I am not sure what to do at this point. I got my band in March of 09 and I've only lost 20 lbs. My starting weight was 269 and now I'm 249. I'm grateful for the 20 lb. loss and I know that my band prevents me from binge eating. Although I'm very disappointed with my loss, I'd rather have the band than nothing.

I lost great at first...lost the 20 lbs the first 2 months. I haven't lost anything since June. I have 8 ccs in my 9cc band so I'm pretty sure that I have enough restriction. I haven't been able to get under 1600 calories though (I need to eat between 1000-1200 to lose). I think I'm always hungry but I've talked with my nutritionist and she thinks that I must be "emotional eating" and I'm just misreading my hunger signs.

My doctor wants me to do 1 hour of cardio every day but this has been almost impossible (I have 2 small children and work part time). I've been getting in 30 minutes every day and its a struggle to get that in.

I think that maybe I should have gotten bypass or the sleeve since I'm an emotional eater (?). Has anyone switched from the band to another surgery? If so, what is the process? Does insurance cover it?

If anyone else has any tips, please let me know.

Thanks!

Glad the revision is working out for you Nancy! I knew you'd had lots of problems and were thinking of getting it but didn't know it had been done. n How long ago did you have it?

My doc said that he doesn't do a restrictive diet before revising to the sleeve but there is the normal clear liquid diet afterwards with gradual adding of mushy, etc. He said you still have the shoulder pain afterwards like with the band but he only keeps you in the hospital for a day - a little longer than the band.

C'sM: You're one smart lady!

Thanks, BJean. So are you - on here and R&R. Your doctor sounds smart, too, in that he recognizes the shoulder pain. My former, idiot doctor said he never heard of it except in the right shoulder after gallbladder surgery. But what could I expect from a general surgeon who had only done 22 lapbands before mine?

Actually when I had an upper GI after surgery and told the radiologist about the shoulder pain - he actually offered an intelligent explanation. That the band presses on the diaphram and it is referred pain from that.

Glad the revision is working out for you Nancy! I knew you'd had lots of problems and were thinking of getting it but didn't know it had been done. n How long ago did you have it?

My doc said that he doesn't do a restrictive diet before revising to the sleeve but there is the normal clear liquid diet afterwards with gradual adding of mushy, etc. He said you still have the shoulder pain afterwards like with the band but he only keeps you in the hospital for a day - a little longer than the band.

C'sM: You're one smart lady!

BJean I had it done last June and am a happy camper so far! I hope things work out for you and you're able to revise at some point, keep us posted, take care, Nancy.

C'sM: Yup, that's exactly what my doc said... they must use gas to expand the area so they can see to do the laprascopic surgery. Your diaphram doesn't have feeling and the shoulder pain is deferred pain from that.

I learned here at LBT that if you walk as much as you can after surgery, it helps move that gas out of your system quicker.

Nancy, sure looks like you're doing well weight wise! Congrats. I am very happy for you. I know there were quite a few months that you struggled with the band and what to do after it was removed.

My doc's office said that they only insurance company that covers revision to a sleeve surgery is Blue Cross and Blue Shield - through government employment. Such a deal!

C'sM: Yup, that's exactly what my doc said... they must use gas to expand the area so they can see to do the laprascopic surgery. Your diaphram doesn't have feeling and the shoulder pain is deferred pain from that.

It's been 15 months since my surgery and I still get left shoulder pain from time to time (like today). I wonder what causes it this far out?

You shouldn't still be getting shoulder pain from that surgery. 15 months? I think it must be something else - like from a pinched nerve or stress or something. When my doc was explaining that I'd get it again if I get the revision, he said it wouldn't last long, just until your body moves it out.

I know you heard that it was caused from pressure from the band and if that is true, I guess it could still be bothering you. But I've never heard that before. Only that the gas during surgery is the cause.

If I do get the revision I think I'll avail myself of the pain meds this time though. Last time I didn't take one thing when I got home from the hospital. I just listened to Mozart and tried to walk around the house a lot. The intense shoulder pain lasted about a week, like they said it would. Then I was fine.

Keep me posted if you learn anything about what's causing yours. I'm concerned for you.

I think I've seen other posts here about those who have had left shoulder pain long after their surgery. I do think it's band related because I never had it before surgery. I just think this foreign object right in the middle of your diaphram can cause problems because it isn't supposed to be there. I mean why do we hiccup when we get overfull or stuck? Same concept, I think. The band pressing on something.

As for me, now that I am totally unfilled, I plan on staying this way unless I start putting on a lot of weight. That stuck episode and resulting ER trip and hospitalization scared the hell out of me. One week later and I'm just starting to feel confident to eat solids again. I am very afraid of the band and getting stuck again.

Well that's a new wrinkle for me. I have heard of side pain and port pain but not shoulder. Good thing I didn't know about it, cause I probably would have gotten it.:-)

I know exactly what you mean about having a horrible episode that scares you so much you are afraid to eat or get a fill. Twice I had unbelievable episodes after flying. So whenever I needed to fly I took no chances. Restriction removed. Doc said he'd heard of it before but couldn't explain it.

