ABelew

HI!! my name is Alyson and i thought i would tell ya'll my lap band story. its going to be kinda long...It took me a year to get the insurance to pay for my band but i finally received my band on Aug. 18,2008. I had some chest pain after the surgery but it went away in like a week. i was doing good with it i had lost 20lbs at my 5 week fill. the doctor was really proud of me. i had my fill on sept. 22. On sept.28 i woke up in severe pain in my chest. I took a pain pill and went back to bed hoping i would wake up better but i didnt. my mother finally said that i need to go to the er and when i got there they were checking my heart but being 22 at the time i knew it wasnt my heart. they said they didnt know anything about the lapband and said to go to my surgeon.(i had the surgeon done at a hospital 2 hrs away) The next day we went to my surgeon and he took out my fill and said i would have instant relief but didnt. he did an upper gi and catscan and everything normal. I went home and didnt get better so 2 days later i went back and he did an endoscopy and everything was normal. at this point i had not have anything to drink or eat in 4 days. i felt horrible. my surgeon said he didnt know what was wrong and was ready to take it out. this was the last thing i wanted to happen. i told him i wasnt taking it out til i knew it was the reason i was hurting. he gave me steroids and said that that would help. i went home took the meds and it did no good. at this point it was extremely painful to swallow anything and could barely keep water or food down. my stomach right below my left breast was visibly swollen and tender. It hurt to even wear a bra, my mother had to take the underwire out just to be able to stand to wear it. i was determined to keep the band and find out what was making me hurt. i was doing my student teaching at this time and was extremely tired and worn down each day. i couldnt eat at school because when i ate i usually threw it right back up. my cooperating teacher was really worried about me said i looked sick. after about 3 weeks of not getting better i went to my medical doc for help because my surgeon kept saying to take it out. my medical doc refered me to a gastroentertolgist(cant spell it) he did another upper gi and discovered that my esophagus was swollen to half the width and another endoscopy and discovered that i had an infection inside my stomach. i was relieved to hear this because i was thinking i can take antibotics and it would be over. i went back to my surgeon and showed him the endoscopy results n he gave me antibotics. i went home in high hopes. i soon found out that i couldnt swallow the pills. i got on here describing this and someone suggested iv antibotics. i went back to the docs and received a pic line in my left arm. i had to give myself antibotics 3 times a day. but i learned that i was allergic to the tape covering the pic line. so i had to wrap my arm in guages which was a pain. but i did it to keep the band. i had the pic line for 5 weeks. all the while i was going through this i was basically unable to eat. i would go 2-3 days without eating anything. my mother would make me eat even tho it would come right back up. i couldnt even keep a protein shake down. i even had a hard time keeping water down. i went through all of this n student taught and would go to school with a smile on my face for the kids. most of the teachers knew what i was going through and would keep up with how i was doing. on dec. 12 i went to school feeling absolutely horrible..i hadnt eaten in 2 days and we were gettin out of school early due to weather. at lunch we were having christmas dinner and there were soooo many parents there and i had to keep a smile on my face. i was standing watching as my students got there food and felt like i was going to pass out. i was leaning against the wall. i told myself i had to get to the teachers table and sit down and it would pass. when i sat down i didnt feel any better and one of the teachers looked at me and said you look horrible whats wrong. i said i thought i was about to pass out. i went to the nurses office and called my mother to come get me because they wouldnt let me drive home. when i got home my mother took my temperature and it was 102.3. the next day it was 103.3 and we were debating on going to the hospital but decided to wait til the next day. the next day i woke up and was feeling better but that night i got worse and started vomiting and having extreme abdominal pain. i laid in my bed and thought i was dying cause i didnt think i could be in so much pain and live through the night. my temp had gotten up to 104.4, my mother called the ambulance and went to the nearest hospital. they did several test and when they came back the doc said she wanted to talk to my surgeon. when she came back in she said that the surgeon to come straight down there that the band had to come out that day. when we got down there he said that he thought i had become septic. they took my band out and nothing got better. i spent the night then went home the next day. i had an open wound because he was afraid to close it with all the infection in my body. the next day i developed a rash all over my body and was still sick as a dog couldnt walk. went back to my surgeon and he put me back in the hospital. at this point i had not eat or drink in 7 days. they decided that i had become allergic to the antibotics i was takin that caused the rash. after getting 2 days of iv fluids and a little food i was sent home and felt better. i had to have a home health nurse to come to my house everyday for 6 weeks to clean my wound in my stomach. i still dont feel normal and its been almost 6 months. im still very nauseated every morning. and still have stomach pain. they day i had my surgery i had lost 67lbs. in 4 months. i know a lot of you are thinking that i was crazy to go so long in pain just to keep it. it took me a year to get the band and i wasnt going to just take it out without doing everything possible to keep it. i prolly would still have it if i wouldnt have gotten so sick. i cried soooo hard when i had to have it taken out. to this day we dont know what caused this and the surgeon says he hasnt ever seen anything like my case. i have only gain 12lbs back but im trying hard to lose the rest of my weight but i dont know if ill be able to. i have done alot of research trying to find another case like mine but have not found one yet. i just thought i would share my story with ya'll. i dont regret getting my band i just wish i would have been able to keep it and have it work correctly.

well theres not any change pain wise but they have put a picc line in my arm. I am giving myself antibotics three times a day. hopefully this will get rid of the infection.

