iramback

Here is a scary story for you - this actually happened to me. 2004 - Lapband put in - no complications at first. Lost 50 lbs in 7 months. Then all of a sudden the band stopped working. Tried to get my surgeon to listen, but he was a jerk and just kept blaming me for not doing what I needed to do to lose the weight. All this despite the band not holding a fill for more than 1 day. Decided not to go back to my surgeon after trying to convince him to listen to me for 1 year. 2009 - Lapband taken out. Found the courage to go to another surgeon. He confirmed that the band was not working and needed to be replaced. He did surgery - took out the band and did NOT replace it. I asked him if there was a medical reason for not replacing it. He said no... 2011 - Lapband put in. Found the courage AGAIN...to go to another surgeon to have a band put back in. Band put in on April 6. Felt funny in the upper part of my stomach. Based on my previous band surgery, I felt that it was taking a very long time to heal. Due to the swelling and pain I was having post-op, I kept in contact with the doctor's office almost daily after my initial follow-up appointment after surgery. Week 4 post-op started having fever of 103...lasted 5 days. Band doctor insisted that it wasn't the band so I went to my primary care doctor. Got antibiotics from primary care for what they thought must have been pneumonia (by the way...I believe this 5 day Z-pak saved my life by buying me some time). Fever never broke completely. Pain got so bad - ended up in ER. They could not find the problem. Band doctor insisted it was my gallbladder even though all tests ran by other doctors (CT, MRI, Hida Scan, Blood Tests, etc.) indicated the gallbladder was fine. Finally, after living with the pain for 6 weeks I called the band doctor's office and told them that they would be performing an exploratory surgery on me THAT DAY!!! As it was on a Friday, they tried to tell me that I would have to wait until the following Monday to be seen. I DID NOT WAIT and they DID the surgery as soon as I got to the hospital. Turned out that I had a horrible infection - ended up in the hospital for 5 days - touch and go a couple of times. The infection was a result of the surgeon perforating my stomach while putting in the band. I ended up losing my gallbladder due to the infection infiltrating it. Here I am on short term disability - 3 weeks post-op and still having problems. Ended up with another infection at the scar site. Band doc had to cut my skin open so that the infection could drain. Waiting on that to get better now. I do not know how long this is going to take to get completely better...BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS - DO NOT GET A REPLACEMENT FOR A BAND THAT WAS REMOVED!!! The scar tissue can contribute to the complications of the surgery. My family is too important to me to EVER try something stupid like weight-loss surgery again. I think the "Big Guy" was giving me the signal that I need to accept who I am and be happy with my life. I hope this story will help...blessing to all.

I have the same exact thing! How did they see the fluid - x-ray? At 3 weeks post-op I got pneumonia and the doctor gave me 5 days worth of antibiotics. Here I am at 5 weeks post-op and still having fever and same excrutiating pain in the right lung/rib area. Going back to the doctor today to have x-rays done and be retreated with antibiotics. I cannot sleep on my side yet feels like my insides slide to one side when I try. I am sure that is separate from the pneumonia. Thanks for posting your issue.

Need advise on how to proceed getting insurance to approve/pay for replacement lapband. Original lapband wasn't working. Went into surgery to have it repaired or replaced, but lazy surgeon took it out instead of replacing it. I asked him why; said that he didn't have authorization. That was a lie...I talked to the insurance company and he had authorization. It has been 1.5 years since he took it out. It has taken me this long to get up enough trust to go back to talk with another surgeon to get it replaced. Not back to my original weight (10 lbs shy). Insurance says I don't meet criteria. What options do I have to get them to pay for it to be replaced? They were going to pay for it before, but the surgeon screwed up.

I was Dr. Cywes' 2nd patient for LapBand. He is way, way too busy for his patients. I tried to get him to listen to me for 2 years telling him that my band didn't work. He blew me off. Got a second opinion from Mayo. The band is up around my esophagus and has caused some problems. I am going to have it removed. If you are looking for a concerned doctor and bandster group, try a different office.