new here

hello! i posted a message over in the lap band forum before i realized that there was a revision forum.

here's where i am:

had gastric bypass over 10 years ago. worked like a charm for 3 years or so. been putting on weight ever since. i'm now much heavier than when i had the gb, and i was pretty darn heavy then. i saw the surgeon about 5 years ago, and since the staples hadn't come undone he said there was nothing he could do. i saw him again a week ago, and he ordered some test and said after the tests we would discuss options. i don't think that lap band was available in easry 2004. maybe it was, but for whatever reason, there were "no options" at that time.

i saw the radiologist yesterday, drank the delicious barium, and was absolutely devistated when he said "looks good! everything is in place!". i think he thought that was a good thing.

so, once again, my gb is still intact. i have my appointment with the surgeon on tuesday. i don't know if there are other options for me at this point, but i'm hoping for a lap band.

so here's my question:

can somebody who has had gastric bypass and then gotten a lap band tell me about their experience? did you go to the same surgeon who did your gb? was he/she cool with the idea, or did he/she take convincing? i have blue cross blue shield- was it difficult to get preapproval? have you had success?

thanks,
ffff

Hi,

I was wondering are you even a candidate for a lap band ? What is your BMI. It seems IMHO a revision is indeed needed but what type is up to you and your surgeon. Have you checked in to a Entended RNY or even a DS. It seems to me that you need a malabsortive surgery. Maybe your RNY is very consertive and maybe your intestine was hardly bypassed if at all. That's what happened to me. My intestine was not bypassed at all. I paid for a RNY and a gastric stapling was only done. I just found this out July2, 2008. I had only lost about 80 lbs with my original RNY in 1997. My insurance denied it so I had to pay $25,000 for the RNY which I only got the stomach stapling. The surgeon is now retired and long gone. I went to 3 surgeons to get opinions. This one surgeon wanted to put a lap band on me and I am not even a candidate for the type of procedure. Glad I did not go to him. So I decided on the Extended RNY which I am left with a 75 cm common channel in my intestine. So I had the malabsorptive type of surgery. My restriction of my stomach is fine. But this time around my insurance paid for my revision.. I would go and see different surgeons and see what they have to say. I don't know what state your in but make sure you get a good doctor if you go with the DS or the Extended RNY. You can go on the DS site and they have a list of the the revision DS surgeons. If you go with a ERNY make sure you get a well qualified surgeon that does these also. I wish you the best of luck.

It is MY understanding that you can qualify just like you did prior to your RNY, if your BMI is high enough and you have co-morbs, then you should qualify for a revision.  Finding a surgeon that agrees if probably what you need to do.  Seem like I am in the same place, the surgeon that I saw wont do revisions unless there is mechanical failure...so after I have my Upper GI with the wonderful barium, IF there is no mechanical failure, then I will be in search of a better surgeon, one that is more understanding, I guess.  I swear it's harder emotionally the second time around cause you have yet another "failure" on your shoulders.  Keep us posted as we are all here for eachother!!!!

thanks so much for your responses! i actually hadn't heard of ds until coming to this forum. i'm a little sceptical but that's what research is for, and i'm grateful that this forum exists. i hear what you say about the emotional factor too. before finding this place i thought i was one of the only people in the world who had rny fail. glad to see that it's so common (if that makes any sense).

Welcome to the revision forum!

It seems a regular theme that what we've got 'isn't broken' but as far as we're concerned the darn thing isn't working though!

Regain is an issue with all of the surgeries, so the first advice is usually to go back to following the rules of your surgery quite strictly, and seeing if it's you or your insides that aren't co-operating.

I had the band first time round, and even when I followed the rules (when it would let me), I still didn't lose a lot. My revision surgeon said I needed malabsorbtion and not just restriction, so that would have meant extended RNY or the DS. I didn't fancy the RNY (too many people on this forum looking for revisions) so I got the DS instead. I couldnt recommend the band to you, it only has a 50% success rate, compared to 80% for the DS.

But you need a good revision surgeon - one who does all the surgeries and can give you unbiased advice. Not someone who will just sell you the easiest thing for them to do. RNY to DS revision is surgically complex, but it will work. I can't remember the last time I was at this weight, and I've done it by eating meat, cheese, nuts and mayonnaise. Check it out at least, and do your research thoroughly because getting it wrong the second time must be quite depressing.