Hi-it's me again and I am really confused now.

I had talked on here before about a revision. Here is where I am at: My dr that did my hernia surgery wants to do my revision. I am not sure he has done one before and he has only done about 20-30 RNY's. I called Barixs and they do not do revisions unless they do a RNY and will not do one on me because I am only 40lbs overweight. But if I gain back 60lbs they will. Hmmm-not going to do that. So I called Evanston Hospitals bariatrics center and they said I am making myself sick by what I am and am not eating. I am not getting enough of a variety of foods-which is true and am eating too much starchy stuff that will make me bloat like a balloon and give me stomach,chest and gas pains..does this sound right to anyone? I am still sick with my stomach everyday, have the pains and the gas and bloating. I do not know what to do here. Sould I have my hernia dr-whom I trust completly-do this surgery or should I find a dietition to help me? The counsler that I talked to from Evanston said I should go back to eating like I just had my surgery donewhich was 3 yrs go-to soft stuff and see how I do. The problem is, if I have this surgery it HAS to be done by the end of the year because my insurance co is not covering these anymore...Help??? Anyone??? Thanks.

Susan, My first reaction is to say DO NOT-DO NOT-DO NOT let anyone but an experienced bariatrics surgeon with a lot of revisions under his belt touch you! No-no-NO! Okay, gut reaction expressed---I know you trust your hernia doctor and that is a good thing. But having done 20-30 RNY's still puts him in the inexperienced range. I just read tonight on another board that the average mortality rate for bariatric surgery is about 3% for their first 100 surgeries. It drops to about .3% as they get more experienced. So think about that---plus the fact that revisions are much more complicated than first time surgeries. How many revisions has your hernia doctor done? I know you are miserable and desperate. (Been there, done that. I am scheduled for revision 9/12.) And you are on a tight time schedule. Go check out the boards for the surgery you want. Talk to the folks there. Someone will be able to guide you a surgeon in your area who is experienced in revisions. Go talk to the surgeon. Maybe a sit down with someone with a lot of experience with wls will be able to guide you a non-surgical solution to your problems. If not, you can frankly discuss with the surgeon all the possible complications and negatives about having a revision. I don't know anything about VGB---my original surgery was an RNY---but maybe you should switch back to the old diet for a week. See if that makes a difference. At least that will give you a starting point to solving the problems while you decide what to next. But when my surgery was still good, certain foods could give me all the uncomfortable symptoms you are describing. I think you just have to face it that whatever wls you chose, there are going to be restrictions on certain things you can eat. Even the DS, which I am revising to---everyone says you can eat normally, but I have read posts where people comment that eating this or that occasionally caused them tummy troubles. Maybe you need to switch to a more protein oriented diet. Maybe try the soft food diet for a week and document what happens, then switch to a heavily protein diet and check those results. The most important thing is to have all the info you can get about the surgery you want and about revisions. I don't visit the other boards, but to find out everything you want to know about the DS, check out the DS board and give a shout out to Diana Cox, who is the DS Kahuna. Best of luck! I know you will get this all figured out. Darlene

Hi Darlene. I totally agree with you. I m going to try and do a good diet first and see how that goes. I am sooo sick of peanut butter on ricecakes and tuna fish on crackers. That is all I eat. I don't want to have any revision done. To go through another open surgery like that and I am not even sure what the problem is...No Thanks. I am going to talk to my doc and just tell him, he has not done enough surgeries and that scares me. I don't want to be a guineas pig for his first revision if he has not done ny before. What I need to find is a bartrics dietian to help me out. So if anyone knows where I can find one in northern Ill-southern Wis, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Hello I would totally agree with the other posts. I think an appt with a dietician would help a great deal. Other than that you only have 40 pounds to lose. That is not very much in the grand scheme of things. In my opinion it is not worth the risks of another surgery. You are also right to go with your gut to not let an inexperienced doctor do surgery on you. There is just too much that can go wrong. Good luck I wish you the best. micah

Hi Susan! I am no expert but maybe if you need support, try going to a support meeting like OA. I went to my first meeting last night with such aprehension but ultimately, I felt better coming out of the meeting. I know I have a long path ahead of me but it was a start. Maybe, if you try that path along with me you may find your answers you are looking for. It couldn't hurt?? Go to www.oa.org and they have information for you. On the other hand, if you decide that is not the path you want to take, I wish only the best and i pray you find your answers you are so desperately looking for! Your new friend, Eve

My first question would be why are you considering a revision is there a problem other than you've defeated your first surgery? If the answer is no then my first option would be to try and lose the weight through diet and exercise having the surgery redone is not something to be taken lightly trust me just did it for medical reasons and it's the same if not worse recovery than the first and without medical problems I would not have undergone this for 40 pounds. I hope you've really looked at why you gained 40 pounds and take a serious look at whether or not you are really willing to go through this surgery again remembering that all of your internal organs have been compromised by the first proceedure. Believe me I'm not knocking you for wanting a revision and I am not saying I made a mistake in having mine but please please please consider the consequences versus the benefits of another gastric surgery to lose 40 pounds.

I am not having the revision done for a weight gain. I didn't gain 40lbs. I lost 170lb. I said the nurse at Barixs said I am only still 40lbs overweight and that is why they would not do the revision. I might have the revision because I have been having abdominal ataacks for almost 2 years and this year is the worst with me going to the ER twice and a week at Mayo Clinic. I am sick every single day with either these attacks, or stomach pains and this is even after a had 2 hernias removed and a hole in my intestine fixed. I would not have the surgery because of 40lbs that I didn't lose. This is all for health reasons and so I can get my everyday life back. After all I have been through, I am going to make sure I don't gain anything back. I DON'T want a revision and am trying to figure out what is wrong with me on my own. The last thing I want is to be hopping up on another Drs table. No Thanks.

Good luck. I hope your health improves soon. Maybe if you went on the stste board they could recommend a doctor.