marsha

Hi Morningoasis, I'm glad you're going to get this taken care of. I forgot to mention that some of my pain was very simular to yours...I couldn't take a deep breath either. I'll be interested to hear if your insurance will pay for this. I looked up my policy with BC/BS and it states: "No coverage for bariatric surgery including reversal, revision, repeat and staged surgery, except for the treatment of sickness or injury resulting from such bariatric surgery, or unless required by law." I'm hoping they consider abdominal pain when eating sometimes a "sickness" . If not, then I'll have to go back to Mexico and I'm not looking foward to that with all the killing going on there. Ofcourse, I could always wait until the band causes me a "sickness" :thumbup: I am also worried about living without my band. Although I never got to goal, my band has kept me from gaining it all back. I hope that repositioning is all we'll need. Take Care, Marsha

Does anyone have any idea on cost of the sleeve in the US as opposed to Mexico? (self pay ofcourse). My band has slipped and I may have to get it removed...I'm considering sleeve at that time. My original band was done in Mexico by Dr. Kuri,

][/color] <o:p> If anyone has experience with slippage like this, please continue to share. All of this informaiton in this thread has been really helpful. I noted the smoking, coffee, chocolate, mint and articicial sweetners as triggers. This week I am going to cut out these items (coffee has already been reduced to 2x's per week from daily.)</o:p> Hi, I havent posted in a really long time. I've had my band for 5 years. I've been a pretty good band patient in that I eat well (avoid junk food) and I've lost a majority of my weight (the last 25lbs have stuck with me). I have only pb'd once and that was about 4 months after my surgery. About 2 years into my banding I had a problem with reflux. I had all my fill removed and and upper gi and endoscopy done. Everything was ok so the doctor changed my gerd medication and I returned to normal. At that time they refilled my band to 2.2cc (the most I ever had was 2.5) and although I didn't have much restriction the doctor refused to increase my fill due to risk of return of the reflux. Since then (that was 3 years ago) I lost another 15 lbs and was doing fine until November (about 4 months ago). I noticed that I completely lost restriction at all but only sometimes. Other times my band was tight as could be and a few bites would get me to stop eating. I thought this was just my band being tempermental :-) Then in December I got some severe left shoulder pain and pain just under my left rib cage when I ate. I switched to liquids and a few days later it went away. I was fine for about a month, then the same thing happend in January. This time I called my gastroenterologist and he ordered a gallbladder ultrasound, and an endoscopy. The gallbladder came back fine, the endoscopy showed mild gastritis but the doctor said something very strange to me after the endoscopy. He said "Are you sure you have a band? Because I see no evidence of it at all". I immediately called my fill doctor here (I'm a mexican bandster) and he said get an upper gi. I had it done yesterday and the report states " there is no evidence of an upper pouch. It appears that the lapband has slipped and is located at the gastroesophageal junction". So, I'll be seeing my US fill doctor on Wed. The weirdest thing is that I have NEVER vomitted. And, I can count on 1 hand how many times I have "slimmed". I still don't have any difficulty eating...I do get that soft stop feeling once in a while. I'm hoping I don't have to get my band removed. After 5 years, we're best buddies!

Hi everyone, I haven't posted anything in a long time. I've been banded for 4 years. My last fill was 2 years ago. My band is pretty loose, I don't have much restriction. My doctor seems to like it that way. About 2 weeks ago, I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with severe heartburn. (This is not normal for me). I took a zantac and a tums and it subsided. The next day, I decided to go on liquids for a few days just to calm my stomach down. I continued to take zantac twice a day. I ended up staying on liquids for about a week. I was fine during that time, just a twinge of back pain once in a while. A few days ago, I started eating mushies. I had that twinge once in a while again but I figured maybe I ate too much since it was mushie stuff. Yesterday, I started solid food...every time I ate I got severe back pain and excessive burping. I couldnt get the burping to stop until I layed down in bed that night. Today, I tried solids again and the same thing happened. I made an appointment with my doctor but I cant get in till Monday. In the mean time, I've gone back to liquids. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks for any help, in advance!

Linda, I was banded 4 years ago and I still have shoulder pain! It comes and goes.

Hi Melissa, I'm Marsha and I live in FLorida too (south florida). I was just like you a few years ago when I had my lapband placed. Now, I actually like to see photographs of myself. I'm not at my perfect weight yet but I actually like myself again. Keep the pictures you don't like and take them out on days you struggle through (when you get your band). For me, my old pictures helped me to look back and see what I had accomplished even if it was only a few pounds. It also help me remember where I didn't want to go back to. I also have an old pair of pants (size 24). Every once in a while I take them out and put them on and give myself a big pat on the back. It may sound silly but you will have tough days with the band and these things can help you get through them! Good luck with your journey!

I've lost 49 lbs in 3 Years! You are not alone. Most of my weight was in the first 6 months (45 lbs). I've only lost 4 lbs in the last 2 1/2 years. I have absolutely no restriction. My fill doctor wont put any more fill in my band ( I have 1.9cc) because when I had 2.5 cc in my band I had a lot of reflux. So, I also feel like a failure. :-(

Took me 14 days!

mine is Angeldust

I've been banded for 3 years only my husband and mother know I was banded. At first, I didn't want people judging my weight loss (weather it was enough or not) and I didn't want them judging what I put in my mouth. Now, I'm glad I haven't told anyone because the weight I've lost was hard work. I don't want anyone not giving ME credit for that. Some people tend to think that the band and RNY are easy ways to loose weight. They are not. When people ask me how I've lost the weight I say "Diet, smaller portions and Exercise", because that's the truth.

I drank lots of soda before my band. Now (since being banded), I don't drink any soda. Believe me I tried to drink it but it actually hurts my stomach and I get severe shoulder pain (from the gas in the soda). I havent drank soda in over 3 years and I don't miss it one bit.

I've been banded for 3 years and I'm still struggling to loose the last 25 lbs. I've been gaining and loosing the same 10 lbs for over a year now. My fill doctor wont give me anymore fill because at one point (about 2 years ago) I had major problems with reflux and he had to empty my band completely to give my stomach a rest. Now, he wont fill me back up to my previous fill level and so, I can eat alot. :-( Its frustrating.

I can not eat anything when I'm angry or stressing over something. I ALWAYS get stuck. Also, if I'm in a hurry I get stuck even if I'm just taking 1 bite of something and chew more then usual. So, I've learned to only have liquids in these situations. Personally, I never PB but I do get stuck and it can last for hours!

Since getting my band, I get them occasionally. It usually happens after I eat but not all the time. I can usually get them to stop by coughing. Here's my theory (for what it's worth, I'm a nurse not a cardiologist)...when I eat, my pouch expands a little which "bumps" into the heart muscle and causes the palpations.