My name is Stephanie I am a 43 year old mother of 3 and wife to Matt for almost 25 years. I got my first band January 2011. I proceeded over the next year to go from a size 24 down to a 14. I was running and loving life. I did great and loved my band, it was honestly my saving grace. In August 2012 on a Monday , I went to lunch and began throwing up. I luckily had just had all my Fluid removed from my band so a little throwing up didn't make me overly concerned. I went home from work. By the next day I was throwing up constantly, I went to the ER as my lapband doctor was out of town. The ER said I was dehydrated and gave me IVs but no anti nausea meds. Went home and still throwing up constantly. I again on Wednesday was in the ER. I had no energy etc. But I was still able to get stuff down, although it was coming up. Thursday I went to the ER again as I had lost 22 lbs since Monday from throwing up so much. They admitted me into the hospital. They determined I didn't have the flu nor food poisoning. They think it was a different type of virus. I kept telling the docs I had a lap band and they needed to call my LB doc and get instruction before something happens. Of course they didn't. So they had me on tons of IVs and other meds trying to stop the vomiting. I finally starting feeling better late Friday night with only occasional vomiting. Well I vomited one time Saturday morning and I just knew right than that my band had slipped. They did xrays and barium swallow and yep, it slipped. My doc came back and immediately after getting of the plane, came to see me. He was so angry with the hospital. He scheduled me for surgery the very next morning. He explained I was probably going to lose my band. I went into surgery Sunday morning just knowing the life I had known for the last almost 2 years was over. But I was so sick and in so much discomfort I didn't care. But deep down I was freaking out. I came out of surgery to find out he was able to place another band. The bad part it was bigger. So I waited. I did ok keeping my weight ok with just a tough of gain. I started having fills in October and nothing. I felt no restriction. I was so stressed I began gaining weight steadily. I was no longer running, I just was discouraged and depressed. I started arguing with my doctor because I was always his prize student and now I wasn't. I quit going to the doctor and even tried to change doctors. The problem is the only other doctor is over an hour away. I tried going to him for 6 months and I was not getting anywhere. I have at this point gained about 80 of the 100 lbs I lost. I finally decided a month ago that this is stupid and I needed to fight for what I deserved. I went back to my original doctor and I confronted him. To my surprise he apologized to me and said we would get back to where I was. So here I am starting again. It was just happenstance that I got sick and lost my band. I have learned so much. What I learned that I am now trying to help other bariatric patients... skinny/healthy or fat/over weight we have to find a way to deal with stress and road blocks. So I am now back into my running and I will see my doctor again tomorrow. Hoping to get my thyroid back in check and my weight back down. I am glad to be back here also. I used to use a lot of support groups and I am reconnecting with that right now.

Sorry for the overly long story, but I needed to share to be able to move forward. I am no longer going to be a victim, but a survivor.

Hope to meet some new people!!!

Stephanie

My name is Stephanie I am a 43 year old mother of 3 and wife to Matt for almost 25 years. I got my first band January 2011. I proceeded over the next year to go from a size 24 down to a 14. I was running and loving life. I did great and loved my band, it was honestly my saving grace. In August 2012 on a Monday , I went to lunch and began throwing up. I luckily had just had all my Fluid removed from my band so a little throwing up didn't make me overly concerned. I went home from work. By the next day I was throwing up constantly, I went to the ER as my lapband doctor was out of town. The ER said I was dehydrated and gave me IVs but no anti nausea meds. Went home and still throwing up constantly. I again on Wednesday was in the ER. I had no energy etc. But I was still able to get stuff down, although it was coming up. Thursday I went to the ER again as I had lost 22 lbs since Monday from throwing up so much. They admitted me into the hospital. They determined I didn't have the flu nor food poisoning. They think it was a different type of virus. I kept telling the docs I had a lap band and they needed to call my LB doc and get instruction before something happens. Of course they didn't. So they had me on tons of IVs and other meds trying to stop the vomiting. I finally starting feeling better late Friday night with only occasional vomiting. Well I vomited one time Saturday morning and I just knew right than that my band had slipped. They did xrays and barium swallow and yep, it slipped. My doc came back and immediately after getting of the plane, came to see me. He was so angry with the hospital. He scheduled me for surgery the very next morning. He explained I was probably going to lose my band. I went into surgery Sunday morning just knowing the life I had known for the last almost 2 years was over. But I was so sick and in so much discomfort I didn't care. But deep down I was freaking out. I came out of surgery to find out he was able to place another band. The bad part it was bigger. So I waited. I did ok keeping my weight ok with just a tough of gain. I started having fills in October and nothing. I felt no restriction. I was so stressed I began gaining weight steadily. I was no longer running, I just was discouraged and depressed. I started arguing with my doctor because I was always his prize student and now I wasn't. I quit going to the doctor and even tried to change doctors. The problem is the only other doctor is over an hour away. I tried going to him for 6 months and I was not getting anywhere. I have at this point gained about 80 of the 100 lbs I lost. I finally decided a month ago that this is stupid and I needed to fight for what I deserved. I went back to my original doctor and I confronted him. To my surprise he apologized to me and said we would get back to where I was. So here I am starting again. It was just happenstance that I got sick and lost my band. I have learned so much. What I learned that I am now trying to help other bariatric patients... skinny/healthy or fat/over weight we have to find a way to deal with stress and road blocks. So I am now back into my running and I will see my doctor again tomorrow. Hoping to get my thyroid back in check and my weight back down. I am glad to be back here also. I used to use a lot of support groups and I am reconnecting with that right now.

