My mom was 72 years old this past January. She had Lap band surgery about 2 years ago and had lost about 50 pounds. Throughout the time that she had the band, she experienced vomiting and numerous reflux episodes. She was in fairly good health with just minimal high blood pressure and mild COPD. In March of this year, she went shopping one weekend, worked in her yard and all her normal activites. She ate a light dinner and snack before bedtime. She lay down that night and experienced a reflux episode in the wee hours of the morning. She arose and my brother, who lived with her, found her up using a nebulizer because she was having trouble breathing. The next morning she called the ambulance because she couldnt catch her breath. She called me that afternoon from the hospital saying she would be home the next morning, that she had aspiration pneumonia from the reflux and they were giving her IV antibiotics. The next day a nurse called and she was being admitted to the ICU. I quickly sped over and she was on a CPAP machine because she was struggling to breathe. The situation worsened and the very next day she developed ARDS(Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and was place on a ventilator. Over the next few days she remained heavily sedated and ventilated in order to try to allow her lungs time to heal. Her white blood cell count started to spike and her heart began to become irregular. My beautiful mama died of ARDS caused by the aspiration pneumonia from this lap band. She was my very best friend. Please if you have or choose to have this procedure, be careful of the reflux and the potential complications. I, myself, have lost over 140 pounds through diet and exercise alone and will be glad to help anyone else to achieve this. If you do instead decide on the LAP band, please be educated about the risks. Dont overeat, be aware of overfills. Best of luck to you all. If I can help anyone please let me know. Email me
Cindy