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Pain after Lap Band Removal

I had lap band removed 8/10, along with the port of course and he also removed alot of scar tissue from around the area. I went back to work over Labor day weekend and walked alot!!!! I noticed some residual pain on my left side deep, near spleen area (which is where he most likely removed quite a bit of scar tissue from). I have had twinges of pain on that side ever since I worked this weekend. I am beginning to wonder if there is surrounding tissue is inflamed and hitting a nerve there ? Anyone else have similar?

I will definitely mention it to my surgeon when I see him again and hopefully he can fix that when he does my revision to bypass this November.

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  • Author

Anyone have this type of pain? It's worse when I bend over, so it is reproducible.

I had lap band removed 8/10, along with the port of course and he also removed alot of scar tissue from around the area. I went back to work over Labor day weekend and walked alot!!!! I noticed some residual pain on my left side deep, near spleen area (which is where he most likely removed quite a bit of scar tissue from). I have had twinges of pain on that side ever since I worked this weekend. I am beginning to wonder if there is surrounding tissue is inflamed and hitting a nerve there ? Anyone else have similar?

I will definitely mention it to my surgeon when I see him again and hopefully he can fix that when he does my revision to bypass this November.

HI! I did not have the pain you are describing, but Im not surprized that you are having it. It has taken quite a while for my body to heal after having had the band removed after 3 years. It did some damage; I also think there can be some "memory" in the body that can cause discomfort. Im glad you will talk with your surgeon about it, but if you are not having a fever or other signs of infection, I wouldn't stress about it; just be sure to bring it to his attention.

~hiddn

  • Author

I had lap band removed 8/10, along with the port of course and he also removed alot of scar tissue from around the area. I went back to work over Labor day weekend and walked alot!!!! I noticed some residual pain on my left side deep, near spleen area (which is where he most likely removed quite a bit of scar tissue from). I have had twinges of pain on that side ever since I worked this weekend. I am beginning to wonder if there is surrounding tissue is inflamed and hitting a nerve there ? Anyone else have similar?

I will definitely mention it to my surgeon when I see him again and hopefully he can fix that when he does my revision to bypass this November.

HI! I did not have the pain you are describing, but Im not surprized that you are having it. It has taken quite a while for my body to heal after having had the band removed after 3 years. It did some damage; I also think there can be some "memory" in the body that can cause discomfort. Im glad you will talk with your surgeon about it, but if you are not having a fever or other signs of infection, I wouldn't stress about it; just be sure to bring it to his attention.

~hiddn

Thankyou, it is just very uncomfortable when bending or sitting forward. In fact, it started after working two 10 hour days and another 8 hour day back to back, by the time I got home, I had to take a percocet to dull the pain. What you mentioned makes sense. No fever or anything else thankfully. I will give him a call tomorrow though.

How long did it take for you to feel better after your band removal? Did you revise to a different surgery?

I had lap band removed 8/10, along with the port of course and he also removed alot of scar tissue from around the area. I went back to work over Labor day weekend and walked alot!!!! I noticed some residual pain on my left side deep, near spleen area (which is where he most likely removed quite a bit of scar tissue from). I have had twinges of pain on that side ever since I worked this weekend. I am beginning to wonder if there is surrounding tissue is inflamed and hitting a nerve there ? Anyone else have similar?

I will definitely mention it to my surgeon when I see him again and hopefully he can fix that when he does my revision to bypass this November.

HI! I did not have the pain you are describing, but Im not surprized that you are having it. It has taken quite a while for my body to heal after having had the band removed after 3 years. It did some damage; I also think there can be some "memory" in the body that can cause discomfort. Im glad you will talk with your surgeon about it, but if you are not having a fever or other signs of infection, I wouldn't stress about it; just be sure to bring it to his attention.

~hiddn

Thankyou, it is just very uncomfortable when bending or sitting forward. In fact, it started after working two 10 hour days and another 8 hour day back to back, by the time I got home, I had to take a percocet to dull the pain. What you mentioned makes sense. No fever or anything else thankfully. I will give him a call tomorrow though.

How long did it take for you to feel better after your band removal? Did you revise to a different surgery?