Sorry for the overly long story, but I needed to share to be able to move forward. I am no longer going to be a victim, but a survivor.

Hope to meet some new people!!!

Stephanie

hi Stephanie.. thanks for sharing with us all. YOuve not had a good run. I have to say though im really glad you went back to your original dr. i do pray that you will lose the weight that you need to lose from now on. we walk a hard road sometimes. Ive had some bad goes myself. Ive been banded about 2 yrs and three months now. Since Christmas ive been emotional eating because our grand daughter got pregnant and is in full rebellion against her mum. She is only 17. She has lost her banking apprentaceship and i feel now that her schooling will go as well. She isnt living withe the babys father and doestn want to know him. This has been devastating for us as a family and i went into binging on chocolates, you name it, the easy foods.... Well, about six weeks ago i was in severe pain and couldnt keep Water down even. i had lost about 40 lbs in that two years .... i ended up in ER to get hydrated. I had xrays and my band was o.k. so they took out some more saline. AFter six weeks, i had settled down. Then i had a little saline put back in about two weeks ago. Now they have discovered that i have gall stones. Some of them are a full 1cm across.. at least two of them.. plus lots of little ones. So now im having my gall bladder removed. Now im not so sure that it was entirely the band that made me ill.... anyway, im having the gall bladder removed in four weeks. AFter that i will know for sure where any problems are coming from. Anyone else had gall bladder problems after banding?

The first thing you said, before you got sick, was that even though you were successful with the band, you had ALL the Fluid removed?

May I ask why?

And yes...vomiting with the band is the one thing that always scares me also...since 2011 I have not been sick enough to vomit....but I travel a lot and the risk of food poisoning, etc, concerns me and if that should happen, I am prepared to do a complete un-fill....

But you had all the fluid taken out PRIOR to getting ill.....

BTW, people with the band use the term vomiting very loosely, especially in terms of getting stuck, etc...it is not actual vomiting...if the band does make you vomit then you have different problems and should call your Dr. immediately...Just read the OP...

Edited May 29, 201412 yr by B-52

Welcome back! Your story resonates with me because I'm at that point where I've done extremely well and I fear having issues as you did and getting off track and finding myself gaining it back for whatever reason. I've not had any physical problems but I will take your story to heart and make sure if anything does happen, that I have a lapband doctor to confer with. I'm really glad that I go to a bariatric group. This way, if my surgeon is not available, there are several others who are.

hi Stephanie.. thanks for sharing with us all. YOuve not had a good run. I have to say though im really glad you went back to your original dr. i do pray that you will lose the weight that you need to lose from now on. we walk a hard road sometimes. Ive had some bad goes myself. Ive been banded about 2 yrs and three months now. Since Christmas ive been emotional eating because our grand daughter got pregnant and is in full rebellion against her mum. She is only 17. She has lost her banking apprentaceship and i feel now that her schooling will go as well. She isnt living withe the babys father and doestn want to know him. This has been devastating for us as a family and i went into binging on chocolates, you name it, the easy foods.... Well, about six weeks ago i was in severe pain and couldnt keep Water down even. i had lost about 40 lbs in that two years .... i ended up in ER to get hydrated. I had xrays and my band was o.k. so they took out some more saline. AFter six weeks, i had settled down. Then i had a little saline put back in about two weeks ago. Now they have discovered that i have gall stones. Some of them are a full 1cm across.. at least two of them.. plus lots of little ones. So now im having my gall bladder removed. Now im not so sure that it was entirely the band that made me ill.... anyway, im having the gall bladder removed in four weeks. AFter that i will know for sure where any problems are coming from. Anyone else had gall bladder problems after banding?

