Help just told need to replace or removw my lap band

[cardshark 0]

Good morning hope someone reads this. I have no support except my husband. Doc says I have infection & ulcars and my band has slippage saw the pics and it is so scary cried most of yesterday.

Got my band in 07 and have lost only 40# but only because once I felt good I stopped working it so all my fault. But now I have to do it all over and not sure what to do, Has anyone had it replaced or removed? Lots of thoughts going in my head. Let him replace it or just remove it? Family & friends want me to remove so I dont have to worry again. But they dont understand that 40# was huge and how much better I feel, I dont think I could stand it if I gained it back, know I couldnt. Dont trust myself if I dont have and feel so weak why cant I do it without the band? Does anyone have idea or have you done either?

Cardshark

[Amanda1982 142]

Sorry this has happed to you.. If you decide to have the band removed make sure it because you want to and not for anyone else. Consult your surgeon and pcp find out what the risks/complications will be if you want to have another band. Ans what damaged the one you have has called. Once you weigh the pros and cons and you are able to make an educated and informed decision then make your choice. But do it for yourself. Good Luck to you.

Ps: having the band removed does not mean that you will gain the weight back. You may want to talk to a therapist and find out if there are any emotional issues that you are dealing with in regards to you weight.

[black917 0]

Good morning hope someone reads this. I have no support except my husband. Doc says I have infection & ulcars and my band has slippage saw the pics and it is so scary cried most of yesterday.

Got my band in 07 and have lost only 40# but only because once I felt good I stopped working it so all my fault. But now I have to do it all over and not sure what to do, Has anyone had it replaced or removed? Lots of thoughts going in my head. Let him replace it or just remove it? Family & friends want me to remove so I dont have to worry again. But they dont understand that 40# was huge and how much better I feel, I dont think I could stand it if I gained it back, know I couldnt. Dont trust myself if I dont have and feel so weak why cant I do it without the band? Does anyone have idea or have you done either?

Cardshark

[black917 0]

I know exactly what you are going through. I have a hiatal hernia and my husband thinks it was caused from the lap band so now him and my sons wants it out. I have lost 54 pounds and the thought of gaining it back scares me to death. I have to actually make my mind up today due to having post op on Friday and surgery next Thursday. I have prayed and prayed but I am not sure if I am listening with my fear and not hearing my answer or if God is letting me figure this out. After all he made me and he didn't put a lap band in so I should have enough faith to know he will help me through it big or little, but I don't want to be big again and I am terrified. And, you can also look at the fact that he gave the surgeons the knowledge to make the lap bands or we wouldn't have them. My husband says I can go to any weight loss program I want but I did that for years and ended up at 229 pounds before the lap band. Just plain scared!

[brazeale 0]

Good morning hope someone reads this. I have no support except my husband. Doc says I have infection & ulcars and my band has slippage saw the pics and it is so scary cried most of yesterday.

Got my band in 07 and have lost only 40# but only because once I felt good I stopped working it so all my fault. But now I have to do it all over and not sure what to do, Has anyone had it replaced or removed? Lots of thoughts going in my head. Let him replace it or just remove it? Family & friends want me to remove so I dont have to worry again. But they dont understand that 40# was huge and how much better I feel, I dont think I could stand it if I gained it back, know I couldnt. Dont trust myself if I dont have and feel so weak why cant I do it without the band? Does anyone have idea or have you done either?

Cardshark

So sorry you are having these problems. I was banded in 2005 & I know how my 3 or 4th slip. Last time my surgeon said I needed to "upgrade" my band to the newer version. I saw the X ray today & it looks much worse than before. I'm really freaking out & want this thing out of me!!!

I have United Healthcare & hoping because of my history of problems, they will pay for it to be removed. But I also worry about gaining back weight. I had lost over 70 but have gained some of that back.

Tracy

[mandyb 3]

I had my band removed last Monday! I was doing great since I first had it put in.. but all of a sudden I was unable to eat! I was sliming, regurgitating, vomiting, even water! My Dr. sent me for an Upper GI... found no slip! Had me go in for a Scope.. didn't see any ulcers... Opened me up and found an infection. They had to remove the band and my Dr. refuses to replace it!

