Please see the post from another site and tell me what you think!

Hey there. I haven't been on this board for quite a time but I need some insight from some of you seasoned bandsters!

From day 1 after surgery I had restriction ... or what I thought was restriction. I would eat and it would feel as though food was getting stuck ... but not low near my stomach .... like in my throat. I would easily throw it up.

This has gone on for over a year ...

I get sick alot. I was never too concerned about it (but believe me, my surgeon is aware ... no secrets here) because it wasn't voilent vomiting. Lean over and out it comes. I can also easily make myself sick if I have to ... like if I am experiencing major shoulder/arm pain when something is stuck. Lean over and out it comes. I never get that golf ball feeling that people talk about in their chest .. mine is always in my throat.

OK .. now the weird part. All of the sudden for the last few days I feel EXTREMELY loose. By loose I mean that I can now eat foods that I haven't eaten in over a year with no to minimal trouble. Granted it is a bite or two, but we're talking chicken, pork, scrambled eggs. I haven't tasted them in a long time. One day this week I could eat a whole taco salad. The next day I was at Ponderosa and had a few bites of mashed potatoes and gravy and cottage cheese and a couple of grilled shrimp and it went down easy and i felt stuffed ... like I had just eaten a pre-band meal at the Outback.

So what might this all mean to you? I have 1.5 cc in a 4cc band. The highest I have ever been was 2cc and at that point I vomited even liquids. I have not lost since my last fill (before Christmas) and I am okay with that because I haven't gained either. I'm still 50 pounds from goal but very happy! Only worried something is going on.

I was at my surgeons office last Thursday for a fill but he couldn't hit the port so we had to reschedule for 2 weeks from now (he is going on vaca). Supposed to do it under flouro at that time.

Any input is appreciated!

Kari

RE: 1 year out and worried ...

Response from Nancy Degenmeister at 9:23 PM PST on 06/10/2006

Bergen County, NJ – Lap Band (10/17/2003) – Marina Kurian, M.D.

Getting sick a lot, violent or not, is a big problem. It causes a lot of banding complications. It's never normal...it's a symptom of either being too tight or not mastering chewing, or eating too quickly, etc.

A sudden loss of restriction, if it wasn't just a day or 2 (because fluctuations are normal) could be an indication of a problem. Please ask for a scoping as well as flouro because it's a possible symptom of erosion. Chronic vomiting can cause erosions, unfortunately, not just slippage.

Nancy

RE: 1 year out and worried ...

Response from Kari C at 9:37 PM PST on 06/10/2006

Ne, IN – Lap Band (05/20/2005) – Charles Stone, M.D.

Not thrilled to hear your response, Nancy, but SO GLAD you were out there. You have given me wonderful advice in the past and knew you'd be there again.

NOW I'm freaking out! Erosion?? OMG! And my surgeon is out for two weeks. What if it is? What are other signs?

I know the vomiting is a problem ... I've told him from day 1. The problem is I don't get the "full" signal because I stop eating because it feels like things are stuck in my THROAT therefore fills were not important.

Worried!

Good Luck on that...There are several people who have eroed and I am sure they will be able to tell you what there experience have been. I think some of them even have their own threads about the experience.

My band is weird and you know I get sick what seems to be a lot to me and then nothing for weeks. Then all of a sudden I am stuck again. I know most of mine is still learning to chew probably. I know a year post op and still learning to chew.

Again good luck and I hope you are ok!!!

Kari: I think you need to be scoped like pronto well as soon as your doc gets back in town. And you need to push to get it done. Some docs don't believe that it is warranted to get it done.

I fear two things with you. Either a slip or you have eroded. The slip would require emptying the band of all fluid to see if the slip will correct itself if not then that would require surgery. If it is an erosion then that would require surgery to remove the band.

I had restriction (2.2cc in a 4cc band) up till the day they took out my band. So losing restriction does not ALWAYS mean you have eroded or slipped.

Here is my story: I was doing really well but had hit a long plateau. I had lost 70 lbs with the band. I was 18 months out. One night I was eating a chicken breast. Mind you small bites and chewing chewing chewing. Or so I thought. I got stuck. And just to clarify the "golf ball" feeling is in the throat for some of us. I was one of those. (The esophagus job is to use muscles to push the food down the tube into the stomach. If you fill the pouch to the brim and the esophagus keeps pushing into a full pouch then the "golf ball" feeling will result. You will feel like you need to burp and that is when the food will come out "PB" or productive burp). Anyway, I then got so bad I couldn't swallow my own saliva. I called my doc he told me to come in for an unfill because he thought I had slipped. So I unfilled and immediately felt relief but knew something else was going on. I just "felt" it, hard to describe. I asked for an Endoscopy (also knows and an EGD or Endo). My surgeon thought I was crazy for asking for one but he listened to me and set it up for the next morning. He said I doubt we will find anything other than irritation due to the chicken getting stuck. He was wrong. I had Erosion about 40% to 50% erosion of the band INTO my stomach wall. You could see the white band on the ENDO. He was surprised. I went in for surgery that night to have the band removed.

If you don't feel right get an ENDO. That is the only conclusive test out there for Erosion.

