WASaBubbleButt

I think you got a load from your surgeon. Instead of admitting you were infected to the max, he's calling it rejection. You do realize you should contact the FDA about this as you are likely the first to reject the band. I don't think they are gonna buy it but since you are the first to actually reject the band, they should be aware. Look, I'm no fan of the band. I hate the thing but what you are describing is INFECTION, not REJECTION. You claim in your first post that there was an abscess and infection under the scarring yet now you claim there was no infection. I gotta tell you, I believe your surgeon is giving you a load. That is my personal opinion.

I agree with being blunt, totally agree with blunt honesty. One thing though, rejection and infection are two totally different things. An infection requires bacteria and from what you are saying you had an infection. The bacteria had to come from somewhere. Sadly, infection is a risk of this surgery as well as fills. I had major band problems as well and I reached a point where I knew it had to come out. I had a really hard time deciding on another surgery type. I know me and if I can eat, I will. I knew I'd regain. I didn't know if I wanted to risk another surgery type or get fat again. I never wanted to experience again, what I did with the band. I finally decided that I did not want fat, more than anything. So I revised to a sleeve. Best freak'en thing I ever did. I'd never suggest a band to anyone for a first WLS. I would for a failed bypass, but not a first surgery. For restriction only sleeves rock. But, some need the malabsorption aspect of surgery so for them, RNY or DS. But once you have healed if you start gaining you might want to consider the sleeve. The long term risks and complications are MUCH fewer than banding.

The band does cause some people pain. For some folks their soft stop is left shoulder pain. Happens with every meal. There really aren't any hard and fast rules other than chewing well. ;o) With banding their are guidelines, what works for one makes another miserable. When I was banded it took me an hour to eat 1/3 - 3/4 cup of tuna salad. If I followed the infamous 20 minute "rule" I would have starved to death. I think the band "rules" are really just a starting point for people to figure out what works for them.

Dan... Did you have a spinal block?

I think it is usually head hunger, not always but usually. I can't count the number of times I've seen people ask what true hunger feels like. A great majority of us don't know because we don't experience it often. We eat when we aren't hungry and we usually feed head hunger before stomach hunger can kick in. Ghrelin, if you look at the half life of Ghrelin it doesn't really stick around long, maybe a day or two after surgery. But you also produce a small amount of Ghrelin from the intestines and that could probably kick in a bit of hunger. Ghrelin isn't the only way we get hungry. You can also get hungry from blood sugar spikes. If your blood sugar is low your body will respond by feeling hungry. If you continue eating a large quantity of processed carbs (flour, sugar, etc.) then your pancreas has to kick out more insulin, sometimes it sends too much insulin to undo the blood sugar spike and then your blood sugar goes too low. Your body tells you that you are hungry and you eat more carbs, more insulin production.... a cycle. This is why on the pre/post op diet people get the headaches, dizzy feeling, etc. It's the blood sugar spikes. People are used to processed carbs and the pancreas is used to compensating for all the bad food. On the pre/post op diet the biggest favor we can all do for ourselves is to stop all white carbs, that stops the blood sugar spikes and that stops the hunger. juice has very little nutritional value, it's mostly sugar. It does nothing for you but make you hungry. Something people can try is to drink propel Water or G-2. Both have a verrry small amount of sugar. Enough to bring your blood sugar up but not enough to cause the spikes. Sometimes that can kill post op hunger. MacM... as for Ghrelin production, you probably will start producing it again. The body has an amazing way of compensating for missing things. Missing brain, missing organs, missing intestine, missing Ghrelin. The assumption is that the stomach will start producing Ghrelin again but at far more normal levels in 6-18 months. Every once in awhile I feel hunger but 2-3 bites kills it immediately. I've only been REALLY hungry once since surgery. We were at a restaurant and I was about to kill the server because she was so slow. Finally we got our food and after about 1/3 of my bunless burger I was so full I thought I was going to hurl. ;o) VSG... I love it!

