Scott4680

I say'd away from the lawyer thing. I seem to be okay and am hoping for the best.

Well I went in for my surgery on Nov. 8th 2011 at 6:30m. I had done everything right according to my doctor. I took the two week liquid diet very seriously. I was 7 months into this whole thing between doctor visits, physiological visit, tons of work ups, blood, sonograms, stress test, nutritionist, you name it. I kissed my wife and was taken back to pre-op. I started the whole program at 253 lbs. Day of surgery I was about 218 lbs. I woke up in post-op in ALLOT of pain with nurses trying to tell me that there was a major complication and the band was NOT put in. They also told me that I would be spending the night in the hospital. I had an I.V. in my left hand still. I also now had a I.V. in my neck with 3 lines coming off of that. And I now had 29 staples in my stomach. Here is what I was told happened. I was told by the surgeon, he began cutting with the camera/ instrument on the incision the in in the middle of you stomach area. He watched as it passes through several areas of tissue. He was expecting for it to pass through this last part of tissue which then he enters the abdominal area but he did not see that last layer. He stopped cutting. Discussed with others in the OR. They felt he still had not cut far enough so he should continue. After continuing he was informed that my pressures were dropping. They cut another 1" incision under my left breast to place a camera to try and see what was happening. When that didn't work he cut me from just under the center of my breast bone to my bellybutton. He had hit my aorta which leads to my femoral artery in my legs. They stopped the bleeding and ended up having to give me two units of blood (unmatched. I am O Pos) and made the rest up with saline. I was told by the nurses that I had lost more than two units. When I woke up in Post-Op my blood pressure was 70/42 and my pulse was 102. The surgeon came to my wife to explain what had happened. They also had her sign a waver for me to receive the unmatched blood. I also for some reason woke up a little early and was somewhat awake when they pulled the tube out of my throat. Scary! They let me go home later the next day. I was home for 3 weeks. had my staples removed. Am now back to work but still shore and healing. I am now down to 204 lbs. 49 lbs gone. Doing it myself. Lost allot after the surgery too. Just couldn't eat. While I was in the surgeons office having my staples removed he seemed like he was talking the entire episode down. Like it wasn't a big deal. He even told me that I didn't loose all that much blood and that they didn't have to give me any?? I didn't question the story change. Just wanted to get out of there. He came to my wife in the hospital and said they HAD to give me blood and had here sign the waver. I was told by nurses that they gave me blood. He also told me in the hospital how scary it was for him. ow it's no biggie?? The stay in the hospital was really bad too. Hardly any help from the nurse on duty that night. Hardly any pain meds because they said it was making my heart rate drop and my pressure was low as it is. The whole thing was just a mess and scary. Allot people I work with thinks that I should hire a layer. I really don't know about that. The surgeon says he has done 3000 of these and I am the first. He told me that he nicked the side of the aorta. He said if he had hit it in the middle I wouldn't be here today. Always a plus side I guess.

My wife had her gallbladder out yesterday and is doing well. This was done due to gallstones. They knew she had them before the lapband surgery. They just now started to cause pain so they removed it.

Hello, Haven't been on here in some time. Thanx to all for the info and comments. As of today I am doing well. I have lost 59lbs. I am now 195lbs. I am after about 10 more but I have hit a wall. Hoping to get the weight moving again. My wife is doing well. She has lost 54lbs. She is scheduled for a fill on her band in a week. The doctor now does them under xRay or some sort of imaging to watch the band as it's being filled. She has somewhat hit a wall as well and can seem to eat more these days so that why he suggest the adjustment. Anyway good luck to everyone.

Thanx to everyone. I support my wife 100%. We do everything together that's why we were doing the Lapband together. Now days we share a meal if we eat out and plan all our meals together. It's really been great. I am now just touching 203lbs down from 253lbs about 8 months ago. As for the lawyer thing, I really don't know. The entire thing was just bad. Right now I am doing pretty well. My scare looks awful. I still have a little pain in my stomach. There are sometimes that I am glad I don't have the band. I had mixed feelings bout it right up til surgery. I can't help but being mad over the fact that I have this scare, went through about 6 months of prep to get my insurance company to approve the entire procedure, all the pain.... Well scratch that.. I am very happy to be alive. Happy Holidays everyone

Thank you for the advise. What bothers me is that he somewhat blamed what happened on the fact the I was fairly thin when the surgery took place. Then why did he do the surgery?? He could of said no. Was it about the money for him?? Then 3 weeks after the surgery he suggested to me to not have lapband done, that he felt it wasn't a good idea. Why was it a good idea 3 weeks prior when he almost sent me a an early grave at the age of 42.. Sorry but I am a little upset about the whole thing.

Again Thanx..

Thanx to everyone for the support. As for the lawyer thing, My wife and I are not after anything. For some reason allot of people that hear about this they always say, Did you get a Lawyer yet? Not my thing. I don't like that the doctor started playing it down but you sign a paper stating there are risk. This was one of the risk. BTW, My wife was Banded two weeks before me and is doing great. She had her first fill about two weeks ago. So proud of her. She is about 35 lbs down over the last 8 months. We started this whole thing together.

I guess on my own. At the hospital the surgeon mentioned something about me still having it. Three weeks later in his office he said I had done great thus far and he felt with everything that happened that I should not have it done. I in all honesty am scared to have it done now. And hoping I won't need it.

Thank you to everyone.

My wife had her surgery today and came through like a trooper.. She was pretty sore but her pain meds seem to be helping. I also started my 2 week pre-op liquid diet today. I'm scheduled for Nov 8th.

Hello, just dropping in to see how others are going about/ coping with Lap Band. A little about me. I am a married father of two. My wife and I have been married now for just under 23 years. She is my best friend and we do everything together. We are now on the new journey of having Lap Band done together. Not on the same day but we have done the entire process together. All the doctors appointments, visit to a shrink, 6 months of nutritionist visits and now we have our insurance companies approval and have our surgery scheduled. My wife is on the 26th of this month and mine is the 8th of Nov. We are both excited.

Thanks so much everyone. My wife and I are having our surgery at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton, MD. We don't live in that area but the doctor does not have an office in our area yet. It takes use about an hour to get to the hospital and the Dr's office. No biggie. My wife has started her two week liquid diet already. Started on 10/11/11. I am excited but sometimes think why?? I was about 253lbs six months ago when we started the 6 months of nutritionist visits (our insurance required it). I am now about 228lbs to 230lbs. 253lbs is my heaviest ever. I am 5'9" BTW. I have always battled with the being a little "husky" as my mom use to say when I was a kid even though she is a rail. I say why because I wonder why can't I do this myself but then realize, I am now 42 and have not been able to do this myself yet. It's a struggle. I really like the forum. It is a little discouraging when you read the stories of what people feel is a total failure with Lap Band. I try to tell myself, I am not them and I really don't know what they are doing to keep up there end. I was told it's a tool not a miracle drug.