It May Be Time For The Band To Go

[bunkie68 6]

My name is Lisa, and I think I'm a lap band failure. I've been banded for nearly nine years, but haven't maintained my band since it was overfilled about eight months after my surgery (which was in August 2003). I couldn't swallow my own spit at that point, and had to have surgery right away to unfill the band completely. I was real leery of any fills after that, and then divorce and life and lack of funds intervened, and going back for a fill never became a priority. I've just started having pain that I suspect is band-related, and if it needs to come out, I'm mentally prepared to do that - the pain started on Friday, and feels kind of like a stitch in my side, with some soreness in my abdomen. I've debated going to the ER, but I'm not sure it's that serious - no fever, no throwing up, nothing like that - and I'm doing some searching to determine who I might need to call tomorrow to get in for a consultation.

I just worry what recovery will be like from having it removed, since I haven't been real good about taking care of the band all this time. I find that my eating has slowed down a lot as I've gotten a bit older anyway, so I'm not worried about that. I'm now married to a man who's interested in eating well and exercising, and honestly, I think I've gained all my weight back over the years anyway. We're planning to move in a couple of months (my job is transferring me, which is good), and we'd scheduled a visit to look at houses in a couple of weeks. I don't want to get behind at work, and I don't want to screw up our move. Anyone who's had a band removed, what was recovery like?

I just want tomorrow to be here so I can make some calls and see what I can find out. I'm tired of worrying that any little twinge in my middle might be something going wrong with my band. It can come out and that will be just fine with me.

[heidib 15]

My name is Lisa, and I think I'm a lap band failure. I've been banded for nearly nine years, but haven't maintained my band since it was overfilled about eight months after my surgery (which was in August 2003). I couldn't swallow my own spit at that point, and had to have surgery right away to unfill the band completely. I was real leery of any fills after that, and then divorce and life and lack of funds intervened, and going back for a fill never became a priority. I've just started having pain that I suspect is band-related, and if it needs to come out, I'm mentally prepared to do that - the pain started on Friday, and feels kind of like a stitch in my side, with some soreness in my abdomen. I've debated going to the ER, but I'm not sure it's that serious - no fever, no throwing up, nothing like that - and I'm doing some searching to determine who I might need to call tomorrow to get in for a consultation.

I just worry what recovery will be like from having it removed, since I haven't been real good about taking care of the band all this time. I find that my eating has slowed down a lot as I've gotten a bit older anyway, so I'm not worried about that. I'm now married to a man who's interested in eating well and exercising, and honestly, I think I've gained all my weight back over the years anyway. We're planning to move in a couple of months (my job is transferring me, which is good), and we'd scheduled a visit to look at houses in a couple of weeks. I don't want to get behind at work, and I don't want to screw up our move. Anyone who's had a band removed, what was recovery like?

I just want tomorrow to be here so I can make some calls and see what I can find out. I'm tired of worrying that any little twinge in my middle might be something going wrong with my band. It can come out and that will be just fine with me.

Why did you have to have surgery to have your band unfilled? I just had my band removed after nearly 4 yrs. recovery is nothing. :-)

[bunkie68 6]

Heidi, my doctor overfilled my band, to the point that I was having severe upper abdominal/chest pain (I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or what, I just knew that only a few minutes after I left his office, the pain was excruciating). There was a kink in the tubing connecting my port to my band, and he'd kept putting Fluid in thinking he was able to pull some back out, but that wasn't the case. I couldn't swallow anything at all and certainly couldn't function with that kind of pain. Hence the need for surgery for the unfill.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you have your band removed? I'm glad your recovery went well. :-)

If I am correct and the band needs to go, I'm not doing anything else in terms of weight loss surgery. I've made my peace with never being thin. I just want to exercise and eat right so that I can be healthy and strong for my boys, and thankfully I am healthy right now. I don't want to try any other surgical options. I'll swing my kettlebell and take more walks and jump on the trampoline with my kids, and eat more veggies and less junk, and call it good.

[Lose to Win 0]

Heidi, my doctor overfilled my band, to the point that I was having severe upper abdominal/chest pain (I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or what, I just knew that only a few minutes after I left his office, the pain was excruciating). There was a kink in the tubing connecting my port to my band, and he'd kept putting Fluid in thinking he was able to pull some back out, but that wasn't the case. I couldn't swallow anything at all and certainly couldn't function with that kind of pain. Hence the need for surgery for the unfill.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you have your band removed? I'm glad your recovery went well. :-)

If I am correct and the band needs to go, I'm not doing anything else in terms of weight loss surgery. I've made my peace with never being thin. I just want to exercise and eat right so that I can be healthy and strong for my boys, and thankfully I am healthy right now. I don't want to try any other surgical options. I'll swing my kettlebell and take more walks and jump on the trampoline with my kids, and eat more veggies and less junk, and call it good.

