My Lap Band Almost Killed Me

[m239291 0]

I got my lap band April of 2008. I immediately started loosing weight and had very little appetite, so of course, I was delighted. But as time went on, I could eat less and less, despite never receiving a fill. When I did eat, food would get stuck right in the spot the band was, and the food would come up. To overcome this, I ate extremely small portions of food in tiny pieces, or liquids only. In August of 2008, my gall bladder was removed by the same surgical staff that put the lap band in....side effect of loosing weight fast. They attributed my issues to the gall bladder. I insisted that food getting stuck and throwing up had nothing to do with my gall bladder since the pains were at different places (gall bladder right side vs. food sticking at the top of my stomach exactly where the band was). After August, I kept questioning my surgeon because I was feeling weak and at times would get dehydrated (at times I could not even keep Water down). I went back to the office several times a week and they assured me all was well and that what I was experiencing was "normal" and was "lucky" that I did not have to get a fill. But, I knew something was very wrong and had lost 90 pounds in 6 months with no fills. In October of 2008 on a Monday, I ended up in the emergency room with extreme dehydration (from not being able to keep anything down, including water) and was admitted in the hospital (DePaul in Bridgeton, MO). I had done some research and at this point consulted with other doctors, who told me that I needed an upper endoscopy. I talked to my doctors (the ones who had done the lap band and gall bladder surgeries) and told them again that there was something wrong with the band itself and I needed an upper endoscopy to figure it out. They did every test under the sun between Monday and Wednesday and could not diagnose the problem. Finally after much discussion and being on IVs only since Monday, they performed the upper endoscopy on Thursday morning. When I came to after the procedure, they were running me down the hallway of the hospital and told me that my lap band had actually ripped open my stomach and my stomach now had a "very large" hole in it. They were taking me to surgery to repair the hole and remove the band. I was in the operating room minutes later, and they awoke in recovery some time after. At that point, I had a discussion with the surgical nurse who told me that I was lucky that I kept throwing up because if food or Water had gotten into my body cavity, that I could have died. The surgeon then scolded the nurse for telling me that, and then corrected her and said that this is a "normal complication" and I was just one of the unlucky ones that the lap band does not work on. I went through 6 months of hell, and so did my family. My mistake was consulting other doctors from the same practice, and not getting a second opinion from a completely different practice. The whole experience took an emotional tole on my family and myself. I reviewed all of the information received about the risks that lap band may present, and none of the materials given to me included the risk of the band tearing a hole in the stomach. I followed up several times with the doctors after the band came out and each and every time they were uncaring and aloof about my experience.

I am thrilled that the majority of folks have positive experiences with lap band, and wish you all continued success. I am sharing my story so that folks are aware of other outcomes and make informed decisions for themselves.

[NWgirl 574]

Was this an actual tear, or was it an erosion of the band into the stomach? I am so sorry that you had such a terrible experience and that your Dr's would not listen to you. Are you maintaining your weight well? Are you considering a revision surgery to another form of WLS?

[Fit in my 60's 25]

Wow! What a story! So glad everything eventually worked out but so sorry you had to go through all that. Thanks so much for sharing. I think the lesson to be learned here is to trust your instincts and if your own doctors don't believe you, get a second opinion.....somewhere else.

[m239291 0]

Was this an actual tear, or was it an erosion of the band into the stomach? I am so sorry that you had such a terrible experience and that your Dr's would not listen to you. Are you maintaining your weight well? Are you considering a revision surgery to another form of WLS?

The doctor described it as a tear. But I looked at the films from the endoscopy and to me it looked like the band eroded into the stomach. The hole was exactly at the bottom of the band. Also, it was not minor. The test results showed a 60+% tear. Another 40% and it would have gone completely through. I have gained 50 pounds back since 2008, so I am not doing a good job of maintaining the weight loss. Regarding revision surgery, I am very reluctant to do it based on the lap band experience. My husband was extremely upset and angry at the whole circumstance. He said he loves me does not care about my weight and is very against me getting surgery again. I sheltered the kids from much of the whole experience, but they did see me throw up numerous times and visited me in the hospital every day back in October 2008 when I got the band out, and was in the hospital for a week. I personally would love to do it again, but do not want to put my kids and husband through any more anguish. I am very blessed to have a family that loves me. I continue to try other weight loss methods, but to date, have found nothing that has worked. I keep praying and remain optimistic that the right answer for me will come one day. I will never give up on my efforts to get to and maintain a healthy weight.

[feliciadawn 22]

Wow, this sounds so horrible, i'm sorry you had to go through this. Do you mind me asking which band you had? I recently talked to someone with a similiar experience. She went to an ER in the US and they did nothing for her, tested her for everything EXCEPT a problem with the lap band, she was in the hospital for hours and hours, bleeding internally, knowing what the problem was and trying to get the doctors to to an endoscopy. I don't know her entire story, and I don't know if she'd be comfortable with me sharing it, but I know that she left the hospital, had someone drive her down to Mexico where she'd originally gotten the band (luckily she lived in San Diego) and they saved her life, called another doc in for transfusions, removed the band, and sewed up the ulcer. I think she had a 4cc band, and was one of the last to receive that band. I've heard a lot of people have problems with that particular band.

Anyway, please keep us posted on how you are doing! Glad you are well and still with us. Terrified of this happening to myself or anyone else...I hope this is a problem that is particular to the 4cc band, since they aren't using that one anymore. Please tell us which band you had.

