1 year ago today my band was removed due to erosion

[ellendeette 1]

Yes, I am keeping up with making good choices with the type of food I am eating, the quantity of food, exercising, attending support groups, reading Lapband Talk, continuing to see my bariatric surgeon, talking with others that have the band, etc. I would be lying if I told you that its easy without the band. Its not. The band really helped me. We made a great team. I could feel the restriction when I ate too much. I know I can eat more without it. Its a bit scary but I have tremendous hope that I can do this without the band. I have made tremendous progress in modifying my eating behaviors. I always tell myself that if it gets too overwelming, I'm going to have the lapband procedure done again. I really do not want to regain the weight I lost.

Why are you having the band removed? Did it slip? Or was it a personal choice to have it removed?

[Sallianne 0]

I hope to be able to be successful after the band is removed. I am having it removed because they said it is eroded. I had an endoscopy done to figure out why my hemoglobin was low. My lap band dr. didnt do the endoscopy but when i took him the pictures of the procedure, he saw it. The dr. who did the procedure told me my lap band was fine...but she is not a specialist in that area. Its amazing how little other doctors know about all of this. Thanks for your support and if you have any tips or suggestions for staying on board, please help!

[ellendeette 1]

I had the endoscopy too while I was in the hospital. The catscan showed that the band had slipped (I had it done in Kauai) but they wanted the endoscopy to see if there was any erosion and to see the condition of my throat and to see the damage the band did. Luckily, there wasn't any erosion but my stomach was pretty traumatized and swollen with the band being twisted for several days.

My band slipped when I on vacation in Kauai. Fortunately, the last few days of our 10 day trip. The emergency doctors there had no clue about a band so I know what you mean about seeing a doctor who doesn't know about the band. They spoke to my doctor in LA but they couldn't take any Fluid out because my band was so twisted. I had three emergency doctors standing over me trying to get Fluid out so I could take fluid in my mouth. Lucky for me that started an IV and had fluids started right away.

I don't know what to tell you other than to take it one day at a time and not project about how tomorrow is going to be. It sounds corny and simple but that is how I am doing it. I exercise every day even if its for 15 minutes. Build a support system so you have people you can talk to like me who are going through a similar experience. My personal e-mail address is e.tippit@yahoo.com Take care!

Ellen

[Sallianne 0]

thanks....i just sent you an email.

[peaches76 0]

why did you have to have your band removed, and can you get another one?

[ellendeette 1]

I had my lapband removed on July 8, 2009. My band slipped and twisted when I was on a kayak trip in Hawaii. The Fluid could not be removed so the band had to be removed. I am contemplating having a new band put in. I have lost 85 pounds and would like to lose more weight. I cannot see realistically how I can lose more on my own. The band was a powerful tool. Obviously, it did not help me lose all of the 85 pounds but it helped me tremendously. Its very rare that a band will slip (2-4%) of the time. Unfortunately, I was one of the few this happens to. The best part is that I can have it put back in.

[emmysgranny 0]

This is my first time posting, but good to hear of your success. I got my band in 2005..got really sick and ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks struggling to stay alive. I was never really able to experience the lap band process as they could never fill mine without me getting deathly ill. It has now eroded and embedded into my stomach and I'm having it removed Wednesday Oct. 7, 2009. I'm scared to death, I know because this whole experience has been a nightmare for me....after not losing any weight, ironically, in the last week I have lost 9 pounds from not being able to keep anything down. Anyone out there that has had the removal process due to erosion, I would love to hear your experience with the surgery. This is only the SECOND surgery I have EVER had and I'm 56 years old. Needless to say, again, I'm scared.....

Again, good luck to you all and please say a little prayer for me.:)

[Sallianne 0]

This is my first time posting, but good to hear of your success. I got my band in 2005..got really sick and ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks struggling to stay alive. I was never really able to experience the LAP-BAND® process as they could never fill mine without me getting deathly ill. It has now eroded and embedded into my stomach and I'm having it removed Wednesday Oct. 7, 2009. I'm scared to death, I know because this whole experience has been a nightmare for me....after not losing any weight, ironically, in the last week I have lost 9 pounds from not being able to keep anything down. Anyone out there that has had the removal process due to erosion, I would love to hear your experience with the surgery. This is only the SECOND surgery I have EVER had and I'm 56 years old. Needless to say, again, I'm scared.....

Again, good luck to you all and please say a little prayer for me.:smile:

Hello,

I totally understand how you are feeling. I had my band removed on Sept. 1, 2009. It had eroded into my stomach too. I however, had no syptoms. I had a random endoscopy and that is how they found it. I do recall after having my band for about 6 months, that is suddenly got extremely tight. I had several unfils until i was finally able to eat something other than yogurt....after about 5 weeks. Not sure if that is when the band actually broke through the stomach membrane or just what happened at that time. The dr. did an endoscopy then, but said everything was fine, maybe it had just not shown up for them to see it yet. In any event....I cried and cried when they told me it needed to be removed. I had major sucess with my band and am at goal weight, so for that I am thankful. Unfortunately you have not a good experience with the band at all. I am so sorry that you have had so many problems and very thankful that you are well enough now to have it removed. From the sounds of everything that you have gone through, it truly does need to come out and try to consider it as a blessing. I know you are probably feeling very mad and disappointed that the band did not work for you. Understandably so. If you can, try to be positive about it. There is nothing you can do at this point and your health is more important than the band. Be thankful they found what the problem was and that is going to be fixed. You can write to me anytime and I will try to be a support for you. I wish you well in your upcoming surgery. I will tell you from my experience, having the surgery to have the band removed was harder on me than when I had it put in, but when I had it put in, I was happy. So my state of mind probably had alot to do with my recovery. I am a month out and have not gained any weight, so I am encouraged by that. I in fact have lost a few more pounds since surgery mainly because I think I am so scared to eat anything that will make me gain. I have learned valuable lessons in eating having had the band for two years.....I hope I can continue to use what I learned. It is up to me now. You take care of yourself and please let me know how you are doing and if I can help you in any way.