Revision surgery??
Hi Cab,
From what I recall on the WLS gone wrong group (yahoo), there are many people who are claiming that WLS is causing them a lot of ailments (and it really is causing some). A portion of these people get a takedown, where part or all of the digestive system is returned to its original state (or some semblance thereof).
Another type of revision is repairing parts of the surgery, such as the stoma, if it no longer working. Not sure about the tie-in with health on this one, but obviously someone who has a blown stoma and never gets full is more likely to gain weight.
I'm sure there must be more complete and eloquant accounts...
Dave
on 8/23/07 11:24 pm - Houston, TX
Cab, The folks I know who had revisions did so because something was “mechanically wrong” with their surgery. One had “staple-line disruption” where the stapled off section of their stomach opened up like a zipper. That left them with a stomach that had 2 exits into their intestines. A small stoma near the top and the normal pyloric valve at the bottom. Talk about Never feeling full! The other person had the “old-school” “Vertical Banded Gastro-plasty”(sp?) No mal-absorption at all, and due to faulty positioning in original surgery, it didn’t restrict her intake either. Just made her hungry and nauseated for a few years. After having it re-worked to a typical RNY, she did great. There are some who seek “Revisions” when they are “out-eating” their surgical procedure. Some who find that they don’t dump, and “Can” eat sweets and ice cream and the sort, so they “Do.” For those folks, therapy to deal with eating disorder would be far helpful than a revision that they will probably be able to still defeat with poor food choices. Revisions by and large are rare. Best Wishes- Dx
Capricious; Impulsive, Semi-Predictable 
Cab, I can speak for my experience which is that I had the Vertical Banded Gastroplasty in 1990 and it simply wasn't a longterm solution. I lost alot of weight, though not close to goal, and then slowly put it all back on because you learn to eat around it by taking your time and eating for longer periods of time. To this day, I can only eat so much at a time but if my choices are bad and I'm patient, I'll get in lots of calories. Also, most studies of the VBG now show that it was an ineffective procedure for longterm weight loss. I'm working towards conversion to the DS. After much research, I''ve concluded that my warped mind may find a way to defeat the RNY but the DS is the least defeatable. It is, for sure, the most serious procedure, but my life is on the line, and I can't abide another regain after surgery. With much skepticism, I researched the DS and talked to alot of people on the DS board and it is clear that an almost unanimous majority of them are thrilled with it and doing great - and what makes DS unique - they generally eat whatever they want, so long as they eat their protein first. There is no dumping. They simply seem to have measurably diminished appetites so they can eat a couple of bites of cake and be satisfied when before surgery they would have had the whole cake...and this is people 3 and 4 years post-surgery. So that's why I'm doing a revision. I'm revising from a procedure that didn't work to one that will. Best of luck.
