My band needs to be removed/replaced ? :( HELP

[Cathy1980 0]

G'day Everyone,

Im new to this site. I have had a quick browse through and it is great to see so many people having so much success, and supporting one another ))))

For me, its a different story.

I was banded in 2003. I went from 130kgs down to 85kgs. So i was fairly successful.

Last year i was diagnosed with a chronic slip, as they weight just kept creeping on. So, all my fill was emptied.

Fell pregnant, more weight piles on.

Now, i find myself depressed and confused!!!!!!!!!

I was given the option of a gastric sleeve - which scares the hell out of me, so it isnt an option.

Or, a new lapband....

I'm a bit down and disheartened, as some people have reported that they arent as successful the second time round?

To me, as far as weight loss surgery goes, this is my only option?

Please, if anyone has had a similar experience (where they have needed their band replaced for whatever reason) can you please tell me how you found it, and whether you have had success.

I'm remaining hopefull that it will help me a 2nd time around...as being up around 130kg again is scary & worrying.

Hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me (((((

Thanks for reading,

Cath.

[kezateit 0]

Hi there Cath, I see you posted this a while back and no one has replied to you so I thought I would. I had to have a lap band revision done (surgery) because my band had slipped big time. I had a massive pouch hanging over the top of the band. The surgeon asked to operate on me ASAP once it had been diagnosed because he was worried it might twist and cause all sorts of serious compications or problems. So I went back in to have the band re done. I had the original op in August 2008. It was certainly not a success overnight and I had to work hard to lose the weight but I managed to lose some.

I then got a piece of tofu stuck in my band and had to see my surgeon on a weekend to have the band emptied completely to clear the blockage. I then had 4 mls put in over the next week and we went travelling through Europe for 13 weeks. Unfortunately my band was so tight (we hadn't been able to adjust it as finely as it needed to be, due to only having one week for fills prior to leaving for Europe) I vomitted for most of the time I was in Europe. I lived off Soup and couldn't really eat any food, even yoghurt with lumps of fruit in it wouldn't pass through. Eventually when we had been about 10 weeks into the holiday I decided I had, had enough and fronted up to a French hospital where the Fluid was removed.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had my next band op in Sept 2009. I kept going in for fills and nothing seemed to be working. I wasn't feeling any restriction and had a barium swallow which showed all the food passing straight through. The Dr was reluctant to fill the band up too much because of my 'band history'. I gave up and just thought it was one big failure. We had gone from too tight to too loose. I then saw one of the other Drs one day and she suggested that maybe I had, had a larger band put in. After reading the surgery records she realised this was the case but it had not been reported to the Bariatric centre Drs by the surgeon. A very poor incident indeed and terrible communication between surgeon and the follow up Drs. I was furious to say the least......this wasn't discovered until about 18 months after my second lot of surgery.

Anyway, after discovering this, they increased my fill volume and my band is now working perfectly. It is working so much better than the first one and I am losing weight. I have lost about 14 kgs so far and working hard to lose some more. So from my point of view the second time around was a nightmare to begin with but about 20 months later it is all finally falling into place. I think we just have to be patient and work out how our band will work the best for us. You did so well losing 45 kgs.....can't wait till I've lost that amount!!! I'm sure you can do it again and then maintain it! Think positively. I have had the worst time with the whole lap band experience. It has been like a bad joke but finally it is working in my favour!! Good luck to you and I would love to know how it is going second time around for you. Sorry about the essay I have written.

[nigel 9]

HI, I had my band removed yesterday afternoon Monday 22 October 2012. I had my band installed 7 years ago, went from 163KG down to 89, had some reflux related issues and went back to 102Kg. I'm typing this from my hospital bed. Band removal was straightforward ad I'll be released in a few hrs, so only had to stay overnight. In Australia the surgeon won't re-sleeve me till Mid December, after today's visit he will see if there was not much scar tissue removed from around the band, if minimal he will do the Gastric Sleeve Dec 14 otherwise Mid January, I am terrified to keep purring on weight now the band is out. I'll let you know of my progress.