nanaholmes

I just had to have my band removed on 12/17/06 due to erosion. I was unaware of the erosion, no pain, but had several dark stools during the day and that evening I became cold and dizzy feeling. Upon standing up, the feeling got worse and before I could walk out of the room, I fainted, rushed to the ER and had the endoscope, to determine band erosion. I had emergency surgery, 8 pints of blood, ICU for four days and four days in regular room. I have been told by my surgeon that this is rare (less than a 2% chance) but unfortunately an emergency situation when it happens. The surgeon told my family that I was minutes away from not making it, so please do not let this go on. I am four weeks post op and still very tired and sore. I will not choose to have anything else done for weight loss, a near death experience is enough to make me take control of my food intake forever. Good luck with your removal.

I too had great results with the Fen-Phen, then gained it all back. I can truly say that I am never really feeling hungry, just something seems like it would be good to eat, so it is a mind game thing. I feel thirst, but not hunger. Yes everyone is right that you can not overeat or you will have it coming back up, so just start training your mind to make the small meals count for your necessary protein and vitamin intake. If you choose to eat the wrong foods or liquids, the scales will not be your friend. It is truly amazing what quantities I can eat now and feel fine all day on that and not be constantly thinking of what to eat next.

I too had the same night time nightmare problems with the gross wake ups, even though I was sleeping elevated. Had the barium swallow and the light down to the band, turned out it was reflux. Dr. prescribed Pantocid, which is an India drug, must be simular to the Protonix, it had worked miracles, no more pbing and I don't have to dread going to bed at night. That is nothing to keep going on, check with your doctor.

I had my lapband done in India September 2005 and then returned in April 2006 for tummy tuck, arm lift and lipo in the tighs. I am so glad that I had it done, but the pain was awful at the time. Would I have it done again, not all at the same time. The total cost for the surgeries and 17 days in the hospital (this was my choice rather than going to a resort and traveling back and forth to the hospital for care with all of the pain) was $5,790.00. This included all the meals etc and my husband stayed in the room with me. It is a long way to travel, but when you can't afford US hospitals this is surely the way to go for hospital care.

I am 12 months post op. my hair loss started at about 2 months. My weight loss was rapid as I had alot of reflux and bping. I would say that I lost about 50% before it finally slowed and I could see new growth. It is still not back to what I would like, but still rather be slimmer than alot of hair. I am also taking a multivitamin with folic acid, that seems to help. My weight loss is 266/175 91 pounds.

This is interesting reading the various results and ways that people have worked with and around the band. My results are 266 lbs.// 6 months since banded// 5% drinking within an hour after eating// no excercise// no fills// no diet drugs// caucasian// lost 87 lbs. Nanaholmes

Hi Robbi, I live in SC also, I had my band done in India. I can not find anyone in SC that will do any post surgery treatments. Let me know if you have found someone that will see you if they do not do the surgery. Donna Holmes

Hello all, My husband and I are self employed and thus have no insurance. He had to have back surgery so we elected to go to India after seeing it on 60 minutes. While we were there, I checked into the lap band and the doctors agreed to do the surgery. It was done on 9/21/05 and to date I have lost 58 pounds. I have not had any fills done as it has been very difficult for me to get anything other than liquids down. At times, even water was painful and could only be drunk in very small sips. I still have trouble with spit, the bubbles seem to never go away and I wind up burping them up. Somedays, are good days and I can swallow hot purreed food just fine with no troubles. Room temp or cold soft foods just won't go down. Other days, it seems like everything that I try comes back up either with a burp or just all out vomiting. Is my stomach just too sensitive or am I doing something wrong? I have been in email contact with my Dr. in India, and he recommends a barium swallow, the thought of that makes me ill. Since I have not had a fill, I will need to find a Dr. close enough to go to and also one willing to take a patient that they did not do the banding on. At this point, I am thinking that I will suffer through to loose the remaining 40 plus pounds that I would like to do and then have the band removed. I will go back to India for the band removal and have the excess skin cosmetically removed. Has anyone had success with having the band removed so far as regaining the weight. Thanks for any suggestions. Donna Holmes from South Carolina

Hi Angie, I had my banding done 9/25/05 in India, so I do not have a dr. to visit here in the US. I have never had a fill done, but have experienced the "productive burping" more days than not. It does not seem to get better until I go just liquids for several days. I have not been able to eat anything that was not purreed without the painful fullness. Good luck, I feel better knowing that someone else is having my problems. Nanaholmes