[m239291 0]

Wow, this sounds so horrible, i'm sorry you had to go through this. Do you mind me asking which band you had? I recently talked to someone with a similiar experience. She went to an ER in the US and they did nothing for her, tested her for everything EXCEPT a problem with the lap band, she was in the hospital for hours and hours, bleeding internally, knowing what the problem was and trying to get the doctors to to an endoscopy. I don't know her entire story, and I don't know if she'd be comfortable with me sharing it, but I know that she left the hospital, had someone drive her down to Mexico where she'd originally gotten the band (luckily she lived in San Diego) and they saved her life, called another doc in for transfusions, removed the band, and sewed up the ulcer. I think she had a 4cc band, and was one of the last to receive that band. I've heard a lot of people have problems with that particular band.

Anyway, please keep us posted on how you are doing! Glad you are well and still with us. Terrified of this happening to myself or anyone else...I hope this is a problem that is particular to the 4cc band, since they aren't using that one anymore. Please tell us which band you had.

I don't know which one it was. The office frequently advertised that they pioneered the FDA approval of the Adjustable Gastric Banding System. I do not recall them ever saying the size of the band (like whether or not it was 4cc or something else).

Interesting that you have heard of someone else that experienced a similar scenario. Wonder how often this happens. When it happened to me, I asked if I could speak to others that went through a similar experience, and of course, the doctors were not forthcoming with allowing me to talk to anyone else. On one hand they said it was a known complication (although all of the materials they provided me said nothing about this risk), and then on the other hand, they said they had no one else that this had happened to. I should have been more aggressive with pursuing more answers, but I was so emotionally scared by the whole experience, that today is the first time that I have ever openly talked about it to anyone other than immediately family. At the time, I just wanted the whole experience to be behind me.

[elcee 3,341]

Sorry that you went through this.

It does sound as though your band eroded which is listed as a possible complication of the band.The fact that you never had a fill and kept getting constantly tighter makes me wonder if the problem was with the initial placement of the band. Maybe too small a band was used or it was put on too tight or in the wrong position. Unfortunately you will never know and will always be left wondering.

the good news is that you came through this and are Ok.

[Amanda1982 142]

I'm so sorry this happened to you....but I'm glad you posted this. Newbie’s need to hear success stories was well as horror stories before making their choice to have the band. Stay positive this wasn't for you, but I'm sure you will find the answer to your weight loss problems.

[m239291 0]

Sorry that you went through this.

It does sound as though your band eroded which is listed as a possible complication of the band.The fact that you never had a fill and kept getting constantly tighter makes me wonder if the problem was with the initial placement of the band. Maybe too small a band was used or it was put on too tight or in the wrong position. Unfortunately you will never know and will always be left wondering.

the good news is that you came through this and are Ok.

Perhaps the band eroding is listed as a possible complication is on the materials that you received, but I reviewed all of my materials that I got back in in 2008 and it is not listed as a complication. But, even if it was, I still would have probably done it because the information described this procedure as the least invasive procedure that results in the least complications, which is why I chose lap band over gastric bypass.

[#MagicWithinme 173]

Thank you for sharing your story. There's quite alot that they don't tell you in seminars/or reading material and unless you have a dedicated surgeon , it isn't until you hear from other bandsters to know what to look for, what to ask, what to expect, anything under the sun regarding lapband is covered here.

Best of luck and health!

[ElizabethAnne 40]

Would you please tell us who did your surgery?

[mags2u 57]

Hello! I'm glad you are ok. I had my surgery by Dr. Scott (I'm assuming from your posts and descriptions that yours was the same). If it makes you feel any better, maybe as a direct result of your situation, it is VERY much discussed in the pre-op education classes that this is a very real risk of having this surgery. They also tell us that although it is advertised as reversable, if you have to have it removed out of necessesity, the scar tissue formed by the initial surgery would force you most likely to convert to the gastric bypass. Erosion was one of my biggest concerns. (Still is). But I guess for me it was a risk worth taking. Hope everything works out with you and your continued health!

Mags

[m239291 0]

Hello! I'm glad you are ok. I had my surgery by Dr. Scott (I'm assuming from your posts and descriptions that yours was the same). If it makes you feel any better, maybe as a direct result of your situation, it is VERY much discussed in the pre-op education classes that this is a very real risk of having this surgery. They also tell us that although it is advertised as reversable, if you have to have it removed out of necessesity, the scar tissue formed by the initial surgery would force you most likely to convert to the gastric bypass. Erosion was one of my biggest concerns. (Still is). But I guess for me it was a risk worth taking. Hope everything works out with you and your continued health!

Mags

He was the person I saw at the office visits, did the gall bladder removal and was there for the upper endoscopy. de le Torre did the actual band in and band out surgeries. Post op from the band removal, I only saw de le Torre. The last time I saw Scott was when I got the results of the upper endoscopy, which was a rather ugly scene, because I was beyond frustrated/upset that for so many months, he nor anyone from his office listened to me. Again, I should have gone to a completely separate practice to get a second opinion, so I absolutely take my part of the responsibility for not doing that. But they never did conceed any responsibility. I even asked them to point out in their information they provide to patients where exactly they describe this complication, and they couldn't do it, because it was not there. I learned the hard way that you, yourself, have to be your best advocate for your health, and you need to trust your own judgement/gut and follow through.

Good to hear that now they inform patients of the risk of this type of thing happening, so if I was a little part of that...... then something good came out of my bad experience.

[feliciadawn 22]

It's strange, the girl I spoke to who this also happened to also got her band in 2008 (if I remember correctly) she said it was a 4 cc lap band, as opposed to the realize band. I've heard of SO many more complications with the lap band than the Realize. I wonder what the differences are. I know that the Realize was developed in the 80s and the Lap wasn't until the mid 90s, but I don't know other than that. Here's a link I found on the two different types, if anyone is interested.

http://www.wlshelp.com/lap-band-vs-realize-band.html

I don't know if it was the type of band, your body rejecting it, or a combination of both, maybe this would have happened with either band. I just wondered if anyone else has any comparisons or knows anything about the Realize versus the Lap.