GeezerSue

I am painfully aware of how the band is implanted. And, I didn't say "intestines," I said "innards." My definition of MY innards includes my esophagus...which has been "rearranged" by the band. I have esophageal dysmotility secondary to the band and I have esophageal dilatation secondary to the band. From my perspective, them thar's some "rearranged innards." You are correct that nothing was rearranged at the time of banding. Erosion--unintentional "slicing and dicing"--doesn't occur at the time of banding either. So while you might be safe in asserting that the implantation of the band does not include any INTENTIONAL "slicing and dicing" or "rearranging" of the patient's internal organs, there are enough cases of erosion and esophageal problems that you might not want to bet the farm on the premise that banding doesn't rearrange anything...unless you say that "banding doesn't INTENTIONALLY rearrange anything."

You know, opinions are like @$$holes, we've all got one...and MINE is that the LapBand has proven to be risky and HAS rearranged my innards, and that the DS patients (not RnY gastric bypass) who regain weight tend to "regain" 30 pounds max. And the counselor at WW is full of it. My sister has just lost about 70 pounds at WW and Curves and has bags of skin hanging all over the place...and another hundred pounds to lose. I have no idea why people tend to believe WW counselors without any research to back up what they say...but they do.

bumping my own message

Dody, actually this surgery is MORE dangerous than the RnY. But a good deal of that risk is--IMHO--because surgeons have traditionally "saved" the DS for the super MO...and any sugery performed mostly on super MO patients is going to have a higher mortality rate. But it DOES have a 99% cure rate for Type II Diabetes. And I'll be 59 in a few weeks. You can learn about it by visiting: (my surgeon) www.dssurgery.com http://duodenalswitch.com/ http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/DS/ Good luck.

I'd think it would depend on the physician and the patient. There are a lot of banded people who are willing to tolerate some reflux--and treat it--in order to keep the band doing its thing. I'm on the other end of that process...to me, it isn't as wise to treat a problem I'm causing as it is to just stop causing the problem. But that's me.

"Nutcracker Esophagus" http://www.csmc.edu/5938.html

Guess what! I'm disagreeing again! My DS surgeon said that "eating around" the band and "soft food syndrome" are often ways of blaming banded people who have a strong survival instinct for following "the instructions" millions of years of evolution have provided. If a food--a particular food or a category of food--makes you sick (and your brain is pretty sure that PB'ing is being sick), then a working brain will do everything it can to convince you to NOT try again to eat the stuff that made you sick before. In fact, you'd have to be pretty darned...well...pretty darned not-too-smart to KEEP trying to eat stuff that makes you sick. So, if you are properly restricted, know you are full and keep pouring in calories by switching to liquids...then maybe you are lazy or hell-bent on self-destruction or the like. But if you have moved to a soup and ice cream diet because every time you try to eat healthy food you end up being sick, then your band needs to be loosened or you need to make sure your stomach and esophagus are okay. Because some of what gets written off as lousy motivation may actually be a strong instinct for survival.

You'll drink all of your calories, never lose weight and--and on the occasions you DO try solid food--damage your esophagus. And there are other ways a too tight band can damage the esohagus.

Good point. I should have made it for people who were, say...two years post-op or more. Should I delete this and start over?

Actually, I think its h. (short for "helicobacter") pylori...and I think the course of treatment to get rid of established "ulcers" is longer than the course of treatment for surgery. But check me on that.

The stuff causing the "sour burp" is (or can be) causing this to happen: http://www.upmc.edu/swallowingdisorders/Examples/Reflux.htm

No...POST-banding. After banding.

It's NOT the money. At least not primarily. It's about the experience. When I got MY band, my local band guy had done 30 and Dr. Rumbaut had done 1400+. Rumbaut was part of the pre-FDA testing and was training other doctors before ANYONE mentioned here. When I got my band removed, I was STILL glad he had implanted it, as there were no problems arising from the way in which the band was implanted. People who went for the money only...??? Well, good luck.

tizag, I was unbanded ten days ago and my complication was esophageal problems. Sue But I had the DS surgery at the same time.

tizag, I was unbanded ten days ago and my complication was esophageal problems. Sue But I had the DS surgery at the same time.

I've posted that question on SEVERAL boards and have found a very small percentage of people who have achieved a goal within the "normal" range.

It's on the Inamed website... www.lapband.com Go to the part on risks.

Pleatman is a respected band surgeon. He's just facing the facts earlier than some. (In MY neighborhood, the "expert" just did he FIRST band removal.)

I flexed it. (On a Section 125 account.) HOWEVER, it can only be legally flexed if it is a legally deductable medical expenses...and, since it sounds like you aren't MO, it may NOT be a deductable expense.

Thanks for the good wishes...the band has damaged my esophagus. It may repair itself. We'll see. I have widening of the esophagus (esophageal dilatation) and the esophagus only works pushing the food down to the stomach part-time (esophageal dysmotility.) In dealing with these problems I regained all my lost weight and was miserable...eventually living on the likes of ice cream and Soup...whatever went down the easiest.

Lisa, it might have been nutcracker esophagus...or just a test for the motility. I have had trouble for MONTHS/YEARS/SINCE A YEAR POST-BANDING feeling like the food in my esophagus is bouncing up and down...FINALLY, the Mexican surgeon happened to have me doing a barium swallow at the right time and we watched that. And then we watched while one swallow just sat there going nowhere. For some of this stuff, timing is everything.

Nutcracker esophagus is often found in MO patients in general, so it's not something the band would cause. I wonder if it resolves as we lose weight?

Thanks, everyone. Francesca and Michelle...see you on the other side. Since I'm not just unbanding, but going in another direction as well, I may be incommunicado a little longer. But I'll get back asap. Sue

Sweetie, you can zap me with whatever feels right! :cheeky

I just want my surgeon to show up sober and well-rested. I'm sure you are convinced that you are doing and saying and wishing all the right things for all the right reasons. I have signed ONE post that way in the almost two-and-a-half-years I have been a member here. And I have NEVER complained about anyone else asking for/sending prayers. Most of the time, when I don't agree with someone else's religious philosophy, I keep my complaints and my comments to myself. I highly recommend that approach. I'm not sure how many people here--or anywhere for that matter--would invite a stranger on an internet bulletin board to critique their religious/philosophical beliefs. But I don't mind being first in the line of people who do not desire that information from ANYONE. Free country. You can be sad about whatever floats your boat. Promise? Yeah. Sue :::the intermittently friendly neighborhood atheist:::