Confussed!!!???
Hello, I have been sleeved since April 2011, I have lost 100lbs since surgery (which has been great). The problems started @2 years ago. I stared having episodes in which I threw up blood and had awful stomach pains. The put tubes up, down and around my body. The said I had gerd and gastritis. Then they found a hernia, that can't be repaired due to where it is in my stomach. I need to have my sleeve revised to a bypass or ds. I am so confused and don't know which way to go. I never wanted a bypass that's why I chose the sleeve, and never heard of the ds until after I had my sleeve. I have been doing a lot of research and have read many negative and positive things about both. Can anybody out there with a revision from a sleeve to either, give any advise. I'm scheduled for surgery on Sept 18th, I'm leaning towards the bypass but................. Im just tired of my stomach hurting all the time, I want some relief.
H.W 270 S.W 252 C.W 195 G.W 170
A revision to DS doesn't seem possible since the sleeve is part of that surgery. If your problem is GERD then the sleeve may be the cause.
I had a previous sleeve with my first WLS and had terrible GERD. I had a revision to a RNY pouch, not because of the GERD but a happy side effect was that I no longer have any GERD.
WLS 10/28/2002 Revision 7/23/2010
High Weight (2002) 240 Revision Weight (2010) 220 Current Weight 115.
I just had the revision from the sleeve to the Bypass because of GERD, on July 29,2014. I am so thankful I was able to get the revision. I am 2 weeks out and don't have GERD anymore. I can't tell you how this has changed my life. It has been a tough road, the GERD was debilitating. My recovery has been tough on me but doing so much better. I am down 21 pounds in two weeks. Just incredible. They say that revision patients don't lose as much or as quickly as 1st time patients, but I am happy so far. The main thing for me is no more GERD. I still can't believe it. My stomach was in excellent shape therefore he didn't alter the stomach, just did the bypass. I had my sleeve in 2007 and it was still small and not stretched, I had it done in Mexico with Dr. Alvarez. My Dr. here said that it was in excellent condition. I did have a fairly large hernia, in which the stomach was up into the cavity and that didn't help the reflux. So, he fixed the hernia, did the bypass and I am so happy. I would recommend the bypass over DS. Only because of my experience so far. I have seen quite a few people that have gone from the sleeve to the bypass because of the GERD, and so far all of us have had great success. I hope that this helps in your decision. Cindy
Cindy, it's VERY likely that repairing your haital hernia is what cured your GERD. And if he performed a gastric bypass on you, he most certainly did alter your stomach. Now you have a stoma rather than your pylorus controlling how fast food leaves your stomach pouch. The stoma is always open, and over time it can stretch. The pylorus, which you kept with your Sleeve, is the stomach's natural mechanism for keeping food inside the stomach. It opens, allows a little food out, then closes again. Its absence is believed to be significant in the development of reactive hypoglycemia.
Dr. Bolbotz is not known as a DS surgeon. Ask him how many he's done, and who he proctored with. The DS is the most complicated form of WLS, so you want to be very careful in choosing your surgeon.
What I'm trying to say is that the DS won't do anything to cure your reflux, You will still have the same exact stomach you have now with your Sleeve. You will, however, have an easier time losing weight, and maintaining that loss long-term.
