I HATE this lap band!!

[KielyDion 0]

I had my first surgery in Oct 2009. I never really lost much weight. I think about mid 2010 I was about 15 or 20 pounds down and then I started having complications. I began vomiting due to an overfill and pretty much had a slip. Since my doctor was out of town, I visited another doctor and he saw the "slip" and removed all of the Fluid and told me that sometimes the stomach repairs itself and I should be fine and could even refill the band after 6 to 8 weeks if everything is working properly. I could finally swallow water! It was about 8 weeks later with no other complications that I went in for a fill again because I was ready to start loosing weight again. Well, apparently it didn't correct itself and I began vomiting again. I ended up having ANOTHER surgery to revise the slip in Dec 2010. I had one fill in Feb 2011 of 4.5cc's but I never felt any restriction unless I ate large amounts of bread. Basically it was like I didn't have a band at all except on rare occasions. I finally saved up the $150 to get a fill yesterday and my doctor added 1 cc to the band. So I'm at 5.5 cc's right now. I'm back to not being able to keep anything down!!! I don't get this! All I've had today was a scrambled egg, Water, and chicken broth. I was so hungry when I got off work that I went and bought some carnation instant Breakfast but that didn't make it either. It's almost like the band is closed again and the milk settles on top of it, thickens and then comes back up - kind of cottage cheese style. I know that's gross but I don't know how else to describe it. I'm just at an absolute loss!!! I want to cry. If it's already slipped again I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm now paying off 2 surgeries...probably for next 5 years. If I have to get another one I'll be in debt for the rest of my life!!!!! I don't know what to do.

[Birinak 19]

I had my first surgery in Oct 2009. I never really lost much weight. I think about mid 2010 I was about 15 or 20 pounds down and then I started having complications. I began vomiting due to an overfill and pretty much had a slip. Since my doctor was out of town, I visited another doctor and he saw the "slip" and removed all of the Fluid and told me that sometimes the stomach repairs itself and I should be fine and could even refill the band after 6 to 8 weeks if everything is working properly. I could finally swallow water! It was about 8 weeks later with no other complications that I went in for a fill again because I was ready to start loosing weight again. Well, apparently it didn't correct itself and I began vomiting again. I ended up having ANOTHER surgery to revise the slip in Dec 2010. I had one fill in Feb 2011 of 4.5cc's but I never felt any restriction unless I ate large amounts of bread. Basically it was like I didn't have a band at all except on rare occasions. I finally saved up the $150 to get a fill yesterday and my doctor added 1 cc to the band. So I'm at 5.5 cc's right now. I'm back to not being able to keep anything down!!! I don't get this! All I've had today was a scrambled egg, Water, and chicken broth. I was so hungry when I got off work that I went and bought some carnation instant breakfast but that didn't make it either. It's almost like the band is closed again and the milk settles on top of it, thickens and then comes back up - kind of cottage cheese style. I know that's gross but I don't know how else to describe it. I'm just at an absolute loss!!! I want to cry. If it's already slipped again I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm now paying off 2 surgeries...probably for next 5 years. If I have to get another one I'll be in debt for the rest of my life!!!!! I don't know what to do.

I only had my surgery 9 months ago and I have no experience with band complications yet. I'm sorry that you're dealing with this. All that I can say is that, if I were to have a slip that requires surgical correction, I would take the money that would be spent on such a surgery and get the sleeve. Multiple new studies show that long-term complications with the band are relatively high and each year with the band increases the probability of a complication. In terms of money, the conversion from band-to-sleeve can be done by reputable surgeons in Meksico (if I spell the country correctly, the word appears as a hyperlink to a surgery site) for about 5000-6000 dollars. This includes band removal. You'd have to research surgeons carefully and consult those on the VSG board before you can assess the surgeons' reputations. There are a few very popular ones. The band cost my parents 16000 dollars and, although I'm pretty pleased with the results thus far, I wish I had considered the sleeve more carefully before getting the band. I heard that band removal surgery will cost nearly the same as the original procedure, and it seems that many people will have their bands removed sooner than they expected.

