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There are few surgeons who are competent in RNY to DS revisions and I have never heard of your surgeon. It is a very complicated surgery but it can be done. You might post on the DS board and get the list of vetted RNY to DS revision surgeons. Dr. Ara Keshishian in California is supposed to be the best. Perhaps you can contact his office and get a second opinion.
I would not settle for second best since you will have to live with it for the rest of your life. Many people travel to California to have their revision done by Dr. K. Don't give up and don't settle for a surgery that might not work out for you.
Best of luck to you.
WLS 10/28/2002 Revision 7/23/2010
High Weight (2002) 240 Revision Weight (2010) 220 Current Weight 115.
I agree with the others. Get a second opinion. I would have a hard time accepting that nothing more could be done. I would take that as a personal challenge and make it my mission to find a surgeon who could help.
I will keep you in my prayers that you are able to find someone who can help you.
WLS 10/28/2002 Revision 7/23/2010
High Weight (2002) 240 Revision Weight (2010) 220 Current Weight 115.
How did the surgery go? Revisions are usually more complex but with an experienced surgeon I am sure you will be fine.
I had a revision 9 years ago and fortunately it solved all the issues I had been having. I am sure yours will be successful as well.
WLS 10/28/2002 Revision 7/23/2010
High Weight (2002) 240 Revision Weight (2010) 220 Current Weight 115.
Please don?t be so afraid of dumping. I had RNY in 2012 and I have never thrown up! I?ve had diarrhea from eating fish that wasn?t wholesome but in that case, better out than in. You will learn than you feel so awful when you eat sugar (not just your tummy; I have hallucinated after eating sugar) that it simply is not worth it. I highly recommend Overeaters Anonymous is you can talk with like minded people about emotional eating. Good luck!
I understand much of what you've been through. I have depression too. In 2012 I had mini-incision roux-en-Y and I loved it. I went from 257 to 130 and I felt like I was walking on air. I went off Zoloft after being on it from 1995-2018. I?m back up to 206 now and I will not live like this. I don?t care what it takes, I?m going to get revision surgery and this weight is coming off again. I?ve been going to the gym about twice a week for the past month. It kills me to do it but I will not go back to being fat. I would rather be dead.
Oh that's a fantastic idea. I guess that for some reason I had it in my mind that if I contacted anyone else I would have start all over from the beginning again, and I'm already out about $2K in tests just to get approved for the surgery that failed.
on 8/26/19 3:54 pm
I would strongly suggest getting a second opinion. See if you can get copies of your surgical reports and imaging, and look into hospitals outside of your home state, such as Mayo Clinic.

Sparklekitty / Julie / Nerdy Little Secret (#42)
Roller derby - cycling - triathlon
VSG 2013, RNY conversion 2019 due to GERD. Trendweight here!
Thank you so much for your response. I went to what is considered the "best" weight loss surgery center in all of Western Arkansas, so I truly do not know about those options. Maybe I should go in and send a message through their contact website and ask him about those. I just know when I asked, he simply said that basically, I was out of luck.
I broke out into tears when they told me after waking up from surgery, I quite literally was sobbing like a baby. I don't think I've fully recovered from that shock yet.
So even a vertical sleeve is out? Lapband?
I get it. Totally. I had the archaic stapling 35 years ago and promptly lost all the weight but I was young and over the ensuing years and 4 children and some years later, I had developed maladaptive eating and had gained back the weight. I took prescription diet pills every time I piled weight on, and your doctor is absolutely right--they are useless as a long term solution. Whenever I stopped, I gained the weight back at alarming speed and ended up heavier than from before. Initially, diet pills like phentermine and the others completely destroy your appetite and for me there was the added bonus of high energy, creativity and euphoria. That lasts a week if you're lucky. These drugs are also habit forming and tolerance is developed quickly. People with addictive tendencies (me), will begin to abuse them when tolerance sets in. My experience might be extreme but my diet pills took me on a long and painful journey of addiction to much stronger amphetamine. I never lost weight on these drugs because I would eat nothing for the initial days and when I went off, my metabolism was inhibited and my appetite was enormous.
I am having revision tomorrow, and I fear that they will wake me and tell me they can't do it for some reason. I can't imagine how devastating that must have been.
I think you should get a second opinion from a surgeon who specializes in revision surgery. I waited for years to have my revision because I couldn't accept the fact that I couldn't do it myself. It was wasted time because whatever is necessary to do this, I just didn't have.
I think the worse thing a person could hear is that nothing can be done. Perhaps it was beyond your surgeon's skillset, or creative abilities. Perhaps not.
Thank you for sharing and don't give up!
Probably not a good idea but I have spent the day before my revision surgery watching YouTube videos of other VBG to RNY revisions and the word I keep hearing is "complex".
Ugh. My VBG is 35 years old and I can't imagine the scar tissue that must be in there. The band has to be removed under all of that scar tissue and there is a hiatal hernia to deal with. I am 53 years old and not the picture of sterling health. I doubt I will sleep tonight and have fleeting thoughts of don't do it!
My doctor is extremely reputable and specializes in revisions. He looks like he is in his 20s, which is not comforting, but he assures me that he is not much younger than me. I asked him about the complexity and his response was "oh yeah, it will be a pain in the ass, but I've done a lot of revisions."
Ultimately, his confidence is what gives me the courage to go through with this. Whenever I am on an airplane with a lot of turbulence, I look at the flight attendants. If they are gossiping about their weekend or yawning, I know everything is okay. My doc is yawning so this is good. Plus, he only reserved the OR for 2 hours. I take this as another good sign.
I will show up tomorrow, board the plane and let the pilot fly it. But if anyone feels like sending a prayer up for me, that would be good too.
I will see you guys on the other side!
Courtney




