Anyone have RNY after a LapBand?

I am scheduled for surgery April 18th. The doctor is going to leave the band in and do the revison over or next to it. He said he will take all the fluid out of the band and it will be there for a back up in the future, but will do the RNY. I can not find any info on this procedure, and I am a little nervous to say the least. I should have asked him how many times he has done this, but fear stepped in and I avoided that question. He has done work on people who have had multiple abdominal surgeries, that are high risk and even pioneered an approach that makes it safer according to his bio. So any infor would be appreciated. Thanks much and God Bless.

I've never heard of surgeons leaving the lap-band in when revising to RNY. I've heard of bands being placed as a revision to RNY down the road, but never heard of bands being revised to RNY leaving the band in...I assume he'd have to unbuckle the band to do the RNY then rebuckle it? I'd worry about how that would affect the healing of that area. Nancy

My doctor puts the band at the bottom of the pouch so when you are a year out it will still take longer for the food to empty out of the stomach. He said that he has had a lot of success with this. There are a few that do this. I wouldn't worry. I'd bet you will do just fine!! Good Luck!!

Thank you Nancy and Robin, I appreciate your responding to my question. Robin, who was your surgeon, is that the type of revision that you had?

I haven't had my revision, yet. I am waiting on insurance. grrrrrrrr The doctor is Dr. Gorospe in Tulsa. He does nothing else but WLS since 95. Also, he does them all by lap. All the other said that they would have to open me and I hated that. So I searched on here and I had several tell me about him. You can go on my page and click on his name. Good Luck!!

I am having the RNY surgery in April, I had the lapband in 2000 and removed in 2005 due to complications. I believe that they have to take out the band first, since the RNY is in the same area. Thats what my Doctor told me. Good luck

Hi Kami, The doctor explained they are now using the lap band on people who failed the RNY or other procedures. Until he gets in and actually see's everything nothing is 100% for sure. He wants to leave the band in to be there in the future should I need help down the road. If he see's that it is not going to possible, then he will remove the band and do the RNY. He said the band is pretty easy to remove for him about 5 -10 min. It will all depend on what he is faced with when he gets in there. However, he has done this before. He and some other doctor's in Pittsburg PA pioneered different approaches to situations like this. I meet with him on the 12th and I have lots more questions written down, I want to completely understnad the where things will be done compared to straight RNY. Did you have any problems with the surgery? From what one doctor told me taking the band out can cause little tears or knicks in the stomach and you have to be really careful as you could get gastric acid going into the abdominal cavity and it could be deadly. Part of me thinks that he was saying some of that just to put scare tactics in me so he wouldn't have to say no he didn't want to do the surgery. From everyting I have since read the lap band is made out of a material that the tissue does not grow or adhere to it. He was saying it did. I would love to know how you are doing and how it went for you, you can e-mail me directly if you would like. Thanks much. Wendy

I had the DS after the band. But the band had to come out as it was causing problems. I didn't have erosion or slippage (but know many who have dealt with that) but I did have esophageal dysmotility which was cured by having the band removed. After having problems with the band, and knowing so many who have had to have the band removed, I wouldn't want to have it sitting there. I don't mean this to sound negative...but...if the band didn't work to begin with...and since it has the potential to cause problems such as erosion...and since the post-RnY stomach is so small...I just wouldn't want to risk erosion on a two-ounce stomach. Maybe it's just me, but once I was sure the band was NOT the solution I needed, I wanted it gone. It's in a baggie in my spare bedroom right now! Sue