I explained on another thread that, aside from its relatively low cost, the sleeve doesn't require post-op maintenance (you don't need fills or annual visits with your surgeon). Also, the sleeved stomach is difficult to stretch out unlike the band's pouch or the bypass stomach, and I've never heard of post-op complications long after surgery. The only sleeve complications of which I've read were peri-operative and rare, but once you've recovered, you don't have to fear a slip or other complication in five or some years. You'll also always have the same amount of restriction right from the beginning (your restriction won't suddenly go away until you get a fill, and you won't be tighter some days than others) and the sleeve doesn't involve malabsorption, unlike the bypass. Obviously, you can still cheat with the sleeve (milkshakes etc.), but you can do the same with the two other procedures. Another reason that I wouldn't get a slipped band surgically corrected is that the probability of having a slip is high when you've already had one. I hope that your surgeon informed you of this before you paid for the second surgery. You really couldn't afford to have yet a third surgery just for the band to slip again. Finally, if you check out the vsg board, they just seem happier and less confused than people do on this board. Their weight-loss seems to come easier, especially since they don't have to go through "sleever-hell" or worry about losing restriction, as I mentioned.

I hope you found this advice helpful. To those who are overly fond of their band and sensitive to criticism of it: I'm not saying this to the OP because I personally dislike the band. I've had good results with it so far. If I could keep the band for the next decade, I probably would as long as there were no complications. However, 1) the OP needs honest advice; and 2) we should all, even we happy bandsters, give thought to our plan B if our band slips, if we regain our weight, or if we need the band removed a year or ten years from now.

[Rachel412 116]

Kiely, it sounds like you're really frustrated and disheartened! I know my doctor requires liquids the first 24 hours after a fill, then mushy foods for the next 24 hours, then proceed with caution on normal foods. Maybe you just tried eating too soon? When we get fills, a lot of people have swelling of the stomach that goes away after a few days, so it seems like you just are swollen. Can you get Water down? What about a Protein drink, if you're not drinking it on top of a solid food? Did the chicken broth go down?

I would hope your surgeon would do a free unfill for you if you need to take a little off the top of this last fill- but if you can get liquids down right now, I'd wait a few more days and see if the swelling goes away on Monday.

I'm sorry you're so upset and disappointed in the surgery

[vickyd 24]

I would definately suggest a partial unfill (and make sure to drink a significant amount of liquid before leaving the surgeon's office just to make sure they take enough out). You may be one of the people who are very sensitive to fills and need to get smaller fills in order to avoid problems - I know that 1cc doesn't sound like much but for some people it is way too much to add. I am also suprised that you were allowed to eat even eggs the day after a fill. My surgeon has me do liquids for 3 days, then mushies for a day or two after a fill to give the swelling time to go down.

I'm sorry you are going through such a difficult time with your band...good luck to you and I hope you start feeling better...

[Spot 20]

How does your doctor know how much to put in when he does fills, and how does he make sure you're not over filled? My doctor has me drink Water while he has the needle in my port. He fills my band with X amount, I drink, he fills again... this goes on until I feel the Water being restricted. He then takes out .2 ccs, I drink, and we do that until I feel the water pass through again. He'll then do even more fine tuning after that.

My doctor says for me to do non-hot liquids for the rest of the day, and then to eat solids as soon as tolerated. It took me almost a week before I could eat solids. There just might be something to the advice other doctors give to wait a bit longer before getting back to solids. I recommend doing liquids for a few days, then mushies. Give your stomach 5 or more days to unswell.

[Tess2352 0]

with the amount of problems you have experienced, I would suggest you might get a slight unfill - and then check the price of having your next fill using a flouroscope. Also, as everyone else has said, eating solid food that soon after a fill could be the cause of the problem. I always have solid Fluid for 2-3 days, and then mushies for another 2-3 days.

Also, although I have a REalize 10cc band, I have always had small fills - just because I get reflux under the flouroscope with too large a fill. My last two fills have both been about 0.5ccs. If they add more, it is too much.

Good luck, I know you are frustrated.

[KielyDion 0]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the comments and feedback. I did go in that morning and see the doctor. He did a slight unfill. He took out around .5-.7 cc's. I'm doing much better and I hope I've a sweet spot for a little while. I stayed on liquids Thurs-Saturday and yesterday I started incorporating soft foods like cottage cheese. Since my band hasn't worked in so long I forgot that it can be tighter in the mornings. No more scrambled eggs for me. I'll start out in the mornings with a Protein shake or slimfast. My doctors nurse recommended the follow diet:

Protein Shake for Breakfast

Cottage cheese for snack

chicken or tuna salad for lunch

String Cheese or Beef Jerky for Snack

chicken and Veggies for dinner

What do you guys think of this diet? I'm not ready for chicken yet. It's always been a harder food for me to process so I'm not headed that way just yet. I was just curious what other would think of this for a diet post soft foods. Thanks again for your comments and encouragement. I'm going to make this work!!! I'm paying too much on these surgeries not to.

