Band or no band???

[sdevries31 0]

Greetings,

I have been lurking for quite some time so let me start by introducing myself. My name is Sarah and I was banded in Nov of 2002 by Dr. Bhesania out of the Lap Band Center in Michigan. My weight going into surgery was 376 lbs and my current weight is 164. I went through the normal "hoops" having my surgery approved and was elated when I finally got the ok. My sister and I were banded by the same Dr. within a day of each other. It was a time to celebrate...this was going to be the start of new healthy life....for both of us. Initially, my sister had much success with the band. So much so that Inamed asked for her to appear in a commercial in 2004. My weight came off more slowly but I tagged along to LA anyway just to be part of something special. Who wouldn't, ya know??? Besides, I wanted to go to Disney Land....I had been so big for long that I could never fit on any of the rides. We needed to celebrate! Two years post-op, I certainly had more room to move around.

Now, here we are, almost three years after that LA trip and I am sitting here contemplating the removal of my band. Why, you ask? I have never been able to tolerate a fill of more than 1/2cc. Anything I eat comes up again and when I say anything I am not exaggerating. I have spent so much time running back and forth to Port Huron (a 2 hour drive from my home) trying to find the right fill. I would be filled to 1cc...Couldn’t keep anything down...come back...take it out....come back, put it back in. I am currently unfilled and have been for two years now...and even now I am still unable to eat. I believe that I am as restricted as anyone with their band completely filled. I eat a salad everyday I am at work at 11:00. If I eat before then, I am sick. If I eat after 11:00, I am sick. My one salad a day, 5 days a week, has sustained me for the past two years. I have a bowl of ice cream when I come home at night.

As I mentioned earlier, my sister had success with the lap band. Initial weight 336 and at the time of the commercial, I believe she weighed about 170 give or take a few pounds. In August of 2004, my sister told me that she was pregnant with her second child. OOOOHHHH A BABY....Who can resist? Needless to say, to her band was unfilled and she carried on with her pregnancy. In February of 2005, our family was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Since that time, my sister’s band has failed to work. Numerous fills and unfills and nothing ever seems to work. We don't discuss her current weight but I do shop with the woman. This is not the same person that was jumping up and down when she got herself comfortably in a size 12. This is a woman that is again shopping for sizes ranging between 20-24.

We now come back to me. Yes, I have lost more than 200 lbs and in that sense the band has been successful for me. However, if I do stray from salad at 11:00am, I know damn well that everything else will end up in the toilet. December of last year I was hospitalized for 4 days due to my excessive vomiting. There was no one there to answer my questions...Why can't I eat? Why can't I drink? I had an upper GI, a Lower GI, and endoscopy. I sat there and tried to chug the barium but of course it wouldn't go down....The doctors all agreed that there was a "delay" from the time I swallowed until it passed through the band but no one could come to a clear conclusion as to what the problem was. I was sent home from hospital, four days later, hydrated, but with no answers.

I recently went to visit my PCP and based on the blood work she has taken, tests she has run, she is very concerned with my health. A person can only throw everything up before there are consequences. We all know Terri Schiavo.

Regardless, I am still scared as hell. I have grown accustomed to "my" way of life and it is how I have maintained my weight...I call my band my "medically induced eating disorder".

Is there anyone out there that feels this way? Is there anyone that feels that should live with out their band but cant in their mind? I apologize for this ongoing post. As I said, I have been lurking for some time and had a few things to say.

I greatly appreciate any and all replies.

[the best me 6]

You will get wonderful replies and I will be reading up, to be sure. Thanks for posting your journey and asking the tough questions. I hope you get the answers you need, but if not, I hope you get the encouragement you deserve.

[Jachut 487]

I have no advice except to say it is just so unfair how easily and well the band works for some people and not for others. I'm sorry its been so hard for you.

[Maggie63 0]

thank you for your story. it is also amazing to me that some people do so well....while others struggle with either no weight loss...or like you, are unable to eat healthy.

my only suggestion would be to get 2nd and 3rd opinions...call your buddies a Inamed and get them involved....keep searching till you find the answers.

my thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Alexandra 55]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks so much for sharing your story! If I were in your shoes I think I too would be seriously considering band removal. You're absolutely right; it's not normal or healthy to be unable to eat solid food.

You're not the only one who is unable to tolerate much fill. I'm completely unfilled right now and have been for most of this year. To my surprise, it seems that I've never had a fill of more than about 2.0 in my 4cc band. But even in my empty state I still have SOME restriction, though nowhere near what you seem to be describing. My issues seem to stem from allergies; times of more allergic irritation to my sinuses are the same times that I have needed unfills in the past. Fall and spring have both been problematic for me this year, but I seem to have reached a happy place with allergy medications and have hopes that in the next few months--if I need it--I'll be able to get and keep a super-tiny fill.

