Catastrophic Slippage

[omamoon 0]

This will be a long one, I'm afraid. I was banded 04/20/2006 by Dr. Ariel Ortiz in TJ. Surgery went great. My second - and last - fill was on 07/11/2006 for a total fill of 2.4 cc in a 10 cm band. Starting losing weight and was doing just fine. In November I began having stiffness and swelling in my back due to diagnosed spinal arthritis and bone spurs. This made my band a little tighter. Near the end of December I experienced bloating and swelling due to perimenopausal bleeding that I had not seen in four years. You guessed it, my band felt even tighter. By the end of January I knew it was time for an unfill until I could get these issues resolved. I made an appointment locally for a fluoro and unfill. The night before I was scheduled to go in, I ate a piece of chicken. It immediately obstructed my band. I have never known such pain as this, and I've had natural childbirth and three kidney stones. The vomiting and retching were over the top.

I was taken immediately to the ER. Of course, they had never heard of the band. All I could say was "Get a 2-inch needle, aspirate all Fluid from the port!" I even told them to go look it up online. One of the sweet ER nurses did come in and ask me to not scream so loud as I was scaring a child down the hall! As if I could stop.

The local lap band doc (who was not on call) came to my rescue and removed all the fluid from my band. There was a great sense of relief, but I still had a lot of pain. It had been mitigated somewhat by the 5 mg of morphine they gave me. They sent me home. Within an hour, I knew I was in bad trouble. The pain had just increased more, so back we went to the ER. At least I got a different nurse this time!

Bloodwork was done, followed by CT scan. Just an elevated white count. They decided to admit me for an endoscopy the following morning. It was about 2 a.m. by this time. They kept me drugged with the 5 mg morphine every 45 minutes to an hour, and it barely kept me going.

The next morning at 11 a.m. I went down for an endoscopy to be followed by a gastric graphing. After waking up from the endo, they said no more tests for you. You have to go to immediate surgery. I saw the pictures from the endo - pink, pink, black. I knew it was bad when I saw black!

The scheduled my surgery for 5 p.m. but moved it up to 2 p.m. As I was being rushed in, I was told that my band had slipped catastrophically down the front of my stomach and my stomach was being deprived of oxygen from being strangled by the band. They were hoping to do a lap incision and remove the band and things would go back to normal.

The surgeon took one look in the lap incision, took a picture of my stomach looking the same color as my liver (bad news!) and then removed the lap tool and opened me up all they way, from sternum to belly button.

They removed the band, along with two/thirds of my stomach that had died over the last few hours. I woke up with a six-inch stapled incision, a two-inch stapled incision, two drains, a central line to my heart, an NG tube that went into what was left of my stomach, a Foley catheter and those lovely leg squeezers. I was unable to get out of bed for four days and didn't have solid food for over a week. IVs only. The NG tube was my "friend" for five days. I was given alternating doses of two different antibiotics every six hours to prevent peritonitis. I was on a morphine pump to administer 5 mg of morphine every hour on the hour. I used that pump for over seven days. Thank God the antibiotics worked! I was in the hospital 11 days and am very lucky to be here today.

Now to answer a few questions I know some of you might have. My band had not slipped before this night, and I had no symptoms of a slip. I had no symptoms of anything. No pain, No acid reflux, no PB'g. I was able to eat and drink as I had before it started getting tighter, just much smaller amounts. The doctor said the initial surgery looked like a good surgery, so no problem there. I did all the things I was supposed to be doing, eating slow, chewing well, etc.

The doctor who fixed me up said I should have no long-term effects from losing so much stomach, except for some weight loss. I will only be able to eat small amounts, about 4 oz., five to seven times a day. I've lost over 17 pounds since the surgery and am struggling not to lose more as I need to get in more calories to help my body heal faster. I'm dealing with low-grade queasiness all day, and the BMs will be faster until they get settled down. The doc was able to save my pyloris, so I won't have the "dumping" issues we've all heard about.

Before you get too scared over my story, just remember that my surgeon said that this is a very rare occurence. This was the first time he's seen it happen this way. But you know what they say, "The statistics may be only 1%, but if you are that 1%, then your statistic just jumped to 100%.

We all know when we decide to get the lap-band that complications can happen, so I felt it was necessary to share with this community my personal experience. I do not regret getting my lap-band last year. It just turned out that I was to be one of the "statistics" we all read about. Considering the seriousness of my situation, I'm so very grateful to be here to be able to share this with you.

I've often wondered over these last few weeks as I recover if there was anything I could have done to prevent this from happening. The doc says probably not as I had no symptoms and was in the process of doing the right thing by getting a fluoro and an unfill.

I know this post may contain TMI, and I apolopgize in advance for that. But I also know there are many, many of you on this board that want and need to hear my story. So here it is. Feel free to post any questions for me. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions I can.

[Boo 3]

Wow!

