Nanook

I thinketh you have too much free timeth!:thumbup:

Privatedancer, After I had my lap band removed I intentionally picked a different gastro specialist to do my endoscopy and my surgeon is no longer in my life. He is a great surgeon when it comes to putting in lap bands and removing them but when it comes to having complications I think it can be a whole different ballgame. So I just discussed this with my primary and got a referred to a specialist. All these people do are endoscopies. Prior to lap band removal I was put on protonix and am still on it. I don't know the relationship between that and high blood pressure but coincedentally I am on a med for that now too since lap banding. The chest pains have gone away since I've been on the protonix, I don't know if it's the removal of the band or a combination with the medication. I was told that the polyps can be caused by the protonix but they're really not a big deal. I don't have major esophagus issues. I do notice that since banding my espophagus is tighter, does that make sense. It is nothing I ever experience prior to banding and I suppose it would make sense that having a surgery like this and then removal would leave a few issues behind it. It's still difficult for me to eat something like chicken breast or something Protein and somewhat dry. It's not bad enough where I would consider having it treated right now. I suppose if my throat ends up closing up I'd so something but right now my problem doesn't sound as bad as yours. To me it's a good idea to get a different person to handle these kinds of problems because I think the original surgeon who placed our lap band will probably be a bit paranoid if we have problems because they're affraid they'd get sued or something. So that's why I chose someone who would treat me more objectively. Good luck to you hopefully there are others who can help by sharing their experiences with you too, Nancy.

I didn't even know I had the fundic gland polyps until my endoscopy, they were looking for acid reflux damage etc... As far as I know the type I had were nothing to worry about and they did a biopsy and it was benign. Mine was removed due to it not working and the acid reflux and had nothing to do with the polyps. I don't know if it will affect your surgery or not. Maybe there are others who have had the same situation as you have and you can write a new post about stomach polyps and being able to get the band, good luck to you Nancy.

Dan you're a nutter but I like your spirit! Anyway I'll give you some input from one of the "failed" lapbanders. I was previously going to get the gastric bypass but chickened out at the last month because of the fact that I was afraid of getting "dumping syndrome" something my daughter who had the RNY almost a year ago has never once experience. Anywho due to switching proceedures I had to catch up on more of the lapband info and did not receive or understand everything. Somethings you just don't know what it will be like until after it's been done but still I didn't know at the time that many solid foods would go through the band without any effort and those foods would be my downfall. I'm sure you know all about slider foods but when I was banded in 07 it really wasn't in any of my info and I didn't join LBT until I was already banded and having issues losing weight. Before I was banded I was placed on a liquid Medifast diet for four weeks or so and lost 20+ lbs. It took about 3 months before I got a "real" fill in my band and once that happened I was "tight" and probably too tight. So I basically started eating around the band at that point. I didn't know that much about regulating the band and so when I went to my surgeon after that point and started to gain weight they would just put more fill in when it was probably too tight in the first place. I didn't know that, I was too tight because I didn't know really how I was to feel. It seems some people here can have almost a full band of saline and barely have restriction and some like me can have just a little and be too tight so take into consideration that fact that there are some inconsistencies as we're all different. The lucky ones get to their "sweet spot" and lose weight. I don't know if going on a 6 month diet, like a Weight Watcher's diet would have made a difference. I don't think I would have ever been happy as a banded person because I could never get to a point where I could eat the way I should have. It was just too tight and I couldn't eat healthier foods. Anyway good luck to you and don't make as many enemies here as I have Nancy.

Dan, You're wrong,the people who have had their bands removed are much better than everyone else:thumbup:

Mandi, I already answered part of your questions earlier but the part about pain/gas and recovery I didn't. I found it much easier to have it removed than to have it placed. Of course everyone is different and I had no complications. But I did not have the bad gas pains I had when I got the band. I suppose they didn't have to pump me full of gas either. My recovery time seemed much easier and shorter than when I had it placed too. I think they were really careful about the pain meds they gave me when I got the lap band but not as strict after the surgery so that may have something to do with it. I was mostly concerned with the port removal and assuming it would be really painful but it wasn't. I didn't have any issues with anesthesia either. I was about 20 lbs heavier when I had it removed than when I had it placed and I assumed that they would make me do a liquid diet, I was wrong. Because I had so much blood work done because I had been hospitalized two weeks before for the chest pains they didn't even do the preop blood work! I basically breezed in and out it was totally different. I also thought they'd make me do the 3 day enema that was required before getting the lap band. No thank God! All they required was that I not eat or drink after midnight the night before the surgery. My surgery was at one in the afternoon so they let me drink Clear Liquids till 9:00 AM. So all the things I assumed they'd make me do they didn't so it was much easier all around. They did not seem concerned about me having a fat liver or not as it wasn't even discussed and like I said I gained 20 lbs since I had gotten the band the 14 months prior to removal. Then after surgery I thought once again I'd be on liquids, they just wanted me to have a light diet that day of surgery afterwards but they weren't concerned other than that day. I did not have a scar tissue issue, they used the same incisions but just to the side so my incisions scars are now wider than they were when I first got the band but even the healing seem to go smoothly. I have dark purple lines still but it's no big deal to me, just my battle scars. Anyway I wish you luck and your doctor and hospital will tell you what they require from you. I'm just sharing my own experience and hopefully yours will go as smoothly as mine did. Good luck and health, Nancy.:crying:

