Sadly another Lopez erosion...

[athykay 9]

Teresa your friend is in my prayers. This is getting very scary for me. Since I am a Lopez patient also. I am calling today about an endoscopy. As I told you all I have been pretty sick lately. Well I had to go back to the Doctor last Thursday. I am now on so many meds I have to write them down so I don't forget which one to take. My bronchitis/whatever is just not clearing up. Now I am on steroids and inhalers and more antibotics. I just don't know what to think anymore just getting so frustrated. I am at least getting some stuff out of my lungs now and no fever. I just don't know if I should be concerned that the band is involved or just a bad case of bronchitis.

Going to make a call today. I don't know if they could even do one until I am better.

Just the fact that Lopez was my surgeon makes me worry anymore.

[hagerteresa 3]

Me too Kathy... I feel the exact same way. It makes me nervous and then to hear that there was other tampering in her stomach makes me cringe. I see my family practitioner in a couple of hours and I'm going to beg for an endo just to relieve my mind or help me prepare for the next step either way. I absolutely don't want to lose my band without some backup plan. Let me know how the endo goes for you, Teresa

[DeLarla 22]

Don't beg for an endo. Lie for one. Put on your best Susan Lucci and tell them you vomited blood a couple times in the past week. They'll probably schedule you for an immediate Upper GI. Just go with it, but when the results come back fine tell they you vomited blood again yesterday. Mix some green eye shadow with your foundation if you gotta.

Kathy, I had certain bronchial problems also. food sitting in my esophagus added to a few years of bulimia left me with Barrett's Esophagitis, so maybe there's a possibility that your band & breathing are related? Just a thought. Hi by the way, nice to see you

[hagerteresa 3]

I don't think I'll have to lie for one. If I tell him its imperative and explain everything that has been going on with everyone else and myself he will probably happily send me for one. Hopefully anyway. I did have a bad boute of vomiting a few weeks ago and my throat hasn't been the same since.

[melati 0]

What The Hell Is This Guy Doing To His Patients?!

[Jamoorse 0]

this erosion thing has me scared, no way in knowing if it happened or not? I had my surgery 2 weeks ago; i still have a lot of pain and very difficult to get up out of a car; i know that my doctor said he stitched to the stomach and those are stomach muscles you are trying to use and is painful; but there are times i get a burning sensation in there; i am to go back to work on thursday and worried as it does hurt to get up and down and still not sleeping in a bed.

[Staci 2]

Hi Everyone,

OK, I really freaked out now also. I too am a Dr Lopez patient. I have an appointment Wednesday with my GP and am also requesting a endo!

I will update you all with my results.

Staci

Orlando FL

banded in TJ 12/16/04

Dr Lopez

[DeLarla 22]

Jamoorse, erosion is a slow process. You wouldn't be eroded only after 2 weeks.

Staci, high five on that endo! No need to worry everyone, just get annual endoscopies and keep an eye on your band. I'm living proof that erosion is NOT the end of the world. I'm still fighting the battle without a band, but I'm still kicking!

[Banded14yr 2]

I realize that erosion and port problems can happen to any of us regardless of where we were banded or who our surgeon was/is .... but I continually find it interesting at how many of these problems seem to migrate back to the same Mexican surgeon. I don't think that it's just coincidence.

I feel for every single one of you that have had problems and/or have lost your band. We all need to continue to communicate to the bandster wannabee's that come here seeking advice. I would run like the wind from this doc if I were considering getting banded in Mexico and did a search on this board using his name.

[Jamoorse 0]

why do you think you need an endo, why do you someone of you think you are eroded, what symptons do you have, this doctor in mexico must be horrible

[hagerteresa 3]

He didn't seem horrible at the time. I spent 6 months researching him, got a good report from Inamed about the doctor, talked to countless people who had both recently gotten their band from the same surgeon and had gotten it years before from the same surgeon. He was very nice and seemed very caring. On the other hand countless problems have been seen and heard about since right after I got my surgery. So indeed he must BE horrible. It just didn't seem like it at the time.

I talked to my doctor today and he is sending me to a gastroenterologist to get an endo. I had a bad vomiting episode about a month ago and have had a sore throat ever since. He didn't see any problems by just looking at the back of my throat and he thinks it is high time I got an endo. It should be fine with my insurance. He also said that he has heard the erosion statistics are much higher for the band than initially predicted. He said many weren't apparent during the initial study because of the limited number of patients and the short duration of their band experience. Now that thousands have gotten the band more erosion cases are becoming apparent.

[Jamoorse 0]

ok so i shouldn't have erosion since I am only 2 weeks out of surgery; why are all you getting endos? How do you know if you need an endo

[DeLarla 22]

Jamoorse, the only way to detect erosion is with an endoscopy, where they put you to sleep and look at the band from the inside by sliding a tube down your throat that's got a tiny camera attached to it. My surgeon thinks it's a good idea for all banded patients to have an annual endoscopy. He didn't originally think this way, but lately he's been removing too many eroded bands from people that had surgery in Mexico, which raised his concern about his own US patients, so he wants to see patients get endoscopies as part of regular band maintenance.

It's good to see the band from the inside since patients can be eroded with no symptoms. Many doctors do fills while you drink a barium liquid while they view your stomach through an x-ray machine. With some eroded patients, the barium won't flow through the band correctly, so the doctor will schedule an endoscopy to get a better look since it's most likely erosion. Most people don't know they're eroded since there aren't always symptoms. Port infections have been leading to erosion around here, but erosion is a slow process. I eroded after 1.5 years as did some of my banded friends. I hope this helps ease your mind.

[Jamoorse 0]

How do you know if you have infection; would a person get an infection only after 2 weeks? did anyone else have soreness to the belly after surgery or take long to get going?

[DeLarla 22]

Many people were very sore for a couple weeks after surgery. I didn't have pain, but I was disgusting sick for 2 solid weeks before I started feeling better.

If your port is infected, you'll be the first to know. The wound would be just like any other infected cut - it would be red, warm, hot, inflammed, leaking, etc.

You sound like the typical new bandster - a worry wart! That's good news because you sound pretty normal!