Revision to a RNY from a VBG
Hi. I have never posted before, but I am really anxious about this surgery. Is there anyone out there willing to share their experiences with this type of revision? I am curious about the recovery time, pain, complications, etc. (you know, all the things a person worries about..)
<^><^><^>Where there is faith there is hope, Where there is hope there is everything<^><^><^> 
I had a revision from VBG to RNY in March 07. I was in the hospital for 4 days and back to work exactly 2 weeks after surgery. I didn't have a lot of pain, though it did feel like I had been punched in the stomach hard for a while. My original VBG was and open procedure, and my RNY revision was laproscopic.
I haven't had any complications, and to be honest my life with RNY has been so much better than life with VBG. I could pretty much count on getting sick after nearly every meal before my revision, now I can't remember the last time I got sick. I'm so happy I finally decided to give surgery a chance again and found one that fit me and my lifestyle.
Debbi
I haven't had any complications, and to be honest my life with RNY has been so much better than life with VBG. I could pretty much count on getting sick after nearly every meal before my revision, now I can't remember the last time I got sick. I'm so happy I finally decided to give surgery a chance again and found one that fit me and my lifestyle.
Debbi
StacysMom
on 3/6/09 2:15 pm
on 3/6/09 2:15 pm
Be sure and look at ALL of your options before deciding on the RNY. There are the sleeve and the DS to consider. (Or even a lapband.) Once you get the "pouch" stomach of the RNY, further revision to the newer, more cutting-edge forms of RNY, become very difficult to do. If you decide to go through with the RNY, be sure and lose as much weight as you can during the 2 year "honeymoon period", as your pouch will stretch and your intestines will become better at absorbing what you put into them. I've seen a lot of people lose 150 lbs right away and put it right back on when they didn't conform to post-RNY eating instructions once they are a few years out. The DS is a stronger "tool" for weight loss, but it is just coming to the forefront, so most doctors are still doing the RNY and a lot of people don't even know there are other options available to them.
Please note there is NO ONE on the revisions board looking to revise from the DS, but there are a lot on here who are looking to revise from the RNY. Something to think about and investigate.
Learn how the different surgeries work. Under stand the "lingo". Educate yourself to ask the right questions. Remember that doctors are in business to make money and they will try to sway you into deciding on a surgery which they perform. Especially in this economy we have now, with people losing their jobs and health insurance, there is more competition than ever for elective surgery.
Don't decide on a surgery just because some doctor thinks it's "best" for you. YOU decide what's best for you. Only you know what surgery you will be able to work with. That's why it's so important to get the right surgery for YOU, the first time around (so you won't need to be cut open again for yet another revision 5 years from now).
Regarding complications - it's different for everyone. Some people have nearly died from complications of getting a lapband and others have come through the DS with flying colors and no problems. It depends on your current health conditions, how you heal, the skill of your surgeon, the sterile condition of the operating room and the other personnel in the hospital, etc.
Good luck!
Please note there is NO ONE on the revisions board looking to revise from the DS, but there are a lot on here who are looking to revise from the RNY. Something to think about and investigate.
Learn how the different surgeries work. Under stand the "lingo". Educate yourself to ask the right questions. Remember that doctors are in business to make money and they will try to sway you into deciding on a surgery which they perform. Especially in this economy we have now, with people losing their jobs and health insurance, there is more competition than ever for elective surgery.
Don't decide on a surgery just because some doctor thinks it's "best" for you. YOU decide what's best for you. Only you know what surgery you will be able to work with. That's why it's so important to get the right surgery for YOU, the first time around (so you won't need to be cut open again for yet another revision 5 years from now).
Regarding complications - it's different for everyone. Some people have nearly died from complications of getting a lapband and others have come through the DS with flying colors and no problems. It depends on your current health conditions, how you heal, the skill of your surgeon, the sterile condition of the operating room and the other personnel in the hospital, etc.
Good luck!
StacysMom
on 3/9/09 2:29 pm
on 3/9/09 2:29 pm
If hunger is your main issue, consider the gastric sleeve - the surgery removed the greater curvature of the stomach where the majority of Grehlin (the hunger hormone) is produced. There is no malabsorption, only restriction and decreased hunger - it may work for you and it is a lot less invasive than the RNY, done LAP and has a shorter healing time. Plus, then you will have the first part of the DS surgery - you can add the intestinal part later, if you find that you need it (and maybe then, it will be easier to get covered as a "revision").
Once you get the RNY pouch, you severely limit the types of future WLS that you can get. The sleeve is just beginning to be covered by insurance companies, and if you are willing to travel and self-pay, you can get it done out of the country for a reasonable fee. With the RNY, you will still be as hungry as ever, only you won't be able to stuff too much into that tiny pouch you will have. When the pouch stretches out, if hunger is your real issue, it will be a free-for-all again.
