Trying to get over the idea of another surgery...Have a slipped lapband going for RNY
Hi there!
You are not alone. I too am having revision WLS. I am having my band removed and getting RNY. Im excited and scared at the same time. I know I will be successful. Although I did not lose a great deal of weight (50lbs) in the 2 1/2 years Ive had the band, Ive learned to eat much healthier and excercise.
My surgery is scheduled for March 22nd. I will try and keep you posted with my progress if Im feeling ok. The doctor says recovery may be longer since hes revising me. He said I will be off work for 4 weeks and then he will reassess how Im doing.
Everything will be fine. Stay positive and embrace the fact that youre getting a 2nd chance at reaching your weight loss goal.
You are not alone. I too am having revision WLS. I am having my band removed and getting RNY. Im excited and scared at the same time. I know I will be successful. Although I did not lose a great deal of weight (50lbs) in the 2 1/2 years Ive had the band, Ive learned to eat much healthier and excercise.
My surgery is scheduled for March 22nd. I will try and keep you posted with my progress if Im feeling ok. The doctor says recovery may be longer since hes revising me. He said I will be off work for 4 weeks and then he will reassess how Im doing.
Everything will be fine. Stay positive and embrace the fact that youre getting a 2nd chance at reaching your weight loss goal.
colleendlyd
on 2/17/10 6:04 am
on 2/17/10 6:04 am
I am also going to have revision surgery on May 14/10 from lapband to RNY. I have had the band almost 3 years - lost 50 lbs - gained back 30 and have been looking at revision sugery for the past year. I have been beating myself up a lot too - saying what could I have done differently, how could WLS have failed? Oh how I want/need to stop being hard on myself. After much soul searching and research, I beleive that RNY is the surgery for me. I am a food grazer, not a large volume eater - hence why RNY would be the best for me. Having both a restrictive and malabsorption procedue is best for me.
Good luck to you.
Good luck to you.
Hi Cathleen,
Is Dr. Lautz doing your revision? I don't know if you know I had my lapband out in June, 2008 at his suggestion and had a revision to the RNY. It was the best thing I ever did. I had two years of problems with my band.
You did really well with your weight loss so you did not fail the band. I have read a lot on here about people needing a revision after having the band for 2+ years and developing problems. Sometimes I wonder if the body rebels after a period of time. Dr. Lautz has another patient who did really well then started having issues. She had her revision the month after me. My band gave me GERD which I no longer have.
Anyway I have done really well with the RNY and now eat like a "normal" person. Plus I have lost 95% of the weight I wanted to lose with no exercising. My work day is far too long but I do a lot of walking at times.
Valerie
Is Dr. Lautz doing your revision? I don't know if you know I had my lapband out in June, 2008 at his suggestion and had a revision to the RNY. It was the best thing I ever did. I had two years of problems with my band.
You did really well with your weight loss so you did not fail the band. I have read a lot on here about people needing a revision after having the band for 2+ years and developing problems. Sometimes I wonder if the body rebels after a period of time. Dr. Lautz has another patient who did really well then started having issues. She had her revision the month after me. My band gave me GERD which I no longer have.
Anyway I have done really well with the RNY and now eat like a "normal" person. Plus I have lost 95% of the weight I wanted to lose with no exercising. My work day is far too long but I do a lot of walking at times.
Valerie
Revision June 9, 2008
Lapband to RNY
117 lbs. lost as of 09-08-10
Dr. David B. Lautz~~~~~Simply the Best!
Brigham & Women's Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr. Lautz.... it is soooo encouraging to hear that I am not alone. We were banded around the same time. I only regret that I didn't get a revision sooner. I am excited to have it done. Would you be willing to share some more detail with me like how long and painful your recovery was? How it is different from being banded?...Just want to be prepared
Cathleen,
My recovery was rough compared to his other patients but I am also probably his oldest revision patient. (I am 55 nearly 56). I am being honest here and not trying to scare you. The recovery was rough as the surgery was a very difficult one. I had a kidney out in 2003 for cancer so he had to deal with all those adhesions, repair an umbilical hernia I didn't know I had, then take out the lapband/port, then do the RNY. I spent five days in the hospital but I ran a low grade fever all week and he didn't want to send me back home to New Hampshire if I had a leak. I did not have a leak or any other issues. The nursing care was top notch. Several of my nurses went to school up here at UNH which has a good nursing program.
I feel you will have an easier time than me because you are much younger than me and probably don't have the issues I had that he had to deal with. His other revision patients only spent 2-3 days in the hospital. I was completely calm going into surgery that morning and my daugher couldn't get over that. I told her I had complete faith in his surgical skills. She also said Dr. Lautz looked pretty stressed when he came to talk with her after my surgery. I am guessing that is due to the difficulty of my revision and also the fact he has a resident with him as the Brigham is a teaching hospital.