Judy I am sorry you have so much stress. Just take time for yourself!!! I had my gall bladder out 20 years ago so long before banding. Thanks for your support.

The first thing you said, before you got sick, was that even though you were successful with the band, you had ALL the Fluid removed?

May I ask why?

And yes...vomiting with the band is the one thing that always scares me also...since 2011 I have not been sick enough to vomit....but I travel a lot and the risk of food poisoning, etc, concerns me and if that should happen, I am prepared to do a complete un-fill....

But you had all the fluid taken out PRIOR to getting ill.....

BTW, people with the band use the term vomiting very loosely, especially in terms of getting stuck, etc...it is not actual vomiting...if the band does make you vomit then you have different problems and should call your Dr. immediately...Just read the OP...

B - 52

I had a small band so 1 cc of fluid and I was at full restriction. I had fluid out as I had some reflux a few months earlier so he took fluid out. Was maintaining my weight so didn't need it back in at that point.

My illness was a funky situation and yes I vomited over 150 times in 4 days, as I stated I lost 22 lbs during the 4 days. The doctor called it vomiting. I called doc immediately and did what I was suppose to. My town has one LB doctor and as they found with me the training he gave ER staff on the band they didn't use. This was completely out of my hands. I did exactly as I was always told with the doc but the support was tough.

I am just looking for support as you don't plan on going through what I did and you honestly can't prepare for it. Also heaven forbid someone else go through the same thing maybe my story will help.

Welcome back! Your story resonates with me because I'm at that point where I've done extremely well and I fear having issues as you did and getting off track and finding myself gaining it back for whatever reason. I've not had any physical problems but I will take your story to heart and make sure if anything does happen, that I have a lapband doctor to confer with. I'm really glad that I go to a bariatric group. This way, if my surgeon is not available, there are several others who are.

Gowalking

Thank you. Yes my town only has 1 doctor. I am now established with another doc that's over an hour away, but if an emergency pops up I can see him.

Honestly the likelihood what I went through will happen to someone else is slim, but if it did make sure your family understands how to advocate for you. I was so weak and I didn't make my hubby understand enough about my band in this type of situation.

Well I'm back and going to make this happen. If I was the model student before I can do it again. Just going to work even harder on my mental part.

I'm sorry you experienced this! When I read this the only thing I could think was man this lady is a fighter, she's strong and she's going to bounce back greater than ever! I could actually hear that coming through what you typed. You have what it takes and you will get passed and beyond this! Thanks so much for sharing your story!

