I am getting very worried. Maybe it is because I am coming up on 10 months post op and seems I am reading more and more about the severe back/chest pain/reflux issues. Is this in most of our futures? Should I just get the band out now? I have killer insurance (paid for almost all of my band) but my employer is discontinuing it as of October, '06 and switching to something else that is half the cost and covers half as much. I am so afraid that I will need the band removed and not be able to fund it! I can't believe some of the stories I have read lately...........our beloved bandland members in agonizing pain with insurance/doctors who will not help ???????

I need to get some perspective here. Seems like more and more of us are having "issues" the longer I hang out here.. Anyone else notice this?

I have noticed that, but then again those people are not me :grouphug: I am almost 4 months out and I have had no problems. I am still trying to find my "sweet spot" But I have had no problems and I have advanced through my band a little faster than some. I was on mushies straight out of the hospital, I don't have to do more that 3/4 of a day of liquids after a fill then back to regular foods, carefully. I wish I was losing a little faster but most of that is my own fault. I say, if it is working for you then keep up with the good work and enjoy your tool.

All I can do is relay my own experience. I'm almost 10 months post-op and I've never had a problem with my band. Please keep in mind that the people who do have problems are a small fraction of the total number of people banded. They are also more likely to post about their problems than those that don't. Think about it...if someone is not having a problem they probably won't start a thread such as "Hey, I have no problems!"

If, God forbid, you do experience a problem and need your band removed, it will most likely be an emergency situation, which would land you in the emergency room and should be covered under most insurance plans.

I hope this eases your fears.

Hugs,

Tricia

First of all you will probably get the wrong idea because the people who are having problems generally write about it but the rest of us don't write to say we're doing fine. It gives the wrong impression. If you write and ask who would have the surgery again...you'll get most people telling you they'd 'do it in a minute'.

Having said that most of the reflux/sliming/PB problems are self induced. By this I mean not chewing enough, eating too fast, eating too much and eating the wrong foods, eating solids too soon.

The back/chest pain is only after surgery and goes away within a few days to a week generally. Or is also caused by the same reasons as above. Eating too much or too fast will cause chest/shoulder or side pain. You learn to eat the bander way...slowly chewing carefully and following the doctors instructions.

Personally I would do it again in a minute!!! :grouphug:

Hope this helps.

Hey Partner,

Whats going on?

You are doing great! Why are you so nervous?

So many more people are being banded these days, so of course there will be more complications. It's a #'s game. The band is still the safest WLS there is. Stop reading the complications site.

You know if I had to do it for a 3rd time there would be no question about it, I'd do it again.

PM me or call me if you want. Hang in there, you can do this. Don't worry. My Dad always used to tell me that the main thing is not to worry!

I'm almost one year out now, and have had not one problem, even small, with my band.

I am 8 months out and haven't had a problem at all. Not even reflux, chest pains, etc.. . Ok, the rare slime, but that is not really a scary problem to me! Just a reminder. At this point I have no regrets and no fear of anything going wrong. Positive experience all the way.

I agree with the crowd. Though I'm not banded yet, I've found in my reasearching that the wheels that hurt, squeak. Meaning, there are thousands and thousands of bandsters out there with NO problems. They don't post or come to forums like this b/c they are just peachy. But there are more than just squeaky wheels here...lots of succesful bandsters come here too! Don't fret, it is statistically very safe and effective.

P.S. There is something to learn from everyone, even the less successful bandsters or people who've had problems. Information is a great thing!

I'm 7 months post op and never had a single problem. Self induced sliming twice in all that time.

I'm at a year and my band is fine. I have mild dialation of the pouch and esophagus, but that's not my band's fault, it's mine. My band is in place and doing it's job and now that I'm more diligent of how I eat, the other issues are gone.

The band isn't an easy quick fix. It requires care and maintenance.

I found the poll on how often you PB interesting. Because PBing is one of those things people report on and talk about you get the idea that it happens all the time. But if you look at the poll results, far and away most people have never PB'd or only very very rarely.

Hey everyone,

I am one week away from getting my band and very nervous and excited! I have a quick question, what is sliming?

If you eat too fast, or don't chew enough, the food will kind of overwhelm your pouch. The body's response is to produce a lot of excess saliva and stomach fluids to try to dissolve the food. You will then have all this fluid start to build up in your stomach and esophagus. You will feel an intense need to burp or vomit. When you throw it up, it is mostly slime and foam. This is also called "foaming." It is a very different consistency from vomit. It's a warning sign that you didn't eat right -- a nice pavlovian training trick, if you ask me! I think we all get it.... but you learn how to try to avoid it.

I'm 2 years out and have no had any problems other than a short time of being too tight, which is of course easily fixed with an unfill.

atxgirl; sliming is when you have something stuck (didn't chew enough, too big a bite, wrong kind of food, and doesn't want to go down), and so your body creates ALOT of extra saliva in order to try and get it to go down (which would work, if the band weren't in the way). Anywho, sliming is when all that saliva comes up. For me, in most cases, just the motion of brining up the slime will usually unstick whatever was stuck and it will go down, but sometimes it comes up, in which case your slime has turned into a PB (Productive Burp)

Hi, I had a band slip a year and a half after surgery. I had surgery to reposition it and was back to work in a week. I have had no problems since and I am over 4 years out. I have no regrets having the band done. Hope this helps. Mona:biggrin1:

I'm 5 months out and have no problems at all.The band is the best thing I could of ever done.Good luck.