kels764

Well I just got home from my new bariatric doctor. He did a shielded X-ray (to protect baby) and discovered the tubing from my Lapband to my port hangs loose very low and is attached to my uterus by scar tissue and the reason for my episodes of severe pain is that the tubing is wrapping around my intestines and then it let's loose again.....there's a 1 in 20 chance it can permanently wrap around my intestine and I would have to have emergency surgery but for now until the baby is born it is just a wait and see game......just glad after 2 years of this pain I finally have some answers

I've been dealing with severe stomach pain since November of 2010. My bariatric surgeon never did one single test to see of my band was ok, he brushed it off and said it wasn't the band. Fast forward to the present and I am pregnant with worsening stomach pain, my OB orders an ultrasound and the band has slipped all the way up to my esophagus. I have an appointment with a new bariatric surgeon tomorrow morning to see the next steps we can take since I am pregnant. I am scared to death.

The thing I am confused about is they said it slipped up to my esophagus meaning almost no stomach above the band, when a band slips doesn't it usually slip the other direction and produce more stomach above the band?

I agree. I am very upset and angry with my previous bariatric doctor.

Was banded in December 2009 and for about a year and a half now I've experienced on again off again stomach pain that gets so bad sometimes I cannot get out of bed. I have found no rhyme or reason for it, nothing particular that I eat and nothing particular that relieves it. I've told my surgeon on several occasions and he has blown me off. I found out I was pregnant in January and am now about 20 weeks along and the pains have become more frequent the further along I get. My surgeon never did one single test to solve the problem or give me any idea as to what it could be. Luckily, I am a nurse and work for doctors who have ordered barium swallows, X-rays, etc. before I got pregnant and the band is still in position. The last time I went to see my surgeon, he was incredibly rude to me, I asked him if my body could possibly be rejecting the band and he laughed in my face telling me that's like my body rejecting air. I also asked him about the possibility of my band being slipped and he asked if I had been able to eat and without giving me a chance to answer he responded with "well obviously you have you've gained weight" I am in the process of being switched to a new Lapband doctor at this time but my insurance no longer covers anything related to the band. I cannot describe how the pain feels...and I am wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this? I know it's not pregnancy related because it was going on before I got pregnant and I feel like its Lapband related because it didn't start until after I was banded. Recently when it was hurting I was at work and noticed my port felt like it was sticking out further than usual and I applied light pressure to the port site and it shot a sharp pain across my entire abdomen. Sorry for writing a book here. I'm just at a loss of what to do!! Or what to think!

Does anyone know if an upper GI series would show erosion of the band or not?

I had my upper GI done before I was pregnant and I don't have a surgeon right now.....or should I say a surgeon that gives a crap about what's going on. About 6 months after being banded I began having severe on and off stomach pain that my surgeon never ran any kind of tests to see what was going on, luckily I am a nurse and work for a doctor who ordered several tests for me that showed the band was in place. And since the band is in place and it's not slipped, my surgeon wants nothing to do with me and swears up and down it has nothing to do with the band.....I don't have a gallbladder so I know it's not that, Ive been checked for a hernia so I know it's not that. In arkansas, it's difficult to get in to another surgeon because they don't want to touch another surgeons patient. So I've given up on any help from any Lapband doctors and am going to see a gastroenterologist and am saving money to have this Lapband removed as soon as the baby is born. This Lapband has been nothing but pure hell from the very beginning and I cannot wait to have it removed. Id rather be fat and happy than skinny and in pain all of the time.

Is that when they put the scope down your throat and into your stomach? I'm pregnant so I know they won't be able to do anything like that until after I have the baby but I had an upper GI when all of these stomach pains started and I just needed to see if that would show erosion but after reading apparently erosion doesn't cause pain? Just weight gain? Who knows

Yes like the above post says, don't let constipation go too long!! I had my surgery in December (around the 17th?) 2009 and hadn't taken a poo and went to the emergency room in January 2010 for an impaction! They did X-rays and the doctor told me I was, well, full of sh*t! Enemas every 4 hours is not fun! I still go many days without a bm but end up doing a laxative.

Never thought of that hmm!! Thank you!

I realize not everything is Lapband related but what no one is realizing is not everything is pregnancy related either. This has only been going on since I got the Lapband and before I got pregnant.

I had my gallbladder removed in 2005....and these pains have been going on off and on for a year and a half at least and I'm only 5 months pregnant they're just more frequent now... I requested all my records from my bariatric doctor and my last appointment where I said "my stomach hurts so bad sometimes I can't get out of bed, I double over in pain, it's tender to the touch, sometimes it's in my upper abdomen sometimes it's in my lower abdomen" evidently translated to "vague stomach pain" which is why I am switching doctors as we speak! Ridiculous!

