Tuff Enuff

Hi everyone, it's been awhile. I just posted my problem in another section, this site has changed quite a bit since I was last on here. I had been having some problems with eppisodes of vomiting that kept reoccuring so made an appointment with my surgeon for a total unfill and a barium swallow. Found out I have slippage of my band. Does anyone here know what the percentages are for reoccurance of slippage after a repair or a total replacement? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone know of anything besides protein drinks and skim milk that are allowed on the preop liquid diet? This is really old really fast since I don't care for either of the above. I've been using some sugar free jello at night which seems to help somewhat. Is there any product out there that is actually edible? (In liquid, low fat, no sugar, high protein form?) I am using sugar free syrups in the protein drinks which make them more or less tollerable. Help!

Kashia: I am so sorry to hear you are going through this. Unfortunately I am currently on the other side of that decision. I waited on having mine removed almost too long. If you are still getting liquids and mushies you should be ok for a while. I lasted about two months between being diagnosed and having to go in for emergency surgery because by then I had been five days unable to even get liquids. Not trying to scare you, I think maybe I was a worse case type scenario. I had to pay for both surgeries my insurance wouldn't cover anything whatsoever even though it had become life threatening. As long as you can get liquids and mushies you should be ok, it shouldn't cause damage. Check with your Dr's though. I chose to have it removed as I am too financially wounded now to have been able to do anything about a third surgery if something had gone wrong. The hospital charged me full price same as original surgery, anesthesiologist the same. My surgeon didn't charge as it happened in the first year. I had the tighter time around my cycle as well. Yet another lovely signal of womanhood. How far along are you in your pregnancy? I think they don't really know what causes slippage, there are a lot of theories and speculation. I know I followed everything too the letter and still wound up with slippage. My band was never loose though at any time which resulted in internal swelling at the outset which caused me to be unable to keep down even my saliva. That lasted about three weeks. My Dr. said that it wouldn't have caused the slippage later. I suspect my slippage occured about the time I had my fills. (.3 the first, .3 the second, two days later had to have .3 removed, couple weeks later another .1 removed. No improvements over next couple months, went in for barium swallow & was diagnosed with slippage) ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????? As for weight gain, I am dealing with exactly that problem. It sounds as if you had time to be a true bandster and develop some good habits however. If you do have to go the route I did please hang on to those good habits. Best wishes, Tuff

Don't stress! Mine slipped, I am one of the percentage that had swelling inside after surgery and wound up almost three weeks vomiting up my own saliva at the outset (dehydration, iv's, etc.). My band was never loose and I believe in some ways that contributed to the eventual slippage. (Dr says no but.....) I had to have it removed rather than repaired due to costs. I'm self pay and have had to fund two surgeries in eight months..... pretty much broke. I was also petrified I would swell again and go through the initial three weeks again with internal swelling....the slippage caused same problems as first three weeks. I was five days not even able to do fluids by the time I had it removed. I'm the percentage they warn about, it really bites being the percentage. I would say if you don't have any problems like the vast majority of bandsters and you are careful not to stuff your pouch or eat stuff that gets stuck that you will probably have not problems whatsoever. Wishing you the best of luck.

I hear you, I know if I stuck with the Sanoma diet it would work and I would probably feel so much better physically. Just being stubborn I guess. For some reason I can't seem to get myself on track and it's something I really must do if I'm going to have any type of decent health whatsoever. One hour at a time is the best I can seem to accomplish lately. Wish me luck, here's wishing you the best of luck with your endeavor!

I'm so glad you all have shared your struggles. I'm having a really had time. My band was removed in February and I've gained a lot of weight back. I'm really frustrated and I'm really struggling. This is really lonely and I think it's even more difficult now. Sigh.

Hi All: That was the way it was explained to me... that part of the lower stomach comes up through the banded area and lies off to the side, this causes a kinda catch basin where stuff sits way too long, it can drain or in my case "not".. In my case some things would go through... mushies...liquids, sometimes not and then I would have bouts of vomiting. I suspected slippage in Oct/Nov when the episodes of vomiting got closer and closer together and I couldn't seem to tolerate much beyond mashed potatoes and things of that consistancy. Even milk beverages sat too long and would clabber which would cause blockage which you guessed it caused vomiting. Eventually nothing would pass through and basically it was my saliva coming up. Never nausea, think taking a cup and no matter how quickly or slowly you pour a liquid or any other substance in eventually it will fill up and overflow. Nasty! When I spoke with my surgeon he never mentioned the sutures holding the stomach over the band coming loose. Apparently the slippage happened sometime between September and November. I was banded in May. Diagnosed 12/9/05 and had emergency removal 2/2/06.

