vickie6866

I want everyone to chip in if I am right or not. I had a lap band for three years. Pulled the port loose at work, it erroded and infected my internal band leading to removal of my band several weeks ago. My doc says after one failed band he will not do another. He said I could do a sleeve as a revision. Worker's comp has been headache from beginning. They refused to pay in the beginning and caused me to lose my band because of an open hole in abd for weeks on end. I have been in surgery three time to correct the problems including removing my band, they paid for all this. They are now refusing to cover the cost of the sleeve. I feel like they are responsible because their bad treatment lead to me loosing my band. I don't know if I should just give up(personal insurance is a no go for the coverage), or see a lawyer and try to fight them.

I had mine removed on the 4th due to port infection that was thought to be coming from an infected band due to previous port removal. I am still trying to come to grips with the lose of this weigh lose tool that I needed to win this battle. What happened with yours.

I have been on one hell of a journey with my lapband that was placed by Dr. Gonzalez in Tijuana Mexico on 7/21/07. Within the first three months of placement I lost 30lbs, and that was the most I ever lost. The next 14 months were fills that were either 2 tight or loose so I gain half that 30lbs back. I had a flipped port that was fixed by Dr. G on 3/5/09, but the fills never worked and I had to go back to Dr. G, and he removed some of the tube near the port connector on 6/29/09. I continued to have problems so I was checked here at home and was found to have a leaking port so once again I went back to Dr. G and this time he replaced the port in 08/09. After all this trouble the port detached completely in 11/09. I decided to see a doctor here at home for this problem even though Dr. G offered me to come back to Mexico yet again. My insurance referred me to Dr. Husted which was the worst thing because I feel his care lead to me losing my band in the end, I also think I had a poorly located and/or secured port from the beginning. He said my band area looked inflammed and not detached so he treated me that way and caused my port to errode to the outside of my abd wall and the port fell off the tubing leaving a large open hole. Then I went through a lot of BS with him and weeks later when I thought I migh get help for this still open hole he informed me via letter that his privilages at the hospital had been revoked that he was moving and was refering me to a friend of his a few states away. I worked with my insurance and went through a lot of looking before I found a wonderful doctor who I trusted would help me with this mess. I had the open area closed and inner band checked and months later had the port replaced on 5/28/10. The incison came open in a small area a week later and drained large amounts of old drainage. After the drainage stopped my incision was only covered with a very thin scar and the under lying tissue was seperated. I had my first fill 1st of July and waited on my incision to heal from the inside out. On July 28th I had three small areas open up and weep puss. Now here I am scheduled for removal of my band on Wednesday cause my doctor said the inner band got infected from when the port detached and fell off tube thus cause thes new problems. I can't put into words the emotions I am having. I am mad,sad,depressed to name a few, and I feel like I could go screaming and throw myself off a cliff. I hate to lose my band but I will know it will not have problems anymore when it is removed. If insurance will cover the cost he said I could have a new band placed down the road or a gastric sleeve done. I don't think I will ever get another band, and even though in 2007 I was dead set against having stomach removed now it seems like a blessing after all these problems. Sorry for long post just need to share.

I have a Mexico placed lap band(07/2007)that was self pay. Things went good for first two years then problems started first with a dislocated port. The first part of december I lifted something heavy at work and big suprise I pulled my port loose again. Since my private insurance will cover very limited lifetime $ for complications, I used workmans comp. I started seeing Dr. Husted in somerset ky and this is where more problems started. I waited for a week or so to get into see the doc, the day of the appointment the nurse called and said that I needed to have a swallowing study before he would see me, there was a few more weeks to get payment clearance, get test secheduled and done, and then get into see the doc. When I did he said the port was right under the skin and loose but that he wanted to treat it with po antibiotics and wait for the port to settle back into place on its own. Well big surpise the constant moving of the port rubbed a hole in my stomach wall. I now sit today with a port that is visible and he is refusing to repair this until he gets a EGD done with the doc of his choice. Meanwhile insurance has refused to cover the cost of this because they say its not needed after the barium swallow was good. I can't get another doc to touch this because I have been seeing someone else already. Why does life always have to be so damn complicated all the time when it comes to lap band complications. I feel like holding the insurance company and or doc hostage til they agree to fix this problem, ha ha, would make me feel a lot better....

I had regular follow up of my band here at home but went back to Mexico in the past for major problems cause I prefered the doc there, and it was free so cost was about the same. I do have private insurance but it will not pay for the lap band at all so that was the reason I was a self pay.