at the beginning my doctor put me on steroids and said to keep him updated....well i said i wanted to talk to another doc so i went to my medical doc and he referred me to a gastroenterologist. that doc is the one that found the narrow esophagus and infection in my stomach. he said that he wasnt going to touch another doctors work and said to go back to my surgeon and thats what i did. im not real happy with him but i had no choice to go to him. whats in-patient IV? is that where i would stay at the office for a couple of hours with an IV?

ok so i have been having trouble for six weeks now. i have been unable to eat w/o pain and the doctors couldnt tell me y until this week. i have an endoscopy done monday and they found and puss filled knot in my stomach and it would leak puss into my stomach. when u touch it, it would bleed. my esophagus is suppose to be 12mm wide but it is 6mm wide. that is why it hurts terribly. i went back to my surgeon and said i had 2 options...remove the band or go on antibotics and hope it heals the infection. he said that he has never seen an infection like this and didnt really think that the antibotics would help but wouldnt hurt to try them. if they dont work i have to take the band out. :biggrin: i have started the meds and it makes me soooooo sick at my stomach after i take them. has anyone ever had this had the antibotics to work? i really really dont want to take my band out.:biggrin:

ok this is my story.....i had my surgery aug 18 and for two weeks afterwards i had chest pains but the doctor said it was normal it was prolly just swelling around the band. well this past sunday i woke in the wrst pain in my chest... i went to the local er and they did all kinds of test everything came back normal. i went to my surgery he did a unfill saying it would be instant relief but it wasnt they did a upper gi and everything went down good...so they did a scope down my throat yesterday and the lower part of my stomach is VERY swollen and when i look at my stomach it is noticably swollen under my left boob. the doctors have no idea whats wrong or what it causing it.....im waiting for bloodwork to come back so see what the next step is....this may not have any to do with what u hav but i just dont wont u to blow it off like i did the first time and end up like me....i have never been in sooo much pain as i have been this past week...i couldnt even get water to go down so u can imagine how dehydrated i am...just dont blow it off listen to ur body i will from now on....i really hope its nothing but just a lil discomfort and i hope u feel better.

saturday i hadnt had anything but like cereal (special K) maybe eggs but nothing out of the ordinary. my doctor called a few mins ago and ordered some more i think blood work. i am sooooo sick of this im in the middle of my student teaching and id rather be with my babies which all sent me better soon cards last night which made me feel a lil better but im just physically and mentally drained from this.

ok it began sunday i woke up and my chest was hurting and so i thought ill just lay here a little longer so it will get better. it didnt. i got up and walked around and it only got worse i had to call my mom crying telling her to get home that something was wrong. when she got home i took a pain pill left over fom my surgery six weeks ago. it didnt even touch the pain. she said go lay back down n see how u feel well at 6 oclock and i was still crying went went to a local er and they did all the heart test and a ct scan and said everything was fine and sent me home still in severe pain (they said to call my surgeon the next day) i called my surgeon they said that it didnt sound like anything was too bad but to come in the next day...i live 2 and a half hours away from that hospital. oh and i was not able to even drink water because it hurt soooo bad so i hadnt had anything to eat or drink in 3 days bc i had eaten any supper saturday because of a party that i had to go to and there wasnt any food that was in my diet plan....anyway i get down there and the surgeon said u just need to be unfilled and u will be fine they did an unfill and i was still in severe pain so they did a upper gi and everything looked ok.....by this time im saying how ca everything be fine but im still in soooo much pain well they said that they would do a scope down the throat and see the inside. well it showed that the lower part of my stomach was VERY swollen. the surgery said he had never seen that before and had no clue what would cause it. he gave me steroids and sent me home. i got home and looked and my stomach and area under my left boob is notciably swollen. im still in pain has ANYBODY ever had this heard of this or anything. i dont know how much longer i can stand this pain please help me.

I had the exact same thing. i got scared and went back to the surgery and he said it was swelling around the band. it hurts....it would feel like it was taking my breath away. it lasted about 2 weeks. my doctor prescribed me an anti-biotic so u may want to call your doc. hope you feel better soon!

is it ok to take mylanta or emteral(anti-nausa liquid)? i feel like i could throw up right now and i really dont want to because im afraid that it will make my band slip. i had surgery aug. 18. please help!!

i had my surgery on August 18th. i started my student teaching today and i feel like i could cry. my chest is hurting soooooo bad and my incisions hurt. i had my staples taken out yesterday. i have had a alot of chest pain throughout this past week. i went back to the surgeon with it and he said everything was fine and my band hadnt moved. my chest hurts more than my stomach ever did. there were times at school that i thought i was going to cry because i was in so much pain. when does it go away?!?!?!?! ive heard so many people say that this wasnt bad and that they were up and at work in a couple of days. i just dont see how. has anybody has alot of chest pain with this? i dont think its gas pains...the surgeon said it was prolly swelling around the band and it might last 2-3 weeks!!! i am placed in a kindergarten class. so you can imagine how much running around im doing in class. i just need to hear some words of encouragement or some thing cause im on the edge of breaking down into a crying fit. does anybody know of something i can do to help with the pain?!? oh i guess i could tell you that im doing really well with the weight loss part. I have lost 11 lbs in a week!!

I got my surgery date yesterday!! :sad_smile: It is August 18th. I am a little nervous because I start my student teaching the next Monday. That only gives me 7 days to recover. I am a big baby when it comes to pain. I have never had surgery before and am a little nervous. I am also nervous because my dad had the gastric bypass seven years ago and he died from a massive heartattack after the second surgery to repair stitches. Can anyone tell me what to expect the day of the surgery and about the pain afterwards? Do you think I will still be in pain when I start my student teahing?