finding_a_healthy_way

A warm welcome to my profile!

I wanted to get an account on Bariatric Pal after reaching out online to talk to other people about my experiences with my gastric band (or lap band in the US). I suffered complications and my band was removed after just 11 months...

I had my first operation to have my gastric band put in in August 2014, they discovered a hiatus hernia which was then fixed. I steadily lost weight from there.

I worked a ski season at 1800m in the French Alps and got very ill, not realising the altitude had affected the restriction on my band and made it tighter. I was vomiting daily for 10 weeks and got a lung infection from it.

I then went home and had a half deflation of the band. Three months later, while travelling with my sisters, I started to have abdominal pains and vomiting again so returned home.

I had to have an emergency operation to remove my band as it had slipped and it was found I had a pouch dilation as a result of vomiting against the band. I also suspected an esophageal dilation.

Since then I have been working hard not to gain any weight, exercising and eating properly. Everyday is a struggle and I find it hard to come to terms with my experiences and the way I was treated by my surgeon and the clinic (they blame me and deny all responsibility). 

My aim in contributing to forums on BP is to reassure others who are going through a similar experience and to help and advise where I can, coming from a position of experience with a faulty band. Feel free to message me if you need questions answers in private! 

"Everything will be alright in the end, and if it is not alright, it is not yet the end"