My VBG story (surgery was in 1993)

Good morning,

My name is Susan and I had a VBG in 1993, at the weight of 250#s.  I initially lost 80#s VERY quickly and felt pretty happy at 170.  But over the years, I unfortunately learned to eat around my pouch and have regained to my present weight of 228.  I have remained this weight for the past 5 years (with occasional losses) and it seems this is my "set" point.   I would love a revision at some point, something that is harder to outsmart.  Im diabetec, on insulin even tho Im eating a low carb diet, have had my left knee replaced and have high blood pressure.   I guess that's it in a nutshell!  

Hi Susan, first off I have to commend you for your honesty stating that you learned how to eat around your pouch.  

I had my vbg in 2003 started at 280lbs lost 50 first three months, lost 70 by the end of the first year. platued for a long time.. started to lose again.. and now i'm at 145lbs and so far have been able to keep it off but your right it's easy to figure out how to eat around it.

But I wanted to say that I have a friend who had a gastric bypass and she gained the weight back also? actually have had a few people I know gain the weight back.  So I would research really good before you do a revision have you looked into the Lapband???

Good Luck to you..

Hi and thank you for your reply.  Im not certain what type of revision I want.  I do know the type of VBG I got in the early 90's has a high failure rate.  I want something that has a high sucess rate!  LOL  I forgot to add that when i got to 170's I had a full tummy tuck so even tho I regained...I didnt regain my tummy.  Its all in my back, buns and legs.  My major reason to lose weight is my health. 

Hi Susan,
I had VBG in 1999. My experience is identical to yours. But, I am scheduled for lap band surgery on Oct. 18th. Dr. Michael Peters of Christiana Care thinks this will help me, along with the education & learning pre-requisite, as well as the support available. When I had the VBG, this was not available or required. I now feel like I have the tools & the power to be healthy & successful.

Christiana Care has an awesome program. Let me know if you need more info. I feel your pain. 

I had VBG on Dec 13, 1999, Monday morning @ 6:00am. I lost 105lbs in 2 years, fast forward to now... I have put all but 40lbs back on. I agree the VBG of the 90's is not the long term solution that we had all hoped. I think 50% is the education that we received, and the other half is up to us.

I had my VBG in 2004 at 475 and lost down to 225 in 2008.  I've slowly gained back up to 307 in the past 2 years.  I'm also having issues with reflux and the inability to tolerat most animal protein and starch veggies.  I'm scheduled for a revision to the duodenal switch Feb 2011.  No surgery is 100%, but some options are better than others.  Honestly, I don't know why the VBG is still being performed, but that's just my opinion. 

Congrats and good luck to you on your upcoming revision. I recently had a revision of my 97'VBG to a VSG on 12/9/10 and am loving it so far.  Thought about the DS..but decided on the sleeve with the option of doing the switch later if needed. I feel your pain, I gained back all 90lbs of my weight loss and some before my revision. Just wanted to wish you luck and add you as a friend so we can track each others progress :-)

What size bougie did Dr. Jay use on you?