Starting the revision work

Hi there,

My original surgery was an RNY with VBG combo. The VBG part of it drives me nuts - the prolene mesh band prevents me from eating good protein sources like meat and chicken, but of course the carbohydrates just melt right through. The doctor who performed my surgery is no longer practicing.

I have started on the revision journey. My original surgery weight was 328, I got down to about 175 and am back up near 220. :( 

Right now I have a bunch of tests scheduled: Upper GI, gallbladder ultrasound, psych consult and pulmonologist/sleep consult. I am pretty sure my apnea is back. I need to see a nutritionist as well. I'm hoping this will all be approved pretty quickly. Hopefully Horizon won't give me problems.

I'll keep everyone updated as this moves along,
Adele

Boy, Adele, do I ever know what you're talking about with the mesh and the VBG portion of your old surgery. I wish you all the luck in the world as you move forward! I can tell you life without a pouch amazing!

Kathy

Thanks, Kathy!

I think I would have been better off without the mesh band, since I would have eaten more protein. I'm sooo tired of losing all the "good" food. 

As a matter of fact, I'm seeing Dr. Greenbaum. June was on vacation so I didn't schedule my visit yet, but I'll do that this week.  How long do you estimate it was between when you first contacted him and when you had your surgery? I'm trying to plan ahead here because I'll have to schedule substitutes at work.

I'm probably not your best guage for that question. I had originally thought I'd have Dr Gagner do my revision, and had completed all my pre-op testing with him. THEN I discovered Dr Greenbaum. So I came to Dr Greenbaum as a completed package ... I had already scanned the results of all of my pre-ops into PDFs, so I simply zipped them together and emailed them to Dr Greenbaum shortly after contacting him.

The timeline went like this:

3/23/09 contacted Dr Greenbaum for the first time via email. Sent him my file of test results.
3/24/09 phone consult with Dr Greenbaum
3/25/09 he typed his letter of recommendation and Tina submitted my packet to insurance
3/30/09 approved one short week after first contacting Dr Greenbaum!! (Aetna insurance)
5/4/09 surgery

He performs surgery on Mondays, and I'm told he schedules about a month ahead. But the first part went unusually fast due to the fact that my testing had already been completed before I ever contacted him.

Of course, I *could* have scheduled further out than that, had I needed more time to make work arrangements. I hustled, though. I was coming from Seattle, and had a friend traveling with me. It was essential I was super-organized to be able to pull it off.

Wow, that's some timing, Kathy! Not bad at all. May I ask why you came to NJ from Washington? It's so far!

I have everything scheduled except the nutritionist. The Upper GI is this Wednesday, the gallbladder ultrasound is Saturday. I need a nutritionist, though. I might see if there's one near work who will see me. I can also grab the results of my endoscopy from last February to add to the mix.

I'm hoping to get this done before the end of the year because I have 8 vacation days and 12 sick days left. Vacation doesn't carry over, so I could use it towards this and not have to go on disability.  

Adele

Good luck with your revision and by the way Adele you are from my old neck of the woods (I moved to Fl from Old Bridge).  I am having a revision 2 weeks from day.  I am a former patient of Dr. Gagner and have a band that needs to be revised... I am converting to RNY at  Cleveland Clinic in FL.  Started my liquid diet of 14 days today :(

keep me posted on your progress.
maryjo

Hi Maryjo,

I used to live down in Jackson, and now live in Bayonne. I can't seem to leave NJ, although I'm originally a Brooklyn girl. I am very confused by my original surgery since it was a combination of RNY and VBG, so I'm hoping that Dr. Greenbaum will definitely revise this to a DS.

I'll keep everyone posted. All the tests are scheduled. Now I need to find a nutritionist!

Hi
I'm born and raised in Brooklyn!  Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge ... graduate of Fontbonne Hall... where were you?

I lived in Bay Ridge til I was 11. I went to St. Anselm's School, and then we moved to Jersey. Ugh, lol. I missed Brooklyn so much, maybe that's why I moved up to Bayonne. It's a lot like Bay Ridge.

Wow Adele,
From the same neck of the woods lol.  I lived 80th St  & 6th Ave for a few years ... know St. Anselms well.  Small world.

have a great day.
Maryjo