Slippage - Need Feedback

[laraestokes 0]

I had mine fixed on 1/9/06-Oh what a relief! I was throwing up and had awful heartburn! I couldn't keep anything down unless is was mashed potatoes, or creamed Soup ( both high calories) no weight loss! what a difference having it fixed. I am back to work for the first time today, and had a small lettuce salad and cottage cheese and it all stayed put! Oh Joy!!!:hungry:

Don't wait to long if you can. My surgeon used my same band and somehow sutured the to stomachs together on the top of the side it slipped to prevent it from happening again. And this he was told to do by the inventor of the inamed brand band. So hopefully it doesn't happen again. I was his first one he had to revised. I don't know how many he has done.

Good luck!

[Tuff Enuff 0]

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm doing my best to not wait too long but this month is the heaviest month for my work and there is no way I could do anything about it this month.

Next month I have another barium swallow to see if it has repaired itself but if the past couple weeks are any indicator I'm afraid it's not. The best I can do work wise is have it done in March and financially it's going to really hurt me so I'm probably going to have it removed, unless my Dr. can give me some indicator that it won't happen again in the same amount of time. Maybe a bigger band? I don't know...I keep waffling between just being done with this whole mess and seeing if there is a bigger band that would work better so I wouldn't go through the nightmare swelling = dehydration, nosehose, 7days IV's that I did the first three weeks after surgery. I suspect that may have been when my slippage started and worsened over time. I'm so tired. :tired And really tired of mashed potatoes! Just found Campbells creamy potato Soup with non fat milk run through a blender + some velveeta makes a nice change and doesn't seem like absolute guck!

Really gotta watch what type of yogurt I buy (no pieces of fruit). pudding works part of the time. Some days crackers (ritz) are fine, some days cereals like cheerios work, Some days nothing works and I'm lucky to get enough Water and sometimes not every type of water will work. Funny thing ice cream will often help. Very strange. Did you have the funny sporadic growly gurgle when things were making it through the stoma into the tummy?

[Guest PAV]

I'm really confused about this whole slippage thing. I read somewhere that slippage is when more of the stomach comes up through the band. Is this what happens when everyone speaks of slippage? I just found out my band is sitting at the GE junction (according to an UGI) and I'm about 1 month out. I'm thinking this is not good. Is this slippage too? or could the band have been placed to high. I'm thinking it will have to come out since I esentially have no stomach pouch to hold food and my esophagus is acting like my stomach pouch-very uncomfortable and could lead to dilation of the esophagus. I'm talking to my surgeon next week.

PAV

[laraestokes 0]

OMG! It sounds like exactly what I went through. I lived on MAshed potaotes, creamed Soups and ice cream shakes to get any down. I wish you the best, but I can also tell you I almost gave up on the band out of fustration that this happened. Then I did some reasearch and glad I got to keep it. I feel so much better. I read that the stomach prolapse happens to about 11% of banders, and I had two upper GI done and the radiologist said it looked fine. Also read most radiologist don't know what they are looking for as the band is still too new in the States and only your surgeon would know what they are looking for. I learned my lesson through suffering before I finally tagged my surgeon down to take a look. I hope you can stick it out until March-I sympathize with you as it is very tough to choose what to have each day and what decide to rear and ugly head and decide not to stay down that day. Good Luck!!!!

[Tuff Enuff 0]

Pav, you have something else going on, sounds like you definately need to talk to your Surgeon though! This stuff in nothing to mess around with. Your health is really important. (Listen to me! Hah!)

My understanding of slippage is when a portion of the lower stomach comes up through the band creating a poochie pouch off to the side which can hold more volume but food and liquid can get trapped and creates pressure against the band opening which can cause it to pinch off resulting in regurgitation of anything sitting above the band, if it doesn't release and reoppen then it requires emergency surgery to repair. Not to mention what happens if food and liquid sits stagnant for long periods of time. (Too gross to contemplate!)

I'm hoping I can make it through to March. Had problems again last night. (sigh). liquids today.

L.

Fortunately the radiologist I went to is very near to my Surgeons office and he was able to go over to their office the day I had the Barium swallow and take a look at the footage. That's how I knew the day I had it done that there was slippage.

