Hello,

I have been banded for 4 years with highly exceeding my expectations getting to a weight (123lb) I did not think I'd ever see again after 2 years. It wasn't always easy as the first 9 months I didn't feel restriction even though my surgeon was aggressive with the fills. Then when I started to get some restriction I filled at one point too tight. I then slowly had unfills mainly due to reflux. Not eating much, not being hungry and not eating some of my killer foods like bread, Pasta, and Diet Coke was great. It was the reason I did this in the first place. After a last unfill a year ago which gave great relief to the reflux I thought I was basically in the green. I had some heartburn but nothing a tums couldn't cure . The last year I ate small meals and got full fast and was happy that I could closely maintain the loss within about 5lb.

I just had the annual check up and they looked at the band with fluro and found it slipped and a pretty large pouch (well not sure how large ) above the band. They took 2cc out not the whole band like I usually read and said come back in 6 weeks to check if the slip repositioned and could start doing fills.

So I have a few questions as everything I read sounds like a slip has to be fixed with surgery. What is chance it can recover with the 2cc unfil? I will say that has taken care of the heartburn but I am hungrier although there is restriction. I am feeling though like my weight will start creeping up but I'm watching it and trying to get more exercise in.

This was my fear with it and that it was a foreign object in my body so how long can that stay. I was self pay and I figured lowest risk and lowest priced would be best but pretty much immediately after even though I had no complications and was doing great after a few days thought I should have paid the extra 5k for the sleeve.

Anyhow I was wondering about success repositioning without surgery?? Is there anything I can do at this point to help like go on liquid diet etc. Dr didn't mention surgery at all but I'm sure it's a we'll cross the bridge when it's time. I really don't want to do that and it's been great and what I absolutely need. I see food now and people eating and wonder how they eat all that and how I easily ate all that . It is the best decision I've made for my health but trying not to pay double every four years.

Any stories or suggestions welcome ! Thanks

Cyndi

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I had that happen happen a couple of times. .. the trick was to completely unfill and stay like that for a couple of weeks then get refilled. It usually resolved it... im suprised they didn't do a complete unfill

At this stage it is not a complete slip... but if you keep it tight in the condition it is in, you could develop one

Thanks yes I think I've only read of a complete unfil too so not sure why his philosophy is different. It is now at 7.6 of a 11cc realize band. I'm worried it won't look any different. The barium seemed to go down just fine.

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7.6 is still pretty full in my opinion.... i would suggest asking him for a unfill to enable everything to go back into place.

Be your own advocate... cause it will be you that suffers if you have a full slip... then you could possibly have to go through a complete removal...

Trust me when i say... unfilling for a couple of weeks will make all the difference... yes it might delay your weight loss by two weeks... but it will save you months of discomfort

I had a similar situation twice; both times surgeon removed all of the Fluid from my band. I had a CT scan in May 2016 which indicated my lap band had slipped. I did have to have surgery. Still no regrets as I am within 10 pounds of my goal weight.

7.6 is still pretty full in my opinion.... i would suggest asking him for a unfill to enable everything to go back into place.

Be your own advocate... cause it will be you that suffers if you have a full slip... then you could possibly have to go through a complete removal...

Trust me when i say... unfilling for a couple of weeks will make all the difference... yes it might delay your weight loss by two weeks... but it will save you months of discomfort

Thanks for reply. Yea I was so worried when it took so much to feel restriction. Once I felt it though at I think 10 it was a fine line and very little between too tight and ok.

I don't know why I'm scared to ask him why he didn't unfill all like I've read as it was definitely on my mind but he and the PA didn't seem to flinch like it was normal protocol just taking out a few. He's a respected GI in a big bariatric practice doing mostly WLS so I think I was worried questioning him but I should have to see why that's his philosophy.

Cyndi

I will ask.

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I had a similar situation twice; both times surgeon removed all of the Fluid from my band. I had a CT scan in May 2016 which indicated my lap band had slipped. I did have to have surgery. Still no regrets as I am within 10 pounds of my goal weight.

Thanks for the reply . So when you did it the first time did it go back into place by itself? The second time not and you had surgery to reposition? Also is reposition surgery cheaper then the original if you know? I am worried of the cost of all this but even going to debt I think it's worth it in the long run for me.

