Due to some complications that have been occuring over the past year, and my new inability to keep anything down my surgeon is recommending that I have my band removed, or at least revised to a RNY. I need some feed back. My fear of removing it is that I will gain all of my weight back. I have to have surgery anyway because my gall bladder is full of gall stones. I was hoping that we would just take out the gall bladder and see, but he really thinks there is more to my problem than this. I have had my band since 11-18-03 and have lost 140 pounds.

I would remove it for now and then have the gallbladder surgery...give yourself some healing time and then fight like hell to get my band back!! But that is just my opinion. Best of luck!

Oh my goodness...save your band if at all possible!!! Remove ALL of any fill. Tell us more about these complications over the past year. What has been done so far so keep your band? Are you slipped? Are you eroded? Who is your doc? More info!!! You will get honest feedback here and support for whatever your decision is. It's hard for me to have a good opinion without a recap of your banding experience so far.

CONGRATS on the 140 lbs down :)

The only advice I could give you is to listen to your doctor.

I'm sorry you have to go through this.

Good Luck !!!

Hi SPF,

Where did you originally get your band? Does the doctor think the complications are from the band or from a combination of situations. Please let us know.

Hey~ This is my band buddy posting.. She has been a real fighter and I knew someone on here could help her.. Thank you!

I feel so bad for her:{ I don't want her to go to one problem to another by getting the RNY.

This past year has been so hard for her- We were both banded in Indiana and have a great doctor.

Kathy- She has no fluid in her band and still gets sick.

I have not been on here in over a year and not sure if Donneta is still on here? But I know their has been a few people on here that have in the past had the band removed.

PLEASE anyone that can help her Please write soon.

Her surgery is Wes. and has to choose by then..BOO HOO

Thanks so much

Ginger

If it were me I would remove the gallbladder first,heal up and then see if you are having the same problems, it may be just gallbladder. If not then have the band removed.

but he really thinks there is more to my problem than this

I would hate to lose my band if I did not have too, and if the Dr. was not 100% sure and he only thinks it was the reason for my problems. If he is not 100% SURE and only thiks it may be the reason I would dothe gallbladder first, My Dr. would have to know, NOT think it was the problem. Has he ran any tests? Endoscopy etc?

I agree with Michelle if you have Gallstones could that not be the problem with not being able to keep foods down?? I would rather lose the Gall bladder and recover and see if your symptoms persist. I had a lot of problems prior to going in and having my gallbladder removed..

I too think that you should have the gall bladder done first & wait & see. If it were me I would hate to lose my band after losing 140 lbs. If he insists, then I would seek a second opinion. Good luck to you & keep us posted..........Jess

Thank you all for the quick input.

Here is the background.

Things started around the beginning of May 04, which was 6 months post op. I was out of town in a training and had passed out in a hotel room. I went to the urgent care and they said it was a kidney infection, they gave me meds, that didn't work. I called my surgeon who is Dr. Evanson in Indianapolis, they told me to come up there if I could, for fear that I was dehydrated. I live in the Cincinnati area and had done a ton of research on the band and bariatric surgeries before I decided, I had met with 5 different surgeons before choosing him, so I really trust him. When I went to Indy in May, they did an upper GI and decided to take some of the fluid out of the band. I did fine until July and things were getting tough again, I have this problem where I do not like to get sick, so I stop eating. If this was the issue before surgery I wouldn't have needed surgery, just joking. So I went in July they did an endoscopy and decided that the opening was tight so they went ahead and removed all of my fluid. I went back in September, had a little bit of fluid put back in, back in October, had to be emptied. Went back up the week of Christmas had fluid put in. Now keep in mind all of these adjustments are being done under fluro, so he can see and I see that things look fine. By the next day I could hardly swallow, I waited until the day after Christmas because I could hardly swallow spit and was emptied. I went back a few weeks later and met with him and we only put .5cc's in, as the other times were from 1.5-2cc's. When I went back for a follow up in February I had to ask them to take it out, my doctor was out sick so his colleague had done it, she is the one I saw in the ER the day after Christmas who had to empty me then. She was quite rude, my take on it, and said in not so many words that I was an idiot and that I should get rid of the band as it isn't working, by this time, in February I had already lost the 140. She sent me to the hospital for an upper GI. I never heard anything about the results of this and to be quite honest I didn't want to know, I figured no news was good news. In my avoidance nature I cancelled my next appt.