I agree w/M. You are lucky, you have a WLS surgeon that gets it. Not many US docs support someone going to MX. He clearly cares about you a great deal. All I want is for you to have a normal life and eat like a normal person and be able to eat in an average social situation. Amazing how this surgery affords you weight loss AND a normal life. I can't express to you how much I KNOW what you are going through and how much your life will change for the better. It's just one of those things that you have to experience before you can truly get it. In a few months you'll be singing my own praises... when you get your life back you can't help but to encourage others to do the same. You'll see. When YOU see the light at the end of the tunnel you'll do just about anything for someone in the same boat. Susan, I am sincerely happy for you. Life will change in ways you never dreamed of. You'll see!

I agree about liability but home health is pretty popular in the world of medicine. That's what I do.

Not all doctors agree that NSAIDs are out for banded folks. When I was banded I took Aspirin, the chewable kind. I took liquid Motrin with a Water chaser. What you are writing is not completely true.

Lots of people complain about port pain. I HATED my port, I don't miss it in the least. These two ladies have mega band problems, I'd sure like to see them give up the bands and get sleeves. :thumbup:/

Thing is, if it was a slip then a PPI wouldn't help. I wonder if Carafate would help until the stomach heals.

What makes you think this is a new surgery? It has a long history and not a good one. No quality or skilled surgeon with a good rep even DOES this surgery. There are a couple of US surgeons who make it sound like they are unique in that they can do this procedure. Truth is, they are kinda laughing stocks of the medical community because the CHOOSE to do this surgery. If 99.9% of WLS surgeons refuse to do this surgery because it simply isn't safe for patients, what does that make the 0.1% that do the procedure? This is a dangerous procedure that better surgeons wrote off many years ago. Think about it, when the #1 MGB surgeon resorts to using you tube for the bulk of his advertising........ ETA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric_Bypass#Loop_Gastric_bypass_.28.22Mini-gastric_bypass.22.29

HAHA! I've thought the same thing. If you go on a diet and lose weight do you WANT reversible? What's so great about having the ability to eat a ton of food again? However, in your case I am sure you just want to eat FOOD period. Life is pretty good when you aren't sliming all the time! I have this theory, I think the reason noobs want reversible is because we have failed at every other weight loss method and in the backs of their minds WLS is just another shot at something that will fail. Tweety: It depends on your individual policy. Does it cover WLS? Does it cover one surgery in a lifetime? Does it cover revisions? Under what circumstances? Has it been at least two years since your banding? Do you have proof of diet and exercise efforts such as a medically supervised diet AFTER banding? A gym membership with proof that you went? Does it only cover mechanical defects like a leak or faulty band? BC/BS has a ton of various policies.

That sleeve emmi... I've seen it. Do you know that emmi is made by Inamed? Not sure if you realized it or not but it's not very accurate. There is a great deal of inaccurate information in there but if you notice, it's really pushing the band. It talks about how if you overeat the stomach will stretch and I forget what else was in there. It's been so long ago since I watched it that I don't remember all the details. But it is made by Inamed and they did a pretty bad job with it. It makes being sleeved sound like it's sooo dangerous compared to easy simple banding. Bah! I don't get the insurance industry either. I've wondered if the reason they don't pay for WLS is because the most popular procedure is bypass and it's so expensive to maintain those folks after surgery. The complications, the bowel obstructions, bone loss, revisions, Vitamin issues, six month labs for the rest of their lives, etc. I wouldn't want to pay for that either. They still consider the sleeve experimental even though it isn't. I think they know that we'll pay for it ourselves if we have to. I'm so glad you are getting the sleeve, the quality of your life will improve drastically! I know how hard life is when the band is causing problems. It affects every aspect of your life. Social situations, family outings, employment setting, the works.

Doesn't sound like a lot of folks in your part of the world are successful bandsters. Banding is hard enough without those circumstances.

