kathyy68

Actually Im doing great!! Removal surgery is much easier than the actual placement. I think I will take 6 months to do a lot of research and see what I think will be best for my body. When I originally decided on the band, I never read that so many people would have slips...now it seems so common. I heard that the chances of having another slip goes up once you have had one and the thought of going through what I did for the past 2 weeks does not sound all that great right about now. The good thing is I only need about 30lbs to reach goal and Im still losing weight. When I originally had the band placed I lost 20lbs in 2 weeks post surgery and Im doing basically the same diet. The problem will just be keeping it off. Actually I wont even give it some thought until I start on a regular diet. Kathy

Thanks for the advice!! I am definitely using this time to do a lot of research and soul searching! As of right now, I do not want to even think about another surgery LOL I have already bookmarked the sleeve site and will spend a lot of time researching it. Thanks again. Kathy

I lost my band Tuesday due to a slip and hiatal hernia. My insurance would not pay for a replacement so removal was my only option at this point. Can anyone tell me what my post op diet might be like? My Dr. said liquids for a few days followed by about a week of mushies. Does that sound about right?

My symptoms started as burning around my belly button area when eating or drinking. After that stopped in about a day, I felt a tightness up high in my chest like I could not take a deep breath. I had emergency removal on Tuesday for a slipped band and a hiatal hernia. See a Dr. if you think something might be wrong.

Well I lost my band on Tuesday. It started Friday with very bad burning around my belly button any time I ate or drank. By Saturday the burning had stopped but I felt tightness in my chest area. I quit eating as of Friday and only drank on Saturday. By Sunday, I could no longer drink anymore. I saw my Dr. at 7am on Monday morning and the barium swallow showed complete blockage and a slip. I was referred to another Dr. since my Dr. is out of the Dallas area. I went to him that afternoon and he said since I was not throwing up severely, that if I wanted I could wait until the next morning to do the emergency removal and that way they could call to see if my insurance would approve replacement of a new band. I chose to wait and Tuesday morning went through the emergency room to have the removal since my replacement had been denied. After surgery the Dr. said I had a pretty bad hiatal hernia and lots of scar tissue. I stayed in the hospital that night and came home the next day. I am now at home on a liquid diet for a week and then progressing to mushies. The surgery didnt hurt near as bad this time post op so I am thankful for that. My insurance does pay for 1 bariatric surgery so in 6 months I can go through the process again. My first surgery was on my husbands insurance so that one didnt count. Im terrified about gaining weight back, but thankful that my insurance will pay for it after healing for 6 months. I was pretty successful the first time, so I dont have to far to go to reach my goal. Moral of my story, as others have said....please listen to your body. If you think something might be wrong it doesnt hurt to check it out. Im just glad I got it out before there was erosion or severe damage to my organs.

Just wanted to let you know I was in your shoes also. I went in mid August with major reflux. They did an upper GI and found that my band slipped so they did a total unfill. I was also very dehydrated and had to have an IV in the office that day. They had me do liquids for 2 weeks and I went back today for a check. My band was in perfect position and 98% of the swelling had gone down. I am now on solids and still completely unfilled. I go back in 2 weeks for another check. Basically just wanted to let you know that it MAY correct itself without surgery. You may want to ask to go that route before doing surgery again. I was scared to death having to face another surgery also....thank goodness it corrected itself. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Kathy

If you are having any reflux, please see your Dr. right away. I am 1.5 years out and started having reflux in June. I finally went to the Dr. 11 days ago and they totally unfilled me because I was so swollen. You should not have reflux if your band is working correct. You could be risking another surgery. I am now on day 11 of my liquid diet and believe me I would much rather do liquids than another surgery. Your band could have slipped or many other problems. Please make an appt. soon.

:confused:How many of you have had a swollen pouch/possible slip and recovered from it without another surgery? I had my band totally unfilled last Friday due to reflux/swelling. I have been on a total liquid diet since then. What are the chances I will recover from this? I have had NO reflux since being unfilled and absolutely no problems getting any liquids down...not even thick ones.

Please send me some of your positive energy!!! :biggrin2: I go back Friday for my barium swallow to see if I am better. I have been on a total liquid diet since last Friday. Had reflux really bad and decided to finally go in and have it looked at. After passing out twice from dehydration and being put on an IV, I will never take advantage of my band again. I am keeping good thoughts that my stomach will be healthy and all swelling will be down. Thanks for giving me hope!! Kathy

Mary, I just had my band totally unfilled Friday. I started with heartburn in early June and it led to major reflux. Finally it was so bad I went in to have my band checked. Please do not wait.....you could be risking another surgery. They told me if my swelling doesnt go down and stuff that I will have to have a revision surgery. If you are coughing and spitting up in the middle of the night please go get checked. Not only did I have reflux really bad, but because of it I got dehydrated and passed out twice at the doctors office and had to be put on an IV. :thumbup:

Yes, actually I did have those symptoms also. I coughed a lot at night and right when I woke up. Also was burping a lot. Actually the burping helped the food go down better I think. Please....if you are having any of these problems do not wait to go to the doctor. You could be facing another surgery. I am on my 3rd day of liquids only and I am not complaining...its better than going thru the surgery again. Im so glad I went in and took care of this when I did.

I have had my band for about 15 months now....no complications until now. I have lost around 92 pounds. Recently I started getting heartburn and reflux at night. Finally it got so bad that I went to the Dr. yesterday. I did the barium swallow and they noticed that my stoma was swollen so they took out 1/2 of my fluid. The barium still would not go down so they ended up taking out all the fluid. At that point I fainted and they had to use the smelling salts to get me up. Then they took my blood pressure and with all my other symptoms found out that I was very dehydrated. I guess with the reflux I had neglected to hydrate my body like I should have. Then I ended up dry heaving for a few minutes and they finally decided to put me on IV fluids. Now I am at a total unfill and cant eat for 7 days....total liquid diet. Note to all....do not ignore the signs of heartburn and reflux. If I would have let this go longer I would be having surgery again. :thumbup:

To tell you the truth Im not sure about the costs. I had insurance that covered all but 20% and my max out of pocket was $2500 for the year. The day of surgery, they asked me what I wanted to put down and I put down like $500 and then made payment arrangements. I just pay monthly until Im paid off. I do remember it wasnt much. They will go over everything the day of surgery too. I really didnt pay much attention cause I really wanted this surgery and didnt want anything to stand in the way. I know thats horrible of me not to pay more attention, but it was worth any price I could have paid. To me, money was never an issue....I wanted to get the surgery and figure out how to pay it back later. LOL. Wish I could be more help in this area, but all I know is I am making payments to the surgicare center.