lodwick01

On 1/1/2010, i had my RealizeBand surgery. In June i had a prolapse from vomiting. My band was removed July 20th. From the time that I had my band surgery, I have had bad pain in the left shoulder, back and left chest area just below the nipple line that radiated completely through the back. Due to my insurance having a max of $10,000 and the pain, I decided to remove the band instead of having it repaired. It's now September 19th and I still have the pain even though my band has been removed. I have found that a full stomach, walking and sitting for a duration more than 20 minutes intensifies my pain to nearly the level of feeling like a heart attack. I've had various test and CTscans. Surgeons seem to take it very lightly and I'm having to get aggressive with the situation. My pain can be at 7 on a scale of 1-10 during activity. I've been off work since my band removal in July. I got a second opinion from another surgeon who is trying me on Neurotin and haven't seen any sign of improvements at all. . If anyone has suggestions, please feel free to email me... brianlodwick@ymail.com

If you know of a really good Malpractice attorney in Kentucky, please let me know. I have been through a nightmare of a situation until the Cleveland Clinic discovered my problem and put me back together.

Sorry to hear about the problems. I had the same sypmtoms and later found my band was prolapsed. I ended up having my band removed.

I really appreciate it.

I'll make this short and if any questions just ask.... If your having the pain under your left ribs, side, back and shoulder, strongly ask your doctor to examine you by laparoscopy. It's the ONLY way the reason for my pain would have ever been found. I had my band placed Jan,11.2010 and prolapsed May, 2010 and removed July 20,2010. I started having severe left upper back pain and pain underneath left ribs before prolaps.The pain continued to get worse after prolaps especially when walking and on a full stomach. It was a stabbing pain through the left ribs and directly through the back and shoulder. I would also describe it as though I had been kicked in the left kidney type of sensation in my left side. After having CTscan's,and an UGI along with second opinions, they were convinced it was coming from bulging disc in my back. I refused to accept that and in the meantime the pain continued to get worse but would get better if I laid down for awhile. The pain ended up getting worse just by sitting for a few hours, driving a few hours(sitting) or walking for a short time and was getting unbearable. To make it short, I went to the Cleveland Clinic and was seen by bariatric surgeon Dr. Stacy Brethauer(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)! He did and endoscopy the day before Thanksgiving to find my stomach was twisted. He then did surgery 2 days later to untwist stomach and look for any other problems. During laparoscopy to untwist the stomach he found that I had a dense lesion attached from my stomach to my liver tethering my liver and causing it to tear over time. The liver is why I had the severe pain which gave me the unusual sensation as though I had been kicked hard in the kidney on the left side. Also, the pain was worse on a full stomach due to the lesion pulling on my liver due to being attached to the stomach. PS. The stomach twist was from the band placement but is supposed to be put back in proper anatomical position by the surgeon when removing the band.

your welcome! Hope you feel better but if it gets worse definitely get it checked. It took me 6 mo and 3 different opinions. Most doctors though I was full of crap and said it was inflammation and would go away. I was given high doses of anti-inflammatorys and vomited for 4 mo. Cleveland Clinic also discover I now have Barretts esophagus from all that.

I would almost be certain it's from lesions. I'll make this short and if any questions just ask.... If your having the pain under your left ribs, side, back and shoulder, strongly ask your doctor to examine you by laparoscopy. It's the ONLY way the reason for my pain would have ever been found. I had my band placed Jan,11.2010 and prolapsed May, 2010 and removed July 20,2010. I started having severe left upper back pain and pain underneath left ribs before prolaps.The pain continued to get worse after prolaps especially when walking and on a full stomach. It was a stabbing pain through the left ribs and directly through the back and shoulder. I would also describe it as though I had been kicked in the left kidney type of sensation in my left side. After having CTscan's,and an UGI along with second opinions, they were convinced it was coming from bulging disc in my back. I refused to accept that and in the meantime the pain continued to get worse but would get better if I laid down for awhile. The pain ended up getting worse just by sitting for a few hours, driving a few hours(sitting) or walking for a short time and was getting unbearable. To make it short, I went to the Cleveland Clinic and was seen by bariatric surgeon Dr. Stacy Brethauer(HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)! He did and endoscopy the day before Thanksgiving to find my stomach was twisted. He then did surgery 2 days later to untwist stomach and look for any other problems. During laparoscopy to untwist the stomach he found that I had a dense lesion attached from my stomach to my liver tethering my liver and causing it to tear over time. The liver is why I had the severe pain which gave me the unusual sensation as though I had been kicked hard in the kidney on the left side. Also, the pain was worse on a full stomach due to the lesion pulling on my liver due to being attached to the stomach. PS. The stomach twist was from the band placement but is supposed to be put back in proper anatomical position by the surgeon when removing the band.

I can tell you this from experience.... Aetna insurance sucks! they paid all but 5,000 of placing the ban because it went over Aetnas LIFETIME bariatric cap of 10,000. 6 months later I had to have my band emergency removed and they refuse to pay anything else. therefore I now have a bill of 16,000 that SAetna abolutely refuse to pay so I'm screwed!!!!

I'm Brian. I also had my lapband prolapse only after 6 months and after the first $10,000 insurance denied to pay anything else, therefore I owe $12,,000 now out of pocket for the removal.I continue to have severe chest,back,shoulder pain even after removal. Nobody seems to know whats wrong even after many tests. Personally after talking to several of my Doctor friends who work in the ER, they all tell me that having it out was definateley the smartest option. Think about it, after the band (plastic, very snug around the soft tissue of the stomach)for a very long time will perfarate the soft tissue and sometimes grow around the band. Think of this, getting a bad stomach virus as we all tend to get, is extremely dangerous because the highest pressure when getting sick will come from the lower half of the stomach and has to strongly force its way up through the band. I'm just glad my band is out now after the sicknesses i had to go through daily and not having to worry about the errosion possibilities in the future.