Caffeine really isn't a diuretic. It is when you first start consuming it but not after you are used to large quantities. Caffeine changes the lining of your stomach so that it empties faster and that defeats the whole purpose of the surgery. Caffeine and smoking.... not sure how either one could be related to slips.

If your esophagus is that swollen could you be having esophageal spasms? It kinda feels like a heart attack with typical chest pain. It can come and go out of the blue. Be really careful, I waited too long with my band and it caused a lot of esophageal problems including esophageal damage. It's still not 100% since having my band removed 9 months ago. Much better, but not back to 100%. If you continue having esophageal problems please, stay on top of that. The band can be really hard on various parts of your body.

Is it possible that you have gastritis? If the PPI is helping then it kinda makes sense for a possibility. Are you taking the 3rd dose right before bedtime? If so, you might want to take your 3rd dose no later than about 4 hours before you go to bed. Amazingly, PPIs can cause problems if taken too close to bedtime. What about stoma spasms? I had that when I was banded and it can be painful.

This is a great post. Can someone make it a sticky?

Ditto to what MacM writes.

There is a HUGE amount of info to remember. No one person can remember it all. That is why I have links. ;o) Without links my brain is on overload. There is info I depend on you for, I couldn't possibly remember it all but you do. That's how it all works.

Yeah, Aetna does indeed cover revision surgery if weight loss is not adequate. Here it is from their own website: Obesity Surgery

I eat anything and everything, just not much of it. ;o) Just got back from having lunch with a friend (something I could never do banded as I'd get stuck and have to barf) and I ordered a shrimp cocktail w/pico de gullo and onion rings. Had about 5 shrimp and an onion ring. Oh... and a very cool drink, forget what it's called but it had three shots of rum. Needless to say, I did not drink much of it. ;o) Most of my diet is veggies and since I don't eat much Protein I do drink Protein Shakes but I like them so it's not an issue. So usually it's something like this... Meal #1: Protein shake Meal #2: Steamed veggies with various oils and spices Meal #3: salad of some sort Meal #4: Tortilla w/refried Beans, pico de gullo, cheese, taco sauce Throw in malted milk balls, gummy worms, or a chocolate bar and that's an example. ;o))) I'm dealing with a sweet tooth lately. Heh... I also eat stuffed bell peppers, burgers, lots of wild rice, Soups, veggie wraps, BLTs with a tortilla instead of bread, etc.

Actually they do pay for revisions because people did not lose enough. If the person can show effort such as a gym membership, receipts from a personal trainer, WW, OA, etc., that is often times enough for a revision. Usually a two year wait has to be met after the original surgery unless there is a mechanical problem that needs to be repaired. The problem is that most people in this country do not have WLS benefits. Most believe WLS goes hand in hand with major medical and it does not. It's an extra premium for the employer.

MX and the US share the same Standard of Care in this case. One thing I should clarify, let's say you are at goal and wanting a revision from band to bypass or DS... then it is not possible. You couldn't help but to lose massive amounts of weight with malabsorption. You have a little more control over it with a sleeve. So revision from band to sleeve is doable at goal. Nope, no aftercare issues. Get surgery and you are done for life. I've seen my surgeon once since my revision 9 months ago and that was when I went with my banded friend to get her band fill. I didn't have the appt, she did. She's jealous of my lack of aftercare and I like that. HAHAHAHA

I was a 20.8 BMI when I had my revision. The Standard of Care in the US and MX is to do a revision in one surgery. You can't get a straight sleeve under a 30BMI but if you have a history of obesity you can get a revision even if you are at goal. The thinking is that it is dangerous to remove a band, send you home, wait for you to gain weight, then come back for a 2nd surgery and have you lose again. The more weight you carry the riskier surgery is. Doing it at goal is actually easier for the surgeon as well. Having two surgeries doubles the risk for potential complications such as anesthesia, infection, bleeding, etc. So it's safer to do it in one procedure, remove the band and do a sleeve.