Perhaps you could benefit from having your band replaced with the newer version, the VG band? One size does NOT fit all, which is precisely why Inamed designed the larger band. If you'd been banded later, maybe that's the size your doctor would have chosen for you in the first place. Your anatomy may just be a sort that needs a larger band.

In the meantime, please take care of your health! There's no reason you should have any malnutrition issues; Protein shakes and supplements are adequate for the most malabsorptive RNYers so you should be able to prop up your own intake that way.

Congratulations on your terrific achievement with the band! It's an ongoing challenge, though, and you're doing the absolute right thing by investigating and considering your options. Please let us know how you're doing!

[babsintx3 0]

Hi,

I would recommend you keep your band, but leave it empty for a while. You can always refill it, but you will have to cough up some serious cash to replace it. You shouldnt be throwing up and you will find even with an empty band, you will have some restriction. Work on the food modification instead of relying on the band for a while.

I feel your pain. I was banded in June 03 and for the first year and a half things were great and I lost the majority of the weight I needed to lose 92% EWL. Then the problems started, but they were most noticeable after my plastic surgery in 05 when my plastic surgeon accidentally emptied my band. It has not been right since then and I gained significant weight back. My band was emptied in Aug 2006 due to pouch dilation and I was told I would need a new band because it had slipped and the pouch and esophagus were not responding to the unfill. I had a second opinion with another surgeon and I had an endoscopy. According the the surgeon, my endoscopy does not show anything but a red patch at the back of my throat and some stomach crimping, but nothing that indicates any long term problems with my band.

I had a followup fluoroscopy two days ago by the Head of Radiology who has lots of experience looking at bands. He claims that although my pouch is still slightly enlarged, the band is healthy and in a normal position. He doesnt think that more fill will help me and although the situation is not perfect, it is still better than not being banded at all since my band is offering some restriction.. I am at 2.00 CC and have some restriction, but I am still fighting the hunger demons to keep them at bay. So far since August, I have lost 17 pounds of the weight I have gained and I am whittling it off day by day. Nothing like trying to relose weight you already lost!!!

So give your stomach a break, get an unfill and stay on the scale everyday to make sure that you dont ever let it get out of hand like I did. If I kept weighing myself and working on the behavior and food modification, I might not have to struggle to lose all that I have gained.

Babs in TX

334/180/190 ish

[terrriho 0]

sdevries31

Clearly I am no expert here but babsintx3 wrote something that caught my eye. She wrote "the pouch and esophagus were not responding to the unfill" that brings up the point that the stomach is not the only thing we have going here and maybe there is something going on with the stomach and the esophagus not working together or maybe you have motility problems.

In the meantime, I hope you find someone who can answer your questions. Best of luck,

Terri

[FullofGRACE 0]

I wish you the best of luck with your choices. I would encourage you to address a threat to Dr. Curry who is frequently on here and perhaps could give you some ideas, suggestions on this forum. Be well.

[condanchri 0]

Wow! This is such a good topic, and such a timely one for me to read. I'm afraid I don't have much advise for you, as I am going through a similar situation. I've been banded for two years, and have lost anywhere from 100lbs to 90lbs (recently gained 5 lbs back due to returning to nursing school). I was just in the ER last night, with unbelievable pain in the area where my band is located on my stomach. Unfortunately, after a gallery of tests and IV fluids, the ER doc's weren't much help, and had no idea what to do with me and my band. I have really debated over whether or not to keep my band or have it removed. I have days (several in a week) where I can't keep anything down. I can't eat or drink anything until 11 or 12pm, if I can do it at all. You'd think I would have lost more weight by now, but unfortunately, the one food I pretty much know will work for me is ice cream (thus, I don't get down much more than 100 lbs.). I feel like I have taken on an eating disorder of sorts - I choose my food based on whether I can get it down or not, not whether it is actually healthy for me. I have only had two fills since I had my band put in two years ago. Obviously my body is extremely sensitive (which I have since learned seems to run in my family). I'm going to have a fluoroscope done later this week to see what the heck is going on. I never have any energy, and sad to say, I think I felt better health-wise prior to the band than I do now. I wish you the best of luck with your situation, and whatever decision you make. My band was not covered by insurance, and I went to a great doc in Mexico to have it done - thus, if I get it removed, unless it's causing major problems elsewhere in my body, I will have to foot the bill myself (approx $3500 - 5000).

