Katherine

CHHS---This is from another board by a bandster I know......thought I'd post it for you. I went to see my surgeon today and he confirmed that I have a band slip. So I am posting this as a caution to all bandsters, because even experienced bandsters like me can screw up. How did it happen? That is simple. I just overate for too many days in a row, followed by some gag reflex although I didn't vomit. According to my doc that is the #1 cause of band slippage in his experience. What does it mean? The overeating causes concentric pouch dilation - basically the pouch starts to get stretched out. The gagging or if you vomit - well that will cause some of the stomach tissue to 'slip' up through the band. This causes the band to become too tight as it has more stomach tissue inside than before - causing an obstruction. What were the symptoms? The first symptom was the loss of my soft stop signal (I always hiccup when I have eaten the right amount). The second symptom was the ability to eat much more than I have in the last two years. The doc said that any time you start being able to eat a lot more - you need to stop and get it checked. The third symptom was reflux - that is the killer symptom and the troublemaker for me. Other symptoms are nausea and vomiting, which I didn't experience. Why did it happen to me? Stupidity on my part. My doc is great, my band was great. I KNEW these symptoms and risks and I allowed my recent stresses to overcome my intelligence and common sense. What next? Well thanks to this wonderful forum, and especially Jason's recent experience, I self-diagnosed the slip and started on liquids 5 days ago. The doc said that because I caught it myself, in time, that I may have saved myself a surgery to repair it. I will be on liquids mostly for the next four weeks and then go in for a recheck. If at any time the reflux comes back or any signs worsen, I will go in for an unfill. Since I have been doing well on liquids he decided to wait on that option. Trust me when I say that I feel very lucky. And I want to add the warning that a band slip is not always accompanied by pain and misery, as recently posted on this very forum. I know many people who have gone through this. Now I know it personally. Don't be afraid - this was 100% self inflicted. We have band rules for a reason.

yeah...stress for me feels like an overfill, nothing solid goes down!

Have you heard of Dr Alberto Aceves? He's very good, located in Mexicalli Dr. Alberto Aceves M.D. - Meet Some Of Our Patients He will also get you set up for fills with participating dr's in your area so you don't have to keep going back to MX. Good Luck!

I've heard that flying does affect the band. Personally, I can't say if it does or not because I'm usually stressed when flying and that tightens my band all on it's own! Because of that, I never eat while on the plane---just drinking water.

Hi Judy, yes you could that I had no clue these boards even existed until March of this year. Finding support forums has been extremely helpful in my journey, I felt like it finally began once I found fellow bandsters! I was self pay and went to Mexico so I think it's different in support compared to US dr's and local groups.