Hour glass shaped sleeve?

Hi. Thank you so much for all the suggestions! I really appreciate them! From what I understand, there isn't a great way to diagnose gastroparesis. I could totally be wrong about this, but I think that's what the last surgeon I went to said. My symptoms certainly fall in line with gastroparesis. Vomiting food that I've eaten many, many hours before, etc. I have tried a couple of motility increasing drugs, 3 to be exact, but none of them worked, including Reglan. That one scared the bejeezus out of me anyway.

Yes, I've had my hourglass sleeve confirmed from a surgeon.

Actually, I don't know Joyce or her story (thanks for linking me) but I can relate to the fact that she was unhappy with her weight loss. I'm not completely satisfied with mine either, especially due to the fact that I vomit so often. This morning I had 2 scrambled eggs and was completely fine. Few apple slices for lunch, fine. Ground beef for dinner (which I've had numerous times since surgery) and it's a no go. I've already vomited twice and I feel the pressure building back up in my chest now, because I'm drinking. I will have to go at least one more time before I'm "finished". Like I said on the DS board, there is no rhyme or reason. Eggs won't bother me today, I'll make them the exact same way tomorrow and they won't stay down. I chew my food to as close to liquid as I can get it.....

I've been on a host of medicines...and I'm not a pill taker! At one time, I had probably 20 scripts here, everything ranging from 2 PPIs to anti-anxiety meds. It's been a rough ride for sure. It's when things even out for a few days that I forget how miserable I am. Make sense? It sure does make social life a challenge though. Never know what's going to happen if I go out to eat.

Okay, I'm beginning to ramble. Really appreciate all the responses I've gotten here!!!!

I sincerely thank you for your reply. No, I don't need another dilation. No, things didn't really get better after the others. Well, I guess they did to an extent. I went from not being able to hold down liquids to being able to hold down tiny amounts. :) I'm wide open, stricture wise, and this is what has me completely confused!!!!

I looked on the DS board but couldn't find your thread.

There have been several here that needed a sleeve to sleeve. One was Joyce, as you have already read. Instead of staples Dr. Liza Pompa used mesh and kind of created a stoma instead of a sleeve. It's really clear on the xrays. She was really busting her butt working for every pound she lost and she just couldn't do it anymore. She went to Aceves in MX and due to the mesh and the weirdness of it all he couldn't revise her to another sleeve. She knew going in that was a possibility. She really didn't want bypass but the mess her stomach was in apparently he didn't have a choice.

Then there was KimChee, she was revised from sleeve to sleeve but Dr. Almanza only sleeved half her stomach, the top half and she could eat just as much as before she ever had WLS.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/photos/648132/Upper-GI-3-mos-after-revision/scan0001-555064484-jpg/

You can see it clearly on the xray above. He was able to revise her sleeve to a normal one.

I know he's done several revisions on Almanza and Pompa people.

The real question is why do you have an hourglass shaped sleeve? Was it not done properly to begin with? Usually when they stretch out a bit it looks more like a bag of marbles than an hourglass. Do you have your OR report? Is there any possibility that he used mesh for some odd reason? If not, I don't see why you couldn't resleeve a mature sleeve into a banana. I know it's really tricky and hard to do, you'd want one of the top four surgeons doing it (Husted, Greenbaum, Rabkin, Dr. K) but it could likely be done.

I don't have any doubt that my original surgery was done properly. Yes, I do have all my medical records, including my operating report. I got those right away to keep on hand. Unfortunately, although extremely uncommon, strictures are a possible complication, and I had one develop in basically the center of my sleeve. I have been dilated several times, and I'm sure this narrowing is why I have an hourglass shape now. I think my bigger issue is the stomach motility problems. I'm not sure that changing or revising my sleeve would improve that. Of course making it smaller would probably help me get the rest of my weight off, but I'm actually scared that more trauma to my stomach tissue would be even more detrimental, especially if not revising from a sleeve to a pouch. KWIM?

I should clarify something, Almanza didn't do the sleeve to sleeve 'revision' on KimChee, Aceves did.

Oh, I wouldn't dream of suggesting a pouch for you! You seem like a nice person and nice people shouldn't have pouches. HA!

Have you ever been diabetic? I know diabetes can cause autonomic neuropathy affecting the vegus nerve and that causes gastroperesis. Another cause are auto immune disorders.

There is a regular poster on the main board, Kelly. She has gastroperesis.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/poet_kelly/

And this girl had a hack job by her surgeon and she ended up getting a pacemaker in her stomach to make it work again but that was kind of disasterous.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/adwinters12345/

I definitely don't want a pouch!! Which is why I've been continuing to deal with this for so long. I've read about the pacemakers, but not sure if that's the direction I'd like to go. Seems they don't always work, and don't last forever, etc. Honestly, I just don't want any more surgery. I know I won't be able to continue this indefinitely, but I wish there was just a magic pill that could help matters.

 
After seeing what Ashley went through with her pacemaker I don't think I'd be in a big rush go get one.  After about a year she ended up in the hospital again, the pacemaker broke apart and it was actually shocking her.  When they opened her up they saw it sparking.  No wonder it felt like she was being shocked, she WAS.