Having a Scope on 3/5/13..Advice needed

[valoryeyes 0]

I have had my band for about 4yrs, and I love it, but I had to have knee surgery about 6mths ago and had to be put on all kids of inflammatory meds, and pain meds...about 3 days after surgery I could not eat, so i called my doc and he had me come in and took some Fluid out...Well since then I have been having the most horrible pain in my upper abd, the pain goes all the way across the front and when really bad can go around to my side...I have been taking carafate and nexium, I am at the point you might as well put a straw in the bottle of carafate...My doc seems to think it is an ulcer.....still have some fluid but I dont feel any restrictions, im not nauseas, and i can eat when i feel like it...I am just having pain that is soo bad I am doubled over...I go Tuesday and have a scope done to see if it is an ulcer of band erosion...unlike alot of people I love my band and would be devastated if i had to loose it...Right after my knee surgery, I had lost down to 136 from 225, and my husband and sons hated the way i looked, They said i looked sick and anarexic, I have since then gained to 155/160 and I am very happy with this size, but I cant handle the pain....What do yall think, is there any questions i need to ask...

[kll724 3,055]

do you have your gall bladder? sounds like gall bladder pain to me! Best wishes, Karen

[JohnC 31]

I agree I had my gal bladder removed about a year after my banding & your pain sounds very similar to what I had. I'm also having a scope tomorrow to see if I've prolasped. Good luck.

[MonWee123 0]

I agree I was banded in 2005 and had to have my gallbladder removed also. I also had to have a new band put in. With all the pain and vomiting from the gallbladder, it slipped.

[Baba Wawa 543]

So, how did the scope come out?

[oldoneyoungagain 200]

After complaining for two years that I feel I have no band (never any pain, vomiting, stuck, etc.) I switched doctors. I saw him for the first time last Thursday and basically his first questions was, "when you had your fills were they done under fluoroscope". My answer was "no, all fills were blind and in fact the band was only checked after surgery, it hasn't been checked since". So he immediately did a fluoroscope,but before drinking the barium, the first words were, "well there is a slight problem, your band is straight across rather than at a angle as it should be, now take a swallow of the barium, I did, and the second statement was "this doesn't look good, the barium is going around the band and I think it has eroded . He had me take the second swallow of barium and showed me what it was doing. I am now scheduled for endoscopy on Thursday and if he sees the band from inside the stomach, surgery will be immediately be scheduled and the band comes out. So now I have really researched the band, only to find, that erosion is quite common with the band, caused from coffee, NSaids, steroids, too tight and the list goes on. So anyone who feels they are having a problem, and your doctor does not check that band, either insist or find another doctor who will listen. My problem, or so I thought, was I just felt I didn't have a band as I never, never had an issue with my food nor was I ever in pain or discomfort. Hopefully my erosion has just developed and isn't serious as complications can arise that are very serious. Nor will I get re-banded after my stomach heals, nor after research will I get the sleeve (same problem but far more serious), gastric by-pass is what I should have had in the beginning. A longer procedure but definitely going to do more extensive research and get the ins and outs. My surgeon who did the lap band assured me he didn't have any patients that had a band erode so I must have been his first since he started doing bands in 1994 when it first came out. Or could he have been lying. I truly believe the latter, so always do your research first.