La_madam

I'm amazed at how good I feel. I went back to work as a waitress on Thursday and worked all day as well as today. I'm on liquids for the next week but hunger is not even an isuue, so strange to say that but I'm sure it is due to all the bloatedness and swelling I still have from surgery. My incisions look great and are healing beautifully. According to Dr. Ortiz he stitches the same way on all of his patients, this does NOT mean all of his patients erode, it means my body just rejected the stitch, it festered there and caused the erosion.

The band was not designed to only live on liquids, if you PB again, get a small ammount removed. As little as .2 cc's will make the biggest difference in being able to eat solids but still give you enough restriction to lose weight. have him take you down to 2.1 or 2 cc's, You had a big jump from 1.6 to 2.3...Good Luck and keep us posted

I asked my Dr this exact question this past week while having my band removed and he told me it is very rare in lap band patients but more common in gastric bypass patients...bowel obsturction is usually caused my adhesions and since the lap band is done laproscopically adhesions are minimal unless of course you have had prior stomach surgeries like I have ( 3 c- sections) .My bowel obstruction was caused from the weight loss and the adhesions ( scar tissue from my 3 c-sections) the tubing got wrapped around my intestines since after my weight loss it had more room to move around in there. I hope this helps you some

It is usually humid this time of year atleast I know for sure in November it is..was there on Thanksgiving a few years back and I wore shorts in the day time

Linda, I wish you the best

Lisa, hopefully these results can put your mind at ease a bit atleast until you see a band doctor or have an endo. I'm happy for you your band looks good..if anyone desreves that, it is definately you for all that you have endured.

I can be rebanded in 5-6 moths if I so chose, he said erosion a second time is less likely since there is only 1 way to originally place the band but after erosion they use the scar tissue to adhere the 2nd band and he sees less cases of erosion. Yes he told me I will still have restriction from the scar tissue built up from where the band is and he left it in palce in the event I may want another band. I just took my antibiotics and trust me it still feel like I have a band. I asked him why he left the stitch, he said he was not 100% suree if would cause erosion but after seeing my endo results and seeing the DVD the endo Dr. gave him he now truly beleives this is what caused it. No doubt in his mind. Maybe removing that stich my band would of slipped? I should of asked that question, and Paula thanks for the hershey bar..you are a sweetie I hope you enjoyed it as much as I would of I'm just happy to know my erosion was nothing I did, I was a good bandster with just a case of bad luck but again the band did it's job,. No way could I have lost 106 lbs in 19 months without it. It gave me my life back!

Ortiz told me the mintue he cut the band the stitch popped right out just like he thought it would

I agree with this, when I had bowel obstruction I was at 2.5 cc's.. I was unfilled for 2 months and when I went to get filled again I could only go to 1.5 cc's ans was there for 4 months and lsoing and it was better restriction then I had at 2.5 cc's. I asked Dr. Martinez about this and he told me many bandsters who are unfilled do not go right back to their fill level due to things shifting , esophagus healing etc....he said he sees better restriction in patients who were unfilled and re filled to a lower ammount. It was definately true for me

Jen have faith, one of our LBT bandsters had slippage( jopnathan) and 1 week on liquids with no fill his band has positioned back into place. Lets hope the same happens for you too. Keeping my fingers crossed and wishing you the best Maybe send Jonathan a private message and get the scoop about his slipped band. Here is his thread you can read. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=12163

Jonathan this is such fantastic news! I am so happy for you

I know several people who have had this done since my Dr. in TJ has done several of them, I seem to meet a new patient who had bypass and now has the band.everytime I go to Tj You can go to his website and post a thread there and hopefully get answers from those who have had it done There is Linda and Gayle over at the other site he has a thread specifically set up for this topic www.lapbandforum.com

Penni, sorry ot hear you lost your fill, but better to be on the safe side...you will do just fine, you can do this and besides it wont be too long with NO fill. I'm proud of you for going in an having an endo, you are doing the right thing . Iwill be praying for you that all your tests come out negative

Dave, please tell Francesca that Iam thinking of her. Thank you for updating us. I iwll keep her close in my heart and thoughts.

