Sclerotherapy (sp?) or Revision?

Hello!

I was hoping you could help me with some information. I had gastric bypass with Dr. Randall at Lawrence Memorial in Medford, MA. I had my surgery on 1/2/2002.  Initially within the first 8-9 months I lost 130 lbs then for the next 9 months i slowly loss an additional 40 lbs. It's been 7 years post op and now with almost 3 1/2 - 4 years I have gained back about 50 lbs and constantly feel hungry. I"m afraid the weight is just slowly creeping back on. I can't seem to shake the constant hunger feeling.

I had been considering a revision for quite some time but was unsure if this was somethign that could be done or what could be done. I saw on the forum about sclerotherapy and then others having revisions for their rny.

I called Dr. Randall's office but they are on vacation. So i went a head and called Dr. Thompson at Brigham and Women's Hospital, who does sclerotherapy, which I found this information on the forum.

Did  you think I should make an appointment with Dr. Randall's office first? Or do I go ahead and make an appointment with Dr. Thompson's office in Boston?

Any advice, suggestions, etc would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

First of all congratulations on your awesome weight loss success!

Some bounce back is expected after RNY and hopefully your original surgeon explained this to you.  I know some don't and then patients deal with anxiety when it starts to occur.  Your situation is not so uncommon.  There are many posts on this board of patients whose stoma and pouch have stretched causing them to eat more.  Have you had an upper GI and Endoscopy done to determine the size of your pouch and stoma?  These can help you get approved for a revision through your insurance.  They prove a mechanical problems.

Sclerotherapy has had limited success from what I understand.    I have seen mixed posts here on the revision board about its success and I have not personally seen any long term posts or results yet.  However, I think it has been more successful then  the Rose and Stomaphyx procedure.  Perhaps some sclerotherapy patients will chime in to detail their results.  I have not seen any post in quite some time.

There are several options for revisions.  I would suggest doing more research and finding the one that best suits your needs.  The most important aspect is finding a qualified doctor who has done MANY MANY revisions and not just first time wls surgeries.  

There is RNY to DS, more malabsorption, good long term statistics but also one of the most risky revisions for RNYers due to the take down of the pouch.  

Also available is band over pouch.  Limited results have been posted and if you are comfortable with fills and unfills this could provide you with more restriction.

RNY to ERNY is where they shorten your common channel to give you greater malabsorption.

So you can see you do have several options to choose from.  Many doctors do not necessarily discuss all of them with you simply because either they do not perform them or are not comfortable with them.

Good luck to you on your new journey.

Thank you for the information!! I will do more research, I am trying to get a hold of my original surgeon's office to make an appointment and see what happens.

Thank you for the input!

How does sclerotherapy work????? Thanks

I am one of the few on this site that has had the lap-band over gastric bypass procedure which I had done on 5/29/09 (7 years after RNY; 40+ lb regain).  I am loving it so far but can't speak on long-term experience, obviously.  I have lost 21 lbs to date of the 50 lbs I need to lose.  Feel free to read my blogs on my page.  For me,  I liked the idea of controlling amount of food intake through lifetime fills/unfills depending on what is needed to maintain once goal is reached.  That was key in my decision to become a "bandster."

I almost got the ROSE procedure and after careful research decided it lacked the success I need and want.  I did not want to be a guinea pig and risk it not working for me.

My advice to you is to thoroughly EDUCATE yourself as to your options.  THis way you can make a decision based on the variables (and what your surgeon suggests, etc.) and feel content with that decision.

Good luck!!

Weigh 2 go Lisa Breezee!!!  You are half way there already!!!  Wow!

So does the band choke the appetite right out of you or is it like "preventive eating" where you know that one more bite will undo the entire nutritional intake?

Do you have a "mini port"?  Will they need to adjust the port when you are at your goal weight and are ready for your plastics?

LOL!  I've got zillions of questions for bands over Rny's! 

Sclerotherapy is an endoscopic prodedure that reduces the size of the stoma.  Many of us have an enlarged stoma which allows the food in our small stomachs to empty too quickly, leaving us hungry way too soon.  This usually results in weight gain.  For me.....so far so good!  I am still on the post procedure liquid diet.  I rarely feel hungry, in fact for the first couply of days it was a struggle to get the protein drinks in at all.    ginny

Thanks so much, I am interested in this, I have read about the rose and stomaphyx and not sure of the difference with this.....Please keep us posted....

Hate to hijack the thread, but to answer your questions...lol.

I do not yet have full restriction and am far away from the "sweet spot," so I feel like I am just dieting, however, I do still measure everything and feel satisfied when  I do.  I definitely still have an appetite but it is getting easier to control (except the head hunger, grrrrrr).

My port is on my left side about 3 inches from my belly button.  I currently have 1.8 cc's in my 10 cc band.  If that is what you  mean by adjusting it at my goal weight, then yes, my weight will be controlled through fills and maintaining that "sweet spot" once I reach goal (oh yeah, and ME following the rules lololol...that I heard is key to success hehehe).

Plastics???  Well, just had my boobs done 3 weeks ago.  Since they looked like tube socks with golf balls in the bottom...I FIGURED IT WAS TIME.    I think that is it for me for plastics.  I am lucky in that my skin retained its elasticity over the years and isn't too-too bad.  Still have jiggly bits, but whatev!!!

I took a pic of me in my pink corset (see my pics) and I realllllly noticed a difference in my side-view profile.  Not just the boobs, but in my weight and waistline.  It felt so good to look at those and reap the benefits of my (TRULY) hard work the last couple of months.

Amazing pics!  Wow!  .... I especially like the one where you're raising a protein drink up to toast your new body! 
That pink corset fits VERY nicely! 

Congrats to you!