I have lost 88 lbs (not sure if it has to do with the "infection" that I had).. not even sure how long I had the infection... I am terrified to gain anything back!

I am able to eat! I can drink... but I have a JP Drain to help drain out the fluids and infection out...

I am upset they removed it.. but I am Happier they found the infection in time.. and I AM ALIVE!!

[lumbee 1]

Hello,

I understand how you feel,I had to have my band removed because it caused a infection in my liver, kidney, and ribs. When they removed my band i had a hole in my stomach and had a tube put into my nose and down my tummy for 5 days. It was the worest, but that being said i cryed the whole time because they toke my band and the idea of being fat again scared me. I was 320 and went to 168. its been over a month and i am at 179. i have gained 11 pounds in a month. The doctor said i needed the weight because i had lost so much Water that my kidney were not working. Now its been a month or so and i have had time to think about everything and the idea of me being 320 again is so scary but what if i keep the band and the infection went into my blood stream and it killed me? I know something was wronge for a month but had no idea it was the band. I am determined to do it on my own. I try to eat right and excerise alot. During the weekend are the worest because i want to go out to dinner ect.... so just have to remind myself that i am human and it is going to happen. The next day i just go right back to eating like i should. Have you thought about the sleeve? I dont think i can get it but i am going to check into it and see what i can do. Hang in there and try to remeber your human and things will happen that you dont have control over but you can do it!

Good morning hope someone reads this. I have no support except my husband. Doc says I have infection & ulcars and my band has slippage saw the pics and it is so scary cried most of yesterday.

Got my band in 07 and have lost only 40# but only because once I felt good I stopped working it so all my fault. But now I have to do it all over and not sure what to do, Has anyone had it replaced or removed? Lots of thoughts going in my head. Let him replace it or just remove it? Family & friends want me to remove so I dont have to worry again. But they dont understand that 40# was huge and how much better I feel, I dont think I could stand it if I gained it back, know I couldnt. Dont trust myself if I dont have and feel so weak why cant I do it without the band? Does anyone have idea or have you done either?

Cardshark

[onikenbai 33]

Once you have one band out, the tendency is for subsequent bands to be problematic. If the first one is causing ulcers and infections, why wouldn't the second? I would consider revising to a sleeve or an RNY. My band is coming out soon and I couldn't be happier. It was an $18K nightmare from day 1.

[Dee66 0]

Wow. Hearing all these comments has me concerned about my situation. I have had my band in for almost 3 years and have done great. I have not had a fill in about a year but about 6 months after my last fill, I started getting reflux and indigestion. I went back to my original doctor to find out that the practice was sold to another team!!! Apparently I never got the notice!! I actually waited 1 1/2 hours and informed the desk that I could no longer wait and left. When I called the next day, they apologized over and over and asked if I would mind going to another office where I will not likely have to wait. I did and I got right in. The Doctor came in and introduced himself and told me all about him and his credentials which I could barely understand through a very thick accent. Anyway, I told him of the issue and his response was that it was normal to only be able to eat 2 forks full of food and be done! Ok.....off I went calling my friend for her doctors name! I got an appt with the new doc but not until July!!! Meanwhile, more problems started so since I already had a relationship with the doctor I hated, I could get in ASAP (not good but I am sure you all can relate)! He ordered an upper GI series. I had the first part of the test done and the radiologist stopped because NOTHING was going into my stomach. He said after 10 minutes it just slowly started getting in....way too tight.

So here is the kicker....I went back to the doc I hate, his computers were down but he was able to look at my disk results on his lap top! He said that there was a slight slip, he should remove all the saline and then asked me how much I had in there! I told him he should look up my records. He did not like my answer and suggested too me to remove the saline, hopefully the band will reposition itself, repeat the upper GI in 3 weeks and take it from there! He did and after the first 2 days of just fluids, I have eaten everything under the sun and gained 7 pounds in one week!!! I have worked too hard for this to happen and I hope it is out of my system. The new doctor actually told me to get the second round of GI results and then come to him in July.

