vsg to rny

Has anyone went from having a vsg to rny?

If you are going to revise it is more sensible to revise to the DS since you already have the first part of the DS, a sleeve. Read on dsfacts.com to learn more or ask over on the DS forum.

If you have the Sleeve...it would make more "sense" to continue with the rest of the reconstruction to the DS...however....to say you couldn't have the RNY is not true.  I'm sure there are ppl who have traveled down that road and hopefully share...but you can read on both surgeries and determine which one is right for you.

Good Lord, WHY?  You already have the first half of the DS.  Why not go with that.  If you go with RNY, you are screwed...cause there is NO WHERE to go from there.  Your stomach will be gone.  For the love of all that is holy.....do your research!

 I am actually awaiting insurance approval for this right now.....which is what brought me here. I have massive reflux that meds are not controlling (I have tried several from both classes and used them simultenously). 

Why are you looking to convert?

 I am having some of the same issues. I have recently had a hiatial hernia repaired for the 2nd time but I am still having reflux issues and my surgeon said that a revision to an RNY may be my only option. Becuase of my VSG I dont have enough stomach left to do a proper repair of the hernia so I may be S.O.L.

I am UPSET to say the least...

How long have you tried the 2x mweds before they wantyed you to convert? do they know the cause of your reflux?

What have they told you to expect with the convertion to the RNY weight and health wise?

Sorry to pick your brain but I am trying to find peace with the idea of this and it is not something openly talked about on the VSG forum.

You shouldn't NEED stomach tissue to repair a hiatal hernia---it's a rip in the diaphram. Normally they're fixed by sewing this rip closed.

 They did stitch the diaphragm closed as tight as they could..but the *proper* repair is to reattach the stomach to the base of the esophagus and anchor it there to keep it from slipping back out of the abdominal cavity.

Apparently while it was fixed correctly at the time of my VSG it didn't hold and when it came back it was huge..almost my entire stomach had slipped outside of the abdominal cavity and had to be pulled back down...they did stitch the diaphragm closed as tight as possible, to a 54f but if the reflux continues to be an issue, or the hernia comes back a gain they want me to switch to an RNY.

This is not something I would do quickly or even without perhaps seeking a second opinion because I wasn't even willing to consider WLS if RNY was my only option as I have other health issues that require me to occasional have to take steroids which is why I went with the VSG to begin with.

That being said..I have many nights where I wake up chocking and gagging on bile...I also suffer with breakthrough reflux during the day despite being on 2x GERD meds.

I still have to see the GASTRO doc and they need to do another endoscopy but I have to wait a bit for the hernia repair to completely heal before they go rooting around in there..so I am still hopeful that this will all work out fine in the end and i will be able to keep my sleeve as is!

 No worries! Pick away but this is all new to me also.

 

I we have been trying to control it with meds now since the beginning of October. My acid reflux was a pre-existing condition and she thought that fixing the hiatal hernia that I have would fix it. It seemed to for a while. I have a small one again which she doesn’t think would help with the acid at all. I just had a barium swallow done this month and in the upright position my acid is coming up to about my collar bone. It’s pretty bad!

 

I didn’t even realize that it was reflux. I was complaining of hiccups and feeling full, which is what made her order the barium swallow. I still have the hiccups but not as many and now I am belching. Siiiiigh!

 

Health wise it’s going to be a wait I will be at risk for all the deficiencies that everyone else is. She is however anticipating more weight loss. Once I get my Ins approval she wants me to try eating higher calorie/ fat proteins to try to gain some weight or at least curb the loss (which is slow at this point) to try to give me a little ‘cushion’

 

Barrettes disease and esophageal cancer are enough to make me ‘Ok’ with this but I am also scared to death. This wasn’t my first choice and I have done phenomenally with the sleeve with the exception of this coming back.

The mere idea is horrifying.

The only reason I can figure out why this would happen, would be if you had a surgeon before who was skilled enough to do the sleeve, and you have a different one now that only does RNY (and possibly bands). 

The DS is the most successful surgery, and the easiest to live with, AND you have half of it!  Even if they butchered your sleeve and changed things to a RNY, those two procedures have about the same success rate, although the RNY has potential for many more problems like dumping, reactive hypoglycemia, marginal ulcer's, an unscopable blind stomach, inability to take NSAIDs for pain or drink with food.

Gah. I'd keep the sleeve, or fight for DS, but never downgrade that sleeve to RNY.  Sounds like you need to find a surgeon that is genuinely capable (many claim to do all surgeries, but only when you try to get something other than RNY or band, it turns out they don't actually do them) or doing a DS and acknowledges the value of keeping your sleeve.