My recovery went very well. I was out of work exactly three weeks which was only one more week than when I had my lapband. I am very, very glad I had my revision. I should have had the RNY in the first place but I wanted a "less invasive" surgery due to having had cancer.
I can eat very normal now and you would never know I had WLS. With the lapband I could never eat anything that was "healthy". I had also developed GERD which I never had in my life. I pretty much was living on milkshakes from McDonald's, ice cream, yogurt, and cereal. Of course I was in denial about everything until I finally told Dr. Lautz what was going on and that I was sick of living like I was.
I can eat pretty much anything. I do dump on some things. I love sweets and always have. Stay away from Panera Bread's cookies...too much fat and sugar. My worst dumping episode was eating one of their toffee -----cookies. But now I eat things in moderation....which is good and I don't feel deprived one bit. I can eat steak, pork chops, pork loin, hot dogs, steak tips, cheeseburgers, chicken, turkey, broccoli, salad, and all kinds of things. I have trouble with spaghetti with meat sauce. I just tried some recently and it did not sit well after a couple bites. I have no trouble with the pasta in Weigh****cher, Lean Cuisine dinners. I went to a big business function last year up in Maine to honor the owner of Barber Foods. Of course the dinner was some type of Barber Food's chicken, salad, and I forget what the other parts of the dinner were. The chicken was very dry as they probably cooked ahead of time as it was a huge event. I ate a little of everything including part of the dinner roll and ate all of the dessert....lol. That was small, some kind of fruit tart with some kind of cream over it. I say small because pre WLS I probably would have downed 3 or 4 of the desserts and the whole dinner too.
If you have any questions maybe we could talk. Let me know. I do think you will do really, really well with the RNY. You did really well with your band. And you know you are in good hands with Dr. Lautz. You know he does a lot of difficult "fixit" surgeries to fix other surgeons mistakes. He did a girl up here in NH and she traveled 4-5 hours to have him fix her up.
On another note I know two people up here really well that have the lapband. One lost over a 100 lbs. like you but has been having lots of problems like you. She can't get a revision as she just battled cancer. The other girl lost 60 lbs. and can't get any more fill. The last one nearly put her in the hospital with dehydration. I believe she had the same size band as me but evidently her stomach won't tolerate any more. She still weighs over 200 lbs. And she said her insurance won't pay for a revision but I have encouraged her to go see Dr. Lautz as the insurance companies will pay if it's "medically ncessary" and in her case it is. His office knows how to deal with the insurance companies in matters like this. Everytime I see her she can't get over how much weight I lost....I have lost about 110 lbs. I lost 23 lbs. the first two weeks which was way more than the lapband.
Valerie
My recovery was rough compared to his other patients but I am also probably his oldest revision patient. (I am 55 nearly 56). I am being honest here and not trying to scare you. The recovery was rough as the surgery was a very difficult one. I had a kidney out in 2003 for cancer so he had to deal with all those adhesions, repair an umbilical hernia I didn't know I had, then take out the lapband/port, then do the RNY. I spent five days in the hospital but I ran a low grade fever all week and he didn't want to send me back home to New Hampshire if I had a leak. I did not have a leak or any other issues. The nursing care was top notch. Several of my nurses went to school up here at UNH which has a good nursing program.
I feel you will have an easier time than me because you are much younger than me and probably don't have the issues I had that he had to deal with. His other revision patients only spent 2-3 days in the hospital. I was completely calm going into surgery that morning and my daugher couldn't get over that. I told her I had complete faith in his surgical skills. She also said Dr. Lautz looked pretty stressed when he came to talk with her after my surgery. I am guessing that is due to the difficulty of my revision and also the fact he has a resident with him as the Brigham is a teaching hospital.
My recovery went very well. I was out of work exactly three weeks which was only one more week than when I had my lapband. I am very, very glad I had my revision. I should have had the RNY in the first place but I wanted a "less invasive" surgery due to having had cancer.
I can eat very normal now and you would never know I had WLS. With the lapband I could never eat anything that was "healthy". I had also developed GERD which I never had in my life. I pretty much was living on milkshakes from McDonald's, ice cream, yogurt, and cereal. Of course I was in denial about everything until I finally told Dr. Lautz what was going on and that I was sick of living like I was.
