I don't know where to start.

I'm not really sure regarding the insurance side but I do know that there are only a handful of doctors qualified to do a RNY TO DS REVISION And none of them that I know of are located on a military base. you probably should contact the insurance company to find out their protocols or requirements to get to one of the dr with expertise in the rny to DS revision.

I spoke with the bariatric team at fort Gordon and they stated they don't do the DS surgery. I contacted my insurance and they said id I had Tricare standard things would go very easy for me. Thanks for replying.
 
There is only a handful of RNY to DS surgeons and none are located on a military base/hospital.

But Tricare is a different beast altogether. You need to know your options and be prepared to self pay.

I totally agree with you, they gave me the run around just by simply asking questions. I guess this makes a long journey.
 
Hi again @MarineWife13 ! As others have said, RNY to DS revision is very complex and done by very few surgeons. Even most DS surgeons don't do this particular revision. It requires taking apart your entire gastric bypass, restoring everything to the original anatomy, and THEN doing a DS. There is much greater risk of complications than with a virgin DS. This is not said to discourage you, just to explain why so few surgeons do it and why it has to be taken so seriously.
I'm wondering if your RNY is as it should be for you to lose so little weight. Most of the people we see having revisions from RNY to DS did lose well originally, but struggled with major weight regain. Your story is different. Has anyone checked to make sure you don't have, for example, a fistula, or other problem that would explain why you never lost weight as expected?
Bottom line, though, if you do decide on RNY to DS revision, I've never heard of any surgeon in the military doing this. There is a list (@southernlady can direct you to it) of surgeons who do this elsewhere on this website. I hope one of these surgeons is available to you.
Hi larra, nice talking with you again. No doctors ever checked why I lost so little weight. Tomorrow I am finally having an upper GI but the this is I want the DS but they don't perform it on base and Tricare is already fighting me with only questions.
 
I think it might help to list the surgeons for the OP to call. The Medical Offices might be able to help the OP.

Dr. Rabkin - San Francisco - Matt in his office deals with insurence and might be helpful to you.
Dr K in LA - someone else here can fill you in on the details.

Those are the two I know. I think there are a few others. Will let the community chip in.

Thank you very much for the information.
 
Hello all. I'm so new and posting a reply so it seems very unorganized. I really hope I replied to everyone correctly. I do have a question, if I cant get the DS what would be another option for a gastric bypass revision?
 
I think the upper GI will answer that question. If there is something technically amiss with the gastric bypass you already have, there may be some kind of revision that would help you. But if it looks like it's supposed to look, there would be no point in revising it. Some surgeons with convert a proximal bypass, which is almost certainly what you have now, to a distal bypass, but studies have shown this results in minimal additional weight loss. Some try ERNY (the E stands for extended) where they go really distal, but this combines all the drawbacks of gastric bypass with the negative features of the DS and can be very hard to live with.

Let's see what the upper GI study shows. But bottom line, even if you have to fight to get a DS, it's worth the fight, even if you have to travel, it's worth the inconvenience, and even if it takes longer, it's worth the wait. Just my 2 cents.
 
I think the upper GI will answer that question. If there is something technically amiss with the gastric bypass you already have, there may be some kind of revision that would help you. But if it looks like it's supposed to look, there would be no point in revising it. Some surgeons with convert a proximal bypass, which is almost certainly what you have now, to a distal bypass, but studies have shown this results in minimal additional weight loss. Some try ERNY (the E stands for extended) where they go really distal, but this combines all the drawbacks of gastric bypass with the negative features of the DS and can be very hard to live with.

Let's see what the upper GI study shows. But bottom line, even if you have to fight to get a DS, it's worth the fight, even if you have to travel, it's worth the inconvenience, and even if it takes longer, it's worth the wait. Just my 2 cents.

I hade my upper GI done yesterday and waiting for the results. I found that Augusta university medical perform the DS but "not often"
 
Let us know what the upper GI shows. It may make a difference in what you plan next.

I've never heard of Augusta university doing any DS, and what you need to remember is that you aren't looking for a DS, you are looking for a RNY to DS revision. I bet they've never done one of those at all. It is a much more difficult and higher risk operation than a virgin DS, and going somewhere where some surgeon maybe does one "not often" would be a dangerous plan, if they even agreed to do it at all.
 
Augusta University medical center stated that the ray to ds revision is something they rarely do because of the complications rate. They even tried to get me to think about other surgeries instead. I got in touch with Dr. Add to dictionary and my insurance (Tricare) said they will not cover me because I live in the state of GA and not CA. I do have a $200 video consult with Dr. K but then the lady I spoke with said it's the doctor's decision if he revised the RNY to the DS....... I'm feeling so defeated at this time.
 
Tricare is something I know almost nothing about, so hopefully someone else will know more. In my ignorance, I don't know why what state you live in would have anything to do with you being covered or not. Or, would a state other than CA make a difference? Dr. Elariny in VA also does RNY to DS revisions and is very well regarded. Also Dr. Ayoola in Denton, TX. Maybe that helps, maybe not.
 

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