My name is Stephanie I am a 43 year old mother of 3 and wife to Matt for almost 25 years. I got my first band January 2011. I proceeded over the next year to go from a size 24 down to a 14. I was running and loving life. I did great and loved my band, it was honestly my saving grace. In August 2012 on a Monday , I went to lunch and began throwing up. I luckily had just had all my Fluid removed from my band so a little throwing up didn't make me overly concerned. I went home from work. By the next day I was throwing up constantly, I went to the ER as my lapband doctor was out of town. The ER said I was dehydrated and gave me IVs but no anti nausea meds. Went home and still throwing up constantly. I again on Wednesday was in the ER. I had no energy etc. But I was still able to get stuff down, although it was coming up. Thursday I went to the ER again as I had lost 22 lbs since Monday from throwing up so much. They admitted me into the hospital. They determined I didn't have the flu nor food poisoning. They think it was a different type of virus. I kept telling the docs I had a lap band and they needed to call my LB doc and get instruction before something happens. Of course they didn't. So they had me on tons of IVs and other meds trying to stop the vomiting. I finally starting feeling better late Friday night with only occasional vomiting. Well I vomited one time Saturday morning and I just knew right than that my band had slipped. They did xrays and barium swallow and yep, it slipped. My doc came back and immediately after getting of the plane, came to see me. He was so angry with the hospital. He scheduled me for surgery the very next morning. He explained I was probably going to lose my band. I went into surgery Sunday morning just knowing the life I had known for the last almost 2 years was over. But I was so sick and in so much discomfort I didn't care. But deep down I was freaking out. I came out of surgery to find out he was able to place another band. The bad part it was bigger. So I waited. I did ok keeping my weight ok with just a tough of gain. I started having fills in October and nothing. I felt no restriction. I was so stressed I began gaining weight steadily. I was no longer running, I just was discouraged and depressed. I started arguing with my doctor because I was always his prize student and now I wasn't. I quit going to the doctor and even tried to change doctors. The problem is the only other doctor is over an hour away. I tried going to him for 6 months and I was not getting anywhere. I have at this point gained about 80 of the 100 lbs I lost. I finally decided a month ago that this is stupid and I needed to fight for what I deserved. I went back to my original doctor and I confronted him. To my surprise he apologized to me and said we would get back to where I was. So here I am starting again. It was just happenstance that I got sick and lost my band. I have learned so much. What I learned that I am now trying to help other bariatric patients... skinny/healthy or fat/over weight we have to find a way to deal with stress and road blocks. So I am now back into my running and I will see my doctor again tomorrow. Hoping to get my thyroid back in check and my weight back down. I am glad to be back here also. I used to use a lot of support groups and I am reconnecting with that right now.

Sorry for the overly long story, but I needed to share to be able to move forward. I am no longer going to be a victim, but a survivor.

Hope to meet some new people!!!

Stephanie

Edited May 29, 201412 yr by enjoythetime

Thanks for sharing your story with us. It is uplifting to share in the determination to succeed and your courage helps us all.

Cheers in your journey.

Would appreciate observations comparing your 'old small band' with your 'new big band'.

I have an antique 4cc model. While only the hint of a few minor issues, the area of 1.6 or 1.7cc is a huge amount and easily I become too tight at 1.8.

Still plugging along myself, glad to see you still ready to fight through obstacles to your goal.

Thanks for sharing your story with us. It is uplifting to share in the determination to succeed and your courage helps us all.

Cheers in your journey.

Would appreciate observations comparing your 'old small band' with your 'new big band'.

I have an antique 4cc model. While only the hint of a few minor issues, the area of 1.6 or 1.7cc is a huge amount and easily I become too tight at 1.8.

Still plugging along myself, glad to see you still ready to fight through obstacles to your goal.

Jack,

Thank you!!! It's hard sometimes to share my story as I felt like a failure. Now I just don't care what anyone thinks.

The difference in bands for me is huge! My first band I had instant restrictiin, this one I am starting to feel a little with around 7+ CCs.

Again thanks for the encouragement. I see my doc Friday so I'm anxious

Stephanie

@@Stephy5 as @@Jack said it is an inspiration to hear a story such as yours. I can tell you that I watched my husband who is banded get VERY sick with the stomach flu this past September. Though he has not eaten anything just from feeling an upset, he began to dry heave so violently I feared he was going to bring his stomach up through the band!

I called our Dr. ASAP after the first episode. It was getting later into the night by then. We are lucky to live in NY and there are Dr.'s all around, but our bariatric Dr.'s office had us come right to his office at his hospital and opened the office for us to treat my husband.

They took out all the Fluid from his band and then brought him into the ER put him on IV fluids for hydration and gave him IV anti nausea medication. They took an x-ray to ensure the band was in it's proper placement and he stayed until he was able to hold down fluids by mouth.

It's so important for Dr.'s to understand the needs of the banded patient and so many ER doctors just don't. I'm so glad that you are OK and you were able to get re-banded and you that you are doing well. I'm sure you will be back to your fighting weight again in no time

Hi Stephy, so glad you have overcome those hurdles (what a nightmare!) and you are now back in banded world -- it will feel good to have Friday behind you to have that reassurance. A surgeon who apologizes is a rare human being in my book. I'm glad you have that relationship, plus a backup if ever needed. We live in a rural area and there are just two band doctors at the hospital. This has me thinking about whether I should have anti-nausea drugs on-hand, like the patch I had post-surgery. I wonder of they pass those out for hoarding in case of emergency. Like sailing, etc., what about motion sickness, etc. Of course the guy was out of town just then -- so sorry you had to go through all of this. Best wishes for all that is to come!