Hi Kari

I remember you from the lapband forum on OH. I was banded four days before you in May 05. A week ago I was diagnosed with band erosion, plus the scope showed that my band locking mechanism had failed which could have been the cause of my erosion. How are things looking now for you - I hope whatever problems you had have now been resolved.

Marion from New Zealand

Hi---my erosions symptoms were nothing, but no restriction! I could pretty much eat wahtever I wanted, I tried not to, but I was hungry all over again. They did an endo and saw it almost 60% inside my stomach, took it out that night...please get an endo. I was the stubborn type that never wanted to go to the doc, "if it aint broke dont fix it", you know? Well, I figured soemthing wwas broke when i had no restriction! So I went, good thing I did....

Now you have me freaked out... I get banded for the first time the week after next. The program I am going through has not had erosions. The director of the program said she has seen one erosion, and it was when she was in another state training. I know carbonation/soda can cause erosion. What all can cause an erosion?

gosh carrot, its ok, I dont want to freak you out! It will be fine!--- I think it is luck of the draw in most cases. The band failed me, plus I had large fills, not very gradual ones. I think my doc should have maybe counseled me on that..(???) He was also an hour away. All my surgeons told me that anything could have caused it, even a stitch in the wrong place. I think they are more savvy now with the placement of the bands. I wanted the band to be permanent for me, but it was really more temporary, and now I am going for a more extreme surgery, because I feel I need something more permanent, and, well, more extreme. Feeling so tight for so long got me so used to drinking things, mostly, and although I did try to stay with healthy low calorie items, I did have too many starbucks! But, on the same token, I was good, too, I NEVER had ice cream! I didnt care, about the sliming & PBing, and sometimes, the pain...because I was thin, and I looked wonderful! I never said the band didnt work, it did, but in the end it wasnt the right tool for my stomach! I know someone who was banded last year, and he is fine...his doc told him that since his banding was a few years after mine, that they have come up with more and more ways to avoid erosion, I guess they are seeing what not to do more. You will be fine, you will need all new clothes!

Thanks for giving me some reassurance. I know the program I am in they don't see erosions. Hopefully they have the surgery more perfected now and know a lot more tricks to help prevent it. I know my program is very careful about giving fills too. So I hope all goes well. Yikes- the thought of having it removed after all of that! I don't want to do that. Especially when I am self pay. I am going to follow the rules to a T and hopefully that coupled with the skills of the doctor, it all turns out great.

I'm sending in my paper work today to get the ball rolling. My biggest fear is Band slipping or erosion. If the band is eroded can they replace it or do they always have to remove it? Will insurance pay for another one?

:omg:

When a band erodes, it must be removed immediately, it can kill you. It basically means there is a hole in your stomach that they also have to sew up, if you leak, its deadly, just like in any of the other bypass surgeries. When eroded, as far as I know, they can NOT replace the band right away, since they must fix the stomach and this must heal for a good while. Insurance may pay for a new one later, I guess mine would have, cause I did end up gaining all the weight back with a bmi over 40 again, but my surgeon advised against it, and I dont want it because I am just afraid it will happen to me again. Perhaps my stomach was not the right one for the band! When a band slips, it can be fixed and put back in place surgically, or replaced if needed when they are in there. I think insurance covers that, cause it can become serious and is definitely medically necesary!

That sucks! I wonder how often they erode. I wonder how long they last then if the can erode so easy.

Im sorry that happened to you. Did they say why it eroded?

How are you now?

I wonder how long they last then if the can erode so easy.

Erosion isn't the band itself eroding, the band keeps its integrity. Erosion refers to the organ being eroded into.

Think of a tight string tied around a hot dog. Over time you may find that the string has actually cut into the hot dog. This will give you ap icture of what erosion refers to (loosely, I'm not saying that's the exact process of what happens).

yes, wheetsin is right--the band was fine, but the wall of my stomach was not! When I got the band (2003) they said erosion was less that 1% of lap band people. So, that was PRETTY low! Now, I am hearing the numbers are higher, like 3-5%, however, at the same time, I think they are learning from us, perhaps so that it will go down again...updating procedures, stitching, fills, etc. He also told me that the band would be permanent, too, that I could very well have it the rest of my life....I was very happy to hear that! I am sure it is true, in most lap banders today. I dont think erosion is easy, in most ways, I think it is kindof a crap shoot, most are lucky, some are not. They told me it could have eroded for many reasons, one stitch could have been in the wrong spot, it could have slipped a bit and gotten itself into a spot that was maybe weaker, more prone to erosion, maybe my fill was too much, they dont know. But, it was working great! I looked great, and felt great! Never hungry! I even had fluoro check ups, (especially when the restriction stopped) and they said you look fine, but no more fill. They could not see the erosion in 3 or 4 fluoros, that I know now that it was already eroded. It kind of just looked like a bit of my stomach was sort of drooping over the band, or that my pouch had gotten slightly bigger. the only way they saw it for sure was in the endoscopy (camera down my throat). I am fine now, thanks! I had an upper GI, they said everything looks just like it was before. I am sure I have scar tissue that they might have to cut around in my next surgery, but otherwise I healed fine....its been a crazy few years!