I hope that you will keep your posts updated. I am really interested in what you find out. I've been having some problems.....considering options.........

[Lose to Win 0]

Why did you have to have surgery to have your band unfilled? I just had my band removed after nearly 4 yrs. recovery is nothing. :-)

What about cost? Does it cost as much to have it removed as it did to have it put in? I'm curious too as to why you decided to go this route. Any regrets? I'm considering all options.

[Marsela 3]

Dont thk ppl read your post well. I got why u unfilled your band. Sounds like a slippage tho. Why dont you try à new dr. I promise things have chgd drastically since u got yous in. He was probably just learning. As for expense chk your insurance bcuz i have humana and not sure how long they've had this rule but i only pay a copay for fills if i "dont" get one. My offc visits free if i get a fill! U never know yours maybe the same. Hate for u to remove it, gain more wt then want another one &i cant get it. Also not to gross u out but i feel that way when i need a laxative since i got my band. My pain is on my right side. Good luck.

[heidib 15]

Heidi, my doctor overfilled my band, to the point that I was having severe upper abdominal/chest pain (I didn't know if I was having a heart attack or what, I just knew that only a few minutes after I left his office, the pain was excruciating). There was a kink in the tubing connecting my port to my band, and he'd kept putting Fluid in thinking he was able to pull some back out, but that wasn't the case. I couldn't swallow anything at all and certainly couldn't function with that kind of pain. Hence the need for surgery for the unfill.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you have your band removed? I'm glad your recovery went well. :-)

If I am correct and the band needs to go, I'm not doing anything else in terms of weight loss surgery. I've made my peace with never being thin. I just want to exercise and eat right so that I can be healthy and strong for my boys, and thankfully I am healthy right now. I don't want to try any other surgical options. I'll swing my kettlebell and take more walks and jump on the trampoline with my kids, and eat more veggies and less junk, and call it good.

oh ok, thx for explaining. Yes, I just had my removal surgery, thursday...only a few days agao. they went through all the same incisions but added another one next to the port. the port area was the most sore spot. I opted for the Lap band because it was REMOVABLE. I eventually wanted it removed. I was banded 2008 and lost 40 lbs in the first year. Since then I have not lost anymore weight though I have maintained all of my loss. I started having bad reflux and GERD symptoms. Felt like i hada constnt lump int throat. I am happy with decision and I would not do anymore surgery. I would still like to lose another 30 ish lbs. My insurance covered it.

[bunkie68 6]

Marsela, thanks for your thoughts. I'm just tired of worrying about every little twinge in my midsection and whether it's something going wrong with the device in my innards. I'm done, I don't want another band, I don't want another procedure. Back to working to keep myself healthy the old fashioned way, and I'm okay with that. :-)

Heidi, I'm glad your recovery is going well. Was there a hospital stay with the removal?

I called the doctor I'd like to see. He's running two weeks out with appointments right now. The woman I talked to was very nice. She took my insurance info to see what kinds of benefits I might have for removal, and said they should be back in touch with me with the insurance response on Thursday or Friday. I hate waiting. She also suggested that I might want to contact the facility where he does a lot of his surgeries and go in to make sure my band is completely unfilled. I may do that, just to have a chance to have someone take a look at things a bit sooner than two weeks. And if the pain gets worse, I get to where I can't keep anything down (not a problem at this point), or I start running unexplained fever, I'll take myself to the ER. I'm going to stick pretty much to Protein shakes for now, one, because maybe doing so will help the pain, and two, because perhaps that would help me get ready if/when the band needs to come out.

[bunkie68 6]

Also, my pain is on my left side, and I've never had problems with Constipation since being banded, not even when I was pregnant with my younger son. If it turns out to be constipation, I will be very surprised.

[bunkie68 6]

I've been sticking to Protein Shakes and smoothies, and I feel better. (I figured it made sense to eat things that were lighter and smaller. Less physical strain on the area if I'm not eating much. Seems to be helping.) What pain there is seems to again be concentrated more in my side/port area and not so much in my upper abdomen. Even if this turns out to just be a pulled muscle or something else minor, the scare it's given me has made up my mind. I want the band out. I don't want to constantly have the worry in the back of my mind that something will go horribly wrong. The band seemed like a good idea at the time. It helped me get enough weight off to give me a confidence boost when I desperately needed one. Now it's not doing anything for me other than causing me concern. The time has come to be done. I just hope it works out that I can do that without it being a huge financial burden.

[bunkie68 6]

*sigh* I got a call from Dr. Kim's office. My insurance has an exclusion for weight loss surgery, and anyway, Dr. Kim doesn't do straight removals - he only does removals and revisions to other procedures. So, my options now are to go back to the doctor who did my band (which, based on things I've learned since I had my band, I'm not sure I want to do), go to the ER, or wait until we move and see if whatever insurance my husband gets at his new job covers anything like this. None of these are particularly appealing options. I wonder if my insurance will cover removal if it's medically necessary? I'm going to look for a surgeon in the area who will do a straight removal, and try to get in to see him, and go from there. I want to be done with this.