Has anyone heard of this slippage thing fixing itself and removing all the saline?

Thanks

[ayme 0]

Sorry to hear your story. My band was put in eight years ago and lost 90 lbs. In December I was vomiting and couldn't keep much down and also had a lot of heartburn. My surgeon took an x-ray and my band had slipped. He removed some saline and came back in 3 months but the band did not reposition itself. This April I had it removed and a new one was put in. Have not had a fill yet. Still healing from the three hour surgery due to a lot of scar tissue build up from the old band and presently taking antibiotic due to a slight infection. Hoping to have a fill soon. Trying to stay positive.

Good Luck!!!!

Ayme

Wow. Hearing all these comments has me concerned about my situation. I have had my band in for almost 3 years and have done great. I have not had a fill in about a year but about 6 months after my last fill, I started getting reflux and indigestion. I went back to my original doctor to find out that the practice was sold to another team!!! Apparently I never got the notice!! I actually waited 1 1/2 hours and informed the desk that I could no longer wait and left. When I called the next day, they apologized over and over and asked if I would mind going to another office where I will not likely have to wait. I did and I got right in. The Doctor came in and introduced himself and told me all about him and his credentials which I could barely understand through a very thick accent. Anyway, I told him of the issue and his response was that it was normal to only be able to eat 2 forks full of food and be done! Ok.....off I went calling my friend for her doctors name! I got an appt with the new doc but not until July!!! Meanwhile, more problems started so since I already had a relationship with the doctor I hated, I could get in ASAP (not good but I am sure you all can relate)! He ordered an upper GI series. I had the first part of the test done and the radiologist stopped because NOTHING was going into my stomach. He said after 10 minutes it just slowly started getting in....way too tight.

So here is the kicker....I went back to the doc I hate, his computers were down but he was able to look at my disk results on his lap top! He said that there was a slight slip, he should remove all the saline and then asked me how much I had in there! I told him he should look up my records. He did not like my answer and suggested too me to remove the saline, hopefully the band will reposition itself, repeat the upper GI in 3 weeks and take it from there! He did and after the first 2 days of just fluids, I have eaten everything under the sun and gained 7 pounds in one week!!! I have worked too hard for this to happen and I hope it is out of my system. The new doctor actually told me to get the second round of GI results and then come to him in July.

Has anyone heard of this slippage thing fixing itself and removing all the saline?

Thanks

[iramback 0]

Here is a scary story for you - this actually happened to me.

2004 - Lapband put in - no complications at first. Lost 50 lbs in 7 months. Then all of a sudden the band stopped working. Tried to get my surgeon to listen, but he was a jerk and just kept blaming me for not doing what I needed to do to lose the weight. All this despite the band not holding a fill for more than 1 day. Decided not to go back to my surgeon after trying to convince him to listen to me for 1 year.

2009 - Lapband taken out. Found the courage to go to another surgeon. He confirmed that the band was not working and needed to be replaced. He did surgery - took out the band and did NOT replace it. I asked him if there was a medical reason for not replacing it. He said no...

2011 - Lapband put in. Found the courage AGAIN...to go to another surgeon to have a band put back in. Band put in on April 6. Felt funny in the upper part of my stomach. Based on my previous band surgery, I felt that it was taking a very long time to heal. Due to the swelling and pain I was having post-op, I kept in contact with the doctor's office almost daily after my initial follow-up appointment after surgery. Week 4 post-op started having fever of 103...lasted 5 days. Band doctor insisted that it wasn't the band so I went to my primary care doctor. Got antibiotics from primary care for what they thought must have been pneumonia (by the way...I believe this 5 day Z-pak saved my life by buying me some time). Fever never broke completely. Pain got so bad - ended up in ER. They could not find the problem. Band doctor insisted it was my gallbladder even though all tests ran by other doctors (CT, MRI, Hida Scan, Blood Tests, etc.) indicated the gallbladder was fine. Finally, after living with the pain for 6 weeks I called the band doctor's office and told them that they would be performing an exploratory surgery on me THAT DAY!!! As it was on a Friday, they tried to tell me that I would have to wait until the following Monday to be seen. I DID NOT WAIT and they DID the surgery as soon as I got to the hospital. Turned out that I had a horrible infection - ended up in the hospital for 5 days - touch and go a couple of times. The infection was a result of the surgeon perforating my stomach while putting in the band. I ended up losing my gallbladder due to the infection infiltrating it.