Yes it can happen to either type of installation with the band. Mine was the one where they sutured the tissue over the band to try to prevent that from happening. It happened anyway, I'm part of the percentile they tell you about. I had to have mine removed February 2 due to the slippage being severe enough by then I had been five days without even fluids. I'm doing alright now but am bandless and pretty bummed out with the bills still rolling in for the emergency surgery. I've been totally self pay and am feeling a tad bitter. Slippage is where part of the stomach below the band works its way up above the band. Sometimes it can be repaired by simply removing all of the fill and (if there is enough space) it will move back down through the band back to it's original position. They tried that with me but my band was tight enough to begin with that we never made it past a .3 fill. I'm a band failure and am pretty blue.

Thanks Larae, Thats pretty much what I'm doing, been stuck on minimum liquids this week due to nothing else working. Hanging in there with all ten fingers and all ten toes! Dr. Pleatman: My insurance company did not cover the lapband, as far as I can find out they don't cover any weight loss anythings. I really don't want a by-pass it rates up there with mutilation with me. I know, I know what's the difference between what I had done and that? The lap-band I can have removed and I'll have six small scars which could have happened if I had to have say gallbladder surgery. I appreciate you trying to help though and I'm hoping the things I've learned in the past eight months about myself and small portions, etc., will stick and I will keep the weight off. Have a great day! Tuff

Hi Terri It's doubtful if my insurance would gover a bypass. That's not something I'm even very interested in. That procedure scares me to death! Not only that but I've only got about another fourty to sixty pounds to go and feel that would be way overkill. Appreciate the suggestions though!

Wow the percentages keeps getting higher. When I went in for mine the complication percentage quoted to me was 1%. After all of the issues I've had and being diagnosed with slippage December 9, 2005 I was told 3-4% wind up with slippage. Now in here I've read 11% and now 20-24%? I'm self pay, my banding cost me $14,500-15,300 in May and I had severe swelling inside for approximately three weeks, long story short wound up on Iv's for seven days at home and had to pay for those plus a couple of emergency room visits. Took out a home equity line of credit, total actual cost probably closer to $18-$20,000. Found out seven or eight months later I have slippage and it will cost me another $8000 - $9000 to have it repaired, replaced or removed. This is the hospital costs not my surgeon. I am going to have to go into credit card debt in a major way to pay for this. Not Happy! Just because I have insurance means nothing. They will not pay for anything to do with banding. So am inclined to go for removal and just try to deal with my fat as I have all my life. Have never won this battle but hey I might manage it yet. Who fails at weight loss surgery? (I do, I do) So to answer your question of where would you stand. I would guess right about in the spot I'm sitting in at the moment, along with the shades of bankruptcy skittering around in the dark corners of my mind. I will figure this out but it's going to take a long time for me to recover from this financially not to mention health wise. Dang, I could have had a really nice new car!

Pav, I found the liquid B complex at GNC, I think it was around $8.00 per bottle. Here's wishing you best of luck and good news on your appointment with your surgeon! Just another week until my barium swallow to see what it's been up to. (I'm pretty sure I know but hey ya never can tell!)

