I am faced with making a very hard decision in a short period of time. I've had my band for 14 months now and I've loss a little over 50lbs, it probably could have been more if I worked harder on my poor eating habits. However I love my band but unfortunately for the past 7 months I've been having mild-serious complications with it. To make a very long story short...I've had surgery in May to reposition my port after that my band slipped pretty bad and had to remove ALL of my Fluid to relief the pain and in hopes for my band to go back in position and to avoid a 3rd surgery. Well my band slightly went back into position but not 100% but my doc didnt want to do surgery we just decided to leave it be, dont fill it and maybe it will go back to its place after a while. A month later I was very ill with gastritis and couldn't eat or hardly drink anything for 2 weeks and after that my band felt very tight although I didn't have any fluid in it. I did the barium swallow and everything showed up good.

Now for the past month I've been having really bad pain in what seems to be deep in my band area of my stomach when I eat, breathe, sneeze, cough, sleep, or move a certain way. Went back to do a barium swallow and my band is still slipped and now that its giving me trouble he wants to do surgery to put it back in place!!

First off I'm scared to have surgery again this will be my 5th surgery in 4 years, I'm getting older and my recovery time is longer now. Secondly I'm thinking maybe my body is rejecting the band for whatever reason. Thirdly I'm not even sure if I go thru with having it put into place will my band ever be the same, I mean will I still get the full benefits of having it in the first place especially if I can get any fills to keep me restricted thats the main reason I got it. And will I continue to have issues or will it slip again or will my port flip again??? That concerns me a great deal especially as of 1/1/2012 my healthy insurance will change 100% and I won't have the same benefits/coverage I have now and I can't afford to pay extensive hospital bills. And by my insurance changing in less than 3 months that only give me half of that time to decided if I want to just keep the band and endure the pain here and there, have the surgery to reposition my band and pray that it dont give me anymore problems, just have it removed altogether even though I don't want to or see if my current insurance will cover me switching from the band to the sleeve and have a permanent surgery that can't be reversible?? I just really don't know what to do and I don't have much time to think about it...

I just really want to get you guys feedback and if your were/are in a similar situation let me know what you did or what your going to do!!! Thanks!!

And by no means am I speaking bad about the band, I'm just one of the very very few that if something could happen it probably would happen lol so I'm not trying to discourage anyone from getting it. I think it is a great tool for weigh loss!!!

Honestly if I were you I'd get the band removed. I'm sorry It really just doesn't agree with some people's anatomy.

What does your doctor say are the chances that you will have further complications? You say your getting older and recovery takes longer but your profile says you are 26!? I would go ahead and have surgery to fix it while I still had insurance to cover it.

I'm in the process of setting up an appointment to discuss my options, I just had my barium swallow last Friday. And yes I'm only 26 but the last surgery in May just took soo much out of me and it was an outpatient procedure but it took so long for my body to heal and with full time school, full time work and full time parenting it makes it a little more complicated and stressful. The insurance I have now is A-1 it covers everything at 100% but that ends 12/31/2011 and the insurance I have to pick up isn't that good especially when it comes to weight-loss. So I have to think long term and base it off of the insurance that starts next year, while proceeding with whatever it is I'm going to do this year.

Just an idea, if your long term insurance is not good with WLS coverage, you may want to consider taking it out or getting the sleeve According to my surgeon the sleeve does not require appointments like the Lapband. So you will not have to worry about all the fill appointments or lapband issues, if any, in the future. Of course you have to be comfortable with having 80% of your stomach cut out of your body forever. Also you may want to ask your surgeon if your problems with the band may have been problem with the actual band or maybe the type of band he used. I am not sure if that could be an issue or not but you may want to ask.

Well, my thought is that the band just doens't seem to be working for you. My inclination would be to have it removed. I am curious as to how much more weight you have to loose. Do you think you could do it, and keep it off, without the assistance of the band or other surgery? Good luck in your decision, it's not an easy one and is very important. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I will get it removed. Sit down and talk to your doctor and get his/her feedback. Trust them to help you make the right decision. Especially if you really love your band. Maybe it just needs to get back into place properly. Maybe it wasn't put in right the first time. You have a lot to think about. Good luck to you in making the right decision for you.