I had a Mexico placed band that I have had numerous problems with. I am now seeing a USA doctor and guess what he gives the same type of care, if not less. I can't say if he placed it if the outcome would have been any different. If anything the US doc drags his feet more on care than the Mexico doc, and for the record I would much prefer Mexico doc for follow up care, but at this point not cost effective due to travel and all that comes with it. I think there is good and bad with doctors anywhere and not everyone is lucky to not have problems with their lap band. If you have the band long enough I think everyone will have some form of problems whether they be small or large scale.

I am glad to hear that you have final gotten your problem taken care of and are now on the way to a complete recovery. I have had a lot of complications with my lap band but you are right I am not ready to given up on it, at least not just yet. I am now seeing a doctor about and hour drive away cause running back and forth to mexico wasn't working for me. With some extra help and working the system I am finally getting this care covered through my workplace insurance.

I am so sorry to hear about your problems. I too have had a lot of problems with my mexico placed band. I have insurance but it will not cover lap band placement and only $5000 lifetime max for complications, but all docs here at home want a $1000 cash program starting fee then the money I have with insurance would cover at best one procedure. So I have spent a lot of money running back & forth to mexico for these complications. I now as we speech am waiting to hear from Dr. Gonzalez to see if he will help with this new problem. I have had one hell of a year because I have spent most of it recovering from these complications. See my newest post for details. Hang in there it will workout some way.

I must have the worst luck ever with the lap band or something is not being done right. I had my old leaking port replaced with Dr. Gonzalez on 08/27/2009 and within five weeks my port incision site was seperated under the skin about half way thru thickness of stomach wall. I had that repaired here at home with a lot of work to get it done at insurance cost. Now last week what would you know my port started hurting with sharp pain, like when it flipped earlier this year. I went to have it checked here at home and surpise it has flipped again. What is the problem, I do little to no lifting, is it in the wrong position or not sutured down good or is it just a freak thing. The first year and half I had the band all was well but these last 10 months have been one problem after another. To date I have had two flipped ports, a leaking port that was worked on twice before replacement, and I have had two port incisions open up and need repairing. All this work was done after many cross country trips to Tijuana which cost major bucks not to mention the time off from work & family for each recovery. There are days I could rip this thing out with my bare hands out of frustration, but I paid a lot and I can't give up that dream of being skinny so I must endure.

I must have the worst luck ever with the lap band or something is not being done right. I had my old leaking port replaced with Dr. Gonzalez on 08/27/2009 and within five weeks my port incision site was seperated under the skin about half way thru thickness of stomach wall. I had that repaired here at home with a lot of work to get it done at insurance cost. Now last week what would you know my port started hurting with sharp pain, like when it flipped earlier this year. I went to have it checked here at home and surpise it has flipped again. What is the problem, I do little to no lifting, is it in the wrong position or not sutured down good or is it just a freak thing. The first year and half I had the band all was well but these last 10 months have been one problem after another. To date I have had two flipped ports, a leaking port that was worked on twice before replacement, and I have had two port incisions open up and need repairing. All this work was done after many cross country trips to Tijuana which cost major bucks not to mention the time off from work & family for each recovery. There are days I could rip this thing out with my bare hands out of frustration, but I paid a lot and I can't give up that dream of being skinny so I must endure.

I have a fill that might be too tight but this is probably the only way I can lose weight. I can drink all liquids at any time but in order to consume any type of food I need to have something hot first otherwise I am pucking in a few min. and having that horrible chest pain like a heart attack. Should I just ride this out or have a slight unfill, have only had this fill for five days. Any help would be great.

I have had a lap band for 2 years. In the beginning I lost weight fast and steady until I started having all kinds of problems with my band and my health. Fast forward to now and I am back on the right track with a normal working band. In the beginning I lost because I had a tight fill, I am now wondering if my fill today is not tight enough to lose that way. I was completely unfilled for a while and had my first fill on aug 27th. I have a 4cc band that has 1.6cc put in on the 27th. When I was tight I was at 2cc and I could not eat any solid foods, only softs and liquids. I can now eat lot of different solids if I go very slow and easy. I lost weight the first few days but I have stopped for the moment and was just wondering if I should have another tighter fill soon, or just stick it out with this lesser fill and wait for the weight to come off.