I thought the incidents of complications like these were more like 1%, that day my surgeon said it's more like 3-4%. Now on here I see 11%. Are some of these slippages not a big problem so the people with them don't experience the symptoms you and I have described? I did ask my surgeon how long I could go with this as it is and he expressed reservations on letting it go too long as there can be some serious malnutrition if it's allowed to go too long. Not to mention if the condition worsens instead of correcting. I wonder if errosion could be an issue if one messes around and waits too long?

So I will go no later than March. Hmm you would think I would drop a lot of weight. (no such luck) Can't say that is real high on my priority list right now. Someone asked me how much I had lost and I'm afraid I was rather rude and said "I really don't care right now". My Bad! I seem to be fairly healthy so far though. Figure fruit juice is a must for the duration. Bought some liquid B Complex again and need to start taking it every day.

Everyone please bear with me as I whine and complain. Ultimately everything will work out one way or another.

[Guest PAV]

Tuff Enuff,

Thanks for clarifying the slippage thing for me. I really feel for you and sincerely hope everything goes well for you. As for my situation, I am going to talk to my surgeon this week. The only thing I can think that might remedy my situation is that I may still have stomach swelling and perhaps the band will drop a little to create a pouch. If not then I guess it will have to come out. Anyway, best of luck to you. You are right that everything will work out. By the way, where do you get liquid Vitatim B complex? PAV

[Tuff Enuff 0]

Pav,

I found the liquid B complex at GNC, I think it was around $8.00 per bottle.

Here's wishing you best of luck and good news on your appointment with your surgeon!

Just another week until my barium swallow to see what it's been up to. (I'm pretty sure I know but hey ya never can tell!)

[Terri-ific 0]

Tuff Enuff: Is it possible, if you have to have the band removed, to have a by-pass instead of replacing the band? Have any idea if insurance would cover that procedure? Hope things work out!! God Bless!! Terri

[Tuff Enuff 0]

Hi Terri

It's doubtful if my insurance would gover a bypass. That's not something I'm even very interested in. That procedure scares me to death! Not only that but I've only got about another fourty to sixty pounds to go and feel that would be way overkill.

Appreciate the suggestions though!

[DrPleatman 3]

Regarding conversion from Band to Bypass:

If your insurance company covers the Band, they will generally cover the conversion to Bypass, especially if there have been problems with the Band. Even if you only have 50 more pounds to lose, it may be worth having a conversion if your only other option is removal of the band... because otherwise you will regain all the weight.

Mark Pleatman MD

www.laparoscopy.com/pleatman

[laraestokes 0]

Hang in there! I have been there and had it corrected - kept my band on!!! And am doing great since I had it fixed. Now I can't wait for an adjustment, so I start losing again!!!! Just trying to hit the exercise hard to see how much I can get off without an adjustment. Important part is I feel much better. Mine started in Sept, and I didn't have it fixed until 1/9/06-You can do this! Hang in! Stay tough and don't worry about weight lost right now, work on getting to March and fixing the probelm! Good Luck!

[Tuff Enuff 0]

Thanks Larae,

Thats pretty much what I'm doing, been stuck on minimum liquids this week due to nothing else working. Hanging in there with all ten fingers and all ten toes!

Dr. Pleatman:

My insurance company did not cover the lapband, as far as I can find out they don't cover any weight loss anythings. I really don't want a by-pass it rates up there with mutilation with me. I know, I know what's the difference between what I had done and that? The lap-band I can have removed and I'll have six small scars which could have happened if I had to have say gallbladder surgery. I appreciate you trying to help though and I'm hoping the things I've learned in the past eight months about myself and small portions, etc., will stick and I will keep the weight off.

Have a great day!

Tuff

[unopadre 0]

i really don't understand slippage.

if the band is attached to the exterior of the stomach in a belt-looped fashion, how can it slip?

can someone help understand how it can happen?

[Suzi D 0]

Hi Dani! I thought I had the same problem before when I was in a lot of pain. My Dr;'s office assures me that I would know if I had slippage. They said you can't even swallow your saliva if you've had slippage. So far I've been lucky. I hope you are too!

[DonnaB 3]

Your band can slip if the stitches holding your stomach over the band come loose. I know pulling the stomach over the band is a relatively new way of securing the band so people who were banded before this technique became the standard, rely entirely on sutures to keep the band in place. Any trauma to the stomach - usually vomitting - can cause the stitches to come loose and the band can slip. It can happen to the sutures only method AND to the stomach-over-the-band method patients too. At least that's how my doctor explained it to me.