I put things off until my primary care doctor refused to change my meds again to continue to treat me for what I thought was acid reflux, until I went back to Dr. Evanson. I had an appointment with him on Monday 8/8 but woke up the Friday before vomiting so badly that there was a slight amount of blood. I called him and he had me come up to the hospital. I stayed in the hospital, upper GI was done, it was fine, it did not show any problems with the band at all, they did an endoscopy and found the oddest thing. My body does not digest pills, in my pouch there was a golf ball size wad of pills, they sucked it out and we thought all was fine.

About two weeks later I started getting sick again and called his office, they decided that I was to come up that week on 9/1 to see him, so I went and we spoke about the gall bladder and set up an ultrasound. Over the holiday weekend I couldn't keep anything down and ran a fever so he had me come back, we did the ultrasound, the gall bladder is full of gall stones. He thinks that there is more to my problem than just the gall bladder.He is really trying to convince me to remove the band, my fear is how much further do I push before he refuses to treat me? I do not want to lose my band and I did not decide lightly to do this in the first place and secondly I did not want to do the RNY for the health issues, so who is to say that things won't get worse. My thought has always been that they will have to pry this band from my cold dead body. His point is, this is no way to live.

thanks for any input

Sally

hmmmmmm-Id get me a second and 3rd opinion.

I'm thinking of having mine removed, too. The band requires a lot of maintenance and constant medical support. I don't have a local doctor, and I feel like I'm putting my life at risk by not seeing my surgeon on a regular basis. Good luck.

I still think I would ask to remove the gall bladder first and see how you feel after that. Leave all the Fluid out of your band for awhile give yourself a rest. It's awesome that you have lost 140lbs, that doesn't sound like it isn't working! And I would really resist the rny until they can tell you whats happening. Because if it continues after the rny its much harder to reverse, and then you are stuck with MAJOR surgery. I can't see how the band would keep pills from digesting...they need to find a reason for that before they go willy nilly taking things that they "think" might cause it...especially with no proof that anythign is amiss with your band. Of course I'm no doctor...lol, and I don't even have the band yet. But as hard as I'm fighting to get the darn thing, I'd fight even harder to keep it....especially with 140lbs lost...wow you go girl!

Melissa

I'm thinking of having mine removed, too. The band requires a lot of maintenance and constant medical support. I don't have a local doctor, and I feel like I'm putting my life at risk by not seeing my surgeon on a regular basis. Good luck.

Wait! You have to make all this money at Slumberparties and then there's the Calendar girls so Dr Billy will be able to give you a new port!!! Isn't that the plan?!

Oh, I hate to see anyone give up their band unless they have to. So here's my opinion (and thanks for the details)

Plan A-remove the gall bladder, heal, no fill at all, and see how you do. If it's still horrible, remove the band. And while you are banded, never take pills again without crushing them.

Plan B-remove the gall bladder, remove the band, spend some time healing, see how you do, then discuss re-banding.

For me, personally, I wouldn't switch to RNY without a longer fight for the band. Oh, how much more do you want to lose in addition to the 140? (well done, btw) I wouldn't think they would recommend RNY if you are anywhere near your goal weight.

Wow, what a dilemma. If your band isn't slipped or eroded, I'd keep it. The gall bladder problems can cause terrible issues that seem to be band related but aren't. Several folks on here start having problmes such as vomiting, worry about it being a band problem, find out it's gall bladder, have the gall bladder removed, and get on with life as it ought to be.

You can always do RNY later, you can always have the band removed later (or both!) but I, personally, would resolve the gall bladder issue before doing anything else.

That's my opinion. (((((hugs))))) and lets us know how it goes for you!!!!

Thank you all for the quick input.

Here is the background.

