Loser75

Hi Everyone, I need some advice with stopping the weight gain I've experienced since I was disbanded 16 weeks ago. I had a pretty severe erosion and had the band removed. I had it for nearly 6 years. I opted not to get a replacement because the erosion was such a bad experience, I didn't want the worry of another band slippage down the road. Since being disbanded, my health has dramatically improved. I'm not experiencing severe acid reflux, inflamed stomach and esophagus, vomiting every single night no matter what, pain and sleeplessness, etc. However, I've gained 10 lbs in 16 weeks and I'm worried that at this pace I won't be able to fit through a doorway soon. The hunger has come back strongly and I'm not "bulemic" anymore. Everything goes down just fine unfortunately. I've been taking phentermine to take the edge off the hunger, and I've been walking and going to the gym much more often, but I still can't seem to keep the weight from piling back on. I have to say, this is truly a shock. I really thought I would be able to keep my weight stable but apparently my body has other ideas of its own. It's like all of the sudden, my body thinks it had been starving and is now in massive fat storing mode again in case there's a giant food shortage in the future. I am seriously considering getting converted to VSG if I can talk DH into letting me spend the $11,000. He seems to think it should be so incredibly easy for me to lose weight without the band. Well, that's why I got the band to begin with, I could not do it without serious help. What's the verdict - am I going to need to get a revision surgery to stop from plumping my way back into a queen size wardrobe again? It seems like my worst fear - regaining all that fat I hated - is coming true. I admit that I loved being normal body weight and feeling like I was attractive again. It wasn't so much a health issue for me but more of an emotional/social issue. I felt extremely self conscious about my weight when I was heavy and I isolated myself because of it. I never want to go back to that depressed and sad person again. I may override DH and spend the money and work OT to make it up in the future. Thanks.

Hi, I am 42, 5'8", and used to weigh 220 lbs and rising. Every year was a little more weight, and a little more, and a little more. At age 36 I was sick of being the fat person in my circle of friends. I had a band installed in Monterrey, Mexico in 2001 by Dr. Rumbaut and worked with Dr. Fox in Tacoma, WA afterward for follow up. The weight loss was slow but steady and I got down to 160 and hit a plateau for a year. Then I went through a divorce and the stress caused/helped me lose more weight and got down to 145. Husband 1.0 was a very jealous man and wanted me to stay heavy so no one else would ever look at me. :paranoid Husband 2.0 and I got married April 1, 2006 and he constantly wants me to dress like a prostitute . Talk about opposites. I'm pretty conservative so I generally dress business casual/professional, at least in public. Unfortunately, I started having symptoms of acid reflux about 2 years ago. Gradually over time things have worsened to the point that now I can barely sleep at night. I gradually got the point of vomiting every night before bed because I couldn't sleep with even a molecule of food in my stomach. When my esophogus started bleeding, I finally went into the doctor and got the news I knew deep down I was going to get. My band has slipped and the X-ray shows that it has turned at an angle and is causing somewhat of a blockage. It's pretty bad and they recommended that I get it repaired as soon as possible. "Soon" means probably another month from now despite my severe symptoms. I am now considering three options: -- get the band completely removed (my insurance would pay, but I would likely gain weight over time) -- get the band removed but convert to VG (no worries about slipped band again but my insurance will probably not pay) -- get the band repaired (still have the band but would worry about another slippage down the road and don't know if insurance would pay) Since I am pretty close to my goal weight, I don't think I would consider a conversion to gastric bypass. I don't really want my plumbing re-routed and at this point my main concern is to be sure I don't gain the weight back in future years with no band in place. I NEVER would have lost 75 lbs without it. Even with a divorce 3 years ago and the nasty symptoms I am dealing with now, I have zero regrets about getting it done. I truly hated being fat and I never want to go back. Never. My question to this wonderful group of people is this: For those of you with a slipped band, why did you choose what you did for repair or removal and are you happy with your choice? Thank you.

