Listywood

I am having my band removed 5-14-07. I found a surgeon here in town that will take it out. It is going to cost me about $7000 if no complications arise. It was not that much cheaper to go back to Mexico to have it out. I just didn't want to go back there and have this done and have possible complications so I opted to use the doctor here in town that graciously agreed to do it for me. My esophagus is not funtioning and is spasming. I have had the band in 2 years and have lost 60 pounds. They say the band is in the correct place and does not look eroded or slipped. It seems that my body is rejecting it. I never could eat very well and I was mostly just eating soft foods. Hence the slow weight loss. I'm okay with it all. I got a band to be healthier and it has actually made me sick and possibly damaged my esophagus for life. I am very happy with the 60 pounds and I am going to work hard to keep it off. I need to lose about 50 more pounds and I am determined to do that. I just have to do it without a band or pills. I plan on using visualization and life style changes to fight my battles with weight from now on. I see the surgeon tomorrow and will try to write something then. I am possibly unemployed now because of all of this. I am using vacation time right now and either my work place will let me go on FMLA (family Medical leave) or they won't and I will lose my job. It has been a nightmare year of being sick and going to doctors. It was only after a esophagram that they realized that I was not making it all up. The doctor I have is a jerk. But now it is almost all over and hopefully my esophagus will come back soon and life will go on like normal.

I would like to talk to anyone who has had their band removed and been able to keep the weight they lost off. My journey with this band has opened my eyes to something I would never have believed was happening in the USA. I am appalled at the some of the medical community in my area and the attitude of the insurance companies towards Lap Band Surgery. I don't think the area I live in, is at a point where I want to involve my health any more in pursuing WLS. I can almost undertand insurance not wanting to help with this at this point but what I can not understand is that they are so unwilling to help someone who needs medical attention but because it is band related they wash their hands of you. Why is my life worth saving if I am fat with a bunch of medical conditions but not worth saving if I have WLS???? Why do they now advertise it so much on TV then. There is not enough space here to describe the encounters I have had with the gastro doctor I have been dealing with. Maybe it is just him but let's just say that I am not sure if it is the fact that I had this done in Mexico that has made him so unbelievably callus and uncaring for the health issues I am experiencing or if it is WLS in gerneral that he has a problem with, but he has (and his nurse I might add) pretty much told me without actually saying it that he wants nothing to do with me because of this band. I really wish I had taped some of the conversations I had with his nurse on the phone and with him at the few visits he has allowed me in his office. This on top of the unfortunate problems the lap band is causing me has sent me over the edge. I'm afraid because I live in this area with these attitudes about WLS, another kind of surgery would cause me to be so emotionally fragile that I would have problems with it no matter how safe or secure the surgery was. I don't mean to scare anyone but really I would make sure I had support from local doctors if I were to ever do something like this again. You can have all the money and insurance you need but without support from a doctor I doubt it will mean much. I was 110 pounds over weight in a 5'2" frame and had sleep apnea, fallen arches, border line high blood pressure and was just waiting to get diabetes which runs in my family. I had tried every diet, every pill, therapy etc and nothing helped. I felt disabled in the body I had. I want to think I live in a world where no matter what the reason I am fat or am medically suffering is, that there is help for me. I am not sure that world exists. All that said I apologize for the long post again. I do have a couple of options at this point thanks to the good Dr. Curry who saw my original post on this sight and who deserves all the praise I can give him for being a good and decent doctor who is truly concerned about people, and my Mexican doctor, Dr. Pedro Kuri. I am hanging in here but know that this is not over yet. It may financially break me and I may lose my job but I am praying for the courage and strength to make it through. All of you that were unfortunate enough to have similar problems, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your input, concern and understanding, and want you to know that you are all in my prayers. To those of you who are not having problems or just thinking of WLS let me say that I wish you all the best and feel you deserve and should expect the best life has to offer and the compassion and understanding from all human life on this planet. We have a crisis going on in this world of obesity. We are the pioneers that are needed for change and understanding for future generations. What we are doing is important not only to our own lives but to other lives as well. Be brave and perservere!

I also get this mid section discomfort and I have had that off and on since the very beginning of being banded but not as often as now. My whole mid section aches and feels like I have bruised ribs and organs. I have started wearing a sports bra that makes me look like a uni-boob and I am very self conscious of that. But it does help. I have to wear it when I work because an under wire bra will start this dicomfort and get bad after about two hours. I am busty and my boobs hang to my waist from all the weight loss. blushing.........