[Evy 1]

I had my band removed on the 10th. They try to go through your original incisions so the recover isn't too bad. It was worse for me when it was placed. I had my band 4+ years and developed a very severe case of gastritis in my pouch. I couldn't eat for 3 months, ended up in the ER 4 times, and was put through so many tests.... Why will that surgeon only do revisions and not just removals? That's so weird

[bunkie68 6]

Evy, I wish I knew.

I went to see my regular doctor today. He does have at least some passing familiarity with the band - asked me if I could feel my port, and checked to see if it was in the expected spot, so that's good to know. The pain has now moved to my right side, which is a complete puzzle to me how it would start on one side and migrate like that. But I can now sleep on my side like I like, rather than having to lie on my back, so there's that.

On the plus side, the doctor said he didn't think I had a "surgical abdomen", meaning no need for me to rush to the ER right away. He mentioned several possibilities - gallstones, cholecystitis (which is also gall bladder-related and would require having the gall bladder taken out), pancreatitis, colitis, possibly appendicitis, possibly an ulcer, possibly (but not likely) a bowel obstruction. He said a lot of things are outside possibilities because I haven't had any other GI-related issues and haven't run any fever with this, and of course it could still be something to do with my lap-band. I go for a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis tomorrow, with oral and IV contrast. I hate IV's. *shudder* But at least the CT scan should show if my lap-band is out of whack, or if there's something else going on. He gave me a few weeks' worth of Nexium, and said I could take that on the chance that it's an ulcer - if it helps the pain, that will give us an answer, I reckon.

So. CT scan tomorrow, follow-up with the doctor next Monday, and if nothing changes, we're still going to Louisiana to go house hunting this weekend.

[bunkie68 6]

Finally, an update. All the CT scan that my primary doc back in Texas ordered found was one ovarian cyst, right side. The CT results mentioned the band, noted that it was there, and didn't mention seeing anything wrong with it, but I don't know that they were necessarily looking for anything to be wrong with it.

So. We got ourselves moved to Louisiana in late June, and I had some pains off and on, but they were generally definitely in the ovarian area, most especially the right side. Not surprising, given what the CT scan found. The pain seemed to migrate up a bit from time to time, mostly on the right side, occasionally on the left, but it was never really severe. Twingy, annoying, but not bad.

I started trying to find a surgeon here in this area to get in to see for a check-up. No luck yet - both of the surgeons I've found have told me that they don't see other surgeons' patients, unless it's just to see the PA for a fill or unfill (which I don't necessarily want). I've considered looking farther afield for a surgeon, maybe New Orleans or Shreveport, but if I have to have surgery, I don't want it to be an hour (or more) from home unless that's absolutely necessary. I hadn't had any pain that worried me a whole lot, until today.

Today's pain feels higher, almost right between my breasts (which seems high to be band related to me, but I am short, so maybe not). It seems to hurt more when I stand upright, less so when I sit down - don't know how I'll feel when I lie down. I don't have any problem keeping food down, I'm not throwing up, I'm not having horrible burps, nothing is getting stuck. I just have this intermittent pain that kind of hurts. It isn't painful enough to send me flying to the ER, it just concerns me a bit more so than previously.

I'm thinking that since it's proving challenging to get in to see a bariatric surgeon (and since my insurance covers exactly nothing to do with weight loss, surgical or otherwise), my best option right now is going to be to see a gastroenterologist. Perhaps then I can get some testing that will at least determine whether something looks wrong in there, and maybe then a removal could be approved as medically necessary.

I just want to be over this. I want to not worry that every pain in my insides may be the precursor to it all going to Hades in a handbasket, to something going so wrong that I end up having surgery to save me from life-threatening injury. I've got two boys who need their mama, I want to be done with this and be able to wrestle and roughhouse with them without worrying that doing so will pull something loose with respect to my band. Perhaps all those worries are unnecessary, but I have them all the same.

And in a funny twist, my appetite has really decreased over the last couple of weeks. When we go out to eat, I usually get three meals out of anything I order. I find myself thinking at meal time, "Hmm, it's time to eat - not really hungry, but I need to eat something." So I eat a small meal, and I stop. I've pretty much stopped eating anything sweet - just not interested most days, or if I am interested, a small bite of something sweet is enough. If I had been able to do that fifteen years ago (or if I had pushed myself harder to do that), I never would have gotten the lap band. All this worrying I'm doing about it, I wish I hadn't gotten it.

Whine, whine, whimper. I need to get in to see someone who might be able to help me figure out what's going on. I've got a call planned for in the morning. We'll see how things go from there. If you've read all this, thanks for listening.

[bunkie68 6]

And today? No pain at all. Go figure.