Why do people have their bands removed?

[Sammysue78 0]

Just curious..is it mostly slippage, due to overeating or the surgeon not using the pars flaccida technique?

How many of you needed removals and DID have their surgeon do the pars flaccida technique (basically, anyone after 2001 probably had the pars flaccida technique)..just curious.

sammysue78

[leatha_g 4]

My first band slipped one year out. The operative record stately clearly that the doc used the pars flaccida technique at the time. It was 2003. The doc who diagnosed the slip also stated that the band was positioned incorrectly and it was no fault of mine. I had moved and had to change docs. Who really knows why a band slips? No one.. it just does..

Others lose their bands due to erosion or esophageal symptoms that come later down the road. Others have much more severe slippages. I've even heard now of 2 cases of what was thought to be rejection of the band itself.

[Lauren 0]

I was banded in March of 2004 and just had to have my band removed last week. It had slipped up on to my esphogus and I guess has been there a while because there was to much damage done to have it moved or replaced. I was advised to have a bypass unstead. Has anyone else gone through this?

[GeezerSue 7]

Esophageal dysmotility, here. And some esophageal dilation, too.

Miserable way to "live."

[rachele 0]

Scar tissue blocked my tubing to the band, rendering it useless. Also ~some~ motility issues. Revised to DS Bypass after 3 years. Love it.

[Lauren 0]

Rachele, thanks for letting me know you love your bypass but what is a ds bypass verses a regular? How much more weight have you lost. I am down about 117 since getting my band done. My new dr. says I should lose another 65 to 70lbs. Have you been able to lose easily?

[rachele 0]

DS is Duodenal Switch Bypass. It is different than a RNY Bypass. Sue also has a DS. The whole difference in a nutshell is that with the DS I have a long banana shaped stomach instead of a egg sized pouch with RNY. DS has more malabsorption than RNY. So more tummy less intestine with DS, Less tummy, more intestine with RNY.

I don't dump on sugars like RNY'ers, and the DS has the highest success rate and the least regain rate of all the wls's.

I have lost easily, there is a huge difference between the loss with the band and the bypass. Honestly I don't think that I have lost as quickly as a "first time bypasser". My reasoning (no research or medical advice to back this up) is that with the band my body had adjusted to a smaller amount of calories, so I don't think that losing is as easy after the band (I had it for 3 years) because your metabolism has been reset to your lifestyle. That probably doesn't make sense, does it? Oh, well, thats just my theory. I have lost over 105 pounds since the end of November. I am tickled pink with that, and I still have a bit to go, about the same as you, but I'll have to have plastics before I reach that. I started out pre band at 350 pounds. I am today 229 give or take a few on any given day.

Here is a link for you to compare the DS and the RNY. Given your esophagus problems I would probably steer away from the RNY because they also have a pouch which is concentrated at the top of the stomach and they also have some of the same "stuck/PB (even though it's not a PB) issues. Feel free to contact me or Sue (volunteering you, sensi) if you have anymore questions. Sue had esophogus issues, too. I'm not as well spoken as she is, with me being a back woods swamp brat, but I do know what MY experience has been.

http://www.duodenalswitch.com/procedure/ds_vs__rny/ds_vs__rny.html

http://www.duodenalswitch.com/surgeons/surgeons.html

http://obesityhelp.com/content/wlsurgery.html#types

This link is to a page that has all the surgeries listed. Also check out the Gastric sleeve, I think if you don't need a malabsorbative proceedure, this one (which is strictly restrictive, like the band) would also be a good option for you.

Good luck! Get back and tell us what you've decide to do, ONCE YOU HAVE HEALED!

[Lauren 0]

Rachele, I cann't thank you enough for all the info. I will be spending the week doing research. Before my new Dr. does anything he wants to put a camera down my throat to check everything out. I also have to do the insurance thing again too. I am not sure if they will let it go this time since I started at 307 and am running 190-194 right now. I want to see a minium of 150, dr wants to see 130. I will keep you posted on how things go, thanks again.

Lauren

[Karel M 1]

My surgeon never owned up to any complications re: my band. All I can tell you is that I had dysphagia as soon as I started to eat solids and lapsed into what they called " soft food syndrome". I am still having the dysphagia now that my band is out and after speaking to my Gastroenterologist, he says after speaking to a few surgeons that he knows who put in the band, that it is not uncommon for the dysphagia to continue post band removal and if it still persists after a few months, we will do testing. Karel