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There is nothing wrong with questioning them... its your body and you know when something doesn't feel right.

I had one time where i told my surgeon to unfill cause it felt like there was too much pressure.. he did a swallow test and everything was fine.

Fast forward 3 days... i literally vomited 30 times in one evening... it was so bad i started vomiting blood!!!

It was a public holiday so everyone was closed... the surgeon had to rush to the hospital to give me a complete unfill....

From that moment on... i would always listen to my body and what i was feeling... if its too tight. . If you feel odd or uncomfortable. .. get an unfill... even if someone says its not necessary...

You know your body.. and your body will show you warning signs. .. you just need to look out for them.

I hope i am making sense lol.. im rambling

No you do. I whole heartedly agree with that. You really get to know your body and stomach well in this procedure . I love that I really knew what I could and couldn't eat and just one bite of something that just isn't agreeing you learn to stop. I would call it a slip with little or no symptoms (at least in my mind but I realize I prob like the band on the tight side) which sounds rare from the boards . Sounds like usually people go in as they are having problems.

You poor girl. I think I have your kind of luck though. Lo. I'm glad you were ok. That would totally freak me out. Oh man!

On my unfills that I requested which were about 3 when it was too tight at least I didn't get pushback. I knew I was losing weight fast but calorie intake was so low and I was rarely hungry and a bite would take it away.

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I really hope you can sort this out... the last thing you want is having the band removed because of something that could have been remedied by something as simple as an unfill

Keep me updated on how things progress

I do not believe emptying my band either time resolved the issue; which is why I ultimately ended up having surgery for the slipped band. I lost 18 pounds in one week because I could not keep ANY liquids down. My doctor waited too late to deal with it. Perhaps for some, empty band resolves issue --- but that was NOT my experience.

@@LadyMaggie

That is exactly what happens if the surgeon doesn't deal with it the first time... the slip gets worse and worse until its too late and nothing can be done except removing it.

This is why i keep pushing @@c945105 to ignore the surgeon and ask for an unfill... since its a new small slip... a unfill should resolve it... but if it is left with that much fill in the band... it will completely slip and might need to be removed .

Have you had a revision since your removal?

I do not believe emptying my band either time resolved the issue; which is why I ultimately ended up having surgery for the slipped band. I lost 18 pounds in one week because I could not keep ANY liquids down. My doctor waited too late to deal with it. Perhaps for some, empty band resolves issue --- but that was NOT my experience.

Wow yea that's bad. Thanks for the reply. Hoping for best outcome but will deal with whatever. I just kind of feel like I made wrong decision and should have opted for sleeve. Even if this is ok , I'll be shocked if I don't have some problem down the road. I wanted this for the rest of my life. I feel like the low % quotes from dr on complications is not probably accurate. If he had said 25% chance another surgery or won't last forever (which I did ask ) I would have gone the other way.

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I did NOT have my band removed. I went to four consecutive appointments to my lap band doctor. My complaints were always the same; night time coughing and reflux. He eventually did a complete unfill. As we began to fill the band, the symptoms returned. In my opinion, the surgeon waited to long to deal with it, so my band had slipped.

I had surgery on May 31st. He re-positioned the band and I presume it is empty. I see him on Friday (June 17th) for an appointment.

Sorry i just assumed, my bad...

So you had surgery to reposition it... hopefully it is functioning well for you now.....

During my time i had 1 band replacement and 2 port replacements.... after 3 surgeries with no improvement.. i said enough... get this darn thing out of me! .. i really wanted it to work long term... and tried to make it last as much as possible... but for me it was time to go...

Update - I did go in and the slip resolved itself. It's so hard for me to read the X-rays as much as I'm trying to! I like to know what it looks like and when it's not right. They said they don't do a full unfill unless bad. With smaller slips they take some out like mine so not all the restriction goes away. They put .25 cc back in. He thought it looked to slow at .50. I think it's ok. It's not as restricted and I'm hungry more (don't like). I really am not eating more but I'm worried as my weight is rising. I learned one thing . I prefer very tight. I'm going to try and loose or maintain at least and it I can't will ask for another .25. The unfill did resolve the heartburn almost completely.

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