Until you've been called a "feck'n whinger" here you can't join my club!:crying: And by the way what is a "window licking bottle squatter"?

Nobody's girl, you seem pretty aware of what's going on by your own experiences. Our society is completely weight biased and it is wrong. Maybe in our PC world the only place that appears safe to still poke fun at are fat people All you have to do is turn on the TV and every commercial tells you in one way or another why people of size are bad or ugly or lazy or unacceptable in some form or another. We've learned this behavior. Not every culture learns that fat is bad or ugly or wrong but ours definitely does. Fat people have to hate their fat and thin people are always in fear of becoming fat. I suppose the more we're aware of this and understand how wrong it is it's possible to one day change how we feel and treat others and ourselves. Nancy:thumbup:

vertical sleeve gastrectomy type of wls.

Listen Nopbj, You are not alone in this as I well know. I started the "struggling bandster" section because I wasn't losing but gaining weight after banded. Everyone is different the band may work for some and not all. Not everyone has the happy bandster story to share and eventually are shooed away from here as a "band basher". I also was not as well informed prior to banding and led to many of the issues I had. Sometimes it's even difficult to tell with all the information given if you'd be a good candidate for the band. Don't let people bully your into thinking "you're not doing it right" when it just might be that the band is not the right tool for you as it wasn't for me and many others like me. You don't put someone on a crash diet for a month or so and then tell them they can eat and not expect them to want some food. You're body is made that way, you go into starvation mode you'll do almost anything to get those calories into you. But before you give up discuss things honestly with your doctor. My band did cause some issues with my esophagus/acid reflux and put me in the hospital with chest pains and after that incident mine was removed within two weeks and covered by my insurance. It's amazing how after being banded I developed more comorbs than I had prior to being banded. Anyway your health is the first thing you should think of and emotionally this takes it toll on you too. So see your doctor and try to get the right kind of support for yourself. Good luck, Nancy.

I vomited on the way home from a fill once and waited until the late evening to call the doctor and she met me after midnight at the office to take out the extra fill. She told me never to wait more than an hour or two if you're still not able to swallow your own saliva! Nancy.

Well for me it was easier but I had no complications. I spent the night when I got the lap band and had a lot pain from the gas etc... I had my removal as an out-patient and the incisions were on the same lines as the original ones and so they are longer and the pain was not nearly as bad. The port removal wasn't as bad as I had expected either but they gave me stronger pain meds also to have it removed since I no longer had to worry about my pouch. Nancy

Well my truth is that I got banded over a year ago and put back the preop weight and had other probs too with it and had it removed. My daughter on the other hand had the RNY done and has lost over 130 pounds so far. I don't know what makes it work for some here and not others. Is it the type of food we eat or when we put on the weight, age-wise, our sex, our age, or what but it seems that with the diversity of situations it's almost difficult to judge ahead of time which would be the right solution. I think I was a sweet eater prior to banding and after banding it made it worse. It is much easier to get sweets into you than spaghetti let's say. Bread is tough but then you read a lot of people can still eat bread. I also think I was always too tight and even with no fill had issues with that so it can be a bit tricky. I didn't come to this forum until I started having problems with the band. I suppose in some instance I was affraid of getting the RNY but now that seems silly since my own daughter had it done and she's more than half my age. It took as much will power for me banded as it did not banded to lose weight and I don't think all people have that issue. My daughter just seems to be flying through this thing now and has had her problems with RNY in the beginning had closed up and they had to do two endoscopies on her to stretch her stomach openning but since then has been doing well, TG! She also has never had "dumping syndrome" which was another thing I was worried about. It's not that she's never eaten anything that would cause it either but her stomach is smaller and she doesn't eat as much. Now down the line things may change for her as it does with any WLS. As you can see people revise to other surgeries because either one fails or is not as effective as it used to be. There are no guarantees with any of these surgeries but it takes a lot of research, which you appear to be doing and asking many questions of your surgical team about percentages and what if this happens or that etc...I myself have decided not to revise to another WLS but that is probably very rare and it is not always easy to live as a fat person in a world that is not fat friendly but that's what I've chosen to do, good luck to you, Nancy.

