Ok all Im new to your site but need all the help i can get! I went for my first fill on friday and watched as the barium passed right by my band!! they filled me completly up and we redid the baruim...again it ran right passed it as if my band was opened.

The doc says he thinks its eroded but ive only had it one month..doc who did the surgery says its not eroded but has no clue why it did that...we are talking of doing a Endo scope this week....

Has anyone ever heard of the band being OPEN? I have pics of my xray attatched to this.

Please any input you guys have will be apreciated!!

Thanks!

christy;)

First of all..WOW!!! I was shocked by all the responses!:wow2: Thanks very much for your support!

OK let me see if i can answer some of this all..

Don't get me wrong when i first found out that it was not on my stomach i was scared at first at the thought of erosion but was puzzled since it had only been exactly a month when i went for the fill. and had no pain at all from day one! Seriously NOTHING!

So i called the doc in Mexico and explained to him what was going on and he asked if i would come down for the scope and see what we could find. We did the scope and I was told he was going to go in and fix it. I was grogy and was wisked straight to surgery.

I awoke with my mother at my feet with a sad look on her face and was told that it had to be removed. I was devasted!:faint: He came in and explained to me how the band had worked its way from the back to the front and was resting on the outside of my stomach. went THROUGH AND THROUGH with no pain?? I was furious that he had taken it out. If I had known he was considering doing that i would have came home and gotten another opinion but wasnt given that chance.I have seen the scope video and there isnt even much redness let alone damage from somthing closed around my stomach working its way through. unless i healed up that fast..lol

so..he told me to wait 6 months and he would do it again. But id have to pay for it.:faint: So I came home and started looking and searching for any other cases of this happening and found NOTHING. I called inamed and sent them copies of everything. They agreed that it didnt erode but hadnt been put on aound my stomach.

I saw a doctor here in us right after the removal so he could examine me and make sure all was ok and he too saw the films and agreed..no way to erode and heal up that fast with NO PAIN.

So..i gained back the weight i lost PLUS. And am waiting for a miracle.

Thanks everyone for your replies and I truly think this was an accident but what can i do...its out of our country so im stuck.

I did everything i was suppossed to to the T. And lost weight but im sure thats from the liquid diet i was on and the fact that i soooo wanted this to work that i wasnt about to mess it up.:Cry:

well Im back at the drawing board LOL

Ill make sure and check back and see what you all say! thanks again!!!:hug:

Christy

The squeaky wheel . . .

I'd yell and scream and kick up a fuss, call 20 times a day, DEMAND he refund you or do the surgery over again for free -- that is IF you trust him to do it again. Don't take this sitting still.

Is this Doctor Jose Rodriguez in Acuna, Mexico?

I am curious becasue I haven't had any pain since about the 10 days after surgery. Absolutely no discomfort. I don't even feel like I am banded. I have lost 15 lbs but seem to be stuck there.

I guess I will be on my way for a flor....or whatever that procedure is I need to determine if the band was placed properly.

Lisa

Christy, you are really wonderful to be taking this in stride. I hope that you can find a way to be banded again (er... for the first time...? ) whether it be with Dr. Rod or someone else.

Dr. Hekier, there was a case in Michigan where a woman had lapband and they nicked her stomach with the instruments. They didn't do a barium swallow and she died the next day. It was all over the news here because she was a Detroit city councilwoman. My surgeon told me that a barium swallow would have caught it. I'm not trying to question your expertise - just thought it was worth passing on to you.

We have never had an instance where that upper GI test changed our management of the patient. Additionally, a few months ago a paper was published in the "Journal of the American College of Surgeons" from a group that performed over 1000 Lap Bands. They stopped doing upper GI swallows after their first 100 patients because the swallow didn't change any course of management.

That makes sense, but I assume there is some other test to check that the band is in the proper place, right? Presumably the surgeon has some confidence that he's done the job right.

