Sorry to report, but Ceira has had to have her band removed due to erosion, please see the following post from her taken from another thread:

"Hi Everyone,

I had the endoscopy on Friday and was rushed to emergency surgery. The band was visible from the inside of my stomach. The band had eroded through to my stomach and that was the pain I was having. So now, I'm bandless. I'm in a lot of pain and discomfort, but at least it's from the surgery and not the band cutting into my stomach. I wish this would have all worked out but since it didn't, I don't think I'll be doing this again. I will have to dig deep and find the discipline in myself to lose the weight. Nothing is worth the pain and discomfort that I had over the last 6 months to get banded again. I wish you all a ton of good luck and much success. Good luck to everyone"

That's awful! I'm so glad they found it though. Sounds like it was pretty bad. My thoughts & prayers are with her!

Any idea where she was banded??

Oh geeze.. this is going to sound so selfish but it's true. I'm sitting here praying that the response is, "She was banded in Mexico". This is starting to freak me out y'all. My surgeon did tell us in the seminar that they have learned to turn the connecter on the band in a certain way before attaching the stomach around the band to prevent erosion. He also said there is only a 1% risk of erosion now. And by sewing the stomach over the band, slippage is practially unheard of. I hope he's right!

You know what hits me? Of all the questions I did think to ask, I never once thought to ask.. "And what if it does erode or slip? Do you guarantee your work? Will you fix it? Or will it cost me a fortune to save my life when it goes wrong?" Why oh why didn't I think of those questions before now? Ack!!

Oh Man! This sucks!

Yes curious to know who was her surgeon, when she was banded etc...

Is she a member here on LBT

My heartfelt condolences to her..I know how she is feeling right now

WOW that does stink!

You know what hits me? Of all the questions I did think to ask, I never once thought to ask.. "And what if it does erode or slip? Do you guarantee your work? Will you fix it? Or will it cost me a fortune to save my life when it goes wrong?" Why oh why didn't I think of those questions before now? Ack!!

Yessum. That 'pink cloud' of romanticism does blind us to the 'what ifs' before banding. So many say they have researched and researched, yet, 3 weeks out they wonder all the sudden, why they're not losing weight, or why they can suddenly eat as much as pre-band. Problems? What problems? No one said anything about slippage? Erosion? What's that? Even though they've read the literature given by their docs, they say they didn't know they were supposed to stay on liquids for 2 weeks, 4 weeks and eat pizza or a burger instead? Kinda like infatution, isn't it? All you see is the good stuff, then you wake up with someone who has some interesting drawbacks.... but, nobody told you so.. I think we all just want an answer to our dilemma so badly that those things seem minor until they get close to our own doorstep.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?p=155568#post155568

Here's the link to Ceira's thread. I'm so sorry...it's scary that she was JUST banded in July...2005!

Wishing you the best, Ceira. Please check in with us!

I think we all just want an answer to our dilemma so badly that those things seem minor until they get close to our own doorstep.

That's it. I'm locking my door and refusing to open it anymore. I have been careful about eating soft foods and chewing until that bite of food is hardly worth swallowing. I have been under the calorie limit everyday. But I know I am eating too much at a time. I know when I'm not hungry anymore and yet.. I'm allowed to have that so damnit, it WILL fit in there! Bad bad me. Time to wise up. Thanks for the reality reminder, Leatha. *hugs*

If I lost my band I don't know what I'd do. I don't think I could even afford to have it removed! My doc guarantees for 1 year if anything happens he'll fix it for free. But after that.. who knows??? I've got a 5-year loan on this bad boy, it better not slip or erode before then! I can't imagine that in my entire life nothing will happen, though.

That's it. I'm locking my door and refusing to open it anymore. I have been careful about eating soft foods and chewing until that bite of food is hardly worth swallowing. I have been under the calorie limit everyday. But I know I am eating too much at a time. I know when I'm not hungry anymore and yet.. I'm allowed to have that so damnit, it WILL fit in there! Bad bad me. Time to wise up. Thanks for the reality reminder, Leatha. *hugs*

Susan,

I was the perfect bandster...never drank carbonation, never took NSAID"s ...never stuffed my pouch, drank my Water, at my Protein first, never drank with a meal and waited the full hour after a meal to drink..if erosion is going to happen , it is going to happen regardless of what you do or dont do..plain and simple....try to relax and not live in fear of the dreaded "E " word, that is one of the biggest fears with us bandsters. it was something I worried about constantly, maybe that was my demise..who knows..all I know is my band did its job, Ilost over 100 lbs and the only piece of advice I can give to those still fortunate to have their bands is , work your band..dont mess around, dont eat past the band, follow the rules, lose as much weight while you can ...or you could wake up like me one day and be bandless..I have to say if I had not been so successful with my band, I would of been devastated to lose it had I not lost over 60% of my weight ..but as I said, my band did it's job because I was a good little bandster.. Ceira, my heart goes out to you my friend, I'm here for any supprot I can offer you..PM me or emai lme anytimer, we can help eachother...

Oh geeze.. this is going to sound so selfish but it's true. I'm sitting here praying that the response is, "She was banded in Mexico".

I was banded in Mexico and don't understand why you would pray it was done in Mexico?

My doctor addressed erosion and slippage upfront. He hasn't had many erosions and has done almost 4,000. He stiches the stomach in front and back so it doesn't slip.

Yes, I heard these things, but have you ever read the Package Instert on the medicine you take? It is scarey, but you take the chance in hope that you won't be in the percentage of people that have problems.

I hope she does well and our prayers go to her and her support people that they will all come through this ok

Wow, I was just thinking these very thoughts in the shower. Don't panic, if it happens it happens, do the best you can, and take full advantage of the gift while you have it. Maybe it wont be a forever thing, maybe it will. Whatever the case, make hay while the sun shines baby!

Thanks so much LaMadam

Doc - my hopes were not meant to hurt anyone's feelings or wish anyone ill will. I guess I was thinking that the doctors in Mexico use a different method or technique which would explain so many of the erosions from the same doctors down there. Like I said, it was a selfish thought. Basically I was hoping this problem was limited to one or two doctors in Mexico and not a widespread problem. Sorry if it offended anyone. Certainly didnt mean to.

Ceira, please let us know how you're doing. Big hugs your way!

Sorry to hear about your band erosion, Ciera. For those of you that haven't experienced it, don't say "if it happens, it happens" cuz I said that and believe me...when it does, if it's not caught quickly it can be very dangerous. I had a port infection/abscess and had both removed. 2 mos. later the abscess was back..had it removed....2 mos. later it's back again and they find that the band is 70% eroded into my stomach..leaving me with a 3 inch hole in my stomach. It's not any fun. I wish I had never gotten the band to tell you the truth. Oh well....tell Ciera I wish her luck with her recovery.