Hi again! It makes sense to me that after working those long hours back to back could possibly inflame that area. My surgeon told me I would have the most difficulty with the port area as I healed. I tend to baby myself, so I took 3 weeks off work after I had the band removed; my surgeon told me to take 5 walks a day, so I structured my days around those walks. I was soon walking 2 miles a day without even realizing it! I think that helped a lot. When I went back to work I did a couple of half days (I normally work 10 hours a day) and then back to full time. I think maybe you pushed it a little too hard for your body to accomodate. I am glad to hear you will be calling your surgeon today, though; it's not something to just let slide and "see". I think it will help your peace of mind to talk with him and then you can relax again and just focus on healing. My healing went very well - I had this surgery 2 years ago, so my memory isn't real accurate on how long it took to feel better. I was glad I took the long time off, though. And was still somewhat tender when I went back to work. I still have symptoms of my body's rejection of the band and hope they will eventually go away. I did not revise. I've gained a lot of weight back, but feel so much better and healthier - my body could not tolerate the band, so I had no choice but to have it removed.

I hope this helps!! And I hope things go smoothly for you.

~ hiddn

  • Author

Yes thankyou. I took 3 weeks off, but you are right. I may have pushed myself too much coming right back with so many hours. I will take it easy this week. I work weekends mostly and that is where I do tons of walking, sometimes I get to work from home during the week so I don't have to walk anywhere. I started the treadmill very slowly after surgery and have worked up to about 45 minutes at a good pace, but maybe the constant walking of being up and down aggravated the area for more than what I am used to.

What has been your symptoms of your body's rejection of the band? What is really crazy, is that I still have some restriction. I am getting between 1000 and 1500 calories a day which is great as I am trying to lose a few pounds before my revision. I have lost 8 since surgery and am going up and down 1 pound variation.

I am sorry to hear that you had a rough time with your band, but I am glad that you feel better now. It seems as though there are more problems with the band nowadays and that surgeons are moving away from it.

Thank you for you support :) I placed call to surgeon, just waiting to hear back.

The area where I had the band removed is just NOW starting to feel better. I went back to work 3 weeks post op and it's a desk job but I still had some pain just sitting there. I'm guessing scar tissue and just trauma around that area. My surgeon saved my band (cleaned it up of course). I can't believe that thing was in me!

Hope you're doing well and it's nothing serious. I think we probably don't realize how deep in there and attached the band was. Ugh.

  • Author

I called surgeons office today. They said I need to take it easy and that it's still healing, and that it will take 4 to 6 weeks to completely heal. She said I probably aggravated the area. It started after working this weekend....see? Working is detrimental ! Lol

  • 2 weeks later...

I finally had my band removed 9/18 and the first 4 days were pretty painful (from the differred pain - so the worst was the pain in the tip of my left shoulder/neck area as well as my left mid rib cage) Thank goodness - that pain is gone now. I do have some minor pain in the incisions but nothing compared to having the band put in - the port hurt and never stopped - until now that it is gone :). I'm so happy to be able to (once I'm healed) go through my day and eat whatever I want and not worry about running to the bathroom to throw it up and dealing with the slime and pain associated with that. Not worry about traveling and what I could or couldn't eat and being in a hotel room and on a schedule and not be able to eat because I'm too tight and then a few hours later I'm starving and no one else is. (Vacations have not been any fun - airplane trips make the band tighten up for a day or 2 - then its time to go home...) Several times a week (normal life - just day to day) my band would be closed so tight I could barley sip Water if I had any stress (and I own my own business and unfortunately - it is very stressful) and I have had it unfilled since 2010. It was so painful to have food stuck all the time. It had slipped and I didn't know it, I just dealt with the side effects. This was my choice - I thought it was how it was supposed to be. I mostly ate liquids and occasionally soft foods. I cant wait to eat meat - apples - lettuce - rice... in moderation of course! I have been so unhealthy because of the lack of proper nutrition - I'm Vitamin deficient and take so many supplements. It will take a while but I will get my health back on track (hopefully my hair will thicken up again) I will also keep moving each day. This has been to much of a bad dream to let it bring me down. I hope I don't experience any post surgery problems either! (Good luck to everyone here as well!)

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi there:

I've had similiar complications with the band and am due to have it out on October 15th. You said exactly how I was feeling. The not being able to eat certain foods, the being nervous to eat in restaurants etc.

Can you let me know what life has been like since the band has been taken out?

  • Author

Hi there:

I've had similiar complications with the band and am due to have it out on October 15th. You said exactly how I was feeling. The not being able to eat certain foods, the being nervous to eat in restaurants etc.

Can you let me know what life has been like since the band has been taken out?

Hi!

Life without the band has been good and bad. I am constantly struggling with trying to lose weight. I eat between 1200 to 1500 calories per day. I walk 30 to 45 minutes each day. I also do Zumba 3 times a week for 60 mins and strength training twice a week. I feel like I am not getting very far with weight loss. I haven't gained.

