Slipped Band...What to do now? (bit long)

[pattimomof3nj 21]

Hi,

I had an endoscopy done yesterday, and it showed a 'significant' slip of the band. Not sure exactly what 'significant' is meaning at this point. The Dr that did the scope said I would need a revision, so I'm guessing that it is pretty bad.

I think I know what happened to it, at the end of August, my son was diagnosed with cancer, and between the stress and sleeplessness, I could not eat anything. Every bit of food got stuck, so I got loosened, and it was still pretty bad, just not everyday. I pretty much lived on coffee for about 2 weeks while he was in the hospital, so that probably didn't help much. He is better now, 100% of the cancer was removed, and just needs follow up scans for the next few years. I am so happy for that, but in the mean time, I realized that I was eating huge amounts of food and not getting full or sick. Not a good sign, so I went to see my surgeon, and he suggested the scope.

Per the nurse in the surgeon's office, I will probably just need an unfill to fix the slip, but I'm not so sure. The pictures don't look very good. I'm having a flouro done next Wednesday to see just how much of the stomach is above the band. I was not happy with my band for the past year or so as I was not losing, just maintaining the 50 lb loss that I had. I want to lose another 30, but now have to lose a total of 55 to get to my original goal.

Can anyone tell me, do you think going from a slipped band to a sleeve is the right thing to do, or should I just go RNY like the surgeon suggested? Not really wanting to rearrange my whole anatomy, reason for the band to begin with.

thanks and sorry this was so long,

Patti

[Tiffykins 673]

First off, I'm sorry to hear about your son's cancer, but very glad to hear that it was successfully removed. Slips are horrible from what I hear, and once you have one, you're risks for another triple.

As for the sleeve vs. RNY, I can't tell you what to choose, but do not allow a surgeon to bully you into a surgical decision that you do not want to have.

I chose the sleeve revision instead of RNY for many reasons. I did not want to deal with malabsorption, or nutritional/vitamin deficiencies. Plus, if you check out obesityhelp.com, on the revision board and RNY board, you will find soooooooooooooo many RNY patients seeking a revision because of regain, stricture, and/or other complications. Malabsorption doesn't last forever, our bodies adjust to it, and then the weight loss slows significantly, and most regain because pouches and stomas stretch.

The sleeve and band are like night and day. There is no maintenance with the sleeve, you have instant restriction. No malabsorption, and can eat anything and everything you want just in smaller portions. I'm 6 months out from my band to sleeve revision, and have lost over 100 pounds in that time period. I'm 8 pounds away from my initial goal weight of 150 pounds.

If I needed a malabsorptive procedure to be successful, I would go with the DS instead of RNY. The sleeve is the first stage of DS, and I knew a restrictive procedure would work for me.

[*susan* 1,709]

When I had the band, I slipped it several times. Each time, I had a complete unfill and did liquids only from three to five days. That was enough for my band to get back into place.

As for revising, there is no reason why you couldn't go from a slipped band to the sleeve. The surgeon would probably just require that you have a complete unfill a couple of weeks prior to the surgery. He may also recommend a liquid diet for one week prior to the surgery just to make sure any swelling from your band problems have gone down. That is what mine had me do, and I had no problems with the surgery.

As for the differences between RNY and the sleeve, and why I chose the sleeve, I pretty much echo everything Tiffy said.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

If I were you I would get the band removed and get sleeved. I hated the band and living with it was a night mare. Living with the sleeve is effortless for me. I eat small portions of anything i want and never have any problems at all. I hope the slipped band does not cause your stomach a problem so you can get a sleeve.

I am really sorry to hear about your son. I am sure that had to be extremely stressful.

[thinoneday 445]

I'm sorry to hear about your son, how old is he? Regardless, it's always hard to hear when a loved one gets cancer. . .it's so hard. . .I was considering the band for a long time, but hubbie would not hear of it. . . so finally i convinced him to come to a seminar and it was him who told me that he would support me 100% only if i got the sleeve and NOT the band. . . so the sleeve it is. . . I go for my surgery on dec. 29th. Good luck with your personal decision. . . Merry Christmas and the best of the New Year!

[wannabehealthy 0]

When they took my band out, they discovered it has slipped too, who knows how long it was like that. I actually went in for revision of band to bypass (didn't know about the sleeve) and they could not do it, due to the 7 years of damage the band had done. So now I am a perfect candidate for the sleeve.

Here are my thoughts: I am soooo glad I did not get the bypass. I went into surgery not really sure if it was right for me, but desperate to get healthy. I was scared of the complications associated with rerouting the intestines and reconnecting it elsewhere. I was worried that I would be one of the many who have complications with this-I've had so many complications already. So, in my case, I think it was divine intervention that prevented me from getting the bypass and has taken me to this new road-the path leading to the VSG. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. (reading these boards has helped tremendously) It occurred to me that I have a friend who has an Aunt who is in her 80's, and she had to have the greater curvature of her stomach removed some 20 years ago due to cancer. She lost a ton of weight and has never once had a problem- it the EXACT same surgery as the VSG!! Even though there is not much data and this is considered a "newer" surgery, in fact it's been around for decades, used for many other reasons, such as ulcers, cancer, etc. And then the person lives a "normal" life, just eating smaller portions. No malabsorption, no leakage, no dumping, and virtually no risk of complications later down the road. I've heard many stories of bypass patients dying from complications of the bypass years after their surgery! That scares me!

Take your time and base your decision on all the information you can gather on each surgery. I discovered long ago that my doctor doesn't always know what is right for me, but I do.

[pattimomof3nj 21]

Thank you all so much for your thoughts. I am now unfilled until February! I have already started gaining, but am determined to stop it NOW. I am upping my exercise and trying so hard not to eat too much!

I will go back in Feb for another flouro to check if the unfill helped the slip, but I have already decided that I want a sleeve. I am so tired of puking all the time, even now. I have contacted my insurance, and as of Jan 1, they will be covering the sleeve, so a revision is not going to be a problem in the pocket.

Thanks again, I will be hanging out here to get as much infio as I can before Feb!

Oh and my son just turned 8 in November. He is doing so much better, even losing the weight he put on because of the tumor!

Thanks!

Patti

[i1Linda 15]

Wow Patti. I'm so glad to hear that your son is doing well. I have an 8 year old son and I can't even fathom what you had to go through. God Bless!