Hi everyone! I was banded January 05, revised do to slippage July 05, scheduled for another revision June 2nd. I have a new doc and he's all about saving my band. My first slip was due to vomiting from to much restriction. But this slip has me dumbfounded. I didnt have any vomiting, all of the sudden I got severe pain after eating. First I had my gal bladder checked out, because the symptoms were consistant with a gal bladder attack. Then I had a Flouro and sure enough my worst nightmare, another slip. I love my band and dont want to loose it. However I'm on the fence about having it taken out. My doc is doing an endoscope to see if he can find any other reasons for this slip. If he doesnt find anything else wrong I might have him take it out. But I'm still not sure if I should give the band another chance.

Mary:cry

Mary,

So sorry to hear of your troubles with the band. I know how discouraging this can be. Understand this doesn't have to be through any fault of your own. Slippages can occur without 'reason'. The band just slips upward or downward on the anatomy, or some other sudden jolt could cause it, ie excessive Pbing, coughing, sneezing, lifting. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees. It is simply a known complication of the band. I can't imagine what must be going through your mind, trying to decide whether to do it again or not. Big hugs to you and I'll keep you in my prayers.

Thank you sooo much for your support. It helps a lot!!

Mary, I think you need to hook up with la madam, Michelle. She is holding her own after banding and has always been an inspiration around here. Have you met her?

Mary good luck and I hope you get your answers.

I heard somewhere that the chance of slipping again after an intial slippage was greater.

Wow,

You certainly do have quite a bit to think about.

I guess I'd weigh my options:

• Can you endure any further complications (even years down the line) if you re-band?
  
• Could you succeed (or maintain your current weight) if you were completely unbanded?
  
• Has your surgeon considered revising to another form of surgery if you don't reband?

All in all, your attitude sounds excellent and no matter what you'll decide, I am sure you'll succeed. Please keep us posted on your decision.

Happy Band (and Life) Journeys To All...

Mary, I just had my band replaced a week ago. I know the feeling ( had first band place 12/8/05) my doctor was into saving the band, his partner was into replacing the band ..which they did with a VG..No one really knows why I started to slip just that it did. Wishing you the best of luck

Does anyone know the percentage of this complication... I haven't be banded yet. I'm looking at all the info on this site and I find it so interesting. I'm scheduled for surgery on the 5th of June. Thanks, Steve

mrclaf,

Except for the initial study done for the FDA, each bit of research is specific to the the particular practice doing the work and writing the reports. I don't think there are any "meta-studies" showing what all of that work altogether shows.

And, to complicate matters, a recent publication involving a very well-known band doctor--Santiago Horgan in Chicago--says "Often, confusion exists among surgeons regarding the denomination or even the treatment of these two different entities." [The two different entities being discussed are pouch enlargement and slippage.]

IN THAT PRACTICE, they found that "A total of 1,600 barium swallows were performed with 516 patients. As a result, pouch enlargement was diagnosed for 61 patients (12%) and band slippage for 12 patients (2%)."

Here's a link to the abstract of that publication.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16703439&query_hl=8&itool=pubmed_docsum

Hi Steve, congratulations on your upcoming banding date. I was banded on 4/10/06. I had my surgery with Dr. Kuri, in TJ, Mexico. What a great experience it was. I am also on his board which is only open to his patients. It is my understanding that the first 8 weeks post op is very important so that the healing process can be complete. I also have learned that the band slippage is a very small percentage. Make sure that you do everything the Dr. tells you during your recoup period. I have been very careful not to pick up over ten pounds. And I am less concerned about how much weight I lose during this time than I am about the healing process. I have lost 20lbs so I am doing fine.

I will be going for my first fill on June 17. Who is doing your surgery?

Elaine

Mary,

Is the band you have now, your original band? Maybe you should consider asking your doctor for a different band? There are a few types available, and maybe the type of band you have just isn't right for you?

Good luck!