Lap band over RNY

I talked to my surgeon yesterday about doing a lap band over my RNY and I think I'm going to do it. He said if the risks are too great once he gets in there because of scar tissue he will abort the surgery, however, after my pregnancy and gaining back some weight, I think this will help me get back on track. I was doing good before the pregnancy and believe I can back on track with this being done. I see the nutritionist on the 27th and already have been to a seminar about the lap band. Any ideas or anyone that has had this done please let me know how it has improved or not improved your weight. thanks.
btw it is NOT with my original surgeon. My original surgeon is no longer available to do the surgery.

I hate to tell you this, but I think it is a really bad idea. The bands success rate is very low and the complication rate is very high. Check out the failed band board and the revision board.

Before I did that I would do a lot of research. Is it possible to have your RNY tightened? I just know if you go the band route you will be very disappointed. Please don't take this the wrong way, but if your RNY didn't work, why would you think a much less successful weight loss surgery will work?.

Also, if your RNY didn't work maybe you should be looking into why. Many of us have WLS thinking it will be the cure to our obesity and when it fails we blame the surgery when in reality the true obesity problem is in our head.

Before you pursue any more surgery, please give yourself a present and find a really good therapist to see why your RNY failed and why you feel you need another surgery that is most likely going to fail. And research ALL of your surgery options. WLS is a very serious thing and the procedure of the operation its self is not the only thing that has to be addressed, the mental issues must be addressed as well (Probably more).

I got my band in 2007 and at first I didn't lose any weight and had a really hard time and a lot of fills to get restriction, then it was back and forth because I would be over filled and need to get unfilled. If I had too much of a fill I would get horrendous night time gerd. If you have never had night time gerd, pray you never get it, it is horrible and scary to wake up every 10 min. choking on your own vomit.

Over a 2 year period I lost 70 lbs. and have slowly put most all of that back on. I have re-joined WW, something I thought I would never have to do again after getting the band, and I have hardly any fluid in my band now because of severe gerd. So what is the use of having a band at all if the thing doesn't work?. I have been having fevers now for the past 2 months and chest pain and along with the gerd I'm guessing I may have a slip or worse. 

I am not telling you this to scare you, but I do want you to be well informed and hear all sides before you make a decision, You owe this to yourself. 

I wish you much luck with what ever decision you make. 


http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/failed_lap_bands/


http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/revision/

 Best of luck Karrie!

And congrats on the baby!

 
Okay, Karrie....

This is really hard.  You have read the crap between another vet and I.  You know where we both stand.  I'm not sure how to write this so I'll just darn well do my best.

BOB is not a great procedure and here is why.  Even the band makers claim 88% will have complications.  And THAT is with virgin banded folks.  The stats are higher (worse) with BOBs.  They never claimed this would be for life, they claim this is for 5-10 years according to their own studies and stats.

Here is the thing, you get a BOB and it buys you 5-10 years.  What then?  Well, at then you have more scar tissue than you do today and your risk for any revision sky rockets.

Quite frankly, this leaves you in a really bad position.  Do you hope for the best for 5-10 years and hope that science comes up with something in THAT time frame?  Or do you go for the mega risk for a life long cure to obesity?  DS.  Yes, DS.  That has the best results of any WLS type today.  But it has the most surgical risk from RNY.  You have to totally take down your RNY and do basically a mirror opposite of RNY... DS.  You take down your pouch, revive your pyloric valve, and revise to a sleeve/DS.  According to a good friend of mine who is a world wide known surgeon, stats show 2-3% fail DS.  It is not them, it is the surgery.  It just plain doesn't work for them.  Yet 33-50% of banded folks lose their band within the first 5 years depending on which study you read.  Honestly, I don't care what your surgeon says, this is what the nation wide stats say.  Now, that 2-3% who fail due to surgical reasons, that does not include those who can't stop the white carbs.  NO WLS type fixes white carbs, that one is all on us.

Bands have been around since the 70s.  First it was the mesh band, then the metal non adjustable band, then the small adjustable band, now the mega adjustable band.  Stats haven't changed, they are still essentially the same.

So, the bottom line only you can decide what risk you want to take in the band failing vs. the risk of RNY to DS revision.  There is ROSE, that is flat out a total failure, they can burn your stoma in hopes it will provide enough scar tissue to become smaller, you can bypass more intestine, you can do some weird and unconventional procedures that cut your pouch in 1/3 (only one surgeon I know of does this), but it still comes down to what kind of risk do you want?  Make no mistake, there is risk either way.  Risk it won't be long term or surgical risk.

None of us here can make that choice for you.  Only you can do that.  But you really have no logical choice, you have to research every damn option you have and do what is right for you.

I don't know how else to respond to you in light of what has happened previously in this thread.

Good Luck!! 

 I cannot speak about the Band over bypass, I can just say good luck. 

I completely understand wanting to try anything to keep losing and/ or get the losing going again. Do you have any other options in terms of WLS? I only ask because if there is another option even if it would seem hard to get approved for I would look into them. Like the previous poster said lapband will probably work for awhile but if/ when it stops it may really complicate any chances of having anything else done. I know very little about secondary surgeries after RNY and I wish you the best of luck, but lapband really is rarely going to end up being as viable choice for longer then a few years.