jbrod2616

I guess I need to talk about this to get it straight in my head so writing this is helping me find closure and also maybe it won’t happen to someone else if they recognize the same symptoms. My lap band story condensed: I had my initial consult in early 2008 at “loose weight seminar” that was a seminar held by a local surgeon selling the idea of getting a lap band procedure to help people like me loose weight. Back in 2008 the procedure cost me 25K (Out of my pocket) I went thru the whole get ready process and had my lap band surgery 6/2/08. The surgery went longer than anticipated and the surgeon said he had some problems with the size etc. (details were not discussed) The lap band was a source of pain from the time it was put in. The pain was a nerve like throb that was constant in my left shoulder and neck. The pain was more severe if I ate something that got stuck or drank too fast and put pressure on the band. If I got a fill the pain would be severe for a few weeks and then it would become less or maybe I was just ignoring it better. The fills would only restrict my intake for a week or two and then it seemed to be less restrictive as time went on. Even with little saline in the band I still had some real definite restriction. I discussed this pain with my surgeon and he had no real answer as it seemed to be unexplainable. I lost a bunch of weight to start but as life went on I found that my eating habits became very poor. I found that I would eat all the wrong things making it go down easy. I ate lots of fatty foods, dressings, liquids, soups, pasta just too many carbohydrates and calories and not enough lean meats and vegs avoiding any pressure on the band. This was real bad for me because I have diabetes and my blood sugar was a constant battle. I struggled with the thought that I made a poor decision and had no real confidence in the lap band working for me. In about 2 years I gained back the 120lbs I initially lost with-in a few pounds of were I started and I struggled with the shoulder pain off and on every day. I knew if I had the band adjusted it would cause pain so I avoided it. I spoke to my surgeon about the band not working and he started to discuss getting a sleeve? I did not want to hear about another high $$ procedure to fix one that was not working. I knew I was gaining weight back and that made me feel bad so I avoided discussing the lap band and it not working or me just not doing or eating the right things. This was bad.. On November 16th Friday other than having no appetite that morning or the night before with a sore stomach and feeling gassy the day started like any other. Even thought I’m a large man I’m active with a busy job and a busier lifestyle. Mid day on Friday I started to feel unusually fatigued and I contributed it to my blood sugar being a bit higher than normal even with no food intake and perhaps a stomach flu. That afternoon my wife and I were traveling and while sitting in the truck I felt fine. I stopped at a Sam’s Club to pick up some supplies and found that I could not walk more than 20 feet without becoming extremely short of breath and very fatigued. I made it back to the truck and it became very apparent that something was wrong. I was not getting oxygen to my body, muscles, organs, etc. even gasping for air I had the sensation I was suffocating. I was convinced by my family Dr after a short phone call and some soul searching to find the nearest emergency room. I was rapidly declining and after a short time in the ER it was determine that my hemoglobin level was extremely low and almost simultaneously I starting passing digested blood at a large uncontrolled rate. The smell of digested blood is unique and it became apparent right away to the doctors working on me that I had blood in my stomach. A scope put down my throat confirmed that I had a bleeding hole in my stomach with a piece of the lap band sticking thru. The ER doctor showed me the pictures from the scope and showed me that the part sticking thru was not the saline lined inside of the band but some other part of the band like the fill tube or thick part of the fill tube. The ER doctors put a pick line in my neck and started giving me blood as fast as they could however it was going out my rear as fast as they were putting it in my neck and my blood PSI was going down fast. The bariatric surgeon on duty told me the lap band had to be removed and he had never done that before. They initially planned to transfer me to another Hospital to have a lap band specialist get the band out and fix my bleeding stomach however I was loosing blood too fast and that option came and went. They did emergency surgery 6 hrs long removed the lap band, fixed the hole in my stomach and stopped the bleeding. I took 6 liters of blood and spent 4 days in intensive care and 3 more days in the hospital before I checked my self out and went home on Thanksgiving. I’m not mad at the way things went just disappointed in the whole process. I’m still recovering and getting better each day. The pain that was always there in my shoulder is gone like a switch was turned off. I think I lived with the pain so long I just ignored it. It’s like a weight was lifted off the left side of my body. I know I still have to loose weight if I want to live to see my grandkids and I have to find a good way to do that. The surgeon that removed the band and fixed the hole told me that he was not an expert on LapBands but it should not have been put in the way it was in forcing a part of the device thru my stomach. Who knows really what happened but I’m not upset or feel like blame needs to be placed to make me feel better or move on. I made the decision to get the band and quite frankly I’m glad to be alive so thoughts of pursuing a legal resolve are confusing. It seems my case was a bit unusual because a typical erosion problem with the band results in symptoms that don’t result in excessive bleeding. My stool that morning was very black and that is a tell tail sign of internal bleeding in the stomach or thru the stomach but I did not recognize it. I hope this information is relivant (Jimmy 42 years old)