Nanastummy, I'd be curious to hear what they tell you on your second opinion. Mine said that they were rare but not an issue so I just went with that. They said the meds I take for the acid reflux cause them but it could be just "me". Anyway hope you're doing better and let me know how you are, Nancy. Also, I couldn't remember what they were called but searched them and they were fundic polyps found in the fundus of the stomach, don't know if yours were the same, thanks Nancy.

Ann, Go to Thinner Times - Gastric bypass, Lap Band, and other weight loss surgery if you want to speak with more people about the RNY. My daughter had it last May and after a few bumps in the road has been doing very well and has lost over 130 lbs so far. There are a lot of nice people there that will answer your questions and helped me a lot when I needed assist. Take care Nancy.:tongue2:

I think there's a big difference between the people who hate their bands or are just disappointed in the results. Most people find it odd that someone who has lost as much weight as you have would be unhappy. I too found it difficult to get it right after many fills and unfills but ended up gaining instead of losing. Maybe it was a loss of control thing who knows. I've found I'm much happier and healthier without the band than was on it but it's a big decision to have removed. For me it was easy as I did it for health reasons and am much happier. Good luck to you and I hope you find the right decision for yourself, Nancy.

I worked with my surgeon's coordinator to have mine removed. After a one night stay in the hospital for chest pains due to my reflux must have sent a red flag to the insurance company and they approved my removal fairly quickly and it was out two weeks from that time. I was not successful with the band after having it 14 months so the combo probably did the trick, good luck, Nancy.

Hi I've gone cold turkey off my antidepressants before that was a real problem for me a few years ago, the withdrawal and just not being on them was a bad time. When you go off one med and go on another you're usually under the care of a doctor and depending on the drug or class of drug they can have you slowly reduce the one you're currently on and start up on a lower dosage of the new drug until you're completely off the old and on the new. Some are very similar that it's not an issue. I don't remember having an issue going down/off of effexor because I was going on another drug immediately so I did not suffer withdrawal symptoms. Sometimes you can be on an antidepressant for a few years and it's just doesn't seem as effective as it once had been or not give you the results you desire. So I've had to switch to a few different ones after being on them for a few years or so. Hopefully it won't be so bad for you to switch if you're going to start up on cymbalta right away. Take care Nancy.:hurray:

Thanks, I know I should get it done anyway but will in a year. The stomach ones are no big deal they are a different type than the kind you get in your colon, just saw the doc. I just don't feel like going through anymore medical procedures for a while as I'm been bombarded lately! take care Nancy.:thumbup:

Plain I was just reiterating what many bandster has said about "not even thinking about eating today" etc....those are the types of things that have been said here and it's not that I was knocking anyone I found that some people are actually like that on the band. Doesn't mean it's bad it's just means it works for them and didn't for me, Nancy:smile:

J, Sorry you're in the same situation I was in also but you were much more patient than I was, three years verses 14 months. I suppose it works for some and not for others and obviously it's difficult to tell until after you've been banded most times. I know that with me I focused on food too much and here the people that seem to do well on the band act like they never think about food so how does one know when it will work out in their favor, they don't and that's problematic. I wish you luck and health and hope you don't have any further complications, take care, Nancy:smile:

I'm glad I'm off that roller coaster and don't want to depend on any other person to sell me their snake oil to once again get me to lose weight when I'm fine at this weight and don't need any more people to tell me that I am wrong, unhealthy, unacceptable to be at the weight I am. Too much time has been wasted in this effort. I hope for you that it is over also and that this band brings you the happiness you seek. Nancy:smile:

Donna113, what I said speaks for itself. I could have said size 0 then I would have had comments on that too. It really doesn't matter because what I said I believe and it's just my opinion and I'm sure most people here will find issue with it but I really don't mind. Nancy:smile:

I know I have an issue with sounding a bit preachy at times but I think obsessing over TV personalities and their weight changes just makes it harder for us regular folk. It's nice to have a variety of sized people out there in the world so we all know that people do come in different sizes and it's not a crime. It's that world that makes most of us feel we're not worthy to live in this earth if we're not a size 10! Nancy

Sorry you're right you caught me, I don't know how to change it though. But it's good to have your information thanks Nancy.:blushing: