Lapband Slippage

[starrgirrl 0]

I'm fortunate, our insurance is going to cover the band removal (or if they can, it will be fixed, however they will not put in a new one as they do not cover revisions). I really like the surgeon we are working with.

I lost 60 pounds with the band and have gained back 30. However one of the greatest gifts that the band gave me was that it gave me the freedom to concentrate on other areas of my life. food and weight no longer took up so much of my life force. With the weight loss and the freedom from compulsive eating, I was liberated to spread my wings and soar. It has provided me with a beautiful new life. I'm married to my Beloved husband, I have a career that I LOVE, fantastic friends, and I really and truly like and love who I am. So now, this new me, will be able to help me recalibrate should the band be removed. I'm not going to descend into darkness again. There's way too much light in my life now.

I plan on taking really good care of myself... and pray for divine assistance :sad_smile:

And should I be able to keep my band, then I'll Celebrate that, too!

[*JASMINE* 1]

Thanks for the info. Your perspective is so enlightening and motivating. Thank you for that. I hope all goes well for you and I'm glad that your insurance is covering it. If I ever have to get mine removed, I hope to come away with your strength and positive outlook. It trully is not the end of the world. Good luck and keep us posted:).

[cenavigator 0]

I am new. I just got banded on June 19 and I am not experiencing fullness like I think I should be. Any suggestions?

[Sue Magoo 71]

cenavigator:

Patience my dear, patience. You're not expected to feel fullness until your fill gets to a good level. You probably haven't even had a fill yet. Or, if you have, probably only one. So, please follow the doctors orders and have faith because you will get restriction soon.

Take care.

Sue

[Paula08 0]

I had my first fill and my doctor did 2cc (which is a lot most only do .5cc-1cc) about three weeks after the fill I was eating chicken and felt like it got stuck and after that I kept vomiting. Couldn’t hold anything down so I waited a couple of days thinking it would pass but on Friday it had not so I called my doctor to find that he was out of town the whole week but he made arrangements for me to come into ER where they would admit me. Friday night they gave me pain killers and by Saturday morning I felt great no more pain but when they did a barium test x-ray nothing was going through my band. Finally, one of the surgeons who work under my surgeon came and released the entire fill in my band. The barium then went through but the x-ray should my band had moved slightly. My doctor scheduled me for surgery Monday morning so I stayed in the hospital waiting for him to return. He told me that he thought he could make a slight adjustment during surgery and that would keep my band. Unfortunately, when he was inside he found more swelling then first anticipated and felt moving the band at that point may cause my stomach to tear so he made the decision to take it all out. I cannot tell how BUMMED I was to lose my band. I was having a fabulous run with my band and lost weight very well. Im just so grateful that my doctor wants to do a Gastric bypass now, because I know i cannot do this alone. I will only gain all my weight back without some help.

After talking with my surgeon on July 9th he told me that a stick had also came undone around my band. I guess I will never know the exactly why it happened but I believe things happen for reasons so I will move on.

I think my situation is a rare one as I have not heard of anyone having this happen.

I hope this helps.

Hugs

Paula

[SHAND 0]

I have had my band for a year and all of a sudden i feel so full and have a lot of gas. And i think i'm starting to feel sick not to sure yet i't happening as i write this. I feel so full it's like i've eaten so much i can't breath you know how it is when you eat so much it's hard to breath until it digest. Anyone got any ideas if so please write me at redrunner61@aol.com i don't know weather to go to the hospital or not. It's about 8:25 tennessee time. July 23rd.thanks sharon i may not be on this site if not just write me at the address i put on here. Thanks again..

[cerita 0]

Well, I usually listened to my body about WHAT to eat, and as my doc says anything you can eat is fine, I guess I did follow the diet to a T. BUT....I didn't always pay attention to HOW I ate. Not enough chewing or small enough bites. But since I was banded in 9/07, I have only vomited 1 time, yet still have a slip!:wink2:

[nomadem 1]

heres my update re: my slip for those who are experiencing this.

I had revision surgery last Tuesday. 8months after my first surgery. Dr said slip wasnt that bad and that my stomach wasnt as swollen as expected due to me being on strict liquids for two weeks but htat one of my stitches had popped. They did find I had a hiatal hernia which was caused by the slip. They also gave me a new band (from 4cc to 10cc) and I got to keep my port. Was really worried I would lose my band but my Dr wasnt going to let that happen and thankfully was very skilled

[pj_txlady 0]

What does it feel like when Band slips??

[Donna113 2]

Well, I usually listened to my body about WHAT to eat, and as my doc says anything you can eat is fine, I guess I did follow the diet to a T. BUT....I didn't always pay attention to HOW I ate. Not enough chewing or small enough bites. But since I was banded in 9/07, I have only vomited 1 time, yet still have a slip!:thumbup:

I'm sorry to hear about your slip Cerita. How is your doctor going to fix it? Who was/is your doctor? I notice you are also from the Houston area. My doctor is Spivak and i was banded on 7/16/08.

[peg2134 0]

I was banded in 2004 and 2 weeks ago had surgery to remove the band because it had eroded in my stomach.

There are numerous forums for lap banders and this is one of the best. However I have been dealing with the erosion and other complications for over a year.

I found myself scouring the forum to see if anybody had issues like my and then read it to see if I can get more information.

I believe there should be a place where anybody can go and have medical advice, pictures of slipping/erosion, and generally other complications.

We can learn a lot from each other and have support BUT what we all do for our problems often does not apply. I know the object is to convince and reassure

people to GET the band. As a result of my experience I do not alot about what happens, but my experience was JUST LIKE YOURS. Please give people a place to go for expert advice for complications.

[pj_txlady 0]

I was banded in 2004 and 2 weeks ago had surgery to remove the band because it had eroded in my stomach.

There are numerous forums for lap banders and this is one of the best. However I have been dealing with the erosion and other complications for over a year.

I found myself scouring the forum to see if anybody had issues like my and then read it to see if I can get more information.

I believe there should be a place where anybody can go and have medical advice, pictures of slipping/erosion, and generally other complications.

We can learn a lot from each other and have support BUT what we all do for our problems often does not apply. I know the object is to convince and reassure

people to GET the band. As a result of my experience I do not alot about what happens, but my experience was JUST LIKE YOURS. Please give people a place to go for expert advice for complications.

Eroded in your stomach? Ouch. How did you find that out? Were you experiencing alot of pain? Will you be getting a new band at a later date?

[avm 0]

I think this is a very important topic. I have been told that you will absolutely know if you have slipped bc you will be in extreme pain and not be able to even drink Water. Sounds like others are conflicting this info so now I am confused.

Also, everyone says avoid throwing up at all costs. What is considered "throwing up". A lot of times I might spit a bite or two of food back up (sorry to be gross but I know everyone knows what I am talking about) but I would not consider that throwing up. Am I wrong about that? Am I doing great harm?

[Guest abs-of-steel]

Ok, I know this will be kind of long, but I am going to include as much info as I can about my slippage. Hopefully it will answer a question or two, or maybe help someone avoid a slip.

To start, I was 209lbs, 5'2", not super overweight my BMI was 38 I think. My insurance stinks, so they wouldn't cover the surgery. I have no other medical problems or comorbidies.

I was banded 2-8-08 by Dr Corvala in Tijuana, Mex. The surgery cost me $8,000, plus $350 airfare. My surgery went soo smoothly. No problems at all. I did have the regular gas pains, but I was up and walking the halls and outside the next morning.

I found a local Bariatric Surgery hospital that accepted Mexico banded patients. I chose to go through them for my aftercare and fills.

My first visit with the local doc was on 3-21-08 (6wks post-op). I met the doc, gave her all the info I had from Mexico. Did almost an hour consultation on the aftercare process. Then went into the x-ray room for my first fill.

The fill doctor was super nice and explained the fills process. The contrast was gross, but oh well. I was filled 1.8cc. This initial visit and fill cost me $550.

I was told to wait about 2 weeks and come back for another fill.

I had no restriction, and my doc does not require any after fill diet.

My 2nd appt was 4-10-08. I did not see the actual doctor, just the fill doctor. I was given 1.4cc and told to come back in 2 weeks. This visit cost me $385.

I had no restriction still.

My 3rd appt was 6-6-08. Again, just the fill doc. I was first given 1.6cc and could not swallow the contrast. He took out 1cc and I was fine. So, I was increased .6cc. Again, 2 weeks and come back.

After my 3rd fill, I was restricted and loving it. I could eat right at 4oz of food and be very satisfied. If I tried to eat more, I would PB it. I was in heaven! Losing weight steadily and really with not much strenuous exercise. Just walking and playing with my kids a bunch.

Then, on about 9-16-08 (7mo post-op), I started noticing that I couldn't eat or drink anything. I would drink and it would come right back up. I knew this wasn't good. I remember waking up on 9-17 and getting a drink of Water and pb'ng a bite of food from dinner the night before (12 hrs later). I thought that I had just ate something that got stuck and it wasn't coming up or going down. I hoped it would clear up on its own, so I waited, and waited. At night when I was sleeping I would get woke up by my body pb'ng on its own. I had some heartburn, BUT NEVER ANY PAINS.

Then found myself Friday morning (9-19-08) calling the doctor. I explained to them that I though I had something stuck and have been pb'ng for almost 4 days. The nurse very scheduled me for a "look and see" check.

I went in about 3 hours later. When I got there the fill doc had me drink the contrast and said "uh-oh". My heart sunk. He said that I had a band slippage. Then he proceeded to accuse me of overeating. I told him that I was very set on keeping my portions to the 4 oz or less and I did not abuse the band by eating 'cheat' foods or such. When I defended myself with the 4oz comment, HE FREAKED OUT. He said that I should never eat 4oz, that is waay too much. He said that my meal size should be 1-2 oz and up to 5 meals a day. I was like "WHAT?!?!?"

Finally he admitted that I probably did have something stuck in my band since I was borderline too tight. And that all of the pb'ng caused part of my stomach to come up through the band and enlarged the pouch.

It is called a band slippage, but in reality unless a stitch is busted, it is really just the stomach moving up or down the band. The band didn't move on me, it was my stomach tissue.

So, the fill doc took 3cc out of my 3.8cc fill. He advised me that I will come back in 2 weeks to see if the stomach tissue has went back down where it should be. I asked him about liquids or anything to help fix it. He said no liquids, that won't help pull the tissue back down. Just eat normal foods like chicken and steak, and keep the meals to 1-2oz, NO MORE. He also stated to me that if the unfill does fix it, we can SLOWLY proceed with very small fills and to be super vigilant on my eating because I will be more prone to slips from now on. If this doesn't fix the slip, I would need a revision. This visit cost me another $385.

Then I get home, very depressed and upset thinking that I had done exactly as told and this crap happens. I came on LBT to see what info I could find about slippage and see what hope I have.

I am very confused about different doctors having different directions and ideas on how to fix a slip. My doc says liquids won't help at all....

Oh, and I also found out when I got back home that all along I thought I had a 10cc band, when really I have a 4cc (10cm) band. So, I thougth I was lucky and got restriction with 3.8cc, when I was really very full and didn't know it. DAMN THE LUCK.

So, now I am waiting, hungry all the time, I have 4 more days until I go back to see if the unfill helped fix my band slip.

The good news, if there is any, is that I have lost 50lbs in 7.5 months. Only 34 more to go until I reach my goal of 125lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that is everything, at least for now...:thumbup:

[starrgirrl 0]

I didn't know that my band had slipped until it showed up under florouscopy. I went to the doctor because I didn't have much restriction. I had been diagnosed with a stretched esophogus, but didn't realize I had a slip. I was gaining weight and had developed acid reflux.

I'm so sad... my band was taken out a few months ago and I've been gaining weight. My insurance won't pay for a revision and so I'm not sure what to do.