For those of you who have mild complications I feel I should explain mine so you don't get confused between what is going on with you in comparison to me which is leading me to band removal..... I seem to have all of them and most people on here just seem to have one or two........they are not listed in any order.... 1. Gurgling sounds. Loud and embarrassing sometimes after just a sip of Water. 2. Shoulder pain in the center but more to the left. It is so bad some days that it radiates down my left arm. Very distracting. It comes and goes. Last episode has lasted 3 days on and off. 3. Extremely tired and need at least 12 hours sleep a night to remain calm enough to handle the day. When I don't get sleep I cry constantly and feel so lonely and unsupported. With sleep I seem to be stronger and more stable. 4. Foggy head and poor concentration. I forget what I just did. Constantly doing things 2 or 3 times because I am not sure if I just did it or not. When people are talking to me for moments at a time I am fully aware that I not comprehending one word they are saying. I get very anxious and have to pull myself back in order to make sense of the words that I am hearing. 5.Can't eat vegetables, fruit or meat. Causes golf balls in the throat feeling and sliming and nausea. I used to vomit with it once in a while. Fortunately have not vomited since a case of stomach flu in early March after which my symptoms reacurred and have slowly gotten worse but before which were fairly decent. Not great but tolerable. Last October before I had the band unfilled they were bad like they are now but relieved from complete band unfill. I don't eat enough now to vomit I think. 6. Resigned to soft foods only. Once in a while I can eat something and not have problems. It is so sporadic that I feel it is no longer worth it to even try. There is just no way to tell before hand, if it will go down or not. I am afraid of further damaging my esophagus. 7. Sore throat. I have an on again off again sore throat since May of 2006. I can get it several times a day or have it constantly for days on end. I have white Patches in my throat all the time. My reg. doctor told me they were common. Not pussy like strep but just some sort of whitish/yellowish something they call a stone. I did have strep twice when I first started seeing doctors in June of 2006 however. 8. Have been running a low grade temp 99.2 - 99.8 off and on since March 5th after the stomach flu and vomiting several times. I should say that I am taking a Tramadol almost every day now and sometimes two. On days I feel better I don't take any but those days seem to be fewer. I am sure that contributes to my memory problems. I am working week day mornings right now and I NEVER take it before or at work. I do not want to be driving while I take tramadol. I am very strict about that. I also think that by now I am pretty mal nourished. Blood tests done on March 22 in the ER (thats another story about the rotten doctor I have) seemed to show nothing that concerned them. I'm not sure how they diagnose mal nutrition. But I think it may be what causes the memory and foggy head thing also. I also should point out that I smoke. I know! Strike me dead! Please no lectures. I have heard them all many times. In March after the flu episode I started on a drug called Chantix to quit smoking it was working fantastically but it caused horrible gas. I lasted almost 3 weeks and had to quit it because I was suffering so badly on top of what was already going on. Immediately I felt a difference in the gas I had but my other symptoms continued to worsen and within a couple of weeks I was smoking again. Try to understand that stress is a trigger for addicted smokers. I just hate admitting that I smoke. But I owe you that addmission in case it could be a contributing factor. As soon as I get better I will quit once and for all with Chantix. Try not to blast me for smoking. That is for another board. I know I should quit especially after having a band. I quit before I had the band placed and started back up several months later and quit since then about 4 times. And if you are still reading this ( I don't blame you if you aren't because it is so long again.)......... But when I read what I posted early today I was embarrassed. I am not going to read this one. Believe it or not I am usually a very shy and private person. I am not usually so vocal but this situation I have found myself in seems to have alienated me from not only doctors but friends and family at one time or another. I often feel no one is listening to me. They are as sick of me being sick as I am. Don't blame them. I don't know why I am blabbing so much today except that I woke up this morning and went right to the computer and started writing. Something I never do on a Saturday. I must be going crazy.

