Good morning all,

I've been poking around, now I'm ready to ask for help as to where I should be starting.

I live in VA, am 49, and I had a VGS 9 years ago - start weight was 282, lowest point of weight loss was 185.

I've had a lot of family trauma (my father was murdered and then my mother passed dramatically 1 year later, followed by MUCH drama from step father ongoing). I know the death and legal stuff from my father was stressing and I started eating poorly again, but I think that I HONESTLY didn't put the work in pre-surgery as far as figuring out the WHY...I'm not committed to revision surgery right now -- just thinking about it, researching, and trying to PUT IN WORK on the WHY part!

So, the help I'm looking for:

1) what type of revisions are available for VGS?

2) any recommendations for doctors in VA (northern VA specifically but willing to travel for better surgeon/results)? My original doctor was Denis Halmi from BluePoint (who now works 75 miles away at another practice, not interesting in going back to him but have looked into another doctor from his old practice, Dr. Amir Moazzez who now works at Inova Bariatric).

3) how do I now get to the WHY -- therapist?

4) i also know I need to figure out my untreated ADD (diagnosed after weight loss surgery, but I'm considering that the weight gain is related to some "typical" women ADD seeking stimulation from food --which I'm finding is more common in women and I had no idea it was even an issue or I would have attempted to address sooner.

5) I've read some posts about revision only offering 20lbs of losses...is that procedure specific, or just a general statement? Any input you have on this is appreciated.

6) anything else you think I need to be looking into, thinking about, researching, etc. websites, links, doctor info, etc. etc. etc. is GRATELY appreciated!!!

I am wondering if anyone has heard of revising from gastric bypass to a sleeve?

I had gastric bypass surgery in 2014 and lost 125lbs getting down to 145lbs at my lowest. I then got pregnant within my 1st year. I am now at 215lbs and my surgeon says my pouch is still small but the opening is too large and has suggested and scheduled a revision to a sleeve in October. I am hoping to find others who have gone through something similar because I can't find much information on this type of revision.

Thank you!

Hey there Kathy,

I am a 53 yo professional who is having a revision to my RNY. I am not going to a DS. I am having a Distalization done. Results from that type of revision will yield much different results.

I am happy to share what I know with you.

What type of revision are you seeking?

Your old stomach before surgery held about 32 to 48 ounces. Think of a 2-liter soda bottle. You could hold one or two of those full of food.

After surgery you get a pouch that is about two ounces. Maybe the size of a walnut. You eat a tiny amount of food and you are stuffed. The pouch grows to about the size of a large egg. As it grows we learn how to eat more.

We get good at eating many times during the day and gaining weight even with a tiny stomach.

A revision might cut the pouch down from eight to four ounces, but that is not a big shock because it is almost the same as before. And we know how to put enough food into our pouch to maintain and gain weight.

Almost everyone goes back to drinking with their meals instead of waiting 30 minutes. Drinking with meals really helps to eat a lot more.

Most revision patients lose 20 pounds because they are on a restrictive diet preparing for and after surgery. But once they are able to eat normally again, they go back to the same amount of food as before the surgery.

The only way to lose weight is by eating less calories and burning more calories. Just waiting for the magic that happened after the first weight loss surgery does not work.

I primary Dr suggested to me that a revision would be beneficial to me. I reached out to the Bariatric Surgery Team and spoke to a surgeon. My original surgeon has retired but amazingly the surgeon that I was assigned actually worked with my original surgeon. He is familiar with how my surgery was performed and has recommended a Distalization to be done. I am just learning about this process as I type this but my estimated surgery will be in November 2021. The tests they are running are a ton of blood work looking at levels of "everything" seriously. I had to have an EGD to check the "plumbing" and just working on getting my vitamin D, Iron, Zinc etc levels up.

I know that gastric bypass surgery is just a tool and I have a lot of hard work ahead of me. I'm here to share and look for support. Lot's of life changes have happened in the past 6 years and I am looking forward to this door opening up for me in the near future.