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I have been banded since 1/09 and have been losing at a good pace (to date 88 pounds) I have had 1 fill, 2 unfills and as of today have a band with nothing in in. The problem is that things keep getting stuck?? (we think) I am currently unable to eat or drink anything for 3 days now. I gave up on food but when I drink it is painful and feels like it just stops somewhere on the way down and sits there. Within 20 minutes it has to comeback up and when it does it is frothy. I saw my surgeon yesterday and he unfilled me and has ordered an UGI to see what is happening with me. His thoughts...band slipped (migrated), eroded or a hernia...I am not sure which one it is, but all I know is I am hungry and soooooooooo thirsty I cannot stand it. I go for my UGI today and he said that if I am still unable to eat or drink tomorrow am to call him. I just want to be "normal " again. I want to eat and drink and not be in pain and scared all the time. Anyone have any thoughts that can help me now???

Thanks all!!! I am mending, I WILL lose this darn weight, the band got me more than halfway to my gosl in 5 months so I am VERY thankful for that. The rest is on me and I WILL do it, just more slowly than if I had a band. I will keep posting!!

hi all so here is the deal... PLEASE DO NOT LET MY EXPERIENCE SCARE YOU OFF FROM THE BAND!!! I was not able to eat or drink anything for SEVERAL days and I had a Barium swallow done to find that nothinf was going past my stomach. My surgeon admitted me to the hospital so I did not get any further dehydrated. They did an EGD test the day after admission and found that my stomach had twisted...so it was surgery time. I was given 3 options...leave the band, repair the damage and go forward with no guarantee that it would not happen again. Remove the band, repair the damage. Or convert to a gastric bypass. I was totally opposed to a gastric bypass because I did not like the idea of messing with my organs in a perminate way.. So the decision was to let my surgeon (whom I trust) decide when he was in there. And the verdict was...after finding that my stomach was twisted because I had formed scar tissue and my body was fighting the band which cause my stomach to literally twist and I had a herrnia, he opted to remove the band. So here I am bandless..halfway to my goal, but bandless...I am gonna do this on my own ....

I have been banded since january 6 2009 and have had a relatively good experience so far (lost over 75 lbs), but over the weekend something horrible started. I was placed on Pepcid some time ago because of acid reflux (or that is what they believed). I had 1 fill of 3 cc and an unfill of .3 cc. I began to wake up with a horrible acidy and sour taste in my mouth and was burping up yucky stuff. I have not been able to eat or drink anything since Sunday night. I am hungry and VERY thirsty...(even water comes back up).. I eat or drink and within 10-20 minutes I have pain and alot of pressure and it comes back up..either on its own or because I make it from the pain). I am going to see my surgeon today...but feel that they may just unfill me and brush it off. I weigh myself daily and saw that I have gone from 258 (on Sunday morning) to 251 this am...This is alot! Anyone have any ideas??? I do not think that anything can be stuck for this long, could I have slipped from vomitting?? PLEASE HELP!

Ok so I did the whole process to get the lap band and finally had my surgery on 1/6/09. It is by far one the best things that I have done (besides having my kids), but this was totally for me. I am very happy and am losing nicely (for me). I have lost 35 pounds since banding. But I have one question/comment and am looking for others who may be going thru the same thing, or have a suggestion. I am clearly losing weight as evidence by my scale...but it seems that it is not everywhere. I am definately losing above the belly button (upper body). I can see lose in my face, hands, feet, and upper body, but I do not see or feel it in my lower body. I still have a very large (as I call it dunlap..the fat portion that hangs down below your belly) And although I can fit in smaller shirts, my pants size still has not changed. Any help??

I was just banded yesterday and they were uable to do the banding laparoscopically, it was done as open because of lots of tissue from previous surgery from a car accident. I know that recovery time will be longer and I am in ALOT more pain than most people who had the laparoscopic surgery. I am 33, mother of 3, I work full time and live in PA with my family. I am just looking for anyone that can relate to the type of surgery that I just had, would love to have a pal to chat to.

I just paid my co-pay of $97.30 and got my date for 1-6-09, cannot wait to begin my journey!!

Hi all...I am not on MEDICARE, but I work for a Medicare carrier processing appeals for Indiana, Kentuckey, New York and Connecticut> Yes they will pay for the surgery if you meet the criteria...BMI over 35, comorbidities, previous attempts have failed. And it is true that at this time they are NOT paying for the fills. It may be coming, but remember there are also alot of private insurers that will not pay for the fills at this time also. As more private insurers begin to pay for fills then Medicare may, but they follow other insurers lead. Another thing to consider is that if you are over 65 and on Medicare because of age this may be a non-qualifing factor for many surgeons. Hope this info is helpful to some people.

Hi all...I am Rita I am a married 33 year old mother of 3 with a full time job and kids with FULL-TIME energy...problem is that I just cannot seem to keep up with them at my current weight. I currently weigh 329 lbs and CANNOT wait to see that number go DOWN. I have been approved by my insurance company for banding (YEAH) and I have completed all my pre-op testing (blood work, EKG, chest X-ray, psychological testing). I am waiting for my pre-opertive nutrition appointment where I will receive the long awaited date for surgery!!!!! I am sooooo excited for this new beginning, yet kinda scared. I have been watching a ton of Youtube journals of other peoples success and have gained great inspiration and advice from them. I am FINALLY ready to do this for ME...not my husband or kids or anyone else but ME>>>>>> I intend on documenting EVERY STEP of my process to a new me one pound at a time. :smile2: