I'm revising from lap band to RNY

Hi, I had a revision from the lapband to DS on Dec 18, 2007.  I had the lapband for 2 years and ended up weighing 15 pounds more, when I had it removed, than I weighed when I had it put in.  I lost about 18 lbs the first 3 months with the lapband then nothing after that.  I too had many fills and unfills, stuck food, vomiting, painful eating, etc.  I now have non of those problems with the DS.  I have lost 55 lbs in 3 months and I can eat pretty much anything.  I eat small amounts of food several times a day and the weight just keeps coming off.  I do keep track on sparkpeople of what I eat so I can work toward getting in enough protein and fat.  I used to be an ice- cream- aholic but have had no cravings for carbs since surgery.  I do eat some carbs but it's not been a problem keeping them under control.  That has been such a relief.    I don't know about the RNY but I do know the problems some of us have with the lapband and I'm so glad you are getting your revision.  I wish you the best. G

Hey!  You're more than half-way to your goal!  Congratulations!  I'm glad things are going well for you and that you were able to get rid of your band. 

Hi all my name is Virginia and I recently had my lapband removed and switched to the RNY. I am three weeks post-op and due to extensive scar tissue my surgery took 4 hours. There were no complications other than it takeing so long. My biggest complaint is that I have (still have) pain when my port was. The surgeon said it is because the port was orignially sewn into muscle and they had to cut it out of that same muscle and when stitching it back up they had to use a zig zag stich and a heavier suture. Anyway, he claims that is where all the pain is coming from.

All I know is this is three weeks out and I am still not ready to go back to work. I am hoping next week I will be able to go back. I haven't found anyone who has had a revision from the band to rny to chat with so if there are any of you out there please respond to this message or message privately at: [email protected].

Thank you! Virginia

Congratulations on your surgery and moving forward with your weight loss.  I've always had trouble with pain at my port, so I'm assuming I'm going to have pain there for some time after having it removed.  I have a 3 year old who's constantly stepping on it, sitting on it etc... so it's always tender.  I'll look forward to having it removed along with the band.  I hope things are going better for you this week and that your return to work went okay. 

Thank you for responding to my posts. I've done some youtube videos and my username there is virginiann1975. I worked only one day this week which was Monday and I could hardly move by the end of the shift, and mind you I have a sit down job at a computer, however, since I didn't have access yet to all the systems I was mostly up and about so maybe that is what did it. Nevertheless, I had a doctors appointment the next morning for blood work and my PCP said I went back to work too soon for the issues I was still having so I was given an additional 4 weeks off. I have no idea what I will do for 4 weeks (other than heal). I'm thinking I will try again in two weeks, but i will play that by ear.

I had (have) big time buyers remorse and I am certain it is because of the pain. I'm doing really well with the food, it is totally different (FOR ME). I love the fact that I actually feel FULL instead of STUCK. I can certainly tell the difference. I can drink water comfortably now. This is what I should have done to begine with. I know it is just a tool and I have to be careful and all that but until you walk a mile in my shoes you just can't imagine what I've been though since last May. Weight loss is very slow, but you know I just don't care at this stage of the game as long as it keeps going down, I'll be okay with it. I've only lost 12 pounds in one month when I know people who have lost 30, but I also keep reading where second time surgery patients lose a lot slower, so I guess that is what is going on. When will you have your revision surgery? V.

Once you have the RNY things will still get stuck dont force it through that will dialate the stoma and cause you to have constant hunger like me, I am going in reverse I had RNY and now am having lap over rny due to a dialated stoma the UGI series with me showed the barium would not stop it went from my mouth to my intestine with out stopping in my stomach It too 2 full glasses of it to do the test (YUCK)  they told me my stoma was extemely dialated and it was caused by drinking water to push the food though when I was pregnant for back to back high risk pregnancies.  My mom had the same issue with her stoma due to food getting stuck she would drink water to pu**** through because of the pain. This go round we are going vegitarian with lots of protein powder and vitamins. Hope it works for you but dont push through the food follow Dr's orders. I originally lost from 455 to 235 in 1 1/2 years with RNY but that was b4 I had to push thr food through now I am back at 358 . Be careful. God Bless! MaryTeresa

Hi Everyone: I am new to this site. I had lap band in Nov 2005 and lost 120 pounds.  Then in July of 2007 I found out my band eroded into my stomach.  I had it removed and then mourned the lost of my friend. I really counted on my band to tell me I was full and what I could eat (stuff I coulden't was throw up real fast so I learned to avoid them).  After feeling like wow now I can have cheeseburgers, french fries and bread I gained 60 pounds of weight loss back. I have a wonderful surgeon (Dr. Valencia) who even did my bypass free because of all my problems with my previous surgeon (Dr. Lopez) who woulden't even talk to me when I started having problems with my lap band and I feel like I was blessed with a gift (bypass) but after 2 months and only 15 pounds lost I feel frustrated.  I don't seem to have restriction like the lap band and I can eat anything including bread which I know I shoulden't and yet I can't seem to stop myself.  I concentrate on eating only proteins but can't seem to just eat one meal a day.  I always feel hungry and I know it can't all be real some has to be head hunger.  I just don't seem to be able to get in the weight loss mode this time and could use a friend to talk to who is going through this too.  I have a real sweet tooth too and don't dump like others say they do.  Dr. Valencia did warn me that I would not have restriction like other bypass patients due to the scarring and adhesions caused from the band.  I wish I had gone with bypass first and not have to got through all this.  Any words of encourgment would be appreciated.

Hi there, I'm stunned to hear you've only lost 15 pounds in 2 months.  Are things looking any better this week?

No still have not lost any more weight but I have to say it is not due to the surgery but due to me.  I am eating when not hungry and things I am not suppose to.  I am going to try to go to Overeater Anon and see if they can help me.  I have no medical insurance so I can't go to counseling.  Just have to find a way to self medicate.  Thanks so much for your words of incourgement. Dawna

I had a revision to the RNY in December 06.  I am so happy with my choice and would do it all over again.  I initially loved my band but after a few months I would get swelling and go through the whole fill, unfill, fill, unfill.  It got very old.  Eventually things went really wrong and I had a band prolapse with a complete gastric outlet obstruction.  That is when they converted me to the RNY.  The RNY feels much more "natural" to me.  I don't feel like things get "hung up" like they did with the band.  I can tolerate eating anything, including sugar, to I really have to monitor my diet and make good choices.  I did have a rough recovery from my RNY and had a g-tube from my old stomach for about 6 weeks.  I had nausea for about 5 to 6 months, but it did eventually become manageable with medications.  I don't think the rough recovery is the norm, but more likely a result of the fact that by the time they got me to surgery my band had been prolapsed for several days and done significant damage to my stomach. But now at 16 months post-op, I am so very happy I made this choice to do the revision.  The downfall is that the RNY is malabsorptive, which I think requires close watching as fas a labs and vitamin supplements.  I personally am working on finding a PCP that will help me with this because my surgeons standards for this are not the same as my standards. Oh, and FYI, my upper GI didn't show a slip when they did it either, so 2 weeks later when they finally got me in the OR, my doctor was very surprised to find that it did indeed slip!  Also, I will say that I had a lot of "buyer remorse"  over choosing the RNY after my revision.  I think it was impart because my recovery was so difficult.  But it does get better and I am very happy with it now! Good luck, Jennifer