SamiB

Hello, first of all thanks for coming to see what my story is all about...
In 2007 a friend and I decided to go to Mexico and be banded. I had went to several pre op meetings and did all I was supposed to do but my insurance just would not cover the lap band procedure. My friend and I had talked about this for months and planned to do this journey together.
When I came home from my surgery I had no problems, none! everything was amazing, I had found a great fill dr. before we left who would do fills for patients from Mexico and my weightloss journey began.
1.5 years into my journey, I had lost 40 lbs that was yo, yoing but on I went..... until I went for a fill and it seemed like nothing happend and there was no change in my band. I never went back for anymore fills and actually I got back to the point that I could eat normal again, like I had no band.
Jan. of 2010 I got serious about weightloss and started counting calories and exercising with the comfort of knowing my band was there for me to use when I was ready to start getting fills again. I loved that the band was there for me and it boosted my confidence that if the dieting/counting calories/exercise didnt work, well I could turn to the band to use along with everything else I was doing. A year later I had lost 75 lbs and I did it with out any fills, it was amazing,

UNTIL: March of 2011 I started getting sick, what I thought was a lactose intollerance turned out to be far, far worse than I could ever imagine. It started with stomach pains behind my rib cage and radiated to my back, my shoulders and severe vomiting with nothing coming up. It seems like whenever I needed to vomit nothing would come up, and this was new. The pain got to the point that it would last 5-6 hours, it was worse than passing a kidney stone and yes, I have passed kidney STONES before. I went to my regular Dr. and talked to her about the pain and she immediatly ordered an endioscope and referred me to a bariatric surgeon.
This had been going on for about year starting small and finally getting to the point I was sick all the time and missing alot of work. Having the band there are many pains, bloating, vomiting and cramping that come with it that are normal; at the beginging it just seemed normal until I knew that pain like this was my body telling me something.
The upper GI revealed that I had an eroded stomach caused by the band and the band had to come out. The worry and fear set in as I sat there in my Dr. office hearing that my stomach was eroded and that this was a rare occurence so there is not a whole lot of these surgerys performed. I was worried what the outcome of my stomach would be, I worried about weight gain and I worried what life would be like after.
After a 5 hour surgery due to 2/3 of my stomach being eroded and few other things that was reacting to the band, the band was gone.
I was in the hospital for 5 days and came home with a feeding tube that stayed with me for a month, I never used the feeding tube but it was there for emergency purpose and incase my stomach wouldn't heal. My doctor assumed that this erosion had been going on for about a year or so after surgury, she said it looked like my band was placed right, my port was correct and that I had a good band. (I asked specifically because I had my surgery in Mexico)
I am a month post band removal and here I am, doing great and getting stronger by the day, I was so sick for so long I am excited the band is out. The feeding tube came out and have had to relearn to eat after such an intense surgery but here I am, happy I didn't lose my stomach or have to live from a feeding tube.

When I sat down with my bariatric surgeon I asked her why this happens... and she said there are many reasons this can happen from not taking care of the band/diet, to it not being placed right especailly back in the beging days.
I then asked about me and what she thought about my case, my dr looked me in the eyes and said... your body rejected this band, all your organs around the band and your stomach began to eat it.... it simply came down to my body not liking the band! WOW! (she also suggested I never put anything foreingn in my body again) one strange thing, I never had the red, swollen, or infected port site!

so that is my story: as far as my friend goes she is doing great has lingered about 10-15 pounds from goal weight, but oh my goodness she looks great! perferct to me and no problems.

I guess I just want to get support from others who are post band and support those who are dealing with this fear themselves.... and educate others that if you are having pain, symptoms please get it checked out as soon as possible.