Worried about lap band revision to ds

Rgjujitsu

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Feb 26, 2017
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So I'm using up every last favor to go to Dr. Esquerra in Mexico to have the lap band to ds revision. I know there is a possibility that he won't be able to do the surgery due to scar tissue or something like that? This is a nightmare scenario for me, because I simply wouldn't be able to afford another trip. I had the band completely loosened about a year ago when i was considering the sleeve because the surgeon wanted to. Does anyone know if there is a way to tell before I spend all that money? This is a big worry for me. Thanks!
 
There is no test that will show up adhesions (internal scar tissue). The good news, though, is that most of the time the band removal goes well. Yes, there are exceptions, but more good news is that so many people are having their lap bands removed that all the DS surgeons, and I would guess also gastric bypass surgeons, have lots of experience removing them. A sad commentary on a piece of crap that has failed to live up to its hype, but good for you.
 
Have you discussed this with your surgeon? Whats tripping me up here is the possibility that he won't be doing the surgery at all if there is too much scar tissue.
I am a sleeve to D.S revision. I want and intend on having the surgery laparoscopically. However, given history of 4 previous abdominal surgeries, I know this may not be possible. From what I understand, my surgeon will attempt to do the switch laparoscopically, if he is unable to do so, he will do the procedure open. The possibility of him not doing the procedure at all has not come up at all. Are you sure this is the case?
And btw, I had a lap band, for all of 6 weeks, it sucked. So congrats on its impending disappearance.
 
The lap band usually doesn't carry the same amount of scar tissue as say, a sleeve or RNY surgery. The most likely scenario is no big deal. However, we are all different. One thing I would do is give the doc my 'permission' to open me up if the scar tissue was a problem. Make sure he understands I would rather have the scar than no DS!
 
I was told the same thing - there was a small risk that adhesions would be so bad that they may only get to remove the lapband. It didn't happen. I had a lot of scar tissue, but the surgeon worked through it. It's a risk they were sure to make me aware of, but it's a very small one.

I think you also asked, maybe in another thread, about recovery. The recovery from DS was different to lapband. I had both laparoscopically, so yes gas pains for both. The surgical healing was fine with both. What the DS did was knock me on my ass energy-wise for about a month, and then slowly regaining energy until the third month. That to me was the big difference.
 

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