Thinking about a Revision - thoughts?

Hi All - I haven't been to this site in years. Truth is, it's been rough. I never made it pass the 200lb mark and I actually gained back 100lbs over the course of 13 years. I knew something wasn't right back then - but nobody would listen to me. My surgeon was no longer there. The hospital I had the surgery at closed down. I can't even find my records. I didn't know a revision was possible and I was embarrassed to even ask. So here I am. 15 years after roux en y gastric bypass. Can anyone tell me your experience with a revision? Was is worth it? If you are around North Jersey - who did you use? Would you do it again?

What did you feel wasn't right back then? What was your goal?

How are you eating now?

Revision from RNY to another procedure is very complicated- and you may not find someone locally who can do it.

Something like a 'switch' turned on that made me very shaky and lightheaded whenever I would eat. I became very sensitive to dairy and started having digestive pains.

I am eating almost normal portions, but I get on a roller coaster of hunger that I control with cups of plain hot black tea.

I am very sensitive to many foods. Anything with onions, garlic, soft cheese, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, & shrimp nearly kills me. All my favorites. My body bloats with gas or I get shaky.

The things I can stomach without feeling 'shaky' or lightheaded are lightly grilled chicken (light seasoning), broiled chicken, boiled potatoes, pickles, cheddar cheese, low sodium sliced ham, and soups (non dairy soups).

I don't fry foods and I don't use sugar. Too much salt at times.

I am lucky I live in the tristate area. I found 3 doctors. One wont see me because the records are missing. The other 2 who do want to see me and are out of network but I can afford the deductible. I have an appointment on Tuesday.

Have you had any experience with a revision?

I had an RYN in 2002 and gained back all of my weight. I had an appointment with Dr. Roslin today. He's at Lenox Hill or in Mt. Kisco in Westchester.

He was great. He only does the SIPS surgery, which is a modified DS. I'm hoping to hear other people's story as well.

Are you open to sharing what doctors you're meeting with?

There are very few doctors in the US who will do the revision to a DS and that's the ONLY procedure the research says that will help. Redoing the RYN or doing a band over bypass hasn't been very successful.

good luck!

Dawn

Hi, do you mind if I ask about the regain? I can't find info on starting weight, etc, but am more interested on the time to regain, problems/cravings/what you feel are causes that affected your gain?

Sometimes I think our base genetics fights us..diet as hard as you want but you will return to where the body wants to be.

It may be hard to separate the guilt and eating too much or the wrong things, from the body's drive to be at a certain weight.

I am a short wide Russian/Polish girl...my ancestors survived on the steppes with very little food and avaialblitly, so every calorie I eat stays with me and gets utilized..my tall skinny Swedish DH could eat anything all the time and never gained... it can't be will power, or low calories (which fails us) so more is at work here.

Could you be happy staying at your current weight if surgery was not an option?

thanks

Hi PrivateCitizen, No problem! I think this site lost all my journals since I haven't logged on in years. I started at about 340, lowest weight was 202. I was pregnant 6 months after surgery and had a very difficult time keeping anything down. I lost a twin about 4 months in. I dropped weight drastically during the pregnancy, but started to regain when my son was 1-2 years old. I regained slowly at first, then it spiraled out of control. I come from a family of a very healthy 'girth'. Russian, Polish, German, Hungarian. Very stocky. About 3 years ago I went for a series of tests ($17k in bloodwork!) after I passed out eating watermelon. I was told my pancreas was on overdrive overproducing insulin. The overproduction was stored as fat. If I recall correctly my level was at 300 when it should have been about 5-10ish? If revision isn't possible, I am going to get a reversal instead.

I come from a family of a very healthy 'girth'. Russian, Polish

Hi Dawn! I saw Dr. Bilof today in Millburn NJ . He was very informative and told me exactly the same information you just described. He said I would be a good canadite for the revision and he would only recommend the DS. Other revisions are not successful.It's about a 6 hour surgery and the risk for leaks are much greater 3 in 100. He has only preformed about 10 of these revisions so far, but has been successful. I have scripts to check blood flow to the stomach, bloodwork, upper GI, and endoscopy. Hoping to find someone who had this done and what the experience was like.

there are a quite a few RNY to DS patients on the DS board. I would use caution on who you pick for your surgeon. rny to vsg (its not the bypass) is a very complicated and potentially dangerous surgery and I would only trust 2 or 3 surgeons in the USA. Go to the DS board and ask.....good luck on your revision!!!

Thank you!

My surgeon only recommended a NYC doc and another in Spain besides himself. It's scary and difficult, but I am at my wits end :-( I will look for the DS board :-)