Happy to report that I had my port replaced on 08/27 and it is working great at the moment. I have a good fill after being empty for months now. I am adjusting to not eating much, I forgot how hard it is to live with a tight fill but it is great and woudn't trade it for the world.

I was put to sleep for the flipped port but when I woke up it was like I never had anything done, healed fast and great. When I started having problems with this leak he went back in at end on June and tried unsucessfully to fix it and that was with a local, other than some tugging and pulling was fine just a little stressful on my nerve cause I am a nurse so I knew what he was doing. I am goin tomorrow for the port replacement so I will let you know how that goes. I will get this thing right if it is the last thing I do.

Hang in there I had a flipped port that was repaired in early March of this year so I know where you are at. I am now dealing with a leaking port that I am having repaired on Thursday so you must stay the course. It is not if you will have complications with the lap band but a matter of when. Some have more complications and at an earlier time than others.

While waiting for a response from Dr. Valenzuela about the band being covered from the company, which I never did, I got my family doctor to order some test. My barium swallow looked good, but the dye study revealed a slow leak behind my port. I am relieved that the entire band will not have to be replaced but rather just the port. I am once again going back to Tijuana to see the wonderful Dr. Gonzalez on the 27th to hopefully have this problem fixed once and for all. Frustrated can not begin to describe the way I feel, but I am hoping there is a light at the end of this long tunnel.

I have a leak in my lap band port that I plan on having repaired on the 27th of this month. For those of you that have had a port replacement due to a leak where was your leak at in the port?

If you have had Dr. Gonzalez place your band and had complications I would like to know your experiences. I had my band placed with him July 2007 and everything was okay until I had a flipped port in January 2009. I talked back and forth with Dr. Valenzuela and once I made he understand I had a flipped port and not anything else, he was fast to get me a price quote of $300 for the repair. I went the first week of March and had it fixed, and Dr. Gonzalez and his team were their usual wonderful selves. Over the next couple of months leading up to June I had several fills and never felt any restriction,I had perfect restriction up until I had the flipped port repaired, and each time I went back the fill provider could only get about .5 cc out even though I should have had 2 cc in my band. After a few close fills in early June my incision opened up and when the last fill was placed it all drained back out the open area when I went to sleep a few hours later on my side. Once again I was e-mailing back and forth with Dr. Valenzuela and I decide to go back to Dr. Gonzalez for a repair of this problem. I went in this last time on June 29 and was given a local numbing injections and the port was worked on. I ask Dr. Gonzalez what he did later but he never told me. I felt some restriction in the very beginning but by the time I returned home I didn't have any. I was very sore and had no desire to eat so I didn't really notice the lack of restriction for several days, plus my son was in motorcycle accident so I was not focused on me. When I went for a fill because I noticed the lack of restriciton I discovered that the problem was still there. I tried to find someone here at home to help with this problem but with a Mexico placed band no one will touch me the two that would wanted close to $2000 just to get started in their programs not to mention the thousands I am sure it will take to correct this problem with them. When I spoke with Dr. Valenzuela last week via e-mail he said that he thought the band was under warranty, which I have never heard of, and that he would get back with me shortly. I am still waiting on the response and about to lose my mind. I have a self pay band that cost well over $8000 to place, over $1000 for fills would be a conservative price, and another $2000 or more for the two return trips to Mexico for the flipped port and leaking fluid. Now here I sit with a band that is still unable to hold a fill with well over $11000 in debt and I am fast approaching my pre-op weight. I need some reassurance that I am not getting farther in debt with no solution to this problem. I need some reassurance that Dr. Gonzalez will be able to correct this problem for me. He has always been great to deal with but I am in a bad situation and very scared about where to go from here. I will feel much better once I hear from him in that reassuring manner that he has. Thanks for listening and sorry for this very long post.

When I had my lap band placed two years ago I was self pay and after researching all my choices decided that Mexico was the best value for me at $8000 total for everything. I had no problems until six months ago when I had a flipped port, not sure what caused it. I thought it was cheapier so I went back to Mexico to have it repaired by Dr. Gonzalez for $300 and $700 in travel expenses. It was going to cost $750 dollars at home just to see the doctor, $500 starting fee and $250 office fee. Once the flip was repaired I had several fills over next three months that all leaked out causing my incision to open back up in June. Three weeks ago I once again went back to Mexico to have what ever was causing the leak and the open area repaired at the cost of $1000 travel and other expenses. A few days after I got home I realized much to my dismay that the leaking problem was still there. Now I am waiting to see the doctor here who I will have to pay $750 just to get in the door, not to mention what it will cost to repair the problem. So the moral of the story is just because you can get a good value up front doesn't mean you will not have to pay a high price later on if you have complications, which eventually I think everyone does to some degree. Words can't describe how frustrated I am right now cause as we speak I am gaining the weight I have lost back swiftly.

