Okay banders here goes--I was banded in November, 2007. It has not been successful--I am at 13.24 cc's in a 14cc band...I have not experienced any restriction since January (have lost 8 whole lbs.). I even developed a reputation as the "angry woman" at group..finally just stopped going. I felt embarrased, frustrated, devastated and full of even more self-loathing thinking it was all me. The end of this story is that finally my doc sent me for x-rays to check it out and guess what??? It has come un-snapped. :thumbup: My doc is floored. Says he has never heard of this happening--I have the latest and supposedly greatest form of the band. (Uh guess that's not quite true!!) I basically have to repeat the surgery: The drug rep will be in the room during the surgery---freak show!!!!! ANYBODY EVER HEARD OF THIS ONE???

Okay banders here goes--I was banded in November, 2007. It has not been successful--I am at 13.24 cc's in a 14cc band...I have not experienced any restriction since January (have lost 8 whole lbs.). I even developed a reputation as the "angry woman" at group..finally just stopped going. I felt embarrased, frustrated, devastated and full of even more self-loathing thinking it was all me. The end of this story is that finally my doc sent me for x-rays to check it out and guess what??? It has come un-snapped. :thumbup: My doc is floored. Says he has never heard of this happening--I have the latest and supposedly greatest form of the band. (Uh guess that's not quite true!!) I basically have to repeat the surgery: The drug rep will be in the room during the surgery---freak show!!!!! ANYBODY EVER HEARD OF THIS ONE???

Sorry this happened to you. Question, I'm assuming you are referring to Inamed? If so, there is another person with a faulty band that I know and she wants an Inamed rep in OR when her band is removed and she's not having a lot of luck. I'm going to refer her to this thread. Would you share your secret how you got them to agree to be in OR?

:scared2:OMG you poor thing !! Are you going to have to pay for everything again? Sure does explain why you were not losing weight. What kind did he use? I have not been banded yet and this sounds like the kind of luck I would have. Hope everything goes ok. I'll be watching for your updates.

OH wow! :thumbup: What band was it????

I'm so glad they at least found the problem. I can only imagine how you had to have been feeling.

Good luck with your repeat surgery!

There was a thread not long ago, where someone had the same issue. I hope all goes well! Good Luck! Tamara

I'm wondering why you'd want the drug rep in the OR. Maybe to witness that it is indeed unsnapped?

There's no way they should make you pay for that problem. I hope you can get it worked out. So glad you have answers now to why you haven't had any restriction. Good luck.

Sorry to hear your story, makes a good arguement for having a Dr that uses flora scope/xray every so many fills to make sure things are still going smoothly. I just had my 2nd fill, and we did flora to make sure when I swallowed everything was in good shape, I have my photo's from day of surg, today, and will reguest this in future probably every other fill if Dr doesn't automatically do it. I didn't even have to ask for it today, they let me know when I arrived we would be doing one even though all has been going well. I am glad. Good luck I hope all works out well for you.

Now does that fall under the warranty card you fill out and send in for your band?? I guess it depends if the locking snap was defective or someone just didn't properly close it . I think I will put that on my list of questions for my next Dr visit. ( I keep a little notebook to take )

All good wishes and prayers to you.

Okay--thanks so much for the "strokes"..actually the company is Alergan and I did not ask for the rep...my doctor told them immediately and they asked to attend. He is not charging...the drug company is not charging if they have to replace, and right now they are negotiating with the surgery center for the company to pay the tab...I didn't do any of this...My doctor and his office staff are doing all the negotiations.

oh one more thing..I don't think I ever filled out a warranty card and my doctor checked his surgery notes several times before the xrays and he specifically wrote the band snapped and locked..

It really is not unusual to have the rep in the O.R. during surgery. Usually they are there to answer any questions that the surgeon/staff might have. I work in the O.R. and see this a lot. They will probably take the band and inspect it to see if it was product or procedure related.

HTH

Shawna

During my surgery the first Alergan band did not snap. The surgeon had to use a second band that WOULD "snap on". All in all, I was under for about and extra hour and have had no problems since. Hope everything goes great for you this second time around.

Do you have a lawyer? I would have him/her sitting in the waiting room and handling this for you. Maybe no advertise that you're doing it, but have one on hand anyway. I think Inamed wants to be present for liability issues. If that's the deal, you should be represented too. I would think you have a say so on whether they are allowed in the OR. Make it worth YOUR while.

I bet they want a representative so that they can possibly prevent this from happening in the future. More then likely they will take the defective band back to figure out why it happened. I would think any company would want to do this since a defective product would open them up to future lawsuits.

I hope your repair surgery goes well!

My amazing story has really gotten such positive support and empathy. Fordgal99, you are probably right about why the rep wants to be there. I have more than agreed to them being in the room because I really do want to prevent anyone else from coming to this party...Holleyhobby, thanks so much for your information. I will relay this to my doc. Aubrie, I am not retaining an attorney...yet. I would like to give everyone a chance to make this right. Sometimes things happen and I think if it can be fixed I would rather go that route. I have definitely NOT ruled out the legal path but want to try the softer way first.

Still waiting for the drug company decisions and scheduling. Thanks again for your support. I was feeling pretty alone in this journey because I was just the "angry woman" and not the one with something wrong. Everyone kept telling me to be patient so any newbee's out there the lesson learned is don't be 5 months worth of patient. Become a detective long before this much time goes by...

Thanks again...Janie

I'm glad everything is working out for you now!!