I want a Revision from RNY

 I had a RNY surgery in 2005 and I weighed 330 and I currently weigh 233 pounds. My weight has not moved at all. I feel like a failure as well. I am going o talk to my doctor about getting a revision Friday but not sure whay he will say about it because he does not do revisions. I think my stomach has stretched out as well. I feel horrible. I thought that I would be under 200 at least but I am just stuck.

I wish you success on your new journey. You will probably be asked to do a barium swallow/CT of the abdomen to chck if there is a physical cause and not just a "fat person" not following directions after their operation. Are you drinking enough? Are you eating enough- and what about your protein intake? Are you moving your body-exercise/sports--swimming or walking? I am not being mean. I recently had a revision and know the questions that are often asked of us. Good luck!. Mikimi in Israel

I had revision surgery July 3, 2008 by Dr. Kenneth B. Jones, Jr. in Shreveport, La.  I am doing great.  My pouch was made too large and incorrectly in 2001 during lap surgery by another surgeon.  I did lose weight but regained 40 lbs. The revision probably saved my life.  Since I still was not considered overweight (a size 12)  I hadn't considered a revision until I could not stop burping especially when there was nothing in my stomach.  I'm talking constantly, every 30 seconds.  I was always drinking something.  I would snack on cheetos puffs.  I guess anything would have worked to keep the acid off my ulcer. When I came out of  surgery he said I had an ugly ulcer and had to cut it out of my stomach/body.  He reshaped my pouch and made a new connecting stoma.  My insurance has a no revision clause and he even said they should pay for part of the surgery now.  When he shows them what was in me. I'm loosing weight.  I have lost 8.5 lbs in six days and I am a light weight for sure.  Now, I will be able to be a size 4 or 6 or what ever I work toward. Dr. Jones has a web site.  He has written medical books,   If you purchase medical papers online about weight loss surgery, as I did, he might have written them.  I asked him if he was getting compensated from it and he told me no.  He has also written a medical book.  He has been doing weight loss surgery since the 1980's.  This man is the nicest, brilliant man I know.  He will not do a lap band.  He said in the long term it doesn't work.  Which looks like he is right by what the boards say.  He will also not do lap.  He is very capable I am sure but does not believe it is actually better or safer.   He developed a cut years ago that has a small percentage rate of hernias.  It's about 7" long and goes below my cleveage line slanted to my left side. I know I am the exception.  I had surgery on Thursday and 4 days later I worked a half day in my home office.  The next day 6 hours and today I plan to work the whole day.  I think I might be well on the outside within a week.  I have given a lot of thought about why doctors don't do revision surgerys. My personal opinion is they are not really experienced in doing it .  A lot of nerves are severed when you have the original surgery.  That's probably why I didn't feel the ulcer like a normal person would have.  If you have open surgery the stomach can be attached to your liver  or other organs now because of scar tissue.  It is very delicate surgery and one where you must be extremely careful.  So, if you had lap the first time, know a revision will a lot easier for him because there is less scar tissure, but he will still do it open. Dr. Jones was my original surgeon of choice back in 1996 but his surgery waiting list was 45 days.  I had my approval letter before I even began looking for a surgeon and I didn't want to wait.  I had surgury the next week with another surgeon.   I can tell you that this is coming from a woman who has paid thousands out of her own pocket for this revision surgery and cosmetic surgery.  Breast lift, arms, tummy tuck, chin lift.   (Ya'll would have laughed just then if you had seen me looking down trying to think what all I have had done)   He told me he would not do it LAP this time.   I told him that I wasn't about to tell him what to do.  That I knew he was going to do what he thought was right. Shawn31, something is wrong if you haven't lost anymore weight.  If it is not your eating habits, I would look into revision surgery.  With a qualified surgeon.  One who has been a surgeon for years.

Wow! You are the first person to tell me that. I am always snacking and I just got finished with the hiccups. I was hiccuping so hard that I thought I was going to throw up. I drink my water and I walk but I can not lose anymore weight. I used to be a size 24 and now I wear a size 16 but I know that I need to lose more weight but it will not budge. I usually gain  5 pounds and then I will lose it just gain it back. I don't know what is going on. Congrat son your revision and weightloss.

I hate to be a little harsh, but if you are "always snacking," a revision is honestly not going to help you. It's unlikely you will lose the weight and keep it off. It's also really important to try to do more exercise than just walking. But the most important thing is to change your eating habits. As long as you are snacking, any surgery can be "out-eaten." Grazing is easy to do, no matter what size your pouch is, and will stop your weight loss and cause regain. It might be a good idea to try to get a handle on why you are continuing to have bad eating habits, maybe some therapy, before considering another surgery. It may be that there is actually nothing physically wrong and that if you can get a handle on it, you can still use your original surgery to help you lose the weight. Weight loss surgery is just a tool. It helps us at the outset, but the crucial thing is an entire change for the rest of your life in your eating habits. Generally, hiccuping can be related to eating too much and may be a sign that you need to cut back on portions. I'm honestly just trying to help. I see sometimes people wanting revisions because they haven't gotten to goal or are regaining and often just looking at our habits can explain what's going on. Size 16 isn't so big, and it may be you can still use your tool to get you down to an 8 or a 10 with lots of hard work and exercise. You're going to need that whether you have a revision or not.