Pav, you have something else going on, sounds like you definately need to talk to your Surgeon though! This stuff in nothing to mess around with. Your health is really important. (Listen to me! Hah!) My understanding of slippage is when a portion of the lower stomach comes up through the band creating a poochie pouch off to the side which can hold more volume but food and liquid can get trapped and creates pressure against the band opening which can cause it to pinch off resulting in regurgitation of anything sitting above the band, if it doesn't release and reoppen then it requires emergency surgery to repair. Not to mention what happens if food and liquid sits stagnant for long periods of time. (Too gross to contemplate!) I'm hoping I can make it through to March. Had problems again last night. (sigh). Liquids today. L. Fortunately the radiologist I went to is very near to my Surgeons office and he was able to go over to their office the day I had the Barium swallow and take a look at the footage. That's how I knew the day I had it done that there was slippage. I thought the incidents of complications like these were more like 1%, that day my surgeon said it's more like 3-4%. Now on here I see 11%. Are some of these slippages not a big problem so the people with them don't experience the symptoms you and I have described? I did ask my surgeon how long I could go with this as it is and he expressed reservations on letting it go too long as there can be some serious malnutrition if it's allowed to go too long. Not to mention if the condition worsens instead of correcting. I wonder if errosion could be an issue if one messes around and waits too long? So I will go no later than March. Hmm you would think I would drop a lot of weight. (no such luck) Can't say that is real high on my priority list right now. Someone asked me how much I had lost and I'm afraid I was rather rude and said "I really don't care right now". My Bad! I seem to be fairly healthy so far though. Figure fruit juice is a must for the duration. Bought some liquid B Complex again and need to start taking it every day. Everyone please bear with me as I whine and complain. Ultimately everything will work out one way or another.

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm doing my best to not wait too long but this month is the heaviest month for my work and there is no way I could do anything about it this month. Next month I have another barium swallow to see if it has repaired itself but if the past couple weeks are any indicator I'm afraid it's not. The best I can do work wise is have it done in March and financially it's going to really hurt me so I'm probably going to have it removed, unless my Dr. can give me some indicator that it won't happen again in the same amount of time. Maybe a bigger band? I don't know...I keep waffling between just being done with this whole mess and seeing if there is a bigger band that would work better so I wouldn't go through the nightmare swelling = dehydration, nosehose, 7days IV's that I did the first three weeks after surgery. I suspect that may have been when my slippage started and worsened over time. I'm so tired. :tired And really tired of mashed potatoes! Just found Campbells creamy potato soup with non fat milk run through a blender + some velveeta makes a nice change and doesn't seem like absolute guck! Really gotta watch what type of yogurt I buy (no pieces of fruit). Pudding works part of the time. Some days crackers (ritz) are fine, some days cereals like cheerios work, Some days nothing works and I'm lucky to get enough water and sometimes not every type of water will work. Funny thing ice cream will often help. Very strange. Did you have the funny sporadic growly gurgle when things were making it through the stoma into the tummy?

Thanks all for your feedback. The reason I'm not getting this fixed right away is due to the fact that we are in our busiest season of the year here at work and there is no way I can be off work for ten days. I also followed everything to the letter all the way along and still had slippage. Wierd body I guess. Thanks Dr for the information. My Dr also quoted one of the options as being converting to a bypass. As I only have another fifty - sixty pounds to go I think that would be overkill it would cost a great deal more and with as many problems as I've had with the lapband I'm afraid that procedure would most likely kill me. The Dr also removed all of the fill on Dec 9 and did the nose hose thing as well to see if perhaps that would boost it along. I suspect that it has not slipped back in place due to the vomiting episodes around Christmastime and last week on mushies and liquids. Unfortunately I can't get back in for another barium swallow until February and if I'm going to have surgery it will be March before things are slow enough here at work to take time off. I'm afraid that I'm just going to have to have it removed as I am completely out of financial options and can't handle much more of being miserable, in pain, vomiting, etc., etc., :sick I do think that the lapband is a viable and good option for a lot of people, I just seem to be that percentile that has problems.:tired

Why I'm asking about chances of reoccurance is that my original surgery in May of this year was self pay and my insurance is refusing to cover anything as it has to do with the lap band so am going to have to find a way to cover the expense of this as well. I'm in the midst of the debate of having it removed or replaced. I cannot afford this right now but am going to have to. My concern is that if I have it replaced and it slips again in the same amount of time I'm going to be completely out of options to have anything done about it. I have been very careful about this, I was super sick the first three weeks, it was in due to swelling and as a consequence dehydration. Hauled around an IV for seven days while trying to work. I was lucky I didn't get fired for missing so much work but my boss was pretty understanding. When I spoke with my surgeon the day I found out about the slippage he told me I would need to be off another ten days. This would mean two surgeries in less than a year and another almost two weeks off work. I'm really having a hard time figuring out what I should do. I depleted everthing I had when I orginally had the surgery done. Now I'm looking at major credit card debt to get a repair, removal or replacement. Not sure what to do but am going to have to do something come March.

Hi all, it's been awhile and I've been having some real problems so went in for a barium swallow and a total unfill. The Dr read the films and informed me that I have slippage of my band. Anyone know what the statistics are if a repair or replacement is done the chances of reoccurance? Anyone else here that has been through this? Had a major freak out when I found out and am now trying to make the most informed decision I can. I can't have anything done until March as my heaviest work load occurs the first two months of the year and I simply can't be gone from work for ten days during that time so am living on a diet of liquids, purees and mushies and hopeing against hope the darn thing corrects itself. Bleagh! Feedback would be really appreciated if anyone knows anything about reoccurance of slippage after a repair or replacement. Thanks,

It sounds like you might need a little bit taken out. I've been having problems too but unfortunately have very little fill left to be able for it to be adjusted (less than .3 altogether, had some removed so is less than that). I cannot currently each fruits & vegies (totally bummed) and a lot of other things. Pretty much anything beyond a mushie has resulted in being stuck and having to come up which is really miserable. I'm going to have to go in for a barium swallow to make sure everything is alright. What really bites is mine really can't be adjusted much more than it already is. So for my two cents, go in and have a little removed so you can eat your fruits & vegies and so you won't be afraid to eat the good foods your body needs!

Sounds like your doing just fine, I'm about four months out now, I had a week of liquid, a week of puree, a week of mushie and then on to solids, (once the swelling went away) everyone definately gets different instructions. Take your time and let your body adjust.

I agree with what you all said about it being an addiction and that people who have never really had a weight problem just don't get it. I just spent several days with family some who have weight problems, some who have lost a significant amount of weight in the last year and some who have never had weight problems. Their reactions and level of support had a definate correlation. I mentioned since having my first fill I wasn't really hungry most of the time, the person who had never had a weight problem responded with " then just don't eat. " Totally didn't get the fact that this surgery is to prevent being hungry and being full faster. If I followed that rule right now I would probably rarely eat and would develope malnutrition or another eating dissorder pretty quickly. Everyone else kept offering me food, once they got it they then kept offering me high protein foods. For the most part everyone was pretty supportive and were curious about it. I know I have a problem and it is never going to totally go away. I'm planning on it going into remission not vanishing.

Wow! So I'm not the only one. I too am having trouble with eating when I know I should be done for the day, usually stressed, worried, bored.....you name it. I've also been eating stuff that are high in sugar and low in nutrition...Junk you guessed it. I think part of it's rebellion as food is the one thing I have had the most free will about in my life..(the rest of my life has been pretty stifled and heavy on the "responsibility" side since I became cognizent, I've been on my own for almost twenty years but funny how those first years follow you forever and color the rest of your life.) Was pretty poor for a long time so have a terrible habit over overstocking my frig, cupboards, pantry, freezer and still wanting to shop for groceries. How sick is that, I've been having to throw stuff out and could probably by a new wardrobe with the money I would save. Sorry for rambling on about me in your thread but felt like I kinda knew what you were talking about. Good luck on taming your wild creature. I'm doing my best with mine.

Bushbaby, good luck with kicking caffiene! I had to stop postop per Dr's orders and was pretty bummed about it for a while. I've been caffiene free since January but lately have had occasional hits of coffee and tea that were not decaf and could really tell the difference. Go Girl Go!

Before surgery I was taking a multi vitamin, B-Complex and Calcium (all chewable) and am supposed to be taking them after as well long term. Unfortunately I have forgotten them too frequently of late and need to start back again. Thanks for the reminder all, it might have something to do with my hairloss recently.

How funny! My Hobbit name: Pansy Brownlock of Overhill Elf: Ea"rlinde" Galathil

Yes there are Bellingham (WA) Bandsters. I was banded on 5/20/05 and there were four other Bandsters who I met this past Wed up at the Bellisfare Mall Food Court. I think they meet every second Wednesday of the month. I plan on attending regularly as it is really nice to talk to people who know exactly what you are going through. Welcome aboard and hope to see you!