Again, I don't think this is a Mexico vs. US, or Swedish vs. Inamed issue.

I didn't mean to imply that it was. I specified the U.S. in my question because you are a U.S. doctor and can only speak to the practices here. Have you, in your experience, ever heard of this particular surgical error happening? What would be the proper step for a surgeon to take next, if it did?

Have you, in your experience, ever heard of this particular surgical error happening? What would be the proper step for a surgeon to take next, if it did?

I have heard of an instance of it happening in the U.S.

As to what the proper step would be, it depends on the specific situation I suppose.

1)For example, does the patient have a higher than average BMI making Lap Band placement more difficult. (Our average patient has a BMI of around 46, with the high 81.)

2) Does the patient have prior surgery with intra-abdominal adhesions, making surgery more difficult?

3) Does the patient have prior gastric surgery, such as a fundoplication, or gastric bypass, which might make the surgery more difficult.

I am researching the lap band and am thinking of going to New Mexico to Dr. Aceves. Does anyone have any information on this doctor. And also does anyone live in Florida and know a good doctor for fills?

I would appreciate any info anyone could give me.

Thanks Brenda

Sorry correction to my first post, it is Mexico not New Mexico

I am incensed reading this story. Is there any sort of legal action you can take against this surgeon? If he were telling the truth, I imagine he would have taken photographs of it because it is such an odd case that should be documented & discussed with colleagues.

It appears to me that the evidence points towards him lying to absolve himself of any responsibility to you. Do you feel this is the case?

-Yvonne

your band looks the same as mine before i had a few fills and got some good restriction.

well, looking again - mine looks like that at the top, but not like that below the band where your pic is all streaky. i dont know what that is.

What I don't understand is why he can't reinsert the band for her at a deep discount. He went back into her to remove it. My surgery was performed by Dr. Jose Rodriguez in Acuna, Mexico and I can tell you this is really really scary. I think it is unbelievable unfair for her to pay for a procedure that was not actually performed/delivered. The freakin' band is clearly off the right of her stomach. This is highway robbery! You would think he could at least offer to re-insert and have her only pay the cost of the band.

I feel absolutely awful for her. It appears she got ripped off which was one of my biggest fears when I travelled across the border.

Christy seems to be totally OK and accepting everything in stride, which I guess is a good thing.

Just my .02

Lisa

This is awful, you were obviously ripped off and lied to by this surgeon. I would be all over them for a refund or new FREE band! I hope you touted all of this to Inamed or whoever your bandmaker was. I would be complaining to whoever it is you complain to about such things in Mexico. I'm glad to see your calm about it, but I just wouldn't be. I wish you luck in whatever decisions you make.

I never admitted this before because I promised one Mexican surgeon that I wouldn't say a word about my freebie (otherwise everyone would want one.) But since he broke his promises to me, all deals are off.

I did not pay ANYTHING for one of my port removal surgeries other than my travel. The doctor covered his fees, the anesthesiologist, labs and hospital. I didn't pay a nickel.

So how come I got a special freebie? Let me repeat what's already been said:

THE SQEAKY WHEEL GETS THE OIL, and I'm one squeaky bitch.

DeLarla,

I can't tell you the number of times your posts have made me laugh. And true to your past you have me laughing again.

I agree with you that the squeak wheel gets the oil. There isn't anyway I would take this bending over...ooops, I mean sitting down.

Fair is fair. No matter what country we are in. I think Christy is really getting shafted on this one.

Keep in mind, I was banded by Dr. Jose Rodriguez in Acuna, Mexico and have been pleased, but of course I haven't had any sort of complications. My experience overall was very pleasant, thanks in part to a wonderful patient coordinator. While Dr. Rodriguez performed the procedure, I only saw him for a few minutes. His patient coordinator, Diana Bradshaw, is who I remember the most. AT any rate, I havent' had any complications so of course I wouldn't have any complaints. But this thing happening to Christy is bad..bad...bad.