Here I am on short term disability - 3 weeks post-op and still having problems. Ended up with another infection at the scar site. Band doc had to cut my skin open so that the infection could drain. Waiting on that to get better now. I do not know how long this is going to take to get completely better...BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS - DO NOT GET A REPLACEMENT FOR A BAND THAT WAS REMOVED!!! The scar tissue can contribute to the complications of the surgery. My family is too important to me to EVER try something stupid like weight-loss surgery again. I think the "Big Guy" was giving me the signal that I need to accept who I am and be happy with my life. I hope this story will help...blessing to all.

Good morning hope someone reads this. I have no support except my husband. Doc says I have infection & ulcars and my band has slippage saw the pics and it is so scary cried most of yesterday.

Got my band in 07 and have lost only 40# but only because once I felt good I stopped working it so all my fault. But now I have to do it all over and not sure what to do, Has anyone had it replaced or removed? Lots of thoughts going in my head. Let him replace it or just remove it? Family & friends want me to remove so I dont have to worry again. But they dont understand that 40# was huge and how much better I feel, I dont think I could stand it if I gained it back, know I couldnt. Dont trust myself if I dont have and feel so weak why cant I do it without the band? Does anyone have idea or have you done either?

Cardshark

[elcee 3,341]

So you had 3 different surgeons and 3 lots of issues? That is scary. Did you ever find out what went wrong the first twice?

[genade 0]

I was banded November, 2008. The first year and a half was great. I was loosing weight and did not have much heartburn. I then had my first prolapse and the doctor removedl all of the Fluid from my band to give my stomach time to correct itself. After 6 weeks the swelling went down and I was able to have Fluid put back in the band. A few months later I suffered another prolapse and ended up in the ER. Had all the fluid removed again and waited 8 weeks and the swelling went down and I was able to have fluid slowly added. Then I had my 3rd prolapse in March of this year and it was really bad. I was throwing up and choking in my sleep. Doctor once again removed all of the fluid and asked if I wanted to have it removed or wait another 6 weeks to see if the problem corrected itself. I really did not want to have the band removed for fear of gaining the weight back. I chose to wait. Things did get better for a few weeks and now I am prolapsed again and it is the worse it has ever been. I am scheduled for removal next week and it can't happen fast enough. I have not been able to sleep for about a week and a half now. I am sleeping on the sofa with the pillows behind me so that I am sitting straight up and I am still throwing up and choking in my sleep. I sleep for about an hour and then I wake up choking and it takes about 20 of coughing to get my lungs clear of the stomach acid. I constantly feel like my throat is swelling shut and I have a lump in the back of my throat. I am able to eat/drink very little. I have resorted back to the soft food phase of the the post-op diet. I have lost a significant amount of weight, but I still have about 60 lbs to loose. I am trying to remain positive and focus on the weight I have lost. My fear now is gaining the weight back. I was debating having gastric sleeving, but I am hesitant because there is a greater risk for complications or infections because I have had the lap band. Also, I am fearful because the sleeve is not reversable. I am going to try on my own after the removal, but I am fearful. I really need to get this band out, because I feel like my body is trying to push it out on its own. I really thought I would be at my goal weight by now and I didn't think I would be having surgery for removal.

gena2431

[Reagan0000 1]