I remember reading about your banding months ago (another Ortiz patient.) It is a relief to hear it was not caused by the surgeon. I am SO sorry you had to be the 1%!!

I hope you heal quickly...what an ordeal!

[HelenC 0]

Wow...I hope you heal real fast! Sorry you had to go through this!

[rdbiles@sbcglob 0]

Sounds almost like gastric sleeve surgery. I'm so glad you are on the mend. Thanks for sharing your story!

[Marlluvia 1]

I'm glad you're ok. It sounds really scary. I hope you heal nicely and will keep you in my thoughts.

[marys 2]

Omamoon,

My thoughts are with you. Thank you so much for sharing this with us as you are right, we need to know. I am heartfully sorry you are going through this - you sound pretty darn strong and brave and I hope you recover quickly. When you are well, possibly share this experience with Dr. Ortiz so he too is aware of what you have gone through. Take care and good luck. mary

[lapbandliz 0]

This is a very scary account. I'm so glad you sought help as soon as you did and are going to be okay. This is a very good reminder to all of us to follow the eating instructions exactly and be very vigilant when we see something happening that just doesn't seem right. Thank you for sharing this. I've only been banded 2 weeks, but have already had a few things to eat that I shouldn't have--this definitely makes me think twice before I do that again. I know that even though you were doing everything right you still had this problem. I just don't want to do something wrong and then have a problem. So, what I'm trying to say, is that, I think you've helped me to understand the seriousness of the complications that could occur. I want to do everything I can to avoid those possible complications. Thanks so much for the reminder!

I hope you will be feeling better soon.

[omamoon 0]

Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes. Marys, you're right, I do need to let Dr. Ortiz know what has happened. I know he will want to know. Dixiecharm, thank you for reaffirming my reasons for posting my experience. I think I had been lulled into a sense of complacency about my band. I had done so much research before having the band placed, and thought I was aware of what to look for if trouble came. I was losing at a rate of 2 pounds a week, doing everything like I was supposed to do, and it was working fine. The thing that scared me the most was the fact that I had not had a fill since last July, and the band just got a little tighter each time something inside my body changed. I had no idea this could lead to such a catastrophic event. I guess it could be considered a gastric sleeeve now, except in my case the stomach that was removed was the two/thirds in the middle, not along one side. The doc says I now have half of a gastric bypass, something I sure didn't want to have. Does anyone have any suggestions for constant queasiness? I've tried the Sea-Bands on my wrists and peppermint tea. They help a little. It's so hard to eat when I need to when I feel queasy all the time. Thank you all again for your care and concern.

[marys 2]

can your doc prescribe phenegrin (not sure correct spelling) but Dr. Mckeen gave me an rx when I saw him for a fill - it's liquid and i took it once and it worked immediately. I keep it around in case of flu etc.

[8675309 0]

This may be a crude question, but here goes.

I plan on being a self-pay. If something like this happens to me, will my insurance cover the secondary surgery?

[LeeInDe. 0]

Holy Cow! That is quite an event! I am glad that you posted your story, and you told it so eloquently. It was very easy to follow and understand.

I am also very sorry you had to go through all of that, and do appreciate your sharing it with us.

Hopefully, the surgery and continued weight loss will work to your benefit, and you get good results, after all you deserve it!

[omamoon 0]

8675309 - not a crude question at all. I was self pay when I was banded, even though I had been approved with my insurance to pay for the surgery here in the States. I was willing to pay for more surgical experience. So far it looks as if my insurance will be covering this surgery. It was a life-threatening situation.

[8675309 0]

Omamoon - I am glad they caught it in time. best of luck to you!

[I'm still here 0]

Does anyone have any suggestions for constant queasiness? I've tried the Sea-Bands on my wrists and peppermint tea. They help a little. It's so hard to eat when I need to when I feel queasy all the time. Thank you all again for your care and concern.

I am allergic to Phenergan and my OB/GYN suggested over-the-counter Dramamine which worked like a charm for me. I took it the entire time I was pregnant and have taken it off and on as needed ever since. It can be bought at any pharmacy, Wal-Mart or Target (over the counter). Good luck to you - I am not sure there is anything worse than that constant underlying nausea.

I have a question - I was banded on 1-12-07 and have had two fills, most recently last Thursday. I think I am too tight . . . I can't really GET (much less) KEEP any solid food down and liquid seems to sit for a while before finally going down . . . I am wondering if I need a slight un-fill.

Since I am so new to this I am not sure I am thinking right! I am thrilled with the rapid weight loss, but do not want to risk a complication from being too tight . . .

Any thoughts from those of you with more experience would be greatly appreciated ~

Thanks so much,

Lynn

[NeenBand 7]

Ih my gosh,...Omamoon! So frightening. Thank god your okay.

I have not been following all the rules, and this serves as a reminder.

DO you think it was caused from being too tight or the tightness was from the slip?