GeezerSue

tizag, I was unbanded ten days ago and my complication was esophageal problems. Sue But I had the DS surgery at the same time.

tizag, I was unbanded ten days ago and my complication was esophageal problems. Sue But I had the DS surgery at the same time.

I've posted that question on SEVERAL boards and have found a very small percentage of people who have achieved a goal within the "normal" range.

It's on the Inamed website... www.lapband.com Go to the part on risks.

Pleatman is a respected band surgeon. He's just facing the facts earlier than some. (In MY neighborhood, the "expert" just did he FIRST band removal.)

I flexed it. (On a Section 125 account.) HOWEVER, it can only be legally flexed if it is a legally deductable medical expenses...and, since it sounds like you aren't MO, it may NOT be a deductable expense.

Thanks for the good wishes...the band has damaged my esophagus. It may repair itself. We'll see. I have widening of the esophagus (esophageal dilatation) and the esophagus only works pushing the food down to the stomach part-time (esophageal dysmotility.) In dealing with these problems I regained all my lost weight and was miserable...eventually living on the likes of ice cream and Soup...whatever went down the easiest.

..in a hotel room. Sorry about the delay in posting. Post-op, it's so easy to read the boards, but it just feels like a jumbo hassle to post, especailly if it's more than one board. So, it was not only textbook, it went better than that. Doctor had scheduled his first surgery (me) for 7:00 a.m. and the second surgeryat 10:30. Only, by 9:15, Dr. K was all tidied up and talking to my husband. He later razzed me, saying that I had screwed up his schedule for the entire day. Also, my last two anesthesia debacles were overblown. At my post-op meet with the anesthesiologist, I was told that I was a "Class Three Intubation," and should mention that at my next surgery. At my next surgery, I did mention it, but that forewarned-is-fore-armed thing didn't work. That surgery was almost cancelled...a second surgeon and fiberoptics--and some good timing--became necessary. But here, they peeked in and said, "Oh, there it is," and they were done. After entering the OR and being tied down, I have zero recall until I awakened in my room. There's a shadow of a memory of being moved somewhere, but you wouldn't want me testifying in court on the subject. However, I DO remember Carmen. What a kick. There is Carmen and there are rules and the two have become one, haven't they? She was very kind to me and I felt safe in her hands. First night was fine. Second night was from hell. Everyone who needed to take something out of or add something into my body, plus those whose job it was to keep my body in motion, timed their visits at thirty minute intervals. And then everything that works fine in the daytime, malfuntions--and beeps--at night. So we got battey low warnings from machines which were not being operated on battery. Doctor arrived the next morning and dared to say, "Good morning." I responded, "Says who?" And he started to back away cautiously. The third night went better, and when doctor came by the next morning, before he could say anything, I said, "Why good morning, Sweet Cheeks!" He replied, "Well somebody had a BM." I said, "Not fair! You peeked at my chart." He said, "I didn't need to peek. I've been doing this long enough to have learned that a patient's personality is directly tied to how long it has been since his or her last bowel movement." I was released Thursday. We've been at a local hotel. I'm TRYING to get 80g of Protein in...the first 40-50 g goes pretty well, but after that, it's a real challenge. I went protein supplement shopping this morning. I've slept a lot, but I feel excellent. My "new best friend" has not figured from my voice or other clues that I've had the surgery. She's probably figuring that I went out of town to a pre-op exam...because I did that without telling her. So when I get home and she finally figures that I'm post-op, I think she'll scream. (She also does this to me. We both HATE pop-in visits and people who want to feed our husbands.) For the record, Dr. Roberto Rumbaut Diaz in Monterrey, Mexico, implanted this band, almost exactly as he did in the pre-FDA trials and as he has for several years now. Dr. Keshishian, my DS surgeon, can do a DS in 1.5 hours, but revisions almost always add to the time. My entire surgery took around two hours...maybe less. So a well-placed band and little scar tissue (that was my contribution) and not having erosion (pure luck) all contributed to a good game. Last night, my husband and I went to dinner at the coffee shop adjacent to the hotel. One of the waitresses used to work at the hospital. She kept asking when I'd be having my surgery and when it finally sunk in that I was four days post-op she was kind of in shock, claiming that I simply did not look like someone who had already HAD surgery. So, I guess I'm doing okay. Sue

Lisa, it might have been nutcracker esophagus...or just a test for the motility. I have had trouble for MONTHS/YEARS/SINCE A YEAR POST-BANDING feeling like the food in my esophagus is bouncing up and down...FINALLY, the Mexican surgeon happened to have me doing a barium swallow at the right time and we watched that. And then we watched while one swallow just sat there going nowhere. For some of this stuff, timing is everything.

Nutcracker esophagus is often found in MO patients in general, so it's not something the band would cause. I wonder if it resolves as we lose weight?