If you go through with the RNY, at least go "distal" - it gives you more malabsorption and then, even if you do fall off the "wagon", you won't absorb all the calories. The Distal RNY is a stronger tool than the standard Proximal RNY. You will, however, have more vitamins, etc. to take as part of the increased malabsorption concerns.
Once you get the RNY pouch, you severely limit the types of future WLS that you can get. The sleeve is just beginning to be covered by insurance companies, and if you are willing to travel and self-pay, you can get it done out of the country for a reasonable fee. With the RNY, you will still be as hungry as ever, only you won't be able to stuff too much into that tiny pouch you will have. When the pouch stretches out, if hunger is your real issue, it will be a free-for-all again.
If you go through with the RNY, at least go "distal" - it gives you more malabsorption and then, even if you do fall off the "wagon", you won't absorb all the calories. The Distal RNY is a stronger tool than the standard Proximal RNY. You will, however, have more vitamins, etc. to take as part of the increased malabsorption concerns.
I cannot go self pay and my insurance will not pay for the sleeve. I have been told that with the rhy most people do not have as much problem with the grehlin. I will be sure to ask my doc about the distal instead of the proximal. I had planned to do that already, but it is nice to hear that it works.
<^><^><^>Where there is faith there is hope, Where there is hope there is everything<^><^><^>
Hi :):):)
I had Stomach Stapling to RNY Revision. I did absolutely horrible on the stapling and thought at some points I wasn't going to make it. I felt sick all the time and really had a hard time coming back from that surgery. My Rny Revision I did fantastic. Felt great, lost all the weight I needed to lose. Although I am now needing and yet another revision, I blame myself for that for not doing as I was supposed to which was eating all my meals at the table and not snacking all day long.
RNY works if you use the tool your given...
Good Luck!
My insurance doesn't cover DS either, and I too am scared of the risks...Good Luck to you.
JRolfson
I had Stomach Stapling to RNY Revision. I did absolutely horrible on the stapling and thought at some points I wasn't going to make it. I felt sick all the time and really had a hard time coming back from that surgery. My Rny Revision I did fantastic. Felt great, lost all the weight I needed to lose. Although I am now needing and yet another revision, I blame myself for that for not doing as I was supposed to which was eating all my meals at the table and not snacking all day long.
RNY works if you use the tool your given...
Good Luck!
My insurance doesn't cover DS either, and I too am scared of the risks...Good Luck to you.
JRolfson
I wish you great sucess with the RNY, but to make sure that you know the facts -
1. The DS is not riskier then the RNY. Studies show the risks are the same, and the risk of protein malnutrition is actually bigger with the RNY. With a distal RNY, you get about the same malabsorbation then with the DS, so if you`re scared of the DS, you shouldn`t get the distal RNY neither (and with the DS, you have at least a fully funktioning stomach which will allow more normal eating and better absorbation of serveral vitamins).
2. If your insurence covers WLS in general, you can appeal and force them to pay for the DS. Ask the insurence gurus at the DS board.
3. It`s wrong that the RNY will work for everyone as long as you follow the rules and "work the tool". First, mechanical failure like a stoma enlargement or pouch stretching is common, and then your restriction is gone forever and you`re back to willpower which worked so wonderfully before surgery. Procedures to shrink the stoma like stomaphyx and ROSE don`t seem to work and aren`t covered by insurence. Second, after the honeymoon period, most people need to diet and/or exercise a lot to avoid regain because the malabsorbation of the proximal RNY doesn`t last, and since when are diets effective to loose weight in long-term? What I want to say, those who fail at "working their tools" aren`t lazy or stupid and it`s not their fault, just like no one who can`t loose weight without surgery is stupid or lazy.
1. The DS is not riskier then the RNY. Studies show the risks are the same, and the risk of protein malnutrition is actually bigger with the RNY. With a distal RNY, you get about the same malabsorbation then with the DS, so if you`re scared of the DS, you shouldn`t get the distal RNY neither (and with the DS, you have at least a fully funktioning stomach which will allow more normal eating and better absorbation of serveral vitamins).
2. If your insurence covers WLS in general, you can appeal and force them to pay for the DS. Ask the insurence gurus at the DS board.
3. It`s wrong that the RNY will work for everyone as long as you follow the rules and "work the tool". First, mechanical failure like a stoma enlargement or pouch stretching is common, and then your restriction is gone forever and you`re back to willpower which worked so wonderfully before surgery. Procedures to shrink the stoma like stomaphyx and ROSE don`t seem to work and aren`t covered by insurence. Second, after the honeymoon period, most people need to diet and/or exercise a lot to avoid regain because the malabsorbation of the proximal RNY doesn`t last, and since when are diets effective to loose weight in long-term? What I want to say, those who fail at "working their tools" aren`t lazy or stupid and it`s not their fault, just like no one who can`t loose weight without surgery is stupid or lazy.
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