With your hospitalization and shoulder pain, I'm sure they did a floroscope or xray to be sure your band hasn't slipped. This is why I think I'm ready to get mine out. I can't face the possibility of having another horrid, painful episode so I'm afraid to get a fill. So what's the point of having the thing? This is such a dilemma. I spent so much to get it (nearly $20,000 out of pocket) and now I think I want it out because I am afraid of it.

Then there's the question of getting the sleeve. It's a risky surgery, but there are so many glowing reports, it is tempting. And then there's the money thing - another $20,000 out of pocket. There are lots more ways I'd rather be spending that kind of money! But I guess my health is the most important thing I have.

I hope once that problem you had fades to the background in your mind, you will be able to continue to use the band if you need it. It's sure incentive to eat healthy! Good luck.

Well that's a new wrinkle for me. I have heard of side pain and port pain but not shoulder. Good thing I didn't know about it, cause I probably would have gotten it.:-)

I know exactly what you mean about having a horrible episode that scares you so much you are afraid to eat or get a fill. Twice I had unbelievable episodes after flying. So whenever I needed to fly I took no chances. Restriction removed. Doc said he'd heard of it before but couldn't explain it.

With your hospitalization and shoulder pain, I'm sure they did a floroscope or xray to be sure your band hasn't slipped. This is why I think I'm ready to get mine out. I can't face the possibility of having another horrid, painful episode so I'm afraid to get a fill. So what's the point of having the thing? This is such a dilemma. I spent so much to get it (nearly $20,000 out of pocket) and now I think I want it out because I am afraid of it.

Then there's the question of getting the sleeve. It's a risky surgery, but there are so many glowing reports, it is tempting. And then there's the money thing - another $20,000 out of pocket. There are lots more ways I'd rather be spending that kind of money! But I guess my health is the most important thing I have.

I hope once that problem you had fades to the background in your mind, you will be able to continue to use the band if you need it. It's sure incentive to eat healthy! Good luck.

They did do an upper GI the next day and it showed that everything was going through but the radiologist said I had esophageal motility disorder (things move slowly) and I talked to the PA in my doctor's office and she said she didn't think the band caused that but my stuck espisode might have. Truthfully, I don't think doctors know a lot about how the band works and what it does to our bodies and they guess a lot. But it didn't show that the band slipped.

I hope you are able to finance a revision. Being a glass half empty type of person, when I went on the sleeve site I went right to complications. But I know those who have gotten a band to sleeve revision are all happy. It's a new procedure too, but for me, who has major hunger issues, it seems like it would have been the right surgery for me.

I don't think at this point that I will ever get a fill. Because when I had 2cc's in my 4cc band it never took away my hunger or provided me with satiety and when it was overfilled to 3 cc's (by my idiot former doctor) I had reflux, heartburn and pain. And again, no satiety and still hungry. But what the band has done is cause me to get stuck - very painfully - several times, one requiring hospitalization. So, I have been operating on pretty much willpower, so why not continue to do that unfilled?

Do you not have insurance at all or just a policy that won't pay for WLS? Almost no policies pay for the sleeve at this point, but that might change. Good luck to you with your struggles.

Cleo's: "... when I went on the sleeve site I went right to complications."

I haven't had the nerve to go there yet. I have seen my doctor's video of a revision to a sleeve that he has on his website. It's gruesome enough to make me take my time with this decision. I do know that you're right, it is a relatively new surgery and the jury is still out on a lot of the issues. For instance, they do remove the thing that causes hunger, but some people are now saying that eventually another part of the stomach compensates for that and you eventually get hungry again.

Cleo's: "...it never took away my hunger or provided me with satiety and when it was overfilled to 3 cc's (by my idiot former doctor) I had reflux, heartburn and pain. And again, no satiety and still hungry. But what the band has done is cause me to get stuck - very painfully..."

Me too! I've had lots of fills. My doc was always very conservative with the fills. But there were a couple of times that I actually came away from his office after a fill when I wound up not being hungry for a day or two. Which was, frankly, heaven! I eventually have come to the conclusion that the darned thing seems to generate hunger. Which is of course, quite a different result than most other people have with the band. And that's confusing and discouraging.

No, my insurance will not pay for any part of the surgery. Unless of course, I have a hiatal hernia or other complication. And then it would only pay for that portion of the surgery - the repair.

Insurance has become a double-edged sword these days. And for the life of me I don't understand how some people in the U.S. just don't get that. We need reform and I am just hoping that the darned Congress doesn't sell us down the river to the greed-driven insurance companies so that they continue to call all the shots with our medical treatments.

Merry Christmas!

I talked to the PA in my doctor's office today about the shoulder pain and she said the UGI that I had last week when I was hospitalized due to the stuck incident showed that the tubing was close to the diaphram and that may be causing the pain.

I am scheduled for another upper GI next month and if the pain becomes chronic they might have to go in and shorten the tubing.

This doctor places the port on the left side and uses less tubing. My former doctor placed my port on the right side and the tubing goes across my stomach and up to the band in a backward C.

She said to use advil for inflammation and see if that helps. Time will tell.

MERRY CHRISTMAS