I was banded November, 2008. The first year and a half was great. I was loosing weight and did not have much heartburn. I then had my first prolapse and the doctor removedl all of the Fluid from my band to give my stomach time to correct itself. After 6 weeks the swelling went down and I was able to have Fluid put back in the band. A few months later I suffered another prolapse and ended up in the ER. Had all the fluid removed again and waited 8 weeks and the swelling went down and I was able to have fluid slowly added. Then I had my 3rd prolapse in March of this year and it was really bad. I was throwing up and choking in my sleep. Doctor once again removed all of the fluid and asked if I wanted to have it removed or wait another 6 weeks to see if the problem corrected itself. I really did not want to have the band removed for fear of gaining the weight back. I chose to wait. Things did get better for a few weeks and now I am prolapsed again and it is the worse it has ever been. I am scheduled for removal next week and it can't happen fast enough. I have not been able to sleep for about a week and a half now. I am sleeping on the sofa with the pillows behind me so that I am sitting straight up and I am still throwing up and choking in my sleep. I sleep for about an hour and then I wake up choking and it takes about 20 of coughing to get my lungs clear of the stomach acid. I constantly feel like my throat is swelling shut and I have a lump in the back of my throat. I am able to eat/drink very little. I have resorted back to the soft food phase of the the post-op diet. I have lost a significant amount of weight, but I still have about 60 lbs to loose. I am trying to remain positive and focus on the weight I have lost. My fear now is gaining the weight back. I was debating having gastric sleeving, but I am hesitant because there is a greater risk for complications or infections because I have had the lap band. Also, I am fearful because the sleeve is not reversable. I am going to try on my own after the removal, but I am fearful. I really need to get this band out, because I feel like my body is trying to push it out on its own. I really thought I would be at my goal weight by now and I didn't think I would be having surgery for removal.

gena2431

[Reagan0000 1]

Here is a scary story for you - this actually happened to me.

2004 - Lapband put in - no complications at first. Lost 50 lbs in 7 months. Then all of a sudden the band stopped working. Tried to get my surgeon to listen, but he was a jerk and just kept blaming me for not doing what I needed to do to lose the weight. All this despite the band not holding a fill for more than 1 day. Decided not to go back to my surgeon after trying to convince him to listen to me for 1 year.

2009 - Lapband taken out. Found the courage to go to another surgeon. He confirmed that the band was not working and needed to be replaced. He did surgery - took out the band and did NOT replace it. I asked him if there was a medical reason for not replacing it. He said no...

2011 - Lapband put in. Found the courage AGAIN...to go to another surgeon to have a band put back in. Band put in on April 6. Felt funny in the upper part of my stomach. Based on my previous band surgery, I felt that it was taking a very long time to heal. Due to the swelling and pain I was having post-op, I kept in contact with the doctor's office almost daily after my initial follow-up appointment after surgery. Week 4 post-op started having fever of 103...lasted 5 days. Band doctor insisted that it wasn't the band so I went to my primary care doctor. Got antibiotics from primary care for what they thought must have been pneumonia (by the way...I believe this 5 day Z-pak saved my life by buying me some time). Fever never broke completely. Pain got so bad - ended up in ER. They could not find the problem. Band doctor insisted it was my gallbladder even though all tests ran by other doctors (CT, MRI, Hida Scan, Blood Tests, etc.) indicated the gallbladder was fine. Finally, after living with the pain for 6 weeks I called the band doctor's office and told them that they would be performing an exploratory surgery on me THAT DAY!!! As it was on a Friday, they tried to tell me that I would have to wait until the following Monday to be seen. I DID NOT WAIT and they DID the surgery as soon as I got to the hospital. Turned out that I had a horrible infection - ended up in the hospital for 5 days - touch and go a couple of times. The infection was a result of the surgeon perforating my stomach while putting in the band. I ended up losing my gallbladder due to the infection infiltrating it.

Here I am on short term disability - 3 weeks post-op and still having problems. Ended up with another infection at the scar site. Band doc had to cut my skin open so that the infection could drain. Waiting on that to get better now. I do not know how long this is going to take to get completely better...BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS - DO NOT GET A REPLACEMENT FOR A BAND THAT WAS REMOVED!!! The scar tissue can contribute to the complications of the surgery. My family is too important to me to EVER try something stupid like weight-loss surgery again. I think the "Big Guy" was giving me the signal that I need to accept who I am and be happy with my life. I hope this story will help...blessing to all.