I can eat pretty much anything. I do dump on some things. I love sweets and always have. Stay away from Panera Bread's cookies...too much fat and sugar. My worst dumping episode was eating one of their toffee -----cookies. But now I eat things in moderation....which is good and I don't feel deprived one bit. I can eat steak, pork chops, pork loin, hot dogs, steak tips, cheeseburgers, chicken, turkey, broccoli, salad, and all kinds of things. I have trouble with spaghetti with meat sauce. I just tried some recently and it did not sit well after a couple bites. I have no trouble with the pasta in Weigh****cher, Lean Cuisine dinners. I went to a big business function last year up in Maine to honor the owner of Barber Foods. Of course the dinner was some type of Barber Food's chicken, salad, and I forget what the other parts of the dinner were. The chicken was very dry as they probably cooked ahead of time as it was a huge event. I ate a little of everything including part of the dinner roll and ate all of the dessert....lol. That was small, some kind of fruit tart with some kind of cream over it. I say small because pre WLS I probably would have downed 3 or 4 of the desserts and the whole dinner too.
If you have any questions maybe we could talk. Let me know. I do think you will do really, really well with the RNY. You did really well with your band. And you know you are in good hands with Dr. Lautz. You know he does a lot of difficult "fixit" surgeries to fix other surgeons mistakes. He did a girl up here in NH and she traveled 4-5 hours to have him fix her up.
On another note I know two people up here really well that have the lapband. One lost over a 100 lbs. like you but has been having lots of problems like you. She can't get a revision as she just battled cancer. The other girl lost 60 lbs. and can't get any more fill. The last one nearly put her in the hospital with dehydration. I believe she had the same size band as me but evidently her stomach won't tolerate any more. She still weighs over 200 lbs. And she said her insurance won't pay for a revision but I have encouraged her to go see Dr. Lautz as the insurance companies will pay if it's "medically ncessary" and in her case it is. His office knows how to deal with the insurance companies in matters like this. Everytime I see her she can't get over how much weight I lost....I have lost about 110 lbs. I lost 23 lbs. the first two weeks which was way more than the lapband.
Valerie
Revision June 9, 2008
Lapband to RNY
117 lbs. lost as of 09-08-10
Dr. David B. Lautz~~~~~Simply the Best!
Brigham & Women's Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts
I am almost 2 yrs post op and lost about 25 pounds total, have gained it back plus another 10, I am wondering how you were able to get your insurance to approve the revision? I have been working on it for almost a year now and I have had no luck because they are telling me there is no medical reason for my band not to work, If I eat certain foods it hurts, and gets stuck no matter how much I chew it. I am not a go for 2nds and 3rds type of person, my dr had also recommended I get the gastric bypass in the first place because he didn't feel the band would work because of my size, I chose the band anyways because my mother was scared of my getting the gastric bypass, BUT now even she has realized after seeing my failure with the band and what I eat that I am not a huge eater, my mom has never had a weight problem and thought if i just quit eating so much I could lose the weight, she didn't understand *Ü* I have a lot of pain in my legs and feet lately so much that I don't want to get up and out of bed, I am afraid of becoming an invalid. I have to force myself to go to my weekly bowling league which I love to do, don't know what to do or where else to turn to....
Feeling Hopeless
Feeling Hopeless
OH NO! I am so sorry to read that! I honestly do not know how the approval process works. My doctors office took care of all of that. It is probably because my band is no longer in proper placement and I would have to have a surgery to remove it anyway. Instead of just having it removed or another band replacing it I am choosing to have a revision to RNY. I understand what you mean about food intolerance. I cannot tolerate any particle foods like rice, pasta etc also no potatoes chicken, any red meat but especially hamburg, no pork of any kind no eggs no raw veggies, no bread of any kind absolutely no bread. Chocolate produces too much mucus. I drink a lot of milk and for some reason can always eat ice cream...wierd and painful. Sorry to hear about your struggles. Maybe you should switch insurance providers? I think there is a message forum that addresses insurance on OH.....sorry again not to have any better advice.....good luck
I have not been approved but my doctor doesnt seem to think i will have any problem. The key is documentation and you still have to be symptamatic. For me I constantly threw up, my GERD was horrible, The weight is cutting circulation off in my legs, etc....
I got my band completely unfilled and when i done this a month ago i have not thrown up!!!!! The GERD is still bad. I am insulin resistant (borderline) honestly complain complain complain and document document document! It's your body......
nobody knows how YOU feel better then YOU.
i got my fingers crossed that i will get approved and i will keep them crossed for you also!!
I got my band completely unfilled and when i done this a month ago i have not thrown up!!!!! The GERD is still bad. I am insulin resistant (borderline) honestly complain complain complain and document document document! It's your body......
nobody knows how YOU feel better then YOU.i got my fingers crossed that i will get approved and i will keep them crossed for you also!!
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