STUPID f'n band! what is WRONG!!!

[Fitter 0]

"I think that the esophagus becomes immune to some extent for long term bandsters and we can no longer tell whether we have too much or too little restriction."

I'll probably have esophogeal problems for life now that I eroded and they removed my band. Now I can't even tell the difference between a scratchy throat, allergies, a cough or problems swallowing. Thinking of you, SJ.

[babsintx3 0]

Fitter,

Thanks for making me feel better! LOL :cry

Sorry to hear that you have little sensation there. I dont think I am quite there yet, but who knows???

Babs In TX

[shellyj. 0]

i have asked my dr's. the original banding dr and my current LB dr. they say 'NO this is the first i have heard of something like THIS'

WTF??? are you kidding me? we were all banded around the same time and we are all having similiar eshpogus malfunctions. i dont think they want to admit to all the esphogus malfunctions that are developing long term.

lisa, i dont know if you'll see my response to this or not but i could care less if i get to keep my band. i know i can not have restriction again so its not of much use to me anymore. my main concern is how schmucked is my esophogus gonna be for the rest of my life. i am sorry to hear yours isnt working properly or any better this long after debanding.

i know that i am still having problems with motility. foods going down feel weird and liquids i can feel pooling in my pouch. they wont make me hiccup or slime but they just site there and then will go down if i move a certain way, bend over or reach for something. my band is TOTALLY empty and i shouldnt feel liquids. they certainly shouldnt be sitting in my pouch after removing 1.8 cc's!?!?

[leatha_g 4]

You're exactly right, Shelly. You should NOT feel the liquids 'just sitting' there. It sounds as if you really need an upper GI or flouro to see if your pouch is dilated. What happens is that it forms a bowl-like structure above the band and even though(or because) the band is really too tight, it still allows you to eat, but goes nowhere for extended periods. Often it backs up when you lay down at night. Having food sit in this distended pouch can't be good for you.

[Alexandra 55]

Hey Shelly and Babs, I'm just reading this now and am really sorry you're having such troubles! I'm right there with you, having had a tiny fill August 17after months of a total unfill to solve serious reflux. So far so good, I'm happy to say, but I'm totally mindful that one night I could wake up with reflux all over again.

Shelly, if that were to happen to me I'd go immediately for a total unfill but want to do anything I could to KEEP MY BAND. Even without "restricton" it absolutely helps to limit my intake to a level that will let me maintain my loss. And to me that's what it's all about.

68% of your excess weight may not sound like a lot to you, but here's my take on that: If someone had told me going in that this was what I'd achieve, I'd STILL have been determined to get it. 68% is an amazing amount, and considering the relatively minor impact this surgery has on our bodies it would seem a measure worth undertaking. Nothing in my life has ever been that successful in helping me with my weight before.

It is a mystery why it tightens up seemingly without provocation, and my current mission is to try to understand my body's signals with regard to this. And I know I'm going to treat my allergies aggressively, with Flonase and Claritin on a regular basis when the seasons are changing. When I do detect any irritation or tightness I'm determined to go on liquids for several days to baby it back to health. This is just my plan to deal with my current situation, trying to hold on to good health with my new fill. Fingers crossed that it works.

And last thought: I definitely agree that long-term esophageal problems are a possibility with banded patients. I asked my doctor about this not too long ago, and he said something like these complications do increase with time. While the chance of esophageal problems might be (I'm guessing) 5% within the first year, 10% in the second, it rises to (and this is what my doctor says he's heard from European colleagues) "like 20% after 7 years." That sounds scary, but it still says that 80% of people don't have issues even after that length of time. So I'm determined to figure out how to stay in the 80%, if there's anything at all I can do to make it happen.

[shellyj. 0]

hey alexandra, i put the 68% thing down as a good thing. i hope i can maintain that and i hope i can lose more. with the swelling more and more and still feeling some restriction with an empty band are what has me worried about having it removed. if its unfilled but gets tighter progressively then i assume it would have to be removed. i will only have it removed if it has to be.

i hope you continue to be reflux free. i cant believe i have only had reflux once and it stopped with an unfill.

leatha, my upper gi and flouro are next monday. i went out of town this past weekend and am going out again this weekend so they said it could wait. i had a flouro to check for a slip this past feb. and i didnt have one then with the same symptoms but it does sound like a slip.

80% -20% odds arent so bad.

[babsintx3 0]

Hi Guys,

My appointment is tomorrow with my banding doc. I am having low grade gastritis, but I think it might be the fact that I am drinking a lot of coffee and tea and need to cut it out. I have an empty band and the hunger is definitely coming back with a rage, so I dont think I have a slip, but rather a pouch dilation like indicated.

Shelly: I too had the pooling in my throat and for the better part of three weeks it was also the same unfilled, but now that is going away too and I dont feel anymore pooling. drinks are dropping through.

Alex: You are right. I am also going to try to be a really good girl When allergies come rolling along, I will try to take claritin or something else. 68% is a great result, although if you were my mother in law, she not only claims I am bigger than her size 20 (I am a 14/16) but she also doesnt remember me being 340 pounds and a size 28 either! LOL So according to her, I am still the same. I had to go in my closet and get a size 28 out for her to see the difference!

I'll give you guys an update tomorrow!!

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

[shellyj. 0]

i'll be thinking of you babs! you MIL sounds like a lot of fun...lol i am glad to hear that you liquids thing reslolved itself. thats a relief, i dont want to remove my band i will be self pay and i would just assume keep my $$ if i have a choice!

i am still trying to be really gentle with my tummy. i cant really *feel* (like pain) food or liquids sitting there but when i move or bend over i hear it going down after the fact.

[Alexandra 55]

Good luck with everything, Babs! I just renewed my Prevacid scrip that I haven't taken in months, just as a precaution. I overdid it the other day on potato chips (we visited the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory on vacation :eek: ) and can definitely feel the irritation. I've forgotten what real restriction means, and I am re-learning the hard way.

Fingers crossed!

[anniemay 0]

Babs in Tx.

I live in Tx. too, I was just banded Aug. 7th and I won't be due a fill until after Sept. 21st, I am going to Stephanie Eijsink in Bryan, who do you use

for fills?

Anniemay

[babsintx3 0]

HI Annie May,

I have no idea who your surgeon or fill doc is. Bryan is near Houston isn't it? I am in the DFW area and now have my fills at the Surgery Center which is an AIGB center of excellence. A nurse practitioner does the fill with flouroscopy and a barium swallow.Before that, I used to have them done at the Medical Center of Arlington TX by the radiology department.

All of them seem to know what they are doing. Make sure whoever does your fills knows what they are doing and only pokes you once to get the needle into the port. Anything more than 3x is too much and you need to walk away if this happens. OK?

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

[anniemay 0]

Babs in Tx.......I used Dr. Miguel Zapata in Monterrey for lapband and they gave me list of drs. cerified by Inamed to do fills .........Dr.Eijsink was the

one closest to me and oh, she is a bander too!

Anniemay

[babsintx3 0]

Hi Anniemay,

She sounds like a winner!!! Good luck with your banding and fills!!!

Babs in TX

334/180 ish

[shellyj. 0]

well i had my scope today. i didnt get to talk to the dr although the nurses told me he didnt find anything. i am having a barium swallow on wednesday. they said the dr will call with the results.

the scope was very easy, i dont even have a sore throat and i got a buzz that i was able to sleep of in a nice nap!

i'll post when i find anything out!

[NeenBand 7]

Hi all, I'm reading this all with a lot of interest because I am constantly coughing and trying to clear out mucus in my throat. Sometimes, it's so bad that I'm swallowing hard and it gets scary. Always after I eat.