Things started around the beginning of May 04, which was 6 months post op. I was out of town in a training and had passed out in a hotel room. I went to the urgent care and they said it was a kidney infection, they gave me meds, that didn't work. I called my surgeon who is Dr. Evanson in Indianapolis, they told me to come up there if I could, for fear that I was dehydrated. I live in the Cincinnati area and had done a ton of research on the band and bariatric surgeries before I decided, I had met with 5 different surgeons before choosing him, so I really trust him. When I went to Indy in May, they did an upper GI and decided to take some of the Fluid out of the band. I did fine until July and things were getting tough again, I have this problem where I do not like to get sick, so I stop eating. If this was the issue before surgery I wouldn't have needed surgery, just joking. So I went in July they did an endoscopy and decided that the opening was tight so they went ahead and removed all of my fluid. I went back in September, had a little bit of fluid put back in, back in October, had to be emptied. Went back up the week of Christmas had fluid put in. Now keep in mind all of these adjustments are being done under fluro, so he can see and I see that things look fine. By the next day I could hardly swallow, I waited until the day after Christmas because I could hardly swallow spit and was emptied. I went back a few weeks later and met with him and we only put .5cc's in, as the other times were from 1.5-2cc's. When I went back for a follow up in February I had to ask them to take it out, my doctor was out sick so his colleague had done it, she is the one I saw in the ER the day after Christmas who had to empty me then. She was quite rude, my take on it, and said in not so many words that I was an idiot and that I should get rid of the band as it isn't working, by this time, in February I had already lost the 140. She sent me to the hospital for an upper GI. I never heard anything about the results of this and to be quite honest I didn't want to know, I figured no news was good news. In my avoidance nature I cancelled my next appt.

I put things off until my primary care doctor refused to change my meds again to continue to treat me for what I thought was acid reflux, until I went back to Dr. Evanson. I had an appointment with him on Monday 8/8 but woke up the Friday before vomiting so badly that there was a slight amount of blood. I called him and he had me come up to the hospital. I stayed in the hospital, upper GI was done, it was fine, it did not show any problems with the band at all, they did an endoscopy and found the oddest thing. My body does not digest pills, in my pouch there was a golf ball size wad of pills, they sucked it out and we thought all was fine.

About two weeks later I started getting sick again and called his office, they decided that I was to come up that week on 9/1 to see him, so I went and we spoke about the gall bladder and set up an ultrasound. Over the holiday weekend I couldn't keep anything down and ran a fever so he had me come back, we did the ultrasound, the gall bladder is full of gall stones. He thinks that there is more to my problem than just the gall bladder.He is really trying to convince me to remove the band, my fear is how much further do I push before he refuses to treat me? I do not want to lose my band and I did not decide lightly to do this in the first place and secondly I did not want to do the RNY for the health issues, so who is to say that things won't get worse. My thought has always been that they will have to pry this band from my cold dead body. His point is, this is no way to live.

thanks for any input

Sally

From someone who just sorta went through this.. get your gallbladder removed and be go completely unfilled. When they took my gallbladder out i felt 1000000 times better the next day and havent had any problems since until i was overfiled.

IMO.. honestly i think you went a long time undiagnosed with the gallbladder, which can definately cause most of the sympoms you described. I would assume the pill backup, caused irritation.. which caused swelling and more and more and more.. its a downhill battle. Did you go staright onto liquids for awhile after all this happened? You definately have to give your body time to recover and let the swelling go down.

if it were me.. id get a second opinion its obvious you arent sure about his. There is two things to this .. one is that even .1cc can give restriction... and .5cc can make you gag because its to tight. I think that your gallbladder caused most of these symptoms.. and what you described that isnt covered there sounds to me like you were filled to tight.

What size band do you have? If he is so apt to "removing" it.. see if they can give you a larger band. Thats what my surgeon did 3 days after my first band. Whatever you do.. if you do not want to have the RNY DONT DO IT. THis your body.. not his. It is your right to choose what to do with it.

This input really is helping, and as Ginger said, I only have until Wednesday a.m. to decide, that's when the gall bladder surgery is scheduled for, and he would like to do both at once.

I don't know if I am pushing my luck with him, but he is supposed to call I think I will go ahead and ask about removing the gall bladder and setting up the band issue in a few weeks. I trust him so much, but I am frustrated. He has always said that he will fight for the band. But I also agree that once I found out it was the gall bladder and the symptoms of gall stones and gall bladder issues I think I have had the signs for a while, I just didn't know it and I don't think anything was specifically asked to address it.

Thanks for the input

still confused and thinking Sally