I have a lap band that was placed in mexico about two years ago and have been have complications with it. I have chosen your doctors group, Bluegrass Bariatrics Surgical Associates, to help fix this problem. I am glad to know I have made a wise choice. Can't wait to get this taken care of, hope it doesn't cost a lot.

I am so frustrated and worried right now, and I guess I just need to get it out of my system. I was a self pay for my band which was placed 07/07 in Mexico by Dr. GONZALEZ and his crew. I weighed round 215 lbs at that time, today I weigh round 190 lbs, the most I have lost was 45 lbs total. Due to health reasons over the first year and a half I had to have unfills, and I have had problems with my band for approximately this last six months so as a result of all that today I have only 25 lbs off from my starting weight. Back in Feb. my port flipped and I had the surgery to reposition it with Dr. Gonzalez in early March. After that surgery I came back home and when I got my first fill at six weeks post-op I didn't feel the restriction I normally do. I continued to have this problem over the next couple of weeks while I had several more failed attempts at fills that wouldn't stay in my band. After the second one the doctor always removed less that half what he had placed with each fill. My incision had been sunk inward and looked thin skinned since my port repair, and this past week it turned pink & sore and in another day or two opened up and started draining. When another fill was tried at this time the fluid ran back out the open area shortly after being placed. I feel so frustrated and have been out a lot of money with wasted fills, lost work time, travel expences, and now here I face another procedure and I just need to vent. I love my band but I have never got to enjoy the good benefits like others on here have. I pray there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I never said I adored my doctor. He has a great bedside manner but I don't have to like a doc to receive care from him, I just have to trust his skills. I am not sure if Dr. Gonzalez has a bad rep or not, this is the first time someone has told me that directly. At the time I went to see him back in 2007 I did so cause I needed to get a handle on my out of control eating, and he was the best value for me at that time. I am complaining but I am in no way trying to lay blame on anyone. There is many things that could have happened but it all amounts to the fact that the LapBand is a very complicated thing that is and continues to be know to everyone. I am glad that this board is here and all you out there who take the time to give me a sounding board for my complaints.

Sweet heart you are a beautiful young lady, and when you reach your goal you will also have a level of confidence that you will never imagine. I don't know if he is cheating or not but I can for sure say he is thinking about it. He is probably also feeling scaried about your new self that you are working toward. Just stay back and observe with a close eye he will prove himself to you sooner or later.

I had my band placed 18 months ago in Mexico. A few weeks ago my port area got tender, red, and swollen, but I had lifted heavy things so I was not too concerned. Once this didn't go away I went to my primary doctor and got a script for Keflex 750mg 2x's daily for 10 days. Those are now finished and the problem is still there, and I am also having sharp burning pains around the port if I touch my stomach just right. I had approximately 60ml of bloody fluid aspirated from around my port yesterday. I have been in touch with my lap band doctor and he wants me to get a abdominal CAT scan and send it to him. He mentioned that I could have a band erosion. Has anyone had this kind of problem in the past. I think that I possibly have a herniated area behind my port from heavy lifting because of the sharp pains and blood build up. Any information would be great, I am losing my mind here.

I have had my port for 18 months with no problems until now. I had it done in Tijuana Mexico with Dr. Gonzalez. I haven't had a fill adjustment in months. My problem started about a month ago. I had swelling, tenderness, and more protrusion than usual at the port site. I work in health care and often do heavy lifting and around the time that the pain started I also lifted a 50 bag of dog food. After a week or so the skin over the port turned red so I got some antibiotics from my primary doctor (Keflex 750mg BID for 10 days) which I just finished today. I am still having pain, when I feel around on the left bottom side of the port and press inward a little the pain is sharp and burning like a pulled muscle only three times worse. The problem is my primary doesn't want to treat this and has said go back to the doctor who did it. I contacted the lap band doctor's assistant and he just said go to a doctor even though I told him I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket for that. I have insurance but it doesn't cover anything to do with a lap band, and there are no docs near me that will touch a band placed by someone else(in Mexico) without thousands of dollars. What do I do any ideals on what this could be. Any input would be great.