Shocking Surgery Footage: 11Years After Gastric Sleeve, Her Stomach Was Corkscrewed! Interview w/Dr Dovec

Have you ever wondered what actually happens inside your abdomen during a bariatric revision? In this episode of Our Sleeved Life Podcast, host Mel (@melunfiltered.vsg) sits down with board-certified bariatric surgeon Dr. Betsy Dovec to watch and review actual 4K high-definition video footage of Mel’s Gastric Sleeve (VSG) to Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RNY) revision surgery!

11 years after her original sleeve gastrectomy, Mel was dealing with chronic pressure, reflux, and weight plateaus. Dr. Dovec reveals the mind-blowing findings inside Mel’s abdomen including a corkscrewed/twisted stomach pouch, a large Type 3 Paraesophageal hiatal hernia suctioned up into her diaphragm, an un-dissected retained fundus that was 3x wider than normal 75mm vs 35mm, and incidental endometriosis!

Whether you are navigating bariatric regain, researching revisional surgery, or recovering post-op, this transparent surgical breakdown provides critical medical insights and validation for bariatric patients everywhere.

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IN THIS EPISODE:

Dr. Betsy Dovec takes us step-by-step through Mel's revisional surgery:

Incidental Pelvic Findings: Identifying uterine fibroids and "cigarette ash" endometriosis spots that cause severe menstrual pain.

Visceral Fat & GLP-1 Impact: Showing how 11 years of sleeve lifestyle combined with GLP-1 medications eliminated nearly all intra-abdominal visceral fat in the omentum.

Preventing Complications: Demonstrating how closing the mesenteric defect (Petersen's space) with permanent Ethabond sutures prevents future internal hernias and bowel obstructions.

The Twisted Sleeve & Hiatal Hernia: Uncovering why Mel experienced chronic chest pressure, and showing how repairing the diaphragm crura causes referred left shoulder pain.

Resizing the Pouch: Dissecting the retained fundus off the spleen and re-sleeving the 75 mm stomach down to a optimal 32 mm pouch over a calibration tube.

Post-Op Recovery & Safety: Distinguishing normal gas pain from dangerous leak symptoms, and reviewing safe diet progressions from liquids to soft foods.