I'm new here, but am looking to hear about other folks' experiences with band slippage. I got my band a year ago today, and have a couple of problems. Right off the bat my port incision developed a nasty penicillin resistant staph infection and after 6 weeks of antibiotics had to be removed. It was replaced about a month later and things were fine. However, after my second fill I started having severe reflux. My doc squeezed me in the next day and took about .3ccs out. Things were better. 3 months later I had another fill. I think it was .15 ccs. About a week later I started having INTENSE pain in my band area. It lasted for hours and there wasn't a painkiller in the world (or at least in my medicine cabinet!) that could touch it. I went back in the next day and he took another .3 ccs out. He had me come back in today, a month later (and coincidentally my "bandiversary") for a barium swallow just to check on things. Sure enough, it had slipped. He emptied me out today and scheduled me to come back in in two weeks for another barium swallow.

I'm totally freaked out. I am terrified of gaining the weight back. I've been in tears off and on all day because I'm so afraid it's not going to correct itself and he's going to want to remove the band. I *can't* go back to being that fat and out of shape again. I didn't realize how much I had become a recluse until I lost the weight and started doing things again. I kept wondering why no one was noticing I was losing weight, but then realized it was because at my heaviest I had pretty much quit doing anything social. I left the house to go to the grocery store and Target. I don't want to feel like that again.

Anyway, if anyone has some stories of postive outcomes after a slip, I would really love to hear them.

Thanks.

Jeanne

12/4/06

247/234/170/150??

More than 80% of the time an unfill and liquids for a couple of weeks will fix a slip so the odds really are in your favor.

If that does not work then you can have a repair most of the time, they just go in, unlock the band, reposition it, and relock it.

If they do take your band you can have it replaced or switch to another procedure usually in about three months. It takes time for swelling and such to go down.

So really, odds are in your favor by quite a bit that you won't lose your band.

Good luck to you!

Jeanne - I was banded on Oct 3 and had no troubles until I had my first fill a month later. Within 5 days of having the fill I began to experience the most intense pain in my sternam area (it feels like I am having a heart attack). I finally got in too see my doctor last Saturday and he removed all of my fill. I am petrified with having no restriction. I am still having the pain but not for as long (upto 3 hours sometimes), but I am still getting it every night. The doctor does not know what it is. He thought it may be gall stones, but they can't find any, so I am having more tests done on Monday, so hopefully they will find out what the problem is.

I really don't want to go into the festive season without any restriction. I have lost 10kgs so far and am terrified that I will put it back on.

Good luck to you with fixing your problems - Rastis

WABB - I think I will cling to that 80% number! That's exactly the type of info I was looking for. Thanks!

Rastis -

I understand the fear of no restriction, but I have to tell you how pleasantly surprised I've been the past 48 hours. Apparently, during my time with the band I've learned how to feel full. Even though I know I have more room in my stomach, I'm finding that I'm still getting, and am able to respect, those signals that tell me when I'm full. I had thought I'd go crazy "because I could", but that hasn't been the case. Good luck in finding some answers.

Rastis

I had the same kind of pain in the same location and I saw my primary care Dr sha said it was probably acid reflux, the perscription she gave me , prilosec, did the trick. See your regular DR

Rastis

I had the same kind of pain in the same location and I saw my primary care Dr sha said it was probably acid reflux, the perscription she gave me , prilosec, did the trick. See your regular DR

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately, that's not the case with me. I had another set of x-rays a couple of weeks ago that showed a little bit of improvement, but not much. Since then, I've continued to have food get stuck in spite of a complete unfill. This past Friday I started

PBing and had a lot of pain again. They had me come in for more x-rays and it appears the slippage has gotten much, much worse. I see my doctor on Monday and they said to be prepared to schedule the corrective surgery at that ime. Honestly, at this point surgery will be relief. I just want to be able to eat normally again. Also, that sense of fullness I was talking about earlier? Long gone. I've gained almost 10 pounds this month. I'm ready to get back on track, and am looking forward to the "forced" regimen of liquids to mushies to solids to help me do so.

Thanks for the advice, but unfortunately, that's not the case with me. I had another set of x-rays a couple of weeks ago that showed a little bit of improvement, but not much. Since then, I've continued to have food get stuck in spite of a complete unfill. This past Friday I started

PBing and had a lot of pain again. They had me come in for more x-rays and it appears the slippage has gotten much, much worse. I see my doctor on Monday and they said to be prepared to schedule the corrective surgery at that ime. Honestly, at this point surgery will be relief. I just want to be able to eat normally again. Also, that sense of fullness I was talking about earlier? Long gone. I've gained almost 10 pounds this month. I'm ready to get back on track, and am looking forward to the "forced" regimen of liquids to mushies to solids to help me do so.

I'm sorry you've had to go through such an ordeal! Glad to hear you'll be able to have it corrected. I'm wondering if you know the cause of your slip or is it just one of those things that just happened?