Oh, always I was in the chat room and everyone was talking about the 5 Day Pouch Test. I'll be sure to use that in the future when I feel like things aren't working right.

[vickyd 24]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the comments and feedback. I did go in that morning and see the doctor. He did a slight unfill. He took out around .5-.7 cc's. I'm doing much better and I hope I've a sweet spot for a little while. I stayed on liquids Thurs-Saturday and yesterday I started incorporating soft foods like cottage cheese. Since my band hasn't worked in so long I forgot that it can be tighter in the mornings. No more scrambled eggs for me. I'll start out in the mornings with a Protein shake or slimfast. My doctors nurse recommended the follow diet:

Protein Shake for Breakfast

Cottage cheese for snack

chicken or tuna salad for lunch

String Cheese or Beef Jerky for Snack

chicken and Veggies for dinner

What do you guys think of this diet? I'm not ready for chicken yet. It's always been a harder food for me to process so I'm not headed that way just yet. I was just curious what other would think of this for a diet post soft foods. Thanks again for your comments and encouragement. I'm going to make this work!!! I'm paying too much on these surgeries not to.

Oh, always I was in the chat room and everyone was talking about the 5 Day Pouch Test. I'll be sure to use that in the future when I feel like things aren't working right.

The diet your doctor's nurse recommended isn't much different that what I normally eat. Since you have issues with chicken, you might want to substitute fish or some other type of seafood. Seafood is softer and tends to not get stuck as much as chicken or another dense meat. If you want to do chicken, try ground chicken or turkey (I also like chicken sausage) - you should be able to keep that moist enough that you don't have issues with it...

[Wheelchair 13]

Multiple new studies show that long-term complications with the band are relatively high and each year with the band increases the probability of a complication.

Can you send me a link that states this? I'm trying to read up on as many peer reviewed journals regarding bariatric surgeries, LAGB in general.

I was just under the impression that time since inception of the LAGB has not yet been long enough that a fairly accurate retrospective study. Additionally, I don't believe there are enough people with the lap band to have a very good random sample along with a large enough sample size.

I'm trying to get as much educated as possible about this.... I'm still pretty young and I hope for at least 4~5 decades more of my life. Thanks!

[ssankofa73 2]

Hi Kiely,

I'm glad to see that you're doing better. A lot of what your RN listed for you to eat is included in the 5 Day Pouch Test. I'm on Day 2 of the the pouch test and it seems pretty good.

[xavier 153]

For anyone who has ever felt restriction or been stuck (isnt that all of us?) I sure would NOT recommend beef jerky! The thought just frightens me!

[njm 0]

For anyone who has ever felt restriction or been stuck (isnt that all of us?) I sure would NOT recommend beef jerky! The thought just frightens me!

Actually, you have to chew beef Jerky really well and then it breaks down. It's a great high protien snack. I eat it almost every day and it never gets stuck.

[Peps 1]

with the amount of problems you have experienced, I would suggest you might get a slight unfill - and then check the price of having your next fill using a flouroscope. Also, as everyone else has said, eating solid food that soon after a fill could be the cause of the problem. I always have solid Fluid for 2-3 days, and then mushies for another 2-3 days.

Also, although I have a REalize 10cc band, I have always had small fills - just because I get reflux under the flouroscope with too large a fill. My last two fills have both been about 0.5ccs. If they add more, it is too much.

Good luck, I know you are frustrated.

[Peps 1]

Hi Tess,

I see you were banded by Dr. Schroder at Dominion Surgical Assoc. last year. Do you like the doctors and staff there? Are they concerned about their patients and take time with them? I'm going to be banded by Dr. Brengman--hopefully in September. My ins. required me to do a yr. with a life coach and that time is up Aug. 16th. I have an appt. with Dr. Brengman on the 17th. It's been a long journey, but in the end I'm glad that I had this year to reflect, research everything, and really be sure of what I'm doing. I'd love to hear more of your story. Good luck with your journey!

[FutureFitGal 15]

Hi everyone -

What is the 5 day pouch test?