Hello! I'm unable to find much about this online, so thought I'd see if anyone has had a similar experience post-removal.

Long story short: I was banded about 11 years ago, lap band slipped, I was scheduled for removal.

My original surgeon had moved to CA, so I went through Northwestern Hospital. (Sidenote: I HIGHLY recommend them! They went above and beyond when it came to ensuring my safety throughout the entire process). The surgery went very well and immediately afterwards, all of the side effects I'd been experiencing (horrendous acid reflux, pain, spitting up blood) were 100% gone.

My doctor mentioned that he left the stitches in place that were holding my band in, explaining that this would give me a bit of restriction still and hopefully deter weight gain.

It's now been almost exactly one month since surgery. I've been trying to watch how much I've been eating and signed up for a gluten free healthy food service. However, yesterday I celebrated my birthday and ate wayyyy too much. For the first time since before my surgery, I was spitting up food.

Today, I have a weird sensation around the area where my band would have been - not pain per se, but it's not comfortable. Almost feels like gas pains. I'm back to the meal plan (i.e. smaller portions) today, but still regurgitating small bits of food a few hours after eating.

My questions:

- Has anyone who's had the band removed had their stitches left in place?

- If so, has anyone else experienced this sensation?

- Is it possible to rip these stitches from over-eating?!

I'm an idiot and was *supposed* to have my follow-up appointment tomorrow, but rescheduled for next week. Now, I'm kicking myself and worried that perhaps I ripped the stitches or something.

I have no experience with what you're going through and don't recall ever reading about anyone who has. But, I would believe that stretching the tissue around the sutures could cause some discomfort. I would think it would be very difficult to cause them to tear away unless you ate an entire family sized pizza?

Simply stretching the tissue could cause some bruising and swelling and this could be what you're experiencing. I think you've ventured into fairly unknown territory and the only one who might know would be the surgeon who removed the band and/or the radiologist who could read a CT scan.

I just removed my lapband 3 weeks ago and I still can't eat like a normal person I get stuck episodes just like I had the band. But I have never heard of leaving the stitches in. I also still have a hard time eating meat. Would all

This go away in time I have no clue. I am also on a small meal low carb diet. The first 2 weeks only liquids.