need revison surgery

I am revising from the lapband. I was able to lose weight in the beginning with my lapband *09/2008*, but had a slip about 7 mns postop and was never right after that. The whole "stoma" thing is a pain in my backside! I'm either too tight or too loose and have lost nothing! So my doc. says it is time to revise, but she wants to revise to RNY. I have an app. with her the 28th of this month and have been considering speaking to her about VSG. I do see that the hospital she is affiliated with does VSG and I know I have insurance coverage for the it.... I was just wondering if the weight loss was as good as with RNY? I have 100-115 pounds to lose. I didn't know if that is why she preferred RNY?? My only problem with RNY is that I am scarred to have things sort of "re-routed" if you will, although I am also scarred of the co-morbids I have going on now at 40! So any advice some VSG folks would be great! I loved the restriction part of the band and only eating small portions, but HATE, HATE, HATE the whole stoma / stuck part of the band that has been my miserable life for the last 3 yrs!  But I also tend towards sweets, although I can watch and behave most of the time and if I seem to actually lose weight, it does fuel my motivation to keep going. Right now, I feel that I have literally been "stuck" with this band and stagnet!! It is not a good feeling!
Thanks in advance for any advice / insight VSG'ers!

I lost just as much if not more than RNY patients with my similar pre-op stats, and in the long run, does it really matter how fast we lose it if we can maintain it.

Personally, RNY was not an option for me. If you hate the pouch/stoma thing with the band, the RNY gives the same thing. I never knew having a pyloric valve was so fabulous.

There's no guarantee you'll dump on sweets with RNY, only 30% of RNY patients dump so no promises that it'll keep you out of the cookie jar.

RNY is a more expensive surgery, your surgeon may not have a lot of experience with sleeves, and you'll need to decide what you want long term. RNY only gives you malabsorption of calories/fat/carbs for max 2 years, then intestinal adaptation takes over, and you will rely on that pouch/stoma combination for restriction, and you'll live with the possibility of deficiencies because that part of the intestines is completely bypassed. Medication restrictions with no NSAIDS or steroids EVER with RNY scared the poop out of me. Heaven forbid I ever get diagnosed with a disease or condition that needs those meds, and I can't take them because of the pouch.

These are some of my reasons for choosing VSG over RNY for my revision. Not only those, but check out the revision forum for all the RNY patients that are desperately seeking revisions to either shorten their bypassed intestine (ERNY), fix their stretched pouch or stoma, or convert to DS.

I lost 138lbs in 10.5 months with VSG. The first 115lbs dropped the first 6.5 months which got me to goal, and then I dropped another 23-25lbs over 4 months into maintenance. I maintained my loss for a year, and the only thing that has changed my maintenance is the fact that I'm pregnant and have gained a whopping 3-4lbs in the last 11.5 weeks.

VSG and I'm down 110+, the proof is in the pudding.

I haven't had any surgery yet but I was planning on the band at first, until I started reading posts from people like you who had problems with it. It seems that anyone without problems is the exception. I know I wanted something permanent and like you, I am scared of the whole RNY malabsorption and rerouting my insides thing. My dr. does all three. He has done more RNYs than anything and that is what he recommends, however, he said it is because he knows it works most of the time but yes, there are problems with it. He said that he doesn't see anything wrong with the sleeve and he does them more and more. It's just that it does not have the long-term history that RNY does so we really don't know how it will be years down the road. BUT, as someone else here has talked about doing research on cancer patients and the like who had their stomachs mostly or completely removed for reasons other than weight loss, they usually do fine and can live a long healthy life afterwards. AND the sleeve can be revised to the switch  later if needed. Keep reading and asking until you're comfortable. I think drs. just push the RNY because it's what they're most comfortable with. But you have to live with it and it's your decision. Good luck!

Can you eat normally? I have not been able to eat any healthy foods since I had my band. I can't eat most veggies unless they are cooked to mush and thats not very appealing! I can't eat apples, *which I miss terribly* I can't eat broccoli! I can't eat steak or pork chops! Really, I can't eat a lot, but junk goes down fine! LIquid junk! *ice cream*  I have really been living on protein shakes for the last yr or so. I'm about to have all the fluid out of my band on the 28th tho. I am just afraid that I've been so used to living like this with the band for the last 3 yrs, *too tight and can't eat foot to too loose and can eat anything* that I will struggle with hunger and not lose AGAIN! I just want some normalcy back!! THIS.... well this is He!!  No family dinners! No satisfaction ever where food is concerned! Always feeling deprivation! Then of course, guilt for the feelings of deprivation! I don't know... I am just NOT happy with my band!