When I started having trouble with my band it was with a sore throat. That was last June. I went to doctor and had strep and had to go back two weeks later and still had strep. That time I knocked it out but never felt better. Still sore throat and still had Patches in throat and felt very tired and looked pale all the time. Sometimes my whole neck hurt. I was tested for Mono and supposedly had that. However I went to 2 different doctors and they disagreed. One said it was an old infection and could have been years ago and the other said it had to be a fairly recent infection because I still had very high levels of Epstein-Barr in my blood and Mono usually does cause symptoms of sore throat. Never really did find anyone who knew for sure what those levels meant. Was told it could take a year to get over Mono and I dealt with it. I did have trouble swallowing during this time also. Like everything was caught in my throat as high as the adams apple. I continued to feel crappy tired and sick until Finally in October I had my fill completely taken out. I should add that I had a too tight fill in February and knew it but thought if I lost weight it would loosen up and I did not want to fly to SLC again to have soem taken out. I hate flying. Stupid I know. The unfil made it better and I improved. But I never really got over the sore throats. I ended up going to the worst gastro doctor on the planet and now am having esophagus issues after a day of stomach flu in March and have decided to take the band out. Working on that now. If I could do it all over again I would have taken care of that tight fill right away. I had no idea that a sore throat could be related to my band and neither did any of the many doctors I saw at the time. But it definately did. I have been sick for almost a year now and I am ready to give my band up. At this point all I can eat is Ensure, Soup and ice cream. No solids for weeks and I don't remember the last time I had vegetables, fruit or meat. I can't say that your sore throat is your band but I am 100% sure a year later that sore throat of mine was caused by the band. I still have it and it comes and goes. I have had every test they can think of to do and the only one that shows something unusual was the barium swallow one and my esophagus was not functioning on that. Bye bye band. :cry I want my health back.

Wow! This is the first time I have been here. I have been sick for over a year now after being banded in March of 2005. I have been to so many doctors that I feel insane. Last June I started a journey that is still going on. I had my surgery in Mexico (there were no doctors doing lap bands in Boise, Idaho where I live) and just a few months after that I started having problems with pain on my right side. Went to a doctor that wanted me to have my gall bladder removed. I refused and got a second opinion from a gasterologist and he wanted to do an endoscopy. In a few weeks the pain went away and I did not go through with the endoscope. That was in June/July of 2005. Everything seemed fine. In June of 2006, after a really tight fill the February before, I started getting a sore throat. My whole neck hurt. I felt really weak and tired all the time. I went through 2 rounds of strep throat medicine and still my throat felt tight and sore even though the strep throat was gone. I was exhausted all the time. They tested me for Mono and I had high levels of Epstein-Barr Virus but never did find anyone to tell me exactly what that meant. One doctor would say it was nothing but an old infection the other telling me that I would possibly be sick for up to a year with Mono. Finally in September I had so much trouble swallowing that I was feeling seriously mal nutritioned. Still very weak and having trouble concentrating I told doctor I wanted someone to look in my throat and make sure something was not growing in there. She sent me to a gasterologist. It took a month and 1/2 to get an appointment with him. In the mean time I went to Salt Lake City to have the band unfilled. (closest place I could go to have that done.) The unfill seemed to help a lot and I did have some improvement. But still I was worried. I still could not eat much and vegetables and fruit were not a part of my diet at all let alone meat. I saw the gasterologist in mid November. He scheduled an endoscope for Jan. 4th. He was very