I was banded in 2003 but lost my insurance coverage afe months later and could not afford a 2nd fill. Finally paid for fill but doc removed what remained and put less in than my 1st fill. No recourse bc he was not my surgeon. Was $ ready for another fill when I found out I was pg. Delivered this summer. Long story short I have been having probs with reflux and need an endoscope. How safe is it with my band? Can they check on my band while doing it? My husband has now gone back to the employer and ins policy that placed my band (starting 2/1) and I hope to petition them to get coverage .. .should I postpone the endoscope (2/6) until after they agree to care for the band in case they find a problem? Can anyone advise me.

All the photos you've seen here (of erosion, etc) were done on banded people.

I am in the process of scheduling an endo, just to make sure things look ok. I am having a surgeon do it, he does not place bands. When I spoke with him face to face and asked him if he thought he would be comfortable doing an endo on someone with a band he said yes. He told me that just because he doesn't put them in, it doesn't mean that he isn't familiar with how they work.

Also, I should add that I am an outpatient surgery/endo nurse, and will have my endo done in the dept where I work. I feel completely safe and that I will be in competent hands.

So I guess the answer to your question (after all of my babbling) is that yes, it is safe to do an endo with a band- just pick the right dr.

oh- and we will be billing my insurance with a diagnosis of reflux that is unrelieved with over the counter drugs so that my insurance will cover it.

Pati

Endoscopy is done for us on a referral by a band dr. They will probably start out with an upper GI to rule out slippage.

I am in the same situation(lost ins and couldn't afford fills) I have been having reflux and was also banded in 03. So far I have had the upper GI and it seems clear, but I will start pushing for the endoscopy now. My reflux is under control with nexium or prilosec.

Dr. thinks my band may be too tight, but that was not shown by the UGI, so we will see. I believe it may be an ulcer, gastritis, GERD or similar.

I have had two scopes since being banded 3 1/2 yrs ago. The reflux caused webbing which was fixed with a baloon. Call your Dr. ASAP I wated to long and got an ulcer.