Hi, all..

I've had several inquiries and got lazy about answering them, so I hope you don't mind my making a lengthy Sue-Post. (Okay, not lazy, loaded, Vicodin...just let me say that you NEVER want to hear the phrases "urethral stenosis" and "urethral dilation" coming out of your urologist's mouth.)

For the innocent...My band surgery was October 15th, 2002, in Monterrey, Mexico, with Roberto Rumbaut Diaz, a band pioneer surgeon and a band patient and a really nice, down-to-earth guy. Prior to banding, I went from my all time high of a BMI 52+ to about a BMI of 48 on the day of surgery.

For the first several months, I did okay. I recall that for my mom's 80th birthday, I finally hit a BMI of under 40...I was not morbidly obese! But shortly thereafter, I started dealing with reflux. I had to sleep sitting up. I took various drugs, but they merely lessened the problem. One day, I was having Breakfast with my cousin (an RN) and her husband (an MD) and was able to eat only about two tablespoons of oatmeal at 10:30 a.m. and realized that THEY were looking at someone with a bizarre eating program...maybe an eating disorder. I hopped on a train (I just happened to get to the station seven minutes before departure) and went to Tijuana and had Dr. Kuri unfill me.

My reflux immediately resolved. And my weight loss began to resolve. So I eventually went in for mini-adjustments. I had unfills for my panniculectomy surgery and for my breast reduction surgery. In between, I had small re-fills. In two or so years, I had a dozen adjustments.

But then I started to feel like my food was bouncing around in my esophagus. It would happen once in a while, and then more often. Not every time, and not just after I had eaten too much. Sometimes, I'd be having a cup of coffee before dinner and the coffee would bounce around. Other times, it would be Water. One day, I could eat a considerable amount of foods. The next day, one stupid bite of oven baked fish, and that was all I could eat.

Well...after you do that for a while, you tend to get a little nuts. Especially when well-meaning people start telling you you just have to "work your tool." And when a doctor who doesn't have a band wants you to go to a support group meeting so that you can hear other successful banded people telling you they ALL go through that, with every meal. (Yeah, right.)

I finally got to the point that most of what I was eating was Soup and ice cream. Because it would usually go down.

I decided that, since I was within ten pounds of my pre-op weight, I wanted to consider the DS. I had an upper GI done. My esophagus is widened. In doctor talk, it's "esophageal dilatation." I went to Dr. Ara Keshshian in Delano, California and told him my story.

He said, "Are you expecting me to look surprised? This is NOT the first time I've heard this story."

He told me that I needed to have my band emptied...but that he didn't have the needles because he didn't DO bands. So I went to Tijuana and saw dr. verboonen, as he was available right away. He, his partner, the lab tech and my husband watched as I drank the barium and it just sat there in my esophagus. Didn't move. When stuff that isn't blocked just sits, the additional diagnosis is "esophageal dysmotility," in other words, the esophagus is NOT moving the food toward the stomach. (Ignore doctors who tell you that EVERYONE does this.)

So, I'm scheduled for an endoscopy, to make sure that I'm not dealing with erosion as well. If that checks out, I'll be having the band removed and DS surgery within the next month or two.

So...wisdom? I learned when checking with European surgeons that band removal is a booming business there. One surgeon said that 20% of his practice is revising bands to Rny or DS. (Remember, bands have been there longer, so more people have had more time to encounter problems.)

That doesn't mean I think they are a bad thing. I just think that the band is good for whomever it's good for...but that certainly is not everyone. In fact, my insurance began covering the band after I self-paid, but is no longer covering it for people with BMI's in excess of 49...because they lose the same percentage of excess weight which leaves them still MO. And older people have more problems. I was 55. Esophageal dysmotility or "dysperistalsis" is more frequent in older people. Adding the band may just make the problem appear sooner and with more vigor.

Not here, but at another site where it is mostly newer people, the band-enthusiasm is not tempered by experience or reason. Here, there are old timers who have been through problems. For many, the band is the answer. For many others, it is not. I am one of the latter.

Thanks for your time,

Sue

What a frustrating and disappointing journey its been for you.

