I am 12 years post sleeve. I lost over 100 lbs and I haven't had the weight gain. However, recently I started having severe reflux and I had a large para esophageal hernia that pushed my stomach into my chest cavity.

My surgeon was able to repair the hernia, reconstruct my diaphragm and pull my my esophagus and stomach back into place. We thought everything was great, but the reflux did not go away. I basically throw up after each meal.

I had my sleeve in Mexico and paid out of pocket for it. My insurance now that I've only had for 5 years said because I didn't go through the insurance that I had 12 years ago they won't cover. They are in the process of recouping money they have paid for all my procedures. So, in addition to having the reflux, I now have the added stress from the insurance company.

My insurance changes to Medicare in December and they should cover most of the RNY. I'm going to deal with the reflux until that time and I'm searching for an attorney to fight my insurance company.

If you decide to have the RNY, I would love to see how your results are. I am worried that if I do have the RNY that it may not fix the problem. My doctor at the Mayo Clinic assures me that the problem will be resolved.

Good luck on your journey!

I have not heard of Lindstrom. Where are they located and how can I reach out to them? Do you have any knowledge of how Medicare would handle? If my insurance is not going to pay, I'm going to have to wait until my Medicare becomes active in December. It's a daily struggle, but I can't afford to pay more out of pocket. As it is now, if they take back all the money they have paid for the hernia repair, test, etc. I'm probably over $200,000 in debt and that's more than I can afford before getting my problem resolved.

I had a self pay gastric sleeve approximately 12 years ago in Mexico. I lost approx 100 lbs and I have kept it off. In the last couple of years I started throwing up a good bit. After many test my American physician found that I had a large para esophageal hernia that was pushing a 1/3 of my stomach into my chest cavity. I had the hernia and my diaphragm needed repair. My doctor said my sleeve looked good. He said it was larger than what they make them today, but looked about the size the doctors did the 12 years ago. After the hernia surgery, I continued throwing up. My surgeon now says that the only way he can correct my problem is to convert me to an RNY. My BCBS is not wanting to cover. Even though I was not insured with them 12 years ago they said I didn't go through an insurance company to get approval for the original sleeve. They are also pending my follow up visits from the hernia repair and requesting medical records. How can they do that? Is that legal? Also, in December I will be eligible for Medicare. I was told that traditional Medicare would cover my revision, but if I went with a Medicare Advantage plan they may not. The Medicare Advantage Plan would be through my husband's retirement benefits. Has anyone had this problem before? If so, any suggestions on how I can get BCBS to cover this. Any recommendations on which Medicare plan I should consider?

First of all...congrats on your sobriety. We "old timers" on this site spend a lot of time trying to warn people about transfer addictions and to stay away from alcohol.

Have you had an endoscopy to see if your original surgery is intact? That would be my next move if I were you. If your original surgery is working, then there is no need for a revision and you CAN lose weight on your own. I have a friend on this site that recently lost over 50 pounds and she is more than 15 years out from surgery.

Unfortunately there are not any good revisions to RNY. Most of the surgeries that tighten the stoma fail and the average weight loss is about 20 pounds. If you have a stretched stoma, I would go ahead with the surgery to fix it, but know that if you don't carefully measure every bite of food, it will fail almost immediately. You will have to learn to be a strict rule follower.

As for food: Eat dense protein first, then non starchy veggies. Dense protein fills you up. Stay away from carbs, don't drink your calories (only zero calorie drinks), don't drink with your meals or for 30 minutes after, get a good food scale and measure your food. You should not be eating more that 1 to 1/12 cups of food per meal...that is the TOTAL volume. We obese people have a really skewed view of what a portion size should look like. If you are eyeballing your portions, I can guarantee that you are over eating.

Eat by the clock. Don't eat between meal times. If you are hungry...ignore it. Nothing bad will happen to you if you force yourself to wait until your next scheduled meal. Stop chasing the full feeling. You will never feel that sense of fullness that you had before surgery. Your anatomy has changed. Stop depending on restriction to keep you from eating. Your stomach has been lying to you for decades, telling you that it's hungry when it's not. You need to get your head back in charge and take your stomach out of the equation. Eat what you measure out and then stop eating.

Sometimes stomach acid mimics hunger, a PPI might help. Don't make the mistake of thinking that a gurgling stomach is a sign of hunger. It's not. We all have noisy stomachs after WLS. That never goes away for some of us.

I would suggest finding a good therapist and stop trying to find a weight loss program to lose the weight. There is a reason you choose to overeat. There is a reason you turned to alcohol. Until you figure out why you are self sabotaging you won't lose weight. Find someone who specialized in eating disorders. Many of us add a therapist to out WLS team. I believe that you don't get to be 200 pounds overweight without having disordered eating. You are worth the emotional work and the expense to figure things out.

YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!

Hi! I had my sleeve done by Dr John Dietrick. He's a very good surgeon. His office staff is great as well. He also does the GB too.