Any lapband to RNY'ers out there?

Short story....have had a lap band, and it did wonders. I lost about 100 pounds, and maintained it until last year at this time, I was eating a small dinner as usual and something went wrong......Since then I have had a hiatal hernia operation, fills...unfills.....I have no restriction at all, and then within .2cc's I can't eat anything. I have decided to revise to the RNY at this point.
My questions is has anyone out there had a revision where they didn't need to loose as much as the first time around? I probably need to loose about 60lbs, but I am continually gaining (of course, as I'm a food hound when I don't have restriction). Did you have to wait until you gained all the weight back? I'm meeting with a new doctor next week to talk about m options. I'm hoping my insurance covers this, as they covered my lapband 5 years ago. Thanks much..

I loved the band till 2 years after i got it.  Then i started to throw up alot and found my band slipped and gained weight back.  I was able to get my band removed and the doctor told me I could have the bypas with no addition cost. So that is what I did.  1 year later and I am back down to my lowest weight with the band and hopes to lose a bit more.  Let me know if I can help with anything else.
Cristy

That's great Cristy. I have gained about 50 pounds back. Are you happy with your dicision? I imagine you are and you look great. I'm going to meet a new doctor a week from tomorrow as my old one moved away. I would LOVE to get it all done at once, and not for him to charge me! He usually charges about $15,000 for RNY, but I figure if my insurance is going to pay to have the band removed, he should at least do something else while he is already there. Have alot of people had this same thing? Thanks for your post, and keep up the great work.

Hi My story is very similar to yours.  Had lapband in 2001, lost 100 lbs. 2004 things started to go downhill, had surgery repaired huge hiatel hernia.  Started to lose weight again for another year or so.  Then weigh loss stopped, didn't gain a tremendous amount of weight but just a continual amount of fills and unfills (too loose; too tight).  January of this year, band slipped so needed surgery.  Decided to replace old band with new band (poor decision).  Lost a few lbs the first month (about 30), then no more weight loss.  At this point i had about 75 lbs remaining to lose.  Finally went to different surgeons who said the band was doing nothing for me except damaging esophagus and suggested RNY.  My insurance approved the revision and 3 weeks ago today i had revision.  They did it laparascopically  and removed band and did bypass same time.  I have already lost about 30 lbs. and at the lowest weight of my adult life.  I have at most another 50 lbs. to lose. 

Well hope this helps and feel free to email me with any questions.  Good luck to you.
Maryjo

It's interesting and comforting to see how similar these situations are. Mine is similar as well. Had the lap band in 2003. I did great. Lost 115 pounds. After 2 years, had a slight slip and had surgery. Then I was in a holding pattern for a year or so and got very frustrated. Then.... the problems started. Fills and unfills. Vomiting. Starting to eat what would go down (all the "bad" stuff). Daily vomiting. Gaining weight. Had the fluid taken out to "start over". Well, after 2 years and gaining back about 80 pounds, I finally agreed to a bypass. Today is my revision surgery. The band will be taken out and haivng RNY. Hopefully, things will go smoothly. So you're not alone. I'll keep you posted.

(Maryjo - glad to hear you're doing well.!)

Mary

Mary let me know how you make it ... speedy recovery!
maryjo

Sreed, it`s sooo common that the band fails after a few years, the reoperation rate within the first 5 years is very high. I don`t understand why so many docs are still doing it.

Re your revision, have you looked into other surgeries then just the RNY? There are more revision options - the sleeve and the DS. If you read this board, you`ll see that not just the band, but also the RNY fails often and that regain is a HUGE problem with the RNY. For people with a starting BMI over 50, the RNY has a failure rate of 35-over 50 %, re which study you trust. For people with a lower BMI, it looks a bit better, but many have to fight for it with a strict low-cal diet and lots of exercise. The RNY pouch will stretch over time, often the stoma stretches too, and then your restriction is gone forever unless you get MORE surgery. Plus, there is not much of the intestines bypassed with the RNY (just 1/5 to 1/6) and the body can and will adjust to that and after 2+ years out, hardly any calories are malabsorbed any longer.

The longterm sucess rate of the sleeve is yet unkown and the current stats indicate that it is not a good choice for people with a high BMI, but it may work great for those with a BMI of not more then 40 or lower. The DS has the best sucess rate of all surgeries. For someone with fewer to loose, many recommend the sleeve which has no malabsorbation, but if you think you need some malabsorbation, the DS can be done with a longer common channel, too.

Please look into the sleeve and the DS.You can find more infos and a list of docs who do if you ask at the DS board.