YEEHAW CT Scan is good NO LEAKS Dr. said I look nice inside???? what ever that means:) Anyway he said he would leave a scrip for pain meds so I guess I have to live with the shoulder pain for now. It comes and goes and today has been OK.

My incissions were much higher than I expected. (lower chest) It may not be a problem

OK Dr scheduled a CT scan to see if my shoulder pain could be related to a leak. This has got me frazzed because if a leak is causing this problem by band will have to come out.... WTF

One week Post Op All is still going well. I can eat yogart and cottage cheese & cream Soups in small amounts with no problems. I still have some pain in my left should bade and left shoulder. It comes and goes. My incissions are almost healed up. The super glue has pealed off and it looks like the only scar will be on the big one where the port is. I have no pain in my stomach only if I push where the port is. I cut my blood sugar meds in half and I'm in the 110-125 area most of the time. I have had lots of gas (lots) Will this go away? I rode my bike every day twice a day since Thursday. I'm going about 2.5-3 miles and taking it easy but it makes me feel good thru the day. I do the ride in about 30 min. I will most likely move it up to 45 min on Wednesday. Jan 25th 495 lbs (I made the decision this day) / Pre Optifast 2 weeks pre surgery 464 lbs / Day of banding June 2nd 444 lbs / This morning 431 lbs..... 64 dropped and I still have 156 lbs to go.....:tongue2:

i hope i dont have this pain for 2 months

I'm back I am doing good I do have alot of pain in my left shoulder (feels like pinched nerve) It really sucks I have had some shakes and some yogart with no problems. Almost no pain in the port area now. I have lots of gas and lots of rumbling in the stomach... so far so good. I rode my bike this morning about a mile. no problems! weight is 437 this morning down from 464 2 weeks prior to surgery on June 2nd.

i was banded june 2 the pain in my lft shoulder neck area is very bad... it seems to come and go.

good luck Ronda The third day on opti-fast was the worst for me. I did not cheat but I think it would be easy to do if you don't have some help. I just stayed busy and my wife and kids were real cool with not eating around me. After Monday week two the hunger pains wnt away and I didn't even want to drink the optifast. Good luck GO GIRL.

Strike up Hey I'm back at work today again and I'm a bit low on energy. I feel kind of sleepy. I'm not sure why but I have alot of pain in my left shoulder and upper left back (almost like a pinched nerve?) i was told that air in the body can cause that? I don't know if I should worry about that. :thumbup: For the most part all is good. I got on the scale this morning and I was 441 down from 444 on Monday and down from 464 2 weeks before surgery and 495 back in January. This has got me feeling good. I still don't think I could eat if I wanted to and I've been drinking (kellogg's Special K protein waters) about 2-3 a day along with plain water. I had a sugar free popsicle last night before I went to bed and that was refreshing. I am looking forward to the weeks to come.

I was banded on Monday and I'm at work today (light duty) I am doing good today but it felt like Mike Tyson gave me a punch to the body on Tuesday. I'm on clear liquids and I have not had any problems getting any liquids down. Anyway all is well here so far.......

sugars back down today 115 thanks

woke-up wide awake, not sure why its 2am:confused: I'm sipping lots of water and i seem to have no problems with it passing thru. My blood sugar is high ????210.. it could be from the meds they gave me in the iv? I'm not sure what to call the feeling i have.. it feels like i'm just real sore in my upper gut. They told be they used a larger band due to the size of my stomach? anyone know anything about that?