I eat a very normal diet. There is nothing I can't eat, and believe me, I eat everything you listed plus some. Broccoli, salads, spinach are all staples in my daily intake. Seriously, I eat spinach probably 4 days a week, be it a spinach salad, or creamed spinach. I eat every meat with the exception of pork chops and that's only because pork chops seem to kind of sit heavy in my sleeve. Plus, my husband came back from Afghanistan not wanting to eat pork products so it's really not that big of a deal for me to skip the pork chops. I can eat pork chops, but I prefer a big fat, juicy steak, or ribs or scallops for protein options. We do eat ham at holiday functions such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I have zero issues eating ham. Sausage and bacon work fine as well so it's really only pork chops that sit heavily in my stomach. I have zero physical hunger, but I can eat every hour on the hour if I choose to do so. The big thing that has changed is that I don't want to eat every hour on the hour. I eat my meals, whatever I choose to eat that day, and I forget it. Food is really as afterthought, and I eat to live instead of living to eat. I eat pizza, tacos, burrtios, fajitas, thai food, sushi, seriously, I have zero food intolerances.

The post-op diet with the sleeve is a bit more strict that what I had with the band. BUT, it was doable. I chose to low carb it through my losing stage, and attribute my success to 3 things; a) loss of physical hunger b) immediate, constant, permanent restriction c) knowing that I'm in control and making the best decisions on what goes in my mouth, the sleeve makes it much easier.

Junk food still slides down just fine so I still have to make the best choice on what goes in my mouth. I can eat ****pots of chips, pretzels, crackers, and other carby stuff, but if I put protein in first, my capacity is still very limited. I eat the same way all my naturally skinny girlfriends eat. I refuse to deprive myself of any foods, I am not on a diet, I do eat a balanced, nutrient/protein dense diet with indulgences here and there. I don't eat ice cream anymore, or very rarely will I eat ice cream, but I love Sorbet, and I eat a no sugar added sorbet with no fat because it contains no dairy. 

I eat whatever my family eats, just smaller portions, and even at over 22 months out, I eat my meals off a smaller plate than my husband and 12 yr old son.

if you hated the stoma with the band, you're not likely to feel much better about the RNY, which also has a stoma....   i got the sleeve because i didn't want the rerouting and dumping issues....   i just needed restriction...  and it has worked quite well for me....

get the surgery you want, not just the one your surgeon wants....



jeris

My Doctor told me last week that stastics show that VSG patients loose the same amount as RNY patients. On average it is about 70-75% of EBW. But as you can see on these boards many, many, many peolple surpass that 'average'..

Some people say that VSG doesn't have enough long term data to support it. My doctor disagrees - Data goes out about 10-12 years. And RNY patients tend to have a lot of problems long term with different medications that their body can not absorb because of the re-routing.

Hi Stacy, I've been right there where you are too. You can see from my signature that I too had the band for 7 long years- it was mostly miserable. I had to carry baggies with my everywhere cause food would get stuck and I'd start to salivate for up to 1/2 hr and then finally throw up. Yuck! I too struggled with what to do, at the time my only choice was RNY, as my surgeon did not do the sleeve and I didn't even know about it. When they went to do my revision, I had soo many adhesions (prob cause I had my band so long) that when they were done, revision was not possible (they said my stomach looked like swiss cheese due to them having to chisel away my band from my stomach). Immediately post-op my surgeon sat on my bed and told me about the sleeve. They were not doing it, but she said I was a good candidate for it, maybe in a year or so, and she would refer me to someone who did it. I was certainly scared, but in the year that followed, I did a lot of research and found that I liked what the sleeve had to offer- no rerouting of my colon, no chance of long term problems, no need for heavy vitamin supplements (although i do take a multivitamin, calcium chews and vit D for good health). I am now 6 months out from my sleeve surgery and I have had nothing but a good experience. Granted, the weight loss is slower, but I am not struggling with hunger, I've not vomited, I feel full after eating about 1/2 of what is on my plate, I never feel deprived, and I find that chocolate isn't that appealing anymore. I do eat it once in a while, but I can stop after eating a small amt. This by far was the best decision for me. You will get many different answers, because we are all individuals- this is just my experience. I wish I had this option all those years ago. PM me if you want to talk more. Good luck with your decision!