confused about my symptoms and did not seem to think it was band related either. The endoscope showed nothing I guess except some swelling. My husband and I misunderstood him the day of the procedure and thought he said I had an ulcer in my lower esophagus. My next appointment with him was on March 13th. My first question was how long would it take this ulcer to heal and he claimed he never said I had an ulcer. I was doing better thinking all that time that I had an ulcer and that was the reason I was not able to eat anything but liquids and soft food. It was just going to take time. He scheduled a barium swallow test for two days later on the 16th. During that test the radiologist told me he had never seen an esophagus in a person my age act like mine. (I'm 49) He said it was just quivering and I basically had just a drain. (I would make lots of embarrassing noise while eating or drinking I might add) He knew of nothing that could be done. I was devasted and it took 2 weeks and a lot of begging and crying to get back into the doctor who would not return my calls. I was a mess. All they would tell me on the phone was that I needed a hiatal hernia surgery. I was freaked. My husband went to the next appointment with me on April 4th (the soonest I could get in) and he must have scared the doctor by just looking at him. It was as if the doctor had still not read the report of the last test. He told us that the surgeon that they had told me to contact for surgery for a hiatal hernia would not do the surgery. They basically did not know what was wrong with me and I would have to find someone else. Without saying it directly he been dropping hints that because I went to Mexico they did not want to deal with me. He said he would call the radiologist as soon as he had time. That evening around 5 pm he called and said he had called the surgeon and found out that others had been having these problems and the band needed to come out. Supposedly the surgeon will do that. They would not know the extent of the nerve damage to my esophagus for 3 years because nerves healed slowly if at all. Oh and by the way that huge hiatal hernia was not huge and did not need surgery all of the sudden. Yesterday I had that test done where they go through the nose and down into the stomach. I was told by the doctor that did it, that my esophagus was fine and working well. I don't know what to think now. I see the surgeon next week on the 24th. This has been a nightmare. A roller coaster of doctors saying things and then recanting. All I know is that I am close to losing my job for missing so much work. I am pretty sure I am uninsured with anything relating to the band. I am feeling insane and am still suffering. I am living on Ensure and soup and ice cream. I am trying to get a leave from work and they are not budging either because bands are not covered. I am in a pickle. I have lost close to 70 pounds and I am grateful for that even though I could still stand to lose 50 more. Many of the health problems I suffered from being over weight have vanished. But now I have a whole set of new problems that are really scary. I want the band out of me. I want to be healthy. I don't know if I will be able to find a doctor to touch me in the US. However the nurse keeps telling me I would be crazy to take such a drastic measure of having the doctor in Mexico remove it. Maybe I was crazy to go to Mexico to have this done but I think the doctors in the US are making me insane. Sorry this is so long. But I needed to get it out. Has anyone heard of a Mexican banded person getting help having a band taken out in the US? Is there any possibility of having my insurance cover such a thing. I will keep you all posted on what happens next after I see the surgeon next Tuesday. Am I sorry I got the band? Yes and no. I know many people who are banded (in Mexico I might add) who have had no problems and lost all their weight. It is luck of the draw I guess. I do not fault my Mexican doctor. I am shocked that these bands are basically uninsured if you have problems. If I have any advice it would be to go through the exhausting years it takes to get your insurance to pay to have a band put in. Then if you have problems surely you would be covered and the doctors would be more willing to treat you. Patty Banded 3-17-05 260 lbs today 195 and perfectly happy with that weight.

