Band over RNY question

Did those of you who had a lap-band placed over your pouch have to have an endoscope beforehand?  I had an endoscope a few weeks ago (it was for stomach pains - turns out, I had a staple that had "got lost" in my stomach that had to be removed)  Anyway, the surgeon measured my pouch and said it was borderline of being too small to put the band over...I believe it's 9cm.  Anyway, now he seems fairly sure that he'll be able to put the band on it (I already have a tentative surgery date), but he is wanting to do another endoscope...I'm afraid this one will show that my pouch is too small or something. :(  I just wondered if doing an endoscope prior to surgery was standard procedure or not. And, how much weight did those of you who have had this done lose?  I'm a "lightweight" now (bmi is barely 40) and I'd like to lose at least 50-60 lbs.   Thanks :) Amanda

Very good question Amanda!  I have the same question that's similar in nature. I had my endoscopy done and it showed the bypass intact, with the stoma slightly dialated.  The doc who did it was a butthole though, and wasn't too concerened about the functionality of my bypass.  So this past Friday I had my Barium Swallow done and it showed extremely fast follow-thru...everything went right pass my pouch and into my small bowel.  So the question is... Can you put a lap band around it to "fix" it? Does the stomach need to be restructured and then a lap band put on? questions, questions, questions....

The Dr. I went to acted like a regular revision was too risky to do (more risky than the original rny itself was) and suggested putting the band on.  The problem now is that I do have a stretched pouch/stoma (9 cm) and they are used to putting the band on people who have a pouch size of 10cm or greater.  9 is iffy, but I think he's going to give it a shot. =/   Did they measure everything when you had your endoscope done?  My upper GI just said "prominent gastric pouch" with easy follow-thru. hmm.

I have the exact same thing.  I'm 7 years post open - open lap proximal RNY.  I went from 325 to 225 then back up with two pregnancies.  The barium swallow test a week ago showed my pouch is still about the size it was post RNY (he said It's about the size of the palm of my hand), but the opening to the small intestine is almost the same width as the pouch.  The barium went directly down to my intestine in a minute.  This expains weight gain and lack of "fullness".  When I met with my surgeon about it before the test, he was completely against doing bands because of scarring, bringing in a foreign object and the fact that there is nothing to secure the band to.  He also mentioned it is easy to "cheat" the band.  He was about to have a week long training in a stomaphyx type revision where they go in with a scope through the mouth and stitch the stoma smaller.  He said that's what he'll do if the stoma is stretched.  I'll know more later this week when I see him again. Let's keep sharing info...

You should look into the stomaphyx procedure instead.  It involves no incisions and shrinks your pouch with minimal risk.. i was considering the band over the bypass and then this came out and so far it is working great.   Email me any questions.

I am scheduled for August 15.  Can you tell me more.

How do I find a surgeon who does the stomaphyx?

Dr. Eric Schlesinger now does the STomaphyx in Phoenix.  When I was researching though I Googled the word and it gave me the company's link.  The company itself has a list though I don't think it is current. Good luck!

I'm reading that this procedure is sometimes referred as the ROSE PROCEDURE or am I wrong? I'm hoping there's a surgeon in Chicago that does this.

Dr. Shawn M. Garber	516-616-5500	NY
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