Revision Endoscopic Suturing
I have finally been approved for a revision through Kaiser Permanente. They are sending me to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore since they specialize in revisions. They have elected to perform Endoscopic Suturing on me. Any thoughts or experience with this surgery? How much weight has anyone loss with this as a revision? Any bad side effects/down sides? Do you Dump? previous surgery RnY.
From what I've read here on other posts the main procedures are he ROSE.POSE, STOMAPHYX which are iffy at best with low weight loss and a need for resurgery in a few years and the Apollo overstitch which is more successful and lasts longer but will still probably have to be redone periodically. Do you know the name of your surgery?
WOW, this is disappointing, I do not know the name of the surgery as I have not had the 2nd consultation with the surgeon yet. I just got a phone call that I he finally made the decision to approve me & this is what he has elected to do as far as revision. Endoscopic Suturing is new to me & I did not know of the two procedures you mentioned until now. Thanks I have to research. I'm a bit disappointed to learn the low success rate. If these are my only options it seems as if I need to advocate for the Apollo overstitch. I will have to discuss it with the surgeon. Wondering if the person *****plied "Hislady" can direct me to where they read about this on other post. Thanks
Gosh I wi**** was as easy as just saying go to such and such page and look it up but unfortunately it comes from reading the posts here over the years and I've been here on OH for over 8 years! If you go back on this forum and look at past posts on RNY revisions you should be able to find some that will give you more info. I do know that Johns Hopkins is one of the very finest hospitals and I would trust their judgement since they have all your records to make the decision from. It kind of sounds like he may be referring to the Apollo procedure but hard to tell for sure. I wish you all the best and hope it accomplishes all you hope it will. Sounds like you are in good hands!
You would be surprised to know what little information some people use to decide about surgeries. Stupid things like "my friend says he is a really cute doctor" or "I hear he'll changes codes to get things covered". Lots of people use really poor judgement so we vets "try" to steer people to make wise and informed choices I think that is all the OP was trying to do. Trust me we've all seen some real dumb stuff here! 
I have been doing my homework trying to learn as much as I can about Endoscopic suturing & the two procedures you bought to my attention. I watched a great deal of video’s, studied the literature from other institutes about success rates as well as talked to other patients that have actually had the procedure done. That is all I was asking for when I made my original post.
John Hopkins is one of the Best facilities in the country for what I’m trying to do so I do have confidence that I’m in good hands. OH is a support group and a knowledge based one for like-minded people to reach out for information so that is what I was trying to do. I must admit I was a bit offended by the response of the previous post and found them to be quite insensitive. I felt be-rated. I understand where you are coming from that people make poor medical decisions based on petty judgment but in my opinion my post did not suggest any of that. Your post, on the other hand was very informative and served a purpose that’s what this thing is all about not tearing people down for asking a legit question.
I will see Hopkins nutritionist this week, hopefully the surgeon’s second visit will follow and I will have clarity as to which procedure “they” are suggesting. I have already gone back on some of the old post here on the site and received a great deal of insight.
I’m hoping they are leaning towards the Apollo procedure. If I should elect this route I would choose this one.
Let me tell you how my insurance work. You go through the same routine as a newbie as far as preparation to get the wls for the first 6 months. Once approved you have to go a step further through John Hopkins Surgical staff who's more advanced in revisions. The surgeon will look over your entire medical history then decide what “they” feel is the best surgery for you based on your medical history as well as your interview session. The “They" that I'm referring to is the surgeon that will be performing the surgery. I, as the patient, am very much a part of the process until the end and make the FINAL decision. However, the surgeon is the expert in the matter & given that there are medical issues involved he tends to suggest what “They” feel is best given your particular situation.
I have been going through this process for nearly a year now & was just notified via telephone the day I wrote that post that the surgeon finally decided on Endoscopic Suturing. “They” thought it was probably best for me given my situation. I was also set up with an appointment to come back & discuss it prior to making a final decision if that was what I wanted to do.
I too would NEVER allow anything to be done to me unless I was 100% informed & confident; hence why I did reach out to this group the day I got that phone call as well as other avenues. As I said, I will be seeing the surgeon in the future to discuss my options further but I did not feel it necessary to go into all those details at that time. Perhaps in my excitement I wanted the opinions of others who have had this procedure done. (Research/personal knowledge). I admit I know nothing about the operation but that is why I am seeking wisdom from other areas. Perhaps you got the impression that I was "stupid" enough to accept anything and allow someone to desecrate my body with open arms....clearly you don't know me. I hope I have made this clear to you Star0210 but thanks for adding to the post!!
You have to "prove" there was a major reason why you re-gained some of the weight back. Before they will authorize the revision not that you just lost control & abandoned your tool. For me I had a major health crisis suffering from another Stroke. It set me back in a major way. During that time I loss a great deal of strength and became weak. They later discovered I had a hole in my heart that had never been diagnosed so I had to have an operation for that. (It was not my year). I was on a great deal of medication trying to recover and being cared for by family & friends. I was not able to exercise as breathing was a chore. I basically became idle and re-gained a lot of weight. Prior to this I was successful at keeping my weight "within" goal range. My endoscopy revealed that my pouch had indeed stretched. After intense physical therapy I'm now able to exercise again but the weight won't budge. I've exhausted every avenue. I discussed revision with my primary care physician after getting my health back under control. We decided a revision was best for me.