Honestly if it were me I would remove it but I would not get the sleeve either I just can't see having 80% of my stomach removed forever what if u have complication with sleeve they can't replace it. But think about it maybe give it one more try I still haven't learned to love my band its been 3 weeks since I have been banded and still haven't gotten any fills but if I loved my band as u say u do then I wouldn't let it go.

What does your doctor say are the chances that you will have further complications? You say your getting older and recovery takes longer but your profile says you are 26!? I would go ahead and have surgery to fix it while I still had insurance to cover it.

Hey! Watch that getting older stuff.

I was just thinking what I'd tell my daughter if she were in the same position.

Get it fixed, you'll always be sorry if you let this chance go, just be sure you

have a good surgeon, not all are created equal.

I totally agree with Corrigan. But only you know what you can deal with. If you are a praying person pray and ask God to let you just really know what you should do and then expect an answer. He likes to be asked what His will is in our lives. Will your problems be worse or better without the Band? Look at the big picture, better to go through some stuff and be alive or take it out and your problems get worse or put your life at risk. Like I said only you know what you should do. I am a praying person and I will pray that God will show you what you should do. Keep us updated and let us know what you decide.

After I got the Band I asked God just please let this be the answer to my weight problem, but it may not be everybodies answer so far it has been mine. I am so sorry you have had to go through so much at a pretty young age but you don't want to be 50 like me and going through it when you can fix it at a young age. Too much to consider best wishes to you.

Cheri

I'm so sorry that you had to go through all this pain and suffering. Reading what you wrote it must be really hard to look forward but I agree, if there are so many complications in 14 months, I would have it removed. For whatever reason you body is not liking your band. You lost 50lbs how much more do you want to lose? Can you weigh and measure your food and exercise and lose the rest, we'll support you! good luck and let us know what you decide

Why would it be a hard decision if it is really that bothersome to you. Surgery wipes everybody out and you being 26 I am more than sure you will be just fine however if you dont get it taken care of you might not. Erosion would be an aweful thing of the stomach and then you might have worse issues than you ever wanted. Get it fixed or get it out its not a hard decsions when your health is involved. Its like someone with breast cancer saying I dont know if I should get a mastectomy maybe it will go away.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement and advice, only you guys can really relate to what I'm going through because you have experienced having the band like me. My family and friends can only see the surface. They all want me to get it removed that is why I didn't tell them that I'm going to keep it and I'm going to go through with the surgery to correct it. I'm not going to lie I am super nervous and scared to go through this whole process all over again from the beginning. I'm futhermore scared to have surgery again but because I am a praying person I'm going to trust in God and I know he will take care of me. So my surgery date is next Tuesday November 15th, 8am and yes it's bascially like having the lapband surgery for the first time, everything is the same as far as the precedure and post-op diets and restrictions. So no Thanksgiving dinner for me lol but honestly I haven't been following good eating habits like I should be, mainly to blame my lack of will power and stess. So maybe this will be a good thing for me to start over from the beginning and get it right this time. I really want to be successful with my band and not have to depend on it even when I don't have adequate restiction. This is only a tool to help me but I should be able to do the rest of the work and I believe this is my second chance. I mean I'm about to have surgery again so I must really want this. So I really need to put in the work to be successful in this journey.

Glad you were able to come to a decision that you are comfortable with. I think you are making a good decision! I will be praying for you on Monday, keep us updated

Best wishes on your new start!

Cheri

I kinda feel the same way you do. My band is slipped and I will have it repositioned next month. I will see my surgeon this week and ask for some detailed answers. He says only 2% of bands slip. I have a hernia with my stomach at this time which I don't fully understand. I am gonna ask how likely it is to have another hernia and or slip occur.

Your port issue is probably separate from your band slipping. Will your new insurance cover fills or will you have to self pay and if so can you afford to self pay for your fills?

Best wishes to you. Let us know how you're doing!

Joan