Jacki, I'm debating back and forth between Dr Pleatman in Michigan or Dr Joya in Puerta Vallarta. They seem to be most experienced in VSG revision. Dr Pleatman will charge $12,000 because I don't have a "virgin" stomach for him to operate on. I live in Washington, I would need to pay for airfare, hotel and rental car also with a trip to Michigan. Dr Joya advertises all expenses paid for $11,000 but I don't know if he charges more for us non-virgin stomachs. I've seen slightly cheaper prices in other parts of Mexico, but the experience level of those surgeons made me more hesitant to go with the lowest bidder. It's already bad enough that I've now paid $11,800 to get the band put in, another $12,000 to have it removed and will tack on $13,500 to get the gastric sleeve. This is putting a crimp in my retirement savings, but I think living as a thin person is worth it for me. Dropout, I think you're right that the genetic thing is so incredibly hard to fight. Damn skinny people with the metabolism of a race horse think you can eat like an NFL linebacker and burn it off by taking the stairs instead of the elevator to your 3rd floor desk twice a day. I wish.

Alexandra, Thanks for the suggestion about swimming. My gym has a pool, and I think its past time I check it out and do some laps. It's been a really long time (like childhood/college years) since I actually went swimming vs going to the pool and laying out in the sun. I was normal body weight through college, but piled on the weight when I started doing office work and eating all the bad food in the vending machines and the ubiquitous meeting donuts. I've also been trying to do a more "Atkins" or maybe it's "South Beach" or "Zone" or whatever, but I'm definitely trying to concentrate on eating more protein and forcing down some vegetables. Good suggestions, thanks.

If you want to do the sleeve, don't wait until you are experiencing symptoms of stomach inflammation. I had a pretty severe erosion and they would not convert me to a VSG at the time I had my band removed because my stomach and esophagus were severely inflamed. Now, my health is greatly improved, enough that I can do the sleeve but I was hoping I could keep my weight stable without a 2nd surgery. Unfortunately I'm having trouble with weight gain since being disbanded, despite my best efforts. I know how you feel with the frustration of really trying hard and not getting the results you deserve. Sounds to me like getting a revision to a VSG would be a good way for you to go, just don't wait to decide and find out they can't do it until you heal from the band removal. I definitely stuck my head in the sand and didn't face up to the fact that my band was gradually going bad until things got really, really bad.

Good question jlynn. I'm annoyed because I'm not choosing to take the band out on a whim, my doctor has said it is medically necessary to do something to fix it. I simply think insurance should kick in for things that go wrong with us. The Xray technician said I was in danger of developing very serious and permanent esophagus problems if I didn't get this taken care of right away. I would think that the insurance company would look at this type of situation and say, it will cost us less to take her band out than start paying for cancer treatments a year from now. We could use many examples from other life situations where insurance pays even when we do something to ourselves. For example, if I got a tattoo and it got massively infected, my insurance would cover medical treatment for that, even though I chose to do something that was "cosmetic" to myself. So yes, even though I self paid to be banded and chose to do this to myself, I still think insurance should have paid to take it out because things have gone very bad and my long term health is at risk if I try to ignore it.

"Did your doc mention any of this? To your knowledge, is this accurate? I keep getting conflicting opinions. Did your doc say *anything* about the difference between a new/repositioned band vs. an original placement? Also, if your band has slipped, why would you have gotten a whole new band? That's an extra $2K. Or, did I misunderstand?" -------------------------------------- My Dr didn't mention anything about repositioning the band. He looked at my Xrays and immediately went to "you need to have a new one put in". He said the one I have is too small and I would probably have problems again in the future at some point. The newer bands (2007 technology vs 2001 technology) apparently are working for people much better. He highly recommended that I would be better off with a new band but I didn't want to pay the extra and I don't want the worry anymore. The price difference between getting a new band installed vs simply removing the old one was $10,000. Not sure why it was so much, I guess my Dr. needs a new set of Ping golf clubs.

I have Regence Blue Shield Select Network plan and they do NOT cover lap band removal, however, there are other Regence plans that DO cover removal. I am going to be paying $12,000 to have mine removed here in the US. I think there are other doctors that are cheaper in the US, but I decided not to go with the lowest bidder, so to speak. My doctor is going to send all my stuff through my insurance company anyway and see on the off chance if there's any part of it they will cover, but it's not looking likely. Here's another suggestion I heard - see if your doctor can perform another surgery at the same time as the band removal and only charge you for that portion of it. For example, my doctor has done hernia repairs at the same time for other patients and the insurance paid for that part. It dropped the out of pocket expense for the patient by quite a bit.

Here's me down 75 lbs!