Does anyone regret getting the Lapband? Does anyone feel that the band was preached to you as a magic fix instead of a tool for weightloss? I was banded in December of 2009 and regret getting it done more than not. I quickly lost weight, 105 pounds in 4 months, I felt I was on top of the world. 2 fills later, after telling my surgeon it was too tight I gained it all back. I feel that it was brought into a more "this is the answer" light instead of a "this is another diet but with an extra tool" light. I realize gaining the weight back was my fault, but I do feel kind of cheated by not being fully told that this wasn't a magic fix. I've had complications ever since I got banded, and that, accompanied with a poor surgeon with horrible bedside manner (who wasn't like that before the surgery) I feel I'm a Lapband failure, however I am grateful that I do have this tool inside of me for the day that comes when I do decide and do have the willpower to diet if I get to keep the band after the major problems I'm having now. I am 20 weeks pregnant now and have lost 28 pounds since becoming pregnant. I don't want to be judged for the things I've said so please don't be harsh I just wanted to know if I was the only one who regrets having it done?

I am in the process of getting in with a new doctor now and someone mentioned seminars? I be Er had to do a seminar

I had a complete unfill after finding out I was pregnant and I've been checked for hernias....why do I feel like I'm going to be on the next episode of mystery diagnosis?!

The pain can be up high or down in my lower abdomen, it differs. I don't have my gallbladder anymore so I know it's not that...I've talked to three different doctors that aren't bariatric doctors since my bariatric doctor kept blowing me off and they've all come to the conclusion that it is my band I don't have any pain when eating and my port site isn't red or inflamed. When the pains hit, my entire abdomen is tender to any kind of pressure.

My question today is when does vomiting become "excessive" ? Ive read site after site after site about how your band may slip or your pouch may stretch if your vomiting becomes "excessive" Does anyone have a guesstimate about how much is too much? Ive had a recent fill and was not used to my band being so tight in the mornings so Ive ended up throwing up/sliming about 7 times since..... now my stomach is pretty sore, is this something i should worry about or is it just from my muscles being sore from dry heaving/throwing up/sliming? I know I know, "call the doctor if youre unsure" but its too hard to get through to a nurse!

it depends on your doctor and your insurance, Im sure but I say go for it! I was supposed to have gastric bypass when I was 16 but it didnt work out and I am soooo thankful to God now because I have the lapband! If you need any help with researching doctors and all of that give me a holler!

thanks! I havent got to the point of throwing up blood and I hope I dont! and I think youre right about it being my fault....Im eating too fast, I think. Ill be swallowing a bite and then put another right in my mouth before seeing if that last bite has made me full! Im trying to get better just hoping I dont ruin my band in the process!

stupid me thought that the 1.5 oz. on the bottom of a Peanut Butter cracker package was just that....1.5 oz. stupid me didn't realize (or want to) that that was more than my body could handle when I ate 4 oz of whatever was on the bottom of a package. so Im pretty convinced Ive ruined my band...because I am always hungry I was banded in december of 2009. Ive had 3 fills. Im positive my pouch is stretched out and I have no hope. I feel like such an idiot! Now eating only half a cup is NOTHING... I feel like a failure. What do I do? :thumbup:

I am a bit silly arent I? :thumbup: give me a break, I have extreme OCD lol! I dont like talking to my doctor about my worries because I feel threatened when I do....like they wont do a fill if Im not doing everything exactly right and I dunno....

I'm almost 4 months post-op. Is it normal to go into a rebellion stage this early and start eating more than you should/things that you shouldn't? I feel completely awful. I just ate 3 oz. of chocolate icecream and a handful of reese pieces .....I feel disgusting. Im scared Im going to ruin this for myself and I dont know how to stop it. Help? Please?:confused:

thank you all so so much for the encouraging words!!!! they help lift my spirits so much!! I think part of my problem is that I also have a pituitary tumor that causes me to have cravings...prior to the band, I may eat Peanut Butter m&m's for a week straight and never want to touch them again....or I might have ate chicken spaghetti for supper 2 weeks straight. Its really hard dealing with the intense cravings I have....but with ya'lls support..I can make it through this!:confused:

:thumbup::thumbup::tongue: so glad you were able to let loose! haha! I go several days still without a BM...if I go a week without one, I end up taking a Correctol.

I hope youve got some success from all of this advice! I ended up in the ER and impacted because I hadn't had a BM in severallllll days. They sent me home after a painful check and an x-ray which concluded I was "full o' sh*t" with instructions to do enemas every 4 hours until I was cleaned out. Try taking miralax daily ....also dulcolax suppositories help as well! Hope youre better!