Thanks, Candi. While I guess there's no real way of knowing for certain why it happened, my doc's assumption is that I was too tight. He's generally a very conservative doctor when it comes to fills, but apparently anything over 1.25 ccs is too much for me. I kept pushing for more, and then kept having to have some removed. Now I know, I guess.

Wish me luck tomorrow. I'm hoping to have this over with quickly.

*HUGS* Good luck!

JeanneC,

What you have been posting about your slip sounds like me in a nutshell. I'm completely unfilled, I guess I was too tight and didn't know it. I'd like to hear more and please post on your surgery date if it comes to that. I had a barium swallow and it showed too tight. Long story short unfilled, waiting for when I have an appt. w/surgeon. Self paid for band so any other surgery will be painful..in more ways than one. I wish you luck and I'm glad you posted, I don't feel so alone.

Chrissie - I'm so sorry you're having to go through this. I haven't updated, but I did, in fact, have to have surgery sort of suddenly. A week ago last Friday, despite being completely unfilled, something got stuck. Badly. I called my doc and they told me to go on Clear liquids. About an hour later I PB'd whatever it was pretty violently and ended up with that same intense pain shooting behind my breastbone to my back. They had me come in immediately for another barium swallow.

That X-ray showed that my band had a pretty significant slippage, and was much, much worse than the original x-ray. My doc was out of town until the following Monday, but when he saw it he scheduled me for surgery last Wednesday. It was pretty rough. What should have been a simple procedure ended up taking over 2 hours. My doctor has literally done thousands of bands, but he said my stomach had done something he had never seen before. It had created a rind type ring around itself under the band. So, when the band was emptied, it didn't matter. My stomach was kind of stuck at the smaller size. He had to remove all of the hard rind, and then reposition my band. And even though the band was empty, he went back with a syringe and sucked all of the air out it as well so it would be as open as possible.

That was a week ago. I'm feeling pretty okay today, and yesterday he gave me the okay to start mushies a week early. Basically he said since I know what it feels like to be too tight, I would know if I needed to stop. He told me to stay on mushies for a while, but move to solid food at my own discretion.

I get my first fill February 9th. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm very nervous. I'm so afraid of this happening again. My hospital stay was *not* a good experience, and I never, ever want to repeat it.

Anyway, sorry to sound like the voice of gloom and doom. I sincerely hope your band self-corrects. Most of them do.

One of the really disturbing things to me is what a mind game this was to me. I *thought* my band was open, so I ate like a pig. I gained 11 pounds. The reality is, I was as constricted as I ever had been but just didn't realize it. I guess the good news is that being on liquids for almost two weeks has gotten me back to within 3 pounds of where I had started.

Sorry for the long post and good luck!

Oh my goodness. That is so good you got surgery then! I was told I may need mine repositioned. But, I'm not really sure I even want it done. HOpefully it does correct itself. I just have major problems with reflux with an adequate fill level in my band. I wish I didn't. I want this to work and some day I actually convince myself I'm ok with the reflux, then bam, it is back. Sigh. What we do for weight loss! Hopefully everything works out for us. I know I really disliked the liquid stage of the post op diet. But, after I was done with that part, somehow everything I ate tasted like the best thing in the world to me! So see what you have to look forward to!

I am new to this website and am looking for some assistance I guess. I was banded July 07. I have had a few problems with PB and some vomiting off and on until last week. I could eat and drink ok one day and then the next day I couldn't keep anything down. I finally realized I was probably too tight and have been since Nov (my last fill). I couldn't take it anymore and called the surgeon Tuesday, he removed 1cc and orderd an Upper GI. Today I found out my band has slipped. I am terrified to have surgery again. I have heard that doing an unfill could fix it on its own. Is this just something your surgeon might tell you and would they always say surgery? I am just still in shock and don't know what to do.

I've heard it can "slip" back into place.. I have not heard this from an actual medical person, so who knows. Others experiences have said this. If he used the term slipped then time will tell if you will need additional surgery or not. IT IS shocking to hear this about our bands! I can understand your frustration. I'd like to know when and if you need more surgery. I wish you lots of luck and hopefully nothing is wrong. Try and be calm during this time.

Thank you for your reply. I have been paranoid from day one about "slipping" and tried to do everything right. I just keep thinking it is something I did. My surgeon told (before I knew for sure) that it happens to 1 out of 50 patients and normally after 1 year. I am going to call the office tomorrow and see if the unfill will help my case. I did see the X-ray on the screen and didn't think it looked right. I am just worried I will start gaining my weight back.

I talked to the nurse in my surgeon's office about doing a total unfill and asked if the band reposition itself. She said they had never heard of the that - the only way to fix slippage is surgery. I am scheduled for surgery 2/15/08. If I continue to half problems they will do an emergency surgery. Lat night I had to sleep sitting up because I had stomach acid just coming up and when I laid down it felt like I was choking. Today I was able to eat and egg and some bacon and I didn't throw it up, but about 6 hours later I start Pbing some stomach acid I guess and I feel like I can't eat or drink anything. I don't think I am going to be able to make until the 15th.