Well it is official..I had an endo yesterday and my band has eroded. I eroded between July 17th when I had my last fill and Nov 21 yesterday when I had my endo. Having my band removed Monday Nov 28th.

Listen up my friends..I do not want sympathy. I have come to terms with this. I am at peace. I cried when I got home but after a good cry I realized how lucky I have been..I am so grateful for the 104 lbs I have lost with my band. I lost more then 60% of my weight with the band unlike the statistics claim . I used my head an did not rely on my band for all of it. I had only 1.5 cc's in my band I did alot of it on my own. My band did it's job, now it is time for me to walk the rest of this journey alone without my band but still with all of you. I met my original weight loss goal by losing 104 lbs so if I never lose another lb ..I'm happy. Dont get me wrong this will be tough and I'm scared to be without my band but my OCD will get me through ..I know I will channel my OCD into not gaining this weght back.

I will not gain this weight back!!!

A word of advice for those of you struggling..get your head out of your ass and use this tool the best you can. Get a grip on those mental demons.dont let head hunger get the best of you ..I am so fortunate to have had the success I had but other who are as far out post op as Iam may not have had such great success so I tell you from the bottom of my heart, lose as much weight as you can while you still have your band...dont mess around with this..Erosion can happen to any of you regardless if you follow the rules and are a perfect bandster at any time .I truly believe it is higher then 1-3%, just my opinion. To let you all know I had zero symptoms other then a gassy trummy which is from my gastritis. I have great restriction. I lost 10 lbs in October . As far as getting a new band in 5-6 months, I can not answer that at this time

Thanks to all of you for all of the support you have given me..I'm still going to be around here and help others the best I can and offer support to any of you who need it

I have to be there for 48 hours. He told me it is just like the originaL surgery as far as the gas since they do it laproscopically, the reason for the 48 hours is to be on IV antibiotics,I will have surgery on Monday and come home Wednesday. iI will be on liquids for a week and mushy's for a week then onto solids.

This may sound strange but now that I know I'm eroded I want my band out ASAP, I do not want it to do any damage to my stomach or other organs.

Michelle,

Some practical questions, do you have to pay for this since you were banded by Dr O and he is taking it out and how much? Also what did your endo cost?

(Forgive me if someone else asked this...i missed it if so.)

48 hours on an IV...wow...that's longer than the original surgery. Why is that?

I'm sure you know many of us on here are redirecting our thinking and plans a little... Since many of us are Mx self-pay like you it would be helpful to know how much we should probably put aside for the future.

Also raises the issue for me of how easy this is going to be to KEEP this secret since my family knows nothing about my band. It was a trick to keep my fill underwraps. Even tho I don't want to, I'm considering telling them just so it isn't a GIANT shock if I have to go for an emergency surgery in the future.

You know how I feel, I am here for you!! I will call you thursday. isn't it wierd that were having our bands taken out the same day? I wish we lived closer!

I am glad that you posted, its a good way to vent!

Michelle, You have such a good attitude, I would be devastated.

I just feel like someone died.

I wish the best for you and know you'll be fine.

All these erosions just hurt me so much, your all so strong, I can only imagine the pain emotionaly.

Vera just called me and told me the news. My heart goes out to you and your family. You all have been through so much and I think that helps all of you as you have learned to take one day at a time and only deal with an issue when it becomes a concern. I admire your attitude and love you have for everyone. I also know you have a great support system.

My thoughts will be with you on the 28th and I also think you have taught us a wonderful lesson. My 2 year bandiversary is the end of December and in January I am having and my testing to make sure there is no erosion or problems.

HUGS AGAIN.

Carol

I truely wish you the best. Please keep us posted.

Aww, Michelle. What is there left to say that everyone else hasn't said? It's true. This is terrible news. If anyone deserves to keep their band, it's you. You've done an awesome job! It may turn out that this thing is truly a temporary reprieve for those of us who live with obesity. Maybe it's MEANT to be a lifetime thing, but reality doesn't always turn out how we MEAN it to. You're right. We all need to 'make hay while the sun still shines' because our day of rain may come as well. Me, for sure.

Thank God you were allowed this great opportunity and this 'leg up' on your weight loss desires. Goodness knows what would have happened this past 2 yrs without it, right? So you've got a headstart now. You know the ropes. You'll slip, we all will, but we all know you have what it takes to make it work, with or without the band. What's most important is your health and I'd want mine out too, if I knew it was eroding into my stomach. I really hate that you'll have to go through yet another surgery, but you know you have a great surgeon. He'll take extra special care of you, I know.

Just know I love you and I'll have you in my thoughts and prayers and please, please keep us updated. We care..

Leatha

I have posed the quality issue of Inamed bands distributed in Mexico directly to Don Mills from Inamed. When he responds, I will post his respose.