It does really make you wonder too, whether banded people are going to encounter similar problems as they age and their bodies begin to work less efficiently. There is afterall not a helluva lot of long term research done, as the band simply has not been done anywhere in the world for all that long.

Sue, thanks for much for the update. I wish you the best on your DS surgery. I think you will do great with it. You are so well-researched and informed, I hang on your every word and I know you haven't decided this without alot of thought and planning. I'm still waiting on pics of your plastic surgery though!! Don't forget us bandsters...we still need you! and we want to know how you do. Keep us updated with your surgery schedule so we can send prayers and good thoughts your way. Bless you!!!

Thanks for sharing your story. The DS supposedly works really well, so I wish you luck!

I wish you all my best for your future. No matter what you do, I hope that it all works out perfectly for you.

Please Take Care

Thanks for sharing the details, Sue. Good luck with everything!!

Sue thanks for the frank post about your band experience, I am just sorry that you had to go through all of that. I hope that the next part of your journey is alot easier.

Gee, I'm 55 and not so sure I needed to know all of that, but thanks for sharing anyway. I hope and pray my band never puts me through what you've been through. I'm sorry you've had to endure so much misery. I hope the road ahead is healthier. Good Luck!

Sue,

I'm shocked! and sad, and greatful that you're taking care of yourself. I'm so sorry you've had to go through this. I so appreciate your story, and think that it's very important to tell because, like you said, newbies sometimes are overly enthusiastic and have expectations that everything will just be perfect. We must be able to temper that...just in case.

Good luck with your upcoming surgeries, and keep us posted on how you are. I've always found your frankness comforting.

Megan

I hope all is better for you very soon. Will they remove the band and do the DS in the same proceedure? Please let us know the outcome of the test and when your surgery is, so we can send prayers and good thoughts your way. ~Mandy

Thanks Sue! Megan said what I wanted to say, only she said it better!

I'm so sorry you have to go through this, and I'm so greatfeul that you are sharing your story with us. Good luck with your upcoming DS, and please don't be such a stranger

What is a DS?

a DS is a duodenal switch. from what i understand, it's like having a gastric bypass without the stomach reduction part. do a google search, there's lots of info out there.

Sue, thanks for sharing. I am still in the "deciding" stage so this gives me a lot to think about. I am 46 with a BMI of 35 so the other options aren't options for me. It's the band or try again on my own (which obviously isn't working). I wish we would here more stories from veterans like you, positive or negative. We all need the whole picture. I hope you get relief soon.

Deb

I for one appreciate your post (maybe moreso than others.) Bands, especially ones installed in TJ, seem to have been working for lots of people around here. But we're all mostly so new, that problems could creep up every day.

I wish you wellness, peace of mind, and a happy esophagus.

Hi Sue,

I believe we have bumped into each other on that OTHER site...and you are right, it's full of hopefuls and people riding high on their Band success. I will be honest, and I did start there, hopeful and ignorant, at least until I started to learn more about the problems that do occur. Somehow, I finally figured out that it's not the end-all cure-all perfect solution for my obesity, that WLS holds no guarantees for true success. There is and always will be a certain amount of unknown problems that may occur in anyone's journey. Whether or not we want to accept it, there are people that the BAND doesn't do the trick. For them, it becomes a problem that creates new issues to deal with...totally not fair, but it does happen.

I for one an very thankful that you took the time to explain your situation so that I could understand that it happens, whether or not we followed the "rules". Somethings just can't be helped by the usual logical treatments. I appreciate your honesty. For me, it's opened my eyes to a new level of reality. At first I was too wrapped up in the HOPE of ending my fight with fat. Not only did you help me realize that it MAY NOT be the ticket, you also opened my heart to more understanding of the plight we are all facing, no matter which path we choose to follow.

I no longer share in the "fantasy", but now choose to see it for what it is. If the day should come that I might need to face what you have faced, I hope that I have learned that I must accept that my choice may have not been the right one for me...that I can pick myself up, pick up the pieces and move on to whatever my options might lead me.

I wish that no one had to deal with the sorts of issues that result from any WLS. This isn't Utopia, and life isn't always fair. I wish the best of luck from the bottom of my heart. You continue to be in my prayers!

((HUGS))

Linda P