v decided to do.

I've heard that most surgeons have stopped doing vertical gastric banding since it has shown to be very unsuccessful. However, you do have several options. The Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy might be the easiest conversion. Good Luck with your research and I hope you find what surgery is best for you!   Best Wishes!   Shelly

I had the VBG way back in 1983, lost over 200 lbs. and gained it all back eventually.  I had RNY last August and am happy with my choice but now wonder if maybe the DS would have been better for me.  But my surgeon doesn't do the DS and I didn't want to travel out of state to have surgery.  I did a lot of research and weighed the pros and cons of each surgery and thought the RNY was the right choice for me.  There are some good books you can read including "Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies" and "A Complete Guide to Guide to Obesity Surgery" by Bryan Woodward.  Those two books are the best ones in my opinion.