Thanks, everyone. Francesca and Michelle...see you on the other side. Since I'm not just unbanding, but going in another direction as well, I may be incommunicado a little longer. But I'll get back asap. Sue

Sweetie, you can zap me with whatever feels right! :cheeky

I just want my surgeon to show up sober and well-rested. I'm sure you are convinced that you are doing and saying and wishing all the right things for all the right reasons. I have signed ONE post that way in the almost two-and-a-half-years I have been a member here. And I have NEVER complained about anyone else asking for/sending prayers. Most of the time, when I don't agree with someone else's religious philosophy, I keep my complaints and my comments to myself. I highly recommend that approach. I'm not sure how many people here--or anywhere for that matter--would invite a stranger on an internet bulletin board to critique their religious/philosophical beliefs. But I don't mind being first in the line of people who do not desire that information from ANYONE. Free country. You can be sad about whatever floats your boat. Promise? Yeah. Sue :::the intermittently friendly neighborhood atheist:::

Thank you all. Back to the packing...ARGGGHH.

1--Sue DOESN'T SAY she is praying. Ever. 2--I didn't realize we non-believers had a recruitment program. I'm not trying to convert anyone and nobody converted me. (Do you think I missed out on a toaster oven or something?) 3--I don't "boast" of being an atheist any more than the Christians here are "boasting" about their beliefs, which would be a remarkably un-Christian thing to do. We all believe whatever we believe...it's a part of what makes each of us who we are. 4--Sorry you are "a little sick of hearing" of my beliefs. Do you suppose we should ban ALL references to what we believe in, or just those that don't line up with what you believe?

This issue has fascinated me...since I probably had PCOS before they had a name for it. I had several of the symptoms and so does our daughter. I will warn you that the carb-no carbs thing is still up to the individual, banded or not. In fact, as I was able to tolerate less wholesome food, I ended up with meringue Cookies and things that dissove at body temp. I gained a few there! Good info, though.

So...we're done with Wynonna and it's my turn? I don't need anyone to approve of my beliefs...especially those who are the self-appointed judges of everyone else. I didn't mention anyone by name...it's one of those shoe fits things.

I don't even begrudge prayers on my behalf! I think the SENDER gets to choose. But thanks for whatever you choose to send!

Well what I think is that--since we are all privvy to the intimate details of her life and since she has asked for our input--we should be judgemental and talk about why SHE is obese and how SHE should go about resolving HER problem. At least it might save us from talking about why WE are obese. Sue :::your friendly neighborhood atheist, who doesn't have time to judge/discuss Wynonna's shortcomings and who intends to lose weight in spite of her atheism:::

The band doesn't cure anything...except overeating large quantities of solid food at one sitting.

The numbers from here just are not scientific. They are anecdotal...and certainly not without merit...but they are not scientific. (Fro example...optimists say the people who disappear are happy, healthy banded people leading productive lives. Pessimists say that the people who disppear have given up and gone on to other surgeries or are eating around the band. They are probably both right.) The FDA stats are the official ones. Those are at the Inamed site: www.lapband.com And the FDA collects data (when it is submitted) for postmarket studies...when the FDA does what it is supposed to do. Beyond that, there is the peer reviewed literature. You can find that at PubMed. A lot of reading. A lot.

A couple of things from someone else who is about to have her band removed. *This is an unusually supportive board. At least one other place I post has one or two people who insist that most people with problems aren't "working their tool"...or some other "blame the victim" kind of BS. (Interestingly enough, that position is usually spouted by people who were 400 pounds and are now happy to be 250 or so...and those people actually believe that we all want to have their level of success...and they don't get that an awful lot of banded people don't WANT to weigh 250 and that's why they are getting the band. But I digress.) **It's a damned shame that Michelle has to go through this. On the other hand (sorry, Michelle), her problems are enlightening many. Michelle has been such a success story, that is is hard for some people to believe (at least that's what they have written) that THIS could happen to HER. Deal is, it can happen to anyone, NO MATTER HOW WELL THEY ARE FOLLOWING RULES! So, don't say, "Well I'm a good patient and so I won't have to deal with that." Follow the rules, listen to your body, but then get the lousy endoscopy and upper GI anyway! ***Get rid of doctors who ignore your problems. I recently had a LapBand doctor try to convince me that the sensation I had--of food bouncing up and down in my esophagus--was a normal part of the banding experience. And that I should attend some support group meetings to learn from more "successful" patients...all of whom had been banded for far less time than I have. ****Know the complications and decide which ones you are willing to take AND what "payoff" you require. I'm not willing to live with RnY risk for the RnY payoff, but I'll accept the DS risk--which, for the surgery itself is greater--for the DS payoff. I thought about it, especially when I learned that the band had to come out, but RnY problems are not for me. Also, I should not have been willing to live SO LONG with band complications. But the band is new here and the doctors don't know what to listen to. If YOU have complications, MAKE someone deal with them. That's MY wisdom, three-and-a-half days before my revision. Sue

Reports of band erosion on PubMed are from the US, France, Belgium, Italy, Iceland...all over.

I hope she is able to post here soon. (Unless she already did and I missed it. But I'm doing the pre-op crazies right now, so...)

The pain is in your left shoulder, correct? If so, it's pretty typical immediately after banding. The bad news is that it can last for a while....but the good news is that it happens less and less often and to a lesser degree. Eventually, one day it will hurt and you'll realize that it's the first time it's happened in a month. The band is on your left side, sitting outside your stomach. Your other "parts," specifically a nerve that sends sensory signals to the left shoulder, lives in the same neighborhood. It will go away...but I'm over three years out and, if I eat something that gives me real gas issues, I can occasionally have pain in the left shoulder.