I wish I had seen this earlier. GOOD FOR YOU and that awesome attitude. Michelle, you beat the odds with losing so much. The voices in my showerhead told me you'll continue to do great without the band. Good luck, girl!

Meanwhile, you finally posted a statistic I've been waiting around for. I've been trying to figure out about how long it takes to erode. You said from July to November, so it's a pretty fast process. You may have even eroded before November but they just saw it now, right? Very interesting. Any symptoms whatsoever?

I certainly feel "different" down there. My belly makes different gurgling noises, and I'm pretty sure I've eroded, but nobody has called me back with my Upper GI referral. I better get on the horn - again!

You have lots of people thinking about you and sending you the warmest of thoughts. You can certainly add me to the list.

I do believe you'll be successful. You know what it took to lose the weight. I think that, in and of itself, will be enough to keep you on track for the long term.

I'll be praying for you.

Jonathan

im really sorry to hear that this has happened

wish you luck for the 28th nov

hope all goes well for you i'm sure with your attitude you will be fine, at least you seem to have it in your head and tha's the hardest place to come to grip's with it

You guys are the best! Today has been a difficult day for me, cant seem to get it off my mind. Reading all of this has brought tears to my all ready teary filled eyes. I spoke with Ortiz's office today . I'm scheduled for Monday. I'm scared, not so much of losing my band but the removal surgery, hoping and praying not much damage was done to my stomach. I'm kind of excited to see if I can do this on my own and maintain. I got lots of support here with all of you and my friends here and my family. The good thing coming out of this is my husband has had his own share of health problems and he needs to eat better and exercise, he has made a vow to me to exercise with me everyday and eat better to help me to maintain my weight loss any way he can, everything happens for a reason I believe, maybe this is the reason, to give my husband a better healthier life as well.

Again, thanks to all of you for ALL of your support, it means the world to me at this very moment

My belly makes different gurgling noises,

This , if I had to ay was the only thing that was concerning me, my tummy was making crazy gurgling sounds but I attributed it to my gastritis. I will ask Ortiz on Monday if it is relative to erosion.. I have so many questions for him, at the time I found out I was in such a state of shock I could not ask a single question. Part of me did not want to post abouthis , almost like I was ashamed but after thinking long and hard about it I knew I had to post about it. I want everyone to be aware of erosion and how important it is to work with our bands the best we can because you never know, one day your fine and the next day you find out you're eroded.

Michelle, I can't explain it, all I can say is my whole band/stomach feels "different" these days (for about a month now.) I still have restriction, but food seems to pass differently, more gurgling, and pardon me, but much more gas than usual. Also, I don't get those 20 second long burps that I used to get. Also, my band kind of hurts, like bruised, on occasion. It would be nice if I got my darn Upper GI date already. All this waiting is frustrating.

Also, did Ortiz say that band-removal at this stage is an emergency? Or did you decide to get it taken out immediately. I believe Dr. Billy said an eroded band isn't an emergency. But if I AM eroded, I want it out yesterday.

And what's this new information stating "slippage causes erosion?" Where did that come from, and is there any truth to it?

He did not say it was an emergency but if I experienced fever or pain to have it done immediately. I opted to have it out as soon as possible for 2 reasons. I do not want to mess with this during the holiday season I need to feel good and not be stressing during the holidays, it's a stressful enough time during the holidays without adding all of this to it and there is something about once you know there is something eroding inside of you, you want it out ASAP!!! Get your band checked, go for an endo..give yourself peace of mind. I can not imagine if something is eroding inside your body that damage is not being done, just my opinion. I'm like you I want it out yesterday too! He is actually doing it as soon as he can doing Pre op on Monday and surgery the same day. You're right Lisa erosioon can happen quickly, July to November is not that long just 4 months

Kare the cost is 3200 for removal that is hospital charge only. Ortiz will not charge for his services of the removal surgery. An endo is 250 in TJ and worth every red cent in my oipinion you get your results immediately all printed out on a glossy 8x10 paper with pictures in Spanish however and you also get it all on a disc.

Michelle . . .

-104 pounds? you ROCK!

28.5 bmi? you are a SOLID ROCK!

i share sentiment with all others: you have been such a blessing and inspiration to so many, it's hard to express in words the mixed feelings this news generates. i often say that it's easy to show that we're 'good people' when things are going well; the challenge is showing our goodness when things are not going well. you are exemplary under fire, though, demonstrably so. i admire you immensely and wish you the best through the duration. thanks for keeping us well-informed.

final thought: they say that "if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger." i now imagine the beautiful michelle, great smile, picture of success . . . . . wearing a bright red cape!

happy thanksgiving . . . and thank YOU for YOU.

many, many blessings; you deserve them.