I saw my gastroenterologist today. I told him about the AGB and asked him for a letter to back up my decision. He gave me one written on a piece of prescription paper. I also spoke to him about my GERD and the likelihood of a hiatal hernia (I don't have one that I know of). I don't have any abdominal pain, but I figured before I got the AGB I'd be proactive and make sure everything was okay in there first! :tongue: So it's scheduled for May 16th! I didn't want to get banded until June or July anyway, so May is perfect!

Anyone get an endoscopy before getting banded?

BabyNicole,

I had an endoscopy done prior to my surgery as well. I had terrible heartburn and reflux all the time. The endoscopy was a piece of cake.(pardon the pun). I did end up having a hernia on my esophagus. They were able to do a repair while placing my band and my heartburn was gone instantly! That was last may and I have not had one problem since. It's been great!

My surgeon requires an upper GI before the surgery. I think that is an endoscopy or something similar? They put you to sleep and go down your throat and look around at your esophagus, stomach, etc.

I actually think it will be good to have it done and know that everything looks okay. I've always had bad acid reflux since childhood, so I want to make sure I don't have any problems with my esophagus.

Nicole:

They found that I had a hiatal hernia when they did the pre-surgical barium swallow. They fixed it with my banding and haven't had heartburn since.

Good luck.

Sue

I believe it is a requirement for the LapBand surgery. I might be wrong, but I've never heard of any doctor not doing it before they band you. They are looking at the integrity of your esophagus and stomach. They look for a hiatal hernia, GERD and take biopsies of your stomach to check for a bacteria called H. Pylori. They need to know all these things before they band you. If you have the bacteria, they will need to treat it with a very specific course of antibiotics. The course of treatment is usually a few weeks, but then banding can occur after that.

Chances are, your surgeon will want this done anyway. Check to see if s/he wants to do it themselves or is it okay for you to go to your GI doc.

It's great you are thinking ahead though. Good luck! Looks like all your appointments are all set! :tt1:

~C

I believe it is a requirement for the LapBand surgery. I might be wrong, but I've never heard of any doctor not doing it before they band you. They are looking at the integrity of your esophagus and stomach. They look for a hiatal hernia, GERD and take biopsies of your stomach to check for a bacteria called H. Pylori. They need to know all these things before they band you. If you have the bacteria, they will need to treat it with a very specific course of antibiotics. The course of treatment is usually a few weeks, but then banding can occur after that.

Chances are, your surgeon will want this done anyway. Check to see if s/he wants to do it themselves or is it okay for you to go to your GI doc.

It's great you are thinking ahead though. Good luck! Looks like all your appointments are all set!

~C

My surgeon doesn't require an endoscopy (one of the few hoops I didn't have to jump through!). I did have to do an H.Pylori blood panel, though.

-m

Wow! Well see there, I WAS wrong! I hadn't heard of any surgeons not doing the EGD part. Sorry for giving misinformation.

Take care,

~C

Well, I'm not sure if my surgeon will require it; but when I go to my visit in a few weeks I will tell him about. I also want him to see that I am serious about the surgery and my body. :regular_smile:

I had surgery a year and a half ago. i had a hernia repair at the time. I have recently been having MAJOR GERD. I don't know what to do now.