Hey everyone, I wanted to check in with all of you to let you all know Iam home from TJ and bandless. I'm doing amazingly well emotionally...physically however I do have some pain. I found out what caused my erosion....we all know they stitch the band in place..well when I had bowel obstruction surgery Dr. Ortiz was concerned about a stitch he saw which is why he was so adamant of me coming back in 6 months for another endo, sure enough after reading my endo report and viewing the dvd the endo doctor gave him there is no doubt in his mind what so ever that the 1 single stitch caused the band to erode, the good thing coming out of this is Dr. Ortiz said and I qoute " you will be saving alot of peoples bands with this info, Iam going to a lap band conference in Feb and I'm going to take your reports and submit and share this info with Dr.'s all over the world and with Inamed" .( he did not even let me take my reports home, he wants them for this conference) So me losing my band is not such a bad thing if it will help others to not lose theirs. I'm taking one for the team here I'm in a good place with all of this, I truly am. I'm ready for the challenge of maintaining my weight loss. For those of you who have not had an endo, go and have one, just becuase there are no symptoms does not mean everything is good. Dr. Ortiz reccomends an endo between 18 months to 2 years out. Having it done at a year is useless in his opinion. Thanks to all of you for your awesome support and love, It isso greatly appreciated I will continue to be hear for support for myself as wel las offer it to others. P.S. Dr. Ortiz and Martinez oth told me it wil lfeel like I still have abvand due to the ring of scar tissus that was produced while I had the band..So I will pretend to still be a bandster, eat like a bandster and follow the rules like a bandster.

DOubt it, I only had my band for 19 months..it eroded between 15 months and 19 months post op.

Erosion is when the band starts to erode into the walls of the stomach. There are no symptoms, atleast I had none, some say they lose restriction . It requires surgery to remove the band. It is not life threatening but needs to be removed. The longer you wait the more damage you risk to your stomach and acquiring a port infection is what I was told. I was diagnosed with erosion on Monday Nov 21. My band eroded between July 11th and November 21st. I'm having my band removed Monday November 28th. There is something eerie knowing a foreign object is eroding inside you. I want it out!

Thanks everyone, you have no idea how much this means to me to have all of your love and support, as the time draws closer I 'm struggling with lots of anxiety. I'm leaving for Tj at 6:00 am tomorrow morning, will have pre op tests at 8:30 am...I love you guys, you are all awesome! Will post Wednesday when I get home.

Thanks guys... I'm here preparing myself for this both mentally and physically , getting things packed and ready.I can not lie, I'm a little nervous this time around. .. ..also everyone remember Francesca is also having her band removed on Monday as well from erosion , 3 of us here from LBt having our bands removed Monday. Sue , Francesca..you both will be with me on Monday in my thoughts..I hope all goes well for both of you..see you both on the other side

You look great, fantastic job! Keep it up Looking forward to hearing about the next 6 months

A nice cup of hot coffee or hot tea works well for me..the hotter the better.. andwhen I want my band to tighten..I drink and ice cold glass of Water.

Congratulations, I wish you the best with your band. I hope you have lots of success

Nope not me.. I have never been one to want to deal with the crowds, regardless of how much of a sale is going on...nothing isworth the hassle and headache of dealing with those crazy women. I'd much rather pay full price and no crowds the to deal with the first major shopping day of the season. Besides... My holiday spirit right now is in the toilet, once I get back from my band removal I hope to get it out of the toilet and get into the spirit of the season.

Sue what great words of wisdom, thank you for your post I agree. I'm here to tell you all, I followed the rules, I drank zero carbonation, I never took 1 single NSAID, I exercised, I did not stuff my pouch, I drank my water, I ate protein first, did not drink with meal etc..... and yet I still erdoded.. Even knowing the risks of the band and the possibility of erosion, I took the chance. I gambled and in my eyes I won..the band did it's job for me, now it is time for me to start my new journey and new challenge bandless. I'm ready for it!