Can anyone help me with information???

My 36 year old daughter had lap band surgery just over a year ago. She has lost over 80 pounds, but mostly from not being able to keep anything down.

She seemed happy with it, but to me she is having problem after problem. She has had the band slip twice, it has to be refilled often. The doctor says there is no leak, so I don't understand why it has to be refilled so often.

Two weeks ago she began running a temperature and was treated with antibiotics for a UTI and upper respiratory infection. She has continued to run a temperature and is now unable to keep down even liquids or her medications.

Yesterday she spent 5 hours in the doctor's office before they finally did an ultrasound and found there is a twist below the stomach pouch. Her stomach has completely twisted in the wrong direction and there seems no way anything is getting into the pouch. This has also caused Fluid and swelling around her gallbladder, as well. Most likely there is infection in this area and that is why the temperature isn't responding to the high doses of antibiotics.

The doctor is trying to get her scheduled today for an outpatient endoscopy to see if this can be repaired without major surgery. If not, she will be readmitted to the hospital tomorrow for surgery.

I have never heard of this happening. I am really concerned about my child and don't have any answers and cannot find anything about this situation.

Have you ever heard of this?

Please help me to understand.

Thank you, Jack. I will give you an update as soon as I learn more.

I love being a parent, but you would think when they got gown, married and had a family, you wouldn't be so concerned. I think it is worse because you are no longer in control - they think they can make their own decisions! :biggrin:

Diane

Is the twist between the upper pouch and the band, or between the band and the stomach below? (Trying to get a visual)

I hope everything goes well for your daughter. I've said a prayer for her, and for you.

Thank you so much, Misty. I really appreciate your prayers.

It is my understanding that the twist is below the pouch - where the band constricts the upper part of the stomach.

We just heard from the doctor and she is to be at the hospital for the endoscopy at 4:30PM - Houston time.

I want to congratulate you on your weight loss. You are doing great - already 1/3 of the way to your goal! :cursing: Keep up the good work.

I will let you and Jack know how this procedure goes. Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. That means so much to me.

Diane

Sadly, I too have never heard of this before. But I still wanted you to know that your daughter is in my prayers.

Thank you, Diane. I do appreciate your prayers and will update when she comes out from tests today.

Diane

You are in Houston? I'm in Katy. Who did your daughter's banding?

And thanks for your kind words. I've lost more weight since my surgery than I've ever been able to lose before, and I'm excited to start working on the 2nd 50 pounds. :cursing:

I'm sorry, I don't know his name. His office is in Bellaire, I think.

I'm so sorry your daughter is going through this. And, really, you too, as her mom!

I hope everything turns out well for her. She is in my prayers.

I've not heard of this happening before but that doesn't mean much. Please keep us up to date so we know how she is doing. It's also great too b/c if it is a complication of the band, we all should know about it.

Take care of yourself so you can be there for your daughter. Give her my best!

The endoscopy was performed at 8:30PM yesterday. The doctor found that the band had slipped to the bottom of her stomach and untimately had caused her stomach to flip not only from right to left, but also from top to bottom.

So now, her bowel is stretched, which isn't a huge deal because we have plenty of small intestine. Also her esophagus is stretched.

There is indication of irritation from the band, possibly a perforation or at least an ulcer.

She was kept in the hospital last night. This morning they are going to do a CT Scan to better see all the damage. After that they will operate. Hopefully the doctor will be able to do the surgery arthroscopically, but he is not sure yet.

She is hoping that they can move the band back into place, repair any damage and move on.

Her husband will come to the hospital after getting some things done at work. I have a friend with a van who will take me to the hospital.

Again, thank you all for your support and please continue with your prayers.

Diane

Thankyou for the update.

This is scary news for all of us as we all have the band here. Of course our fears pale in comparison to that of your family.

May I ask, has she frequented Lapbandtalk before. If so I'd love to know her user name. Maybe we know her out here in cyberland.

Wow, her band has really done a number on her! I'll keep her in my prayers as she has surgery. Surely they will use a brand new band if it is decided to put one back in place. With the unexplained loss of fills in the one she has, it would seem to be called for.

Were the fills actually "lost" or was she just losing weight so quickly that they were adding more Fluid to keep the band tight around her stomach as she lost weight.

None of us are docs and complications can happen to any of us even in the most ideal situations (perfect surgery/surgeon, perfect doctor follow up, perfect patient compliance) , but sadly based on the comments that she was having a hard time keeping foods down over the last year. it sounds a bit like the docs actually were keeping her a little too tightly filled. None of us should have ongoing issues with keeping our food down as it is the classic path towards issues like the band slippage she has experienced twice in one year already. Three times if you count this as an extreme form of slippage.

I'm not saying this to point accusations at the doc or anyone else in this case but as a warning to us all to be as cautious as possible. Problems such as hers are extremely rare and near impossible to forsee but we need to be as cautious as possible to avoid risking our health or losing our bands.

Diane, I was thinking along the same lines. Diane (the original poster) said that her daughter's band had slipped twice before, which made me wonder if she had been thowing up a lot - not just PBing - because that seems to be one of the primary causes of slippage.

It is good to hear that she is in contact with her doc and that things are being taken care of.

At a support group I heard a story of someone who had been banded with no support or info from their doc. Their band had slipped and the patient had no clue what was going on. They didn't go to the doc and it was bad.

After reading so much about slippage I thought that it ment that the band actually slipped but from what the nurse told me at the support meeting it is when the lower stomac goes into the pouch..blocking food from going through and causing lots of problems.

The nurse said the biggest cause of this is vomitting. She said that if we get the flu or are nauseous to contact their office for anit-nausea medicine.

Yeah, most of the time "my band slipped" is inaccurate. It would more properly be said that "my stomach slipped". And it's shameful how many people are practically abandoned by their doctors after being banded. That's why I was determined to find a surgeon with a team approach and good aftercare. And even then, I found out much more about the day-to-day living with the band here on LBT than from my surgeon.