I had my band put in in Mexico in 2001 by Dr. Rumbaut for 10,800 + travel costs. Unfortunately, I now need to have it removed due to a pretty bad slip and esophagus problems. I had the choice to get a new one put in, but I don't want the worries of having problems again in the next potential 30-40 years of my expected life span. I am having the band removed in the US because my parents have insisted on paying for part of the surgery, which was very kind of them, especially since I am a 42 year old adult. They really didn't want to worry about me going to Mexico again, even though I did not have a bad experience there. However, adding on travel to the expense and stress of surgery isn't the ideal choice. My surgeon, Dr. Peter Billing in Edmonds, WA is charging me $12,000 for the removal on March 29. That covers all surgery costs and follow up appointments. I think he is probably on the expensive side, but he is really a great Dr., very genuinely cares about his patients and treats them well. My brother had gastric bypass from Dr. Billing and has dropped from 350 to 220 (he's 6'3") My bro is doing fantastic, losing the 130 lbs has boosted his self esteem and greatly improved his health. I have to admit that I am really freaking annoyed with my insurance plan for not covering a removal my doctor has told me is absolutely necessary and must be done right away. I have Regence Blue Shield Select Network plan. And to top it off, one of the other health plans my employer offers would have paid for this surgery but I can't switch to that plan until Jan 1, 2008. 9 more months of continuing damage to my stomach and esophagus is not an option. So, thanks mom and dad for helping pay for this. My advice on picking your health care plan, if you have a choice, pick the one that covers the most options and gives you the most coverage even if it costs more in the short term. I never dreamed I would be faced with having the band removed and paying for it myself. I must have been completely in denial that it could happen to me. Seemed like a good idea at the time to pick the health care plan that cost me $200 less a year.

I totally agree that you need to speak some Spanish or have someone with you who speaks Spanish in Monterrey. The doctors are all fluent in English but the nurses aren't. I had to heavily rely on my little Spanish dictionary and what I could remember from college Spanish classes to try and tell them what I needed. I did not get nearly enough help from Dr. Fox in preparing for that trip. They didn't even give me Dr. Rumbaut's phone number before I left. I had to fend for myself and figure it out on the fly. That said, I do think he did a fine job on my surgery and I would recommend him. He did my band back in Sept 2001.

I was just diagnosed with having a slipped band and one of the symptoms I've had for a while has been the nighttime aspiration. I was also running a fever off and on for months and couldn't figure out what was going on. I think I was possibly getting lung infections. I'd be very surprised if you have a slipped band so soon after having it installed unless you have other symptoms along with the night thing - like lots of nausea especially later in the day/evening, not being able to eat or drink anything within 4 hours of going to bed unless you want to have a miserable night, vomiting during the night, acid reflux, esophagus inflammation. I let things get to the point that I was coughing up blood before I would go to the doctor. That's how bad I wanted the weight loss to continue and not give up the band. However, I have now realized that your health is something that all the money in the world can't buy when you've had permanent damage.

I also wanted to mention for the benefit of those people who have been more recently banded or will be banded that this tool is something that I should have treated more carefully. I am not beating myself up here, but I really need to be honest and say that I think my own behavior contributed to my band slipping. I have had it in place for more than 5 years and after a while, complacency sets in and sometimes frustration over not being able to eat like a "normal" person. This truly is a lifelong decision and I was not as diligent as I should have been in caring for this tool over the long term. Five years of Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas dinners and restaurant eating and being surrounded by people who don't know that I had surgery all those years ago and ask me "what was wrong with your food, you didn't hardly eat anything". I started developing bulemic behaviors and would overeat and then go purge. This was partly because I got sick of having to explain to people that I have a band around my stomach and partly because I would go into frustration mode because I could only eat 5 bites of food at a time and then sit there at the dinner table while everyone else ate like a starved football player. So, the bottom line is that you really, really must stay diligent in not overeating/purging or gulping down large quantities of liquids and learning to manage stress for the rest of your life. I feel that these are the things that eventually contributed to me damaging my band. Which brings me to another potential poll question: What do you tell people when they ask you in a restuarant or at a party or other dinner party type of function: "What's wrong with your food, you didn't hardly eat anything?" My answers have ranged from the truth: I had weight loss surgery and this is all I can eat at one sitting, but the food was really good and I enjoyed it. or: It was really good, but I just wasn't as hungry as I thought. or: It was so good, I wanted to save some for leftovers tomorrow. or maybe I should go with: The food was terrible and I want a refund for my dinner. I could save a lot of money this way, ha ha ha. Just kidding.