Revision 7 years after sleeve; can anyone relate

Your story is like mine. I had my VSG 5 years ago and revised in august. Life got hard really hard 2 years ago and I stopped eating good and exercising and gained 80 pounds back of the 103 I lost :(

bypass can cause dumping

Can is a right word. Only app 30% if people with RNY may end up dumping. And.. Most of them can eat around it. I know I do. I used to be a serious dumper, but after a few years - I know how to eat around it. Plus my dumping become less severe, like really really mild. No longer a issue I consider when I want to eat sweets.

99% of the time - I don't eat sweets, or grains, or starchy carbs. Because the dry cause addiction in me. I can't just have a bite. I want the whole box or a bag. Then another one.

Like an alcoholic- who can't just have one beer, I can't have sweets.

Making choices - eating proteins and fat - helps me to stay on plan. But I know - just one bite can set me off.

I can relate-I would much rather have cake than steak! My revision is scheduled for 11/1. My plan is to not let a sweet touch my lips-bc I too am addicted and eating one leads to eating 100. How r u doing since ur revision? Is ur restriction greater w the rny than it was w the sleeve? Did the doc use ur old scars to do rny or did the cut u somewhere new? Which was more painful? How long was ur hospital stay?

I did not have a revision. I had RNY in May 2008. Lost 110 lbs. Regained 35 lbs. Lost it by diet and hard will. Maintaining now.

FYI: I was planning to lose 100 lbs. The 10 extra just happened. I wanted to gain back 5-10. But ended up gaining 35. I initially re-lost 18... Then the rest. All 35 lbs and little more. Now maintaining. Trying not to lose or gain.

Losing the regain was a really hard job.

To those of you who have had a revision: Who had a DS and who had a different kind of revision?

Many thanks!

Hi Babette,

I am a third time revision from band (5 years, -154 pounds and it prolapsed) to sleeve (9 years and 73 pounds lost but chronic reflux and hernia) and last RNY in July this year. I no longer have reflux or the hiatal hernia and down -30 so far ) So over 15 years I have had three surgeries for weight loss.

That being said, my regains were multifactoral . With the lapband, it slipped so I had no restriction. The initial bands were from Inamed and too small for my anatomical stomach. I also had a BMI of 55 and it probably wasnt the best choice. The sleeve caused extreme problems of my esophagus and acid reflux. I should have never been sleeved in the first place. That being said, it was the first time I was close to a normal BMI.

It took a lot of thought to decide to commit to a RNY. I did not want malabsorption. So far, the biggest challenge with the RNY is that I do not feel restriction like I did when I had a sleeve so I have to measure my protein. Also I am very lactose intolerant so I pop a lactaid or two before eating any dairy and have switched to lactose free products. I also had trouble with some of my chewable vitamins having sugar alcohol which caused bloating and gas.

Feel free to pick my brain if you have any questions!

WOW, I am so glad that this thread was started. I've been on and off this Revision forum for the past few months.

I am 3 years and 8 months post VSG. I too was overconfident. I think that I breezed through most of the pre-op workup and went from initial meeting to actual surgery in about 5 months.

I too had the thought that there was NO way i'd gain because my sleeve was tight. I ate very small, very regulated amounts of food and had my head in the right place. However, I was in a job that was very challenging emotionally and when I went back to it after 3 months off, my discipline with my eating got a little lax and I stopped exercising almost completely due to the demands. Leaving that job was good for me.

I have regained a good portion of my initial weight loss. I suffer from GERD badly. I had severe GERD prior to my surgery, but my original surgeon said they felt like if I would get to goal, my GERD would clear up. It almost totally cleared up, and I was still about 25 lbs over my goal.

With my regain, I have had to deal with my GERD getting really bad. I can't hardly lay on my left side.

My new surgeon wants to see if weight loss will help at all, so I'm on Contrave right now to try and give me a jumpstart. I'm doing ok on it. Initially I really WANTED a revision, but now i'm kind of hesitant because i'm in my final semesters of Nurse Practitioner school and I fear that something could go wrong and i'd get halted in school. I'm having upper GI and EGD in about 3 weeks and we'll see what they show. I've had a dozen or so EGDs, but never an upper GI. Not nervous, but a bit shaky about the results. He basically said that if the tests show my GERD is significant, I have to revise to RNY. I don't want to stay on PPIs forever, but I don't want anything to go wrong during a surgery either.

I am terrified of this revision. I don't feel like I have any other option, but I don't know if I am making the right choice with the sleeve or should consider the bypass. Statistically speaking most of us our a success with our old surgeries. I have managed to keep off about 40% of my original excess weight. I've maintained my weight at about 210-215 the last 2 years after getting down from 235. My original weight when I was banded in 2003 was 276 and lowest was 167. I honestly feel had I not had the band in 2003 I would be well over 300lbs.

I guess in 2003 when I had the band I was so confident and sure I was making the right decision. Now, at 44 nothing in my life is so sure. I had some one recently tell me that happens in your 40s and then in your 50s you get past it?

Anyway...thank you all for listening.

Hi and see my earlier post.

I have had three surgeries in 15 years. Band to sleeve to RNY. I kept of 2/3 of my excess weight starting at 340 pounds and maintaining in the 172-180 range for about 5 years. Every surgery I have was the right one at the time. Looking back, the band was the best thing since apple pie in 2003. Then the sleeve in 2008. Have no regrets!!

Newly revised on Aug 24th. 4 weeks out from VSG to RNY. It is a ride for sure...