June 5 I will be de-banded

SondraMoore35 · July 13, 2008

It's not a popular opinion on some boards, but I do hear a lot of negatives from people with bands. I had mine out May 21st and am SO happy. I am thrilled to have it gone. My new surgeon's opinion was my band was placed wrong to start with, way too high. The radiologist who did my upper GI thought it was a slip - I don't know anything other than for almost a year I threw up daily. My fills were all done unde fleuro, and every time I was assured all looked well, but my stomach would swell shut from the irritation of adding or removing Fluid. People are fast to quote statistics on complications, but a lot of surgeons don't use fleuro and don't recommend yearly EGD's - I think it's going to come out in the long run that the lapband is quite dangerous. That is just my opinion.

mrshobo · July 14, 2008

Sondra, I had my lapband removed on 6-10-08. I too am happy it is gone. I have nothing against the lapband, it just didn't work for me. I only had it three months before I had to have it remove. Best Wishes to everyone.

SHAND · August 10, 2008

Way to go girls, i am calling monday to get my band out to and i want to get something else to so the sleeve did you good? It sure sounds like it. Can you write me about it and tell me how it's going? I was thinking about the mini to but since you said that now i am wondering. If you could email me at redrunner61@aol.com i'm not on here that not often. Good luck and good luck to everyone else. Have a good one. Sharon

rmarko · August 14, 2008

I am scheduled to have my band removed on June 5. I am nervous but ready to have this taken care of. I haven't eaten out in a LONG time, because I get sick with even a small bite of food.
My doctor has suggested a duodenal switch in the future for me.He says at this point he just wants to get me to where I'm not sick and throwing up. The last bout with gastritis about did me in.

I dont know what to expect...but at this point..I will be brave and do what I must to regain my health.

Pardon me for asking....why do you need to have it removed. Is the band tight even if there is no fill?

teriehl · August 14, 2008

I've been banded for over 3 years and I HATE it....I never know when I'm gonna get stuck. I spent over an hour trying to get unstuck the other day. I have had no fill in over 2 years b/c even the smallest amount of saline would cause me to stop up and get nothing down. I'm below my pre-surg. weight but not near my goal. I have to eat foods that are high fat to get them down. Like icecream, yogurt, Soups, etc. I drink over a gallon of tea a day to feel fuller. My b/p is up now and I'm still on Zocor.

To get the "de-band me" show going should I see a bariatric surgeon or what? My surgeon is 4 hrs away and I haven't seen him in years. I had one of those guys who is only in it for the $$s....after my insurance paid the cooperation/concern/friendliness stopped. I'm not even kidding. It was like day and night. I couldn't afford the $150.00 fees for adjustments so after moving and having my "fill" of the problems, I went to the local ER. Being a nurse myself helped b/c the doc there didn't even know what a GB was. I bropught all of my info and talked him thru the saline removal and was finally able to get fluids down.

We're about to make a 2100 mile move ftom TX to WY for my husband's job. There are lots of bariatric surgeons in TX so I'm gonna try to get this done before we move...Wish my luck and send all the advise you've got!!!!

Edited August 14, 2008 by teriehl

rmarko · August 14, 2008

I'm sorry you're having so many problems. Four months ago I had a leak in my band and with no saline reverted back to how much I was able to eat before getting banded. I've been banded for 18 months. I couldn't wait to get the substitute liquid into the band, which closed the hole and has been find for 4 months. I just thought, if you removed the saline, you would be back to normal.

After getting banded, how many fills did it take to get to a place where you could not consume much food?