after i read about penni's erosion story, i got upset. the next day i had an appointment with my doc. i told him about all the erosion stories and asked him what he thought.

he said that it is VERY important when placing the band that there is layers of fat between the band and the stomach to keep the stomach from eroding. he said that many doctors, and especially the out of country doctors, do not follow this procedure and therefore have many bands that erode (he has never had a band erode).

have any of you ever heard of this? do you know if your doctors follow this procedure?

As far as people not doing sufficient research, that's not always true. I did my research and went to the Number 1 source of information, which is the company that makes the band. When Inamed told me that their top surgeon was Dr. Lopez, I believed them. I've had many conversations with Inamed employees, and Dr. Lopez even banded one of their mothers. So, if the maker of the band trusts Lopez to proctor their product, to teach other surgeons how to place their product, and to allow Lopez to band his own mother, then how much deeper do you expect research can possibly go? Our erosions have nothing do with lack of research.

"My mexican doc actually had to cut layers of fat from around my stomach before placing the band."

This statement somewhat concerns me. I've never heard a doctor skimming fat off the stomach before band placement. I've always understood that the procedure doesn't alter the stomach whatsoever. So if one goes under anesthesia thinking a band will be placed around the stomach, but wakes up to hear the fat was cut away, that sounds a little shaky to me, yes/no?

Well for what it is worth I sent an emai lto Don Mills today telling him of the 4 of us Penni, Lisa, Francesca and myself who were all banded one motnh apart to the day by two different doctors and how all of us had our bands removed within weeks of eachother due to erosion..something ironic about that. Lisa and Francesca banded my Ortiz and Lopez on May 6th 2005 both eroded and Penni and myself both banded on April 6th 2004 by Ortiz & Lopez both eroded. Am I the only one here who thinks something is strange about this? What are the odds the four of us who have become good friends have all eroded at the same time by the same doctors?

The odds aren't good, that's for sure. According to Inamed it's just a little coinky-dink though. I haven't even talked to them yet since my erosion was detected, but they'll get an earful tomorrow. Like I said, it's like living in a sick John Grisham novel, just waiting to see how the end blows up.

Am I the only one here who thinks something is strange about this? What are the odds the four of us who have become good friends have all eroded at the same time by the same doctors?

It sure is funny, that's for sure. But what on earth could the connection be? Unless many more of the patients of these doctors are experiencing problems than we know about, the odds would seem pretty slim that this would happen.

By any chance were you at the same facility?

Me & Francesca were at The Oasis of Hope.

Dr. Lopez did it with a Lap Band in the operating room.

Actually mx dr.s do not proctor u.s. dr.s anymore--except during the band fda trials--this is according to Dr. Trace Curry.

I find what Michelle said very interesting, I would love to know the true statistics about those two weeks, the two doctors and erosions that have occurred on other LB patients. Do any of you belong to other LB sites so that you could pose this question? I realize there's a privacy act, but it looks like the removal doctors could get some info from the FDA.

I was banded at SANOVIV Medical Center in Rosarito, MX -- I believe I was the only one banded of the four of us at this facility.

I have talked to Inamed till I am blue in the face. I have emailed them and spoken with them on several occasions. Craig Arthur, Don Mills, Larry Fuller all from Inamed will talk and talk and like Lisa said never say ANYTHING. SIGH!! So frustrating.

Even if the Mexico docs aren't proctoring US Docs anymore so what?!! They did in the trials and some docs are still using the techniques taught to them by the MX surgeons. What difference does it make now?

I think the stats are just too coinky dink personally. The two surgeons mentioned were partners at one time. They supposedly used the same technique, same facilities. Wouldn't it be an accurate assumption to conclude that the technique used could be a factor here?

We can speculate all we want and do the dance and guessing game, the bottom line is we lost our bands. THis sucks!!

What if it was a shipment of substandard bands instead of procedure or coincidence?

Why would Inamed's # 1 surgeon suddenly perform technically flawed surgeries during a short period of time?

Doesn't make sense to me assuming Lopez is one of the best.

has anyone heard of erosion using the SGAB (swedish) I have heard that this band erodes more but the evidence is pointing to the inamed... I think a bad batch sound reasonable... they would def give you the run around if that was the case.

I dont understand how Inamed would name any doctor as its "top surgeon". What does that title mean; is it just that he'd done more lapbands (and thus used more Inamed products) than anyone else? And was this honor bestowed by an Inamed official in writing or by an employee who happened to be fond of that doctor because he banded her mother?

My dad's Inamed eroded after 10 months. He had several port infections and had the port moved twice. I have an Inamed band. I don't know if there's a cause/reason why some erode and some don't.

i was thinking about the "math" of this situation... not with the specific people who have recently eroded, but with the Mexico vs. us erosion rate. if i'm nuts tell me, but doesn't it seem that if mexico has and is doing more band surgeries than the US, would they therefore have a slightly greater statistical rate of erosion and other complications? not because they are mexican doctors, but because they are doing more surgeries overall? if (or should I say when) the US surgeons begin doing more bands, their stats of complications should theoretically go up as well, coinciding with their increased rate of surgeries (and thus linking up with the same average amount of surgeries done in mexico for the band).

i agree, there are different "standards" from mexico and the U.S., but let's face it, there are different "standards" and practices for every single doctor, everywhere, no matter where you go, or who you go to. of course, doctors all learn the same general information in medical school, but what they do with it in practice is often something else... based on a lot of varibles, of course, like keeping up on the medical literature, greater understanding of the procedures through practice, etc...

just my thoughts on the subject. (this erosion/complication stuff is scaring the s%@t out of me.)

angie