[KariK 0]

I think Alexandra had it right when she said you might have the wrong sized band. You probably do need the larger one. Aww I feel so bad for you. Hope you are able to get better soon. Hang in there.

[mustangelf 0]

Hello, I just joined this group as of today and was reading some posts. Your post really hit home to me. I will have been banded 1 year as of March 2007. To date I have only lost 22 lbs. My doctor knows and is aware I have only lost this small amount and I really don't think he is much concerned, just doesn't want me to "bug" him I think. Anyway, I followed all the rules we are to do and it just seemed the more fills I got the more I would choke on food and vomit and even making myself vomit to get relief from the choking. I finally had my band "released" for lack of a better word at the end of November. I couldn't handle the almost constance choking on my food every meal!! Now, I am just trying to decide what I"m going to do from this point on. My doctor knows I was choking a lot and he said it was probably a good idea to release it for about a month and let my esophugus quit spasm. He wanted me to get an endoscope done, but my insurance is pretty crappy and I was afraid they wouldn't pay a cent. They didn't pay a cent on the surgery and I KNOW if he performed the endoscope, they wouldn't pay anything since he is a bariatrics doctor. So, at this point I'm trying to decide if I want to try it again or leave things as they are. It is wonderful not to choke on every meal, not to have that "vise" feeling on my throat, and not be vomiting or trying to vomit to get clear my throat.

[lisah25 3]

Hello, I just joined this group as of today and was reading some posts. Your post really hit home to me. I will have been banded 1 year as of March 2007. To date I have only lost 22 lbs. My doctor knows and is aware I have only lost this small amount and I really don't think he is much concerned, just doesn't want me to "bug" him I think. Anyway, I followed all the rules we are to do and it just seemed the more fills I got the more I would choke on food and vomit and even making myself vomit to get relief from the choking. I finally had my band "released" for lack of a better word at the end of November. I couldn't handle the almost constance choking on my food every meal!! Now, I am just trying to decide what I"m going to do from this point on. My doctor knows I was choking a lot and he said it was probably a good idea to release it for about a month and let my esophugus quit spasm. He wanted me to get an endoscope done, but my insurance is pretty crappy and I was afraid they wouldn't pay a cent. They didn't pay a cent on the surgery and I KNOW if he performed the endoscope, they wouldn't pay anything since he is a bariatrics doctor. So, at this point I'm trying to decide if I want to try it again or leave things as they are. It is wonderful not to choke on every meal, not to have that "vise" feeling on my throat, and not be vomiting or trying to vomit to get clear my throat.

Tough time you've had!

I would go for a month or so with no fill, and let things heal. My DH had to do that, he was too tight for 2 weeks on vacation(didn't occur to us to contact our dr for a referral) and they unfilled him, and then started filling again after a month. That gives all the irritated parts time to heal.

Then start getting small fills, you may be very sensitive to them.

[marjon9 6]

Sarah, If it is true that a different sized band would solve your problem it seems to me that it is worth doing even if it causes you to "waste" your first band and pay again. In the overall scheme of things the money can't be a reason to live a life of misery and damage your health. It's easy for me to spend your money and I don't know your financial situation, but your situation sounds serious enough so that you should not let money be a reason to stay stuck.

Another thing I'd like to say is that it might be worth going out and aggressively seeking additional medical opinions. It's true that the band works better for some than for others, but I don't think that this explanation is enough. I don't think you can just resign yourself to a life of misery and damage to your health on the theory that "oh, well, the band works better for some than for others." Your situation is essentially ruining your life. I think a lot more medical analysis and investigation is called for. There may very well be a solution out there for you.

[susieq321 31]

I am absolutely pro band.. and I have had a complicated journey, but yours sounds equally tough.

I am not sure if your band doc is in the states or where, but I would think with the time you were banded you have a rigid band if it is an innamed band. I was never able to get more than a 1 cc fill with the innamed band at 1.5 cc I was way too tight for my taste.

After slipping several times I was rebanded with the swedish band. I can still say my stomach is sensitive to fill levels. But I can eat anything, bread, Pasta, rice, steak, chicken etc just in much lower amounts like a good bandster should. I often wondered if the reason my band slipped was because it was too small but it was the option that was available when I was banded.

I would ask my band surgeon if another band is an option both Innamed and J&J have recently brought out new bands that are larger and more flexible and may help you. If banding isn't an option for you again I would check out other options I think the best one I have heard about from my surgeon is the sleeve.

Good luck, great subject