revise from band to bypass??help
Tooling along for about 8 months..PORT FLIPPED AGAIN..SURGERY AGAIN..
..Then trying to get back on track....guess what severe vomiting and not able to eat or drink..upper g.i revealed that now i have a SLIPPED BAND
..now i have to have surgery to get this one out and a new band put in..but i am thinking about switching to the "sleeve"..could anyone give me their thoughts on switching to the sleeve??..So now all the fluid has been emptied and i am sitting here with this bad band..my appetite is back with a vengence..i had found a pretty good doc to do the new surgery but i can't get the office people to get on it..i have been empty since 17th of dec..they did file for a revision finally..but they closed the request because all the info was not there..so after 10 days of review..it was closed..and now i have to start all over..i am so frustrated...now they are dragging their feet...also i have united healthcare".Now i am starting to toy with may'be switching to the bypass..since i have to totally start over..i want to see all the options..could anyone tell me how their outcome was after switching from band to bypass...ALSO IF ANY OF YOU GUYS KNOW OF A GOOD DOC ..IN THE HOUSTON ,PASEDENA,OR BAYTOWN AREA..that has a good insurance lady that could get the ball rolling ..please let me know.. 
From the psych eval, nut consult, pulmonary, cardiac, primary MD blessing, and support group proof of attendance. So if I were you, I'd get started making all those appointments ASAP and get the revision ball rolling! BTW...I'm a lap band to RNY revision due to slippage just like you! 
** Ticker shows weight loss since Day of Revision Surgery **
Sorry to hear about your port and band slippage. I know a few people who had this happen and they had their bands replaced with no further problem. Just curious, if you decided to have the band replaced with a new one would it be fully covered by the band clinic? I know with the two most experienced Lapband clinics in my area all of this would be fully covered with no cost to us and done quickly also. Good luck with whatever you decide on!
I received a lap band in 2001. On October 25th 2007 I received any RNY.
My lapband was a mistake for me; I had made the "choice" because of economic reasons (it was bluntly the less expensive option.) I went to a provider of lapbands, long on bedside manner, short on assessment and NO follow up. I have a compulsive eating disorder and the band, whilst effective as a torture device was ineffective as a weight-loss strategy.
The surgeon who directs the RNY programme where my surgery was done is one of the most respected bariatric in the United Kingdom. What he told me was that it was absolutely imperative for safety reasons that the lap band be removed a minimum of 6 months before the RNY to reduce the risk of serious complications. It sounds like you need to have yours out immediately because the lap band, itself, is your own serious complication. If I had to offer any thoughts is to seek out a non-biased specialist, take the programme seriously and enter whole-heartedly in all of the assessments. As you (and I) are learning the band is not an appropriate way forward for everyone. I had an RNY, not a sleeve, so that procedure I cannot address. However my "choice" of the new procedure was based on a recommendation made by a multi-disciplinary team of specialists including psychiatrists, psychologists, dieticians, and surgeons. That group recommended that surgery as being the one most likely to work for me: believe me I have many things I prefer to do rather than major surgery on any given Thursday! The failure of my "chosen" procedure brings me back to that old aphorism that a doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient. No doctor am I, but just a know it all! Having waited for the requisite time and having fought for weight loss during that time so my next surgery could be performed more safely, I am very pleased that I have had no perceptible complications - just the normal crud that you are doubtless familiar with. It can be done, however, selectiveness about who does the surgery and, even more difficultly PATIENCE is a key to successfully moving forward.