Congrats on your successful revision!  It sounds like you struck gold with a great surgeon.....and having an experienced one is CRUCIAL!!!!  .............Since I work for plastic surgeon's who devote about 80% of their practice to Post Bariatric Body Contouring; I was interested in your description of his "special incision"?  I have been in on dozens of consultations where the patient needed and wanted a circ body lift and/or the fleur de lis (vertical pull like a corsette) who were unable to get what they wanted because of a previous diagonal incision.  Typically the Red Flag is about "losing tissue" or creating a dead zone.  It's probably a good thing you already had all of your reconstruction completed ahead of time.  What do you think?  Would that incision mess up someone elses' chances for p.s.?  I'd want to ask your surgeon just in case...................Best wishes on getting to that size you're hoping for.  I NEVER dreamed of getting into a size 4 for myself and now they're loose!  The good news for me is that I'm soon going to be able to dip into my daughter's big closet stash (when she's not looking)!!!                                          REVISIONS ROCK!!!!  Wooooooo Hooooooo!

There are revisions, then there are revisions.  I, personally, chose not to have my RNY revised but instead found a great DS surgeon who took down my RNY and gave me a DS.  I've been below goal for a year and have not had any problems.  I love my DS, which is an easier post op surgery to live with.

Hey there Starry!                     Congrats on making a fab choice for YOU and for being at goal with maintenance! .....That maintenance is always the tricky part for me!  Gheesh!  I'm hoping to get it right this time!  So far I've been below goal for 3 months; lost my regain plus an addtional 25 by 3 months post-op....I'm hoping I too can report the same thing you have....below goal for over a year!!!  That is awesome!  I'm crossing fingers and toes and oh yea....all the new loose skin is easily crossed as well that I can MAINTAIN!!              Y'know, I LOVE my ERny too and just wondered why you'd say  a DS is an easier post op surgery to live with?  Do you have odor issues like the majority of DSers?  Neverending diarrhea issues?  Need to take vitamins?  Frequent labs? Have issues with carbs and sugar (totally absorb those)?  ......  cuz my lower half has all the DS plumbing and it's the piece that has introduced these issues into my life!  ......  So glad I have it though cuz it's gotten the weight off in a hurry and seems to be keeping it that way!  ....The pouch part (Rny piece) continues to bless me with some restriction and some consequences for making bad choices!!!  I LOVE that, since my bad choices have always been the thing that kept me in the "obese" category!  ......  Anyway, the important thing is that you feel like your life is easier.  I haven't learned to love my DS piece yet but I am definitely learning to live with it

My open scar would not interfer with any plastic surgeries.    It is below the breast angled to my left side and only 7 inches long.  So, it is well above my waist line too.

Hello.  I'm so happy that your surgery has been so successful for you. 

The reason I say it's easier to live with, is I have no dumping (which is horrible), nothing gets "stuck", and no vomiting.

I do have the occasionasl gas, but did pre-RNY and pre revision, too.  Never had diarrhea.  That and the odors are greatly magnified.  I do take priobitics daily and a very low maintenance dose of Flagyl and have less than non WLS odor.

I do take a boatload of vitamins but it's fine with me.  Such a small trade off to have good health and wear a size 2/4.  Labs are bi yearly the first 2 years, then annual after that.  I'm coming up on my 2nd year Aug 25 and have had perfect labs since the DS, all but for my vit D, which was low Pre-DS and has come up from 19 (pre DS) to 36 (6 months ago)  I expect it will be even higher this next time. 

I eat a lot of white flour and a lot of sugar and have to really, really eat a lot of it to get gas.  As I said, if I do get gas, it usually attacks me during my sleep and isn't malodorous.  I slept on my friends couch last week and she and her boyfriend were watching TV and told me they heard me tooting but it didn't stink.

Another reason I love my DS is I have a fully functioning (although much smaller) stomach.  My natural outlet has been preserved, unlike a pouch, I have no stoma that could enlarge nor any chance of staple line disruption.  Both of which happened with my RNY.

I believe the stoma enlargment is the reason we're reading so much about the stomaphyx procedure.  It's such a common mechanical failure with the RNY. 

Continued good luck to you.  Even though my surgery was the most difficult to undergo, it was well worth it.  I just stacked the odds in my favor by selecting a DS surgeon who had much experience with taking down the RNY and then revising me.