BandedWrong

My goodness, you have been through a lot with your band too! At least you have achieved a weight loss of 80 pounds already! That is a FANTASTIC start, considering all you have had to endure. I know that if you can do that well with all the problems you had with the band, then you are obviously strong enough and graced enough to do really well without it! If you are a Christian, then you know that Jesus told us NOT TO WORRY about what we are TO EAT or what we are TO WEAR. Sufficient for the day are its own troubles ... in other words, you can truly only live your life one day at a time. You need to simply trust in the Lord and pray because your Heavenly Father knows what you need even before you ask Him! Pray for me too. We can pray for each other. I know what you are saying about feeling like everyone is watching you. I fortunately chose NOT to tell MOST of my friends and family when I did get the Band. I did choose to tell my Bible Study group and a few close friends and family, who I trusted would support me and not judge me. It is very important to surround yourself with people who are positive and supportive of all your efforts, AND who can also hold you accountable in a loving way. I personally, have also been blessed in the past to find that kind of support in an Overeaters Anonymous H.O.W. group, and also at Weight Watchers, and also with a wonderful Christian Counselor (who has since retired). I highly recommend Christian Counselors with M.S.W.'s or Ph.D.'s, who also have a C.A.C. (training in addictions, and codependency). Maybe others on this thread will be able to support us in our journey towards health and wholeness as well. May God bless you with health, happiness and holiness! Best regards, BandedWrong

If you are sure that ALL the fill is out then you probably have developed GERD (relux), which can be extremely painful and debilitating and is not uncommon in Band patients. See if you can get a doctor to prescribe Nexium or a similar medication for GERD. You should start to feel some relief within 2 weeks if it is just GERD (reflux). That might save you a bundle in money until you can get the band removed in North America. Hope that helps. -Blessings!

I am having my band removed this week because of all kinds of problems I have had with it. I was scared to go back to my original surgeon but I was told by several different types of doctors that MOST surgeons are very reluctant to touch the work of another surgeon, especially if you have had problems. Your best bet is to go back to the original surgeon even if you have to travel to do it. If you haven't been real negative with him, (like yelling, screaming blaming, threatening) he should give you no problem removing it. I am also told that most insurance companies will cover band removal with no problem. This may not be what you want to hear, but I do hope it helps. May God guide you in the right direction. - Blessings!

Hello everyone. I am having my band removed this week too. I don't want to sound negative but I too had nothing but problems with the band. In fact, it has been a living nightmare. I developed Atelectasis/Pneumonia as a result of getting the Lapband surgery. I was scared to death of ANY surgery after that. I had one fill and thereafter I threw up constantly. Had to puree all my food - even soups! Started eating Wendys Frosty's too, which was a BIG mistake (don't ever taste one if you haven't yet). I only lost about 25 pounds with the band. Still threw up solid foods often. When I started having severe gastric pain along with throwing up even pureed soup and liquids, I knew I had to get an endoscopy. Was told I had GERD (reflux) as a result of the band and had to go on Nexium and get the fill removed. I didn't want to give up on the band though so after that, I joined Nutrisystem to make sure I was getting small nutritious meals, but couldn't even keep some of those down. Started eating more Frostys ( I now have an addiction to Frostys and ice cream.) Had unbiased X-Rays taken from someone the surgeon didn't know and that Radiologist said that it looked to him like the band was placed almost on the esophogus instead of the top third of the stomach, - which of course the surgeon denies because he doesn't want his "reputation" tarnished (he told me he hoped the Radiologist didn't put that in writing, but of course the Radiologist did). I have now gained back almost all the weight that I lost. Still terrified of getting surgery to remove the band but I have no choice, I can't live like this. No other surgeons want to get involved with the mistakes of the first surgeon, so I am going to have to trust him to take it out correctly... After the band removal, I have decided to start seeing a new Counselor (my other Counselor who was great retired right about the time I got the band put in - sigh). I plan to WORK the Nutrisystem program the right way once I heal and can hold things down correctly. I am a Christian and I would like some of you who are also Christians to pray for me, because I believe God especially listens to the prayers of others who know what you are going through too (in essence, you become Wounded Healers or Prayer Warriors yourselves!). I will be back to give everyone some updates on how I am doing. Thanks in advance for your prayers and your support! -BandedWrong