luckylimey

Talk to your doc. Mine gave me prescription for acid.

Hey May sleevers!! Went to my preop appointment and all set for friday. I am excited/nervous. Hope all is well with May sleevers already done.

So I am 1 week away from surgery, getting excited. Started my pre-op diet 2 weeks ago, the doc wanted me to loose 5 lbs prior to surgery, I am down 10lbs as of today. It was not easy, but worth it.

EGD Tuesday surgery 5/1. Can't wait

So here I go starting all over again.

Lap Band installed 2005 - Starting weight 430

Port removed 6 weeks post install

Lap Band eroded 2010 and removed - end weight 232

7 Years later I regained 88 lbs - been very steady at 320 for about 4 years, just can't do it anymore.

Surgery Date 5/1/2017 - for the gastric sleeve.

Nervous, excited, scared about going through everything I went through with the band.

My journey with the band was a complete and utter failure and success all in one. I had my band installed in 2005. I knew something was wrong almost immediately, but the surgeon didn't believe me, he thought I was just making it up, the pain and the fevers. I went to see my general practitioner (a band patient herself,) she took one look at me and knew I was not faking it, she put her hand on my belly, stormed out of the exam room, came back 15 minutes later and told me to drive right to the hospital, that the surgeon was on his way there to meet me. I was taken into surgery the next morning and my port was removed. The tubing that connected the port to the band was looped in my stomach muscle, and so every time I moved, turned or twitched it rubbed against the muscle wall - it caused a huge infection. I spent a week in the hospital on antibiotics and then went home with an open wound and a drain for the next 9 months.

I never had a port put back, I never had a fill, my band was wide open and it worked, and I lost weight at the right pace - 200 lbs in 5 years.

Toward the end of the five years, I had some discomfort, a little pain but it was manageable. I was getting ready for an international business trip, my wife was driving me to the airport on a Saturday, I was really not feeling too hot, thought I just had a bug, my wife knew better and we ended up in the emergency room. I was taken in with a fever, I was dehydrated, and I explained I was a band patient, they did an ultrasound, and said they could not find the band. They then did an x-ray, and said the band is not where it is supposed to be. I was released, with pain meds, and told to follow up with the surgeon the next morning. I went to see the surgeon, they did a fluroscopy that afternoon, that evening I was in surgery to have the band removed.

The pain was not from the band, but it was from the leftover tubing floating in my abdomen, it had punctured my stomach, and I know had peritonitis. When the surgeon found the tube he traced it back to my stomach and found that the lap band was completely inside my stomach. He removed it, and left me with a 2" open wound so that I could heal from the peritonitis - it was about 1 year for the wound to close fully. The physical scars were nothing - the mental scars remained.

So I went seven year and I found the weight gain - i fought it hard - but it has been a life long battle. So now I have a new surgeon, a new procedure and a new plan forward - hope to GOD its nothing like the last plan.

Now I am 2 years post band removal - i have gained back 65 LBS - and am hating life. I think back on all the pain i went through with the band, and how much it impacted my life, my family, and the time I lost with my kids - and i look at myself now and am realizing that I just cannot do this on my own. Over the past year I have done weight watchers, The Ducan diet, Atkins, even went so far as to try that gimmicky sensa - I am petrified to go through what I went through with the band - but I need to be able to get some life back again.

I have been researching the sleeve - and would really like some feedback from bandsters that have gone to the sleeve... Any advice would be appreciated.

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Post op complication. Pretty bad infection set in, and the doctor had to re-open the full wound to drain. The wound is 5.5 CM's deep 1.75 CM's wide and 4 CM's long. Daily wound care.

I am still on clear liquids 8 days post op - not feeling hungry, and not so worried about that right now, just want to heal and get back with my life.

Well it is out - and I am glad at this point. I had the surgery last Friday and it was somewhat worse than the doctors had thought.

The catheter that goes from the band to the port, which was not connected to a port, was loose in my abdomen, and had poked a hole in the bottom of my stomach, as bad as that sounds, that was the good part – since that was how the surgeon was able to find the actual band.

The surgeon said he was able to remove the catheter from the bottom of my stomach, and trace it around to where the band actually was. The entire band had totally eroded into my stomach, and was embedded pretty badly inside the stomach. He had to make a descent size incision into the stomach to get the band out, and then reclose the incision. So now I have no band, am pushing $30k out of pocket plus months of lost time for work.

The good side, I did lose a lot weight – and now I have to figure out how to keep it off by myself. I have a JP drain in for the next week, Clear Liquids for the next week, see the surgeon next Monday and will know what is next then.

Thanks for your details. With regards to the endo he recomended not doing one as surgery is required to determine if the tubing is causing the issue or it's the band - so either way he has to go in....

Whenever I have felt like something got stuck, i PB'd - and it cleared. I also find that drinking hot liquids, coffee, tea etc.. tend to keep me running. Now that being said - I had me port removed 3 months post-op and that was 5 years ago. While I have a fully open band, I do expereince restriction - down from 410 to 245 (45 to go).

Best bet, if you are uncomfortable, go to your Dr., and have them do an fluroscope (if they have one in the office) that way you will now for sure - best not to be nervous about it.

I had my band installed 5/20/2005 – I must say it has been a rough ride for me. About 3 months after my band was installed, I had my port removed due to post-op infection. About 3 months after that I had to go in for wound debridement – I then spent about 1 year with a open abdominal wound.

Good side – start wait 410. Day of surgery 370, today 245 – to go 45 pounds.

I have never had a functioning port, as it was removed, and today I went to the see the surgeon who told me he believes either the band has eroded, or the tubing that was left behind after the port removed is the cause of the problem – but either way I need to surgery to determine the final cause.

He believes that the band will be out by Friday. While this is somewhat bittersweet for me, I am very nervous, as my previous post-op experience was hell, then the following 18 months was hell, and even though I have lost a good amount of weight without a port, the diet, and eating has not been fun – livable, but not fun.

I am concerned about the repeat of post-op complications, and I am concerned about putting on the weight that I lost – and becoming unhealthy. I have UHC, and here is a laugh, my BMI is too low for them to pay to put a band back in, so I have to get unhealthy again to have it done – what a joke there.

Anyway, I am interested in hearing from anyone that has had the band out for erosion, what kind of post-op recuperation time was experienced, and in general what can I expect?