Wow! This is the first time I have been here. I have been sick for over a year now after being banded in March of 2006. I have been to so many doctors that I feel insane. Last June I started a journey that is still going on. I had my surgery in Mexico (there were no doctors doing lap bands in Boise, Idaho where I live) and just a few months after that I started having problems with pain on my right side. Went to a doctor that wanted me to have my gall bladder removed. I refused and got a second opinion from a gasterologist and he wanted to do an endoscopy. In a few weeks the pain went away and I did not go through with the endoscopy. That was in June/July of 2005. Everything seemed fine. In June of 2006 after a really tight fill the February before I started getting a sore throat. My whole neck hurt. I felt really weak and tired all the time. I went through 2 rounds of strep throat medicine and still my throat felt tight and sore a lot even though the strep throat was gone. I was exhausted all the time. They tested me for Mono and I had high levels of Epstein-Barr Virus but never did find anyone to tell me exactly what that meant. One doctor would say it was nothing but an old infection the other telling me that I would possibly be sick for up to a year with Mono. Finally in September I had so much trouble swallowing that I was feeling seriously mal nutritioned. Still very weak and having trouble concentrating I told doctor I wanted someone to look in my throat and make sure something was not growing in there. She sent me to a gasterologist. It took a month and 1/2 to get an appointment with him. In the mean time I went to Salt Lake City to have the band unfilled. (closest place I could go to have that done.) The unfill seemed to help a lot and I did have some improvement. But still I was worried. I still could not eat much and vegetables and fruit were not a part of my diet at all let alone meat. I saw the gasterologist in mid November. He scheduled an endoscope for Jan. 4th. He was very confused about my symptoms and did not seem to think it was band related either. The endoscope showed nothing I guess except some swelling. My husband and I misunderstood him the day of the procedure and thought he said I had an ulcer in my lower esophagus. My next appointment with him was on March 13th. My first question was how long would it take this ulcer to heal and he claimed he never said I had an ulcer. I was doing better thinking all that time that I had an ulcer and that was the reason I was not able to eat anything but liquids and soft food. It was just going to take time. He scheduled a barium swallow test for two days later on the 16th. During that test the radiologist told me he had never seen an esophagus in a person my age act like mine. (I'm 49) He said it was just quivering and I basically had just a drain. (I would make lots of embarrassing noise while eating or drinking I might add) He knew of nothing that could be done. I was devasted and it took 2 weeks and a lot of begging and crying to get back into the doctor who would not return my calls. I was a mess. All they would tell me on the phone was that I needed a hiatal hernia surgery. I was freaked. My husband went to the next appointment with me on April 4th (the soonest I could get in) and he must have scared the doctor by just looking at him. It was as if the doctor had still not read the report of the last test. He told us that the surgeon that they had told me to contact for surgery for a hiatal hernia would not do the surgery. They basically did not know what was wrong with me and I would have to find someone else. Without saying it directly he been dropping hints that because I went to Mexico they did not want to deal with me. He said he would call the radiologist as soon as he had time. That evening around 5 pm he called and said he had called the surgeon and found out that others had been having these problems and the band needed to come out. Supposedly the surgeon will do that. They would not know the extent of the nerve damage to my esophagus for 3 years because nerves healed slowly if at all. Oh and by the way that huge hiatal hernia was not huge and did not need surgery all of the sudden. Yesterday I had that test done where they go through the nose and down into the stomach. I was told by the doctor that did it that my esophagus was fine and working well. I don't know what to think now. I see the surgeon next week on the 24th. This has been a nightmare. A roller coaster of doctors saying things and then recanting. All I know is that I am close to losing my job for missing so much work. I am pretty sure I am uninsured with anything relating to the band. I am feeling insane and am still suffering. I am living on Ensure and soup and ice cream. I am trying to get a leave from work and they are not budging either because bands are not covered. I am in a pickle. I have lost close to 70 pounds and I am grateful for that even though I could still stand to lose 50 more. Many of the health problems I suffered from being over weight have vanished. But now I have a whole set of new problems that are really scary. I want the band out of me. I want to be healthy. I don't know if I will be able to find a doctor to touch me in the US. However the nurse keeps telling me I would be crazy to take such a drastic measure of having the doctor in Mexico remove it. Maybe I was crazy to go to Mexico to have this done but I think the doctors in the US are making me insane. Sorry this is so long. But I needed to get it out. Has anyone heard of a Mexican banded person getting help having a band taken out? Is there any possibility of having my insurance cover such a thing. I will keep you all posted on what happens next after I see the surgeon next Tuesday. Am I sorry I got the band? Yes and no. I know many people who are banded who have had no problems and lost all their weight. It is luck of the draw I guess. I do not fault my Mexican doctor. I am shocked that these bands are basically uninsured if you have problems. If I have any advice it would be to go through the exhausting years it takes to get your insurance to pay to have a band put in. Then if you have problems surely you would be covered and the doctors would be more willing to treat you. Patty Banded 3-17-05 260 lbs today 195 and perfectly happy with that weight.

Dr. C, I am absolutely amazed at this message board. I have had more help in one day here, than I have in over a year of doctors. I would love to send you my email address so that I can contact the girl in Idaho that you removed the band for. That would be of great help. Problem is that I don't know how to do that without putting my email address out there. Can you help an old fuddy duddy to get her email address to you. I see you have a web site. Should I go there?

Gosh you guys. I really don't know how to work all of this. I hope I am not irritating by not doing things right. Posting, replying etc.... is all new. To the person who asked what state I am in. Idaho. To the other poster Natalies mom...... I replied but I may not have done it right. Thank you too

Thanks for your reply Marimaru. I agree that the American Medical Community needs to change. I swear they wish I would go away and I am mostly ignored. I thought doctors were supposed to save lives, and not just some lives. Such is life these days. I am so surprised that a forum of this type exists. I am just learning how it all works and am still confused. I have to say that I thought I was stark raving mad. I really did. All these ailments I have and the scared to death feeling was more than I could handle. Now I see I am not alone. The problems you all have are just like mine!!! That in itself has had a healing affect for me. I must be in the right place!! THANK YOU ALL. Too bad I was such an old fuddy duddy and didn't find you a lot sooner. I could have saved myself a lot of grief. No looking back now. You are here.