As far as physically, I feel soooooo much better! I don't have reflux anymore and I can sleep on 1 pillow instead of 8 pillows. I still feel some restriction due to the smaller size of my stomach, I can eat more but i get full usually on half a sandwich. I still try to focus on healthier options. No more vomiting thankfully. Occasionally I have some heartburn but it is very mild and I have a history of it prior to band anyways, but definately has improved since band was removed.

Today is October 4th and I can easily do ab workouts at Zumba class. I actually started working on abs about 4 weeks after removal, starting slowly and knowing my limitations and stopping when too uncomfortable. I do not regret the removal at all. It is such a relief for me. I am planning on revising to bypass hopefully next month.

Best of luck to you on your band removal, you will feel better once removed. Hopefully I answered your question. If there is anything else specific that you would like to know, I would be happy to tell you anything that can help :)

Thank you so much for your reply. I'm glad you are feeling better. It sounds like you are doing all the right things, so keep it going. I cant' switch to bypass surgery because my bmi is too low. I wish that was an option for me. I just want to be able to eat like a normal person again and not have to worry if it is going to go down. I only lost 15 pounds with my lapband because I had it in Mexico and I couldn't find aftercare here in Ontario. Canada. I've had port problems. You name it, I've had it. It's been a constant struggle since day 1.

I was also frustrated that I could no longer eat alot of vegetables that I liked or hardly any Proteins would go down. This past month, I've hardly been able to tolerate solid foods. I've been on a soft pureed diet mostly.

Thanks again for filling me in. Good luck to you with your next surgery and may all your dreams come true.

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi! I had my band out 5 days ago. I'm feeling pretty good so far (except a little sore). I have experienced all of what you are talking about, plus more. I'm having pain in my left shoulder right now, so I'm glad to hear that will go away. I'm curious- how soon did you all start with protein shakes after band removal? So far, I've only been drinking water, juice & broth. I have to tell you, I am so relieved to have the band removed. I had so many complications, and didn't realize they were complications. I'm glad to have some people to talk to here. :)

Hi! I had my band out 5 days ago. I'm feeling pretty good so far (except a little sore). I have experienced all of what you are talking about, plus more. I'm having pain in my left shoulder right now, so I'm glad to hear that will go away. I'm curious- how soon did you all start with protein shakes after band removal? So far, I've only been drinking water, juice & broth. I have to tell you, I am so relieved to have the band removed. I had so many complications, and didn't realize they were complications. I'm glad to have some people to talk to here. :)

Hi there:

I also had my band out 4 days ago. I feel quite alot of relief that it is gone. I am also going through the emotions of being scared about it also. How will I know when to stop eating? I had my first solid meal yesterday, which was some Pasta and garlic bread. It felt fine going down at the time, but I must have really pushed my limit because I was pb'ing all night. I was in alot of discomfort right until the next morning. I am wondering if the stoma takes some time to go back to its original size and shape. Has anyone had experience with this? I guess I will not be eating a large meal like that again.

Hi there:

I also had my band out 4 days ago. I feel quite alot of relief that it is gone. I am also going through the emotions of being scared about it also. How will I know when to stop eating? I had my first solid meal yesterday, which was some Pasta and garlic bread. It felt fine going down at the time, but I must have really pushed my limit because I was pb'ing all night. I was in alot of discomfort right until the next morning. I am wondering if the stoma takes some time to go back to its original size and shape. Has anyone had experience with this? I guess I will not be eating a large meal like that again.

HI!

It was my experience that it took a while for everything to relax and open up again.

I stayed with soft foods for almost a week, then gradually added a variety.

I still focused on eating a small amount, though. You can always eat some more, later, if you get hungry!

I think a lot of us have no clue about how to know when to stop eating. It's helped me to continue using a small plate.

It might also help to find a good rule to follow, for instance see what a "serving" of that particular food is and serve yourself half - for now (knowing you can have more if that is truly not enough) then wait 20 minutes before deciding whether or not it was enough for you.

I know sometimes our mealtime doesn't include an extra 20 minutes to experiment (like at work...) but you could maybe try this at dinner time. It's at least an idea that may generate other ideas that could help you :)

Having had my band out, too, I am in an on-going struggle with my weight.

I understand what you mean about the emotions coming up. I was so grateful to have the band removed, yet felt kind of an "aloneness" without it.

I wish I had stuck with my exercise routine - which was walking 2 miles a day. (a month after having it removed I had an injury that prevented me from continuing, but I didn't start back up after it was resolved) I regret that now.

I will say - be as active as possible.

Be kind to yourself.

Hang in there! You have lots of company here who understand what you're going thru.

~hiddn

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