Expired band

[laurabarto26 4]

I was banded in august of 2015. Surgery went well and I was out of the hospital by the end of the day. I followed all of the diet stages properly and lost about 10 pounds in my first 2 months.

In the following months I began to not feel any restriction, I could eat almost whatever I wanted. Honestly, I couldn't even tell I had a lap band inside of me. I went for fills and told the doctor I wasn't feeling any restrictions. 3 fills later and nothing has changed.

Fast forward to December 2016, I get a letter in the mail informing me that the band placed inside of me was expired at the time of surgery. ummm what?! I called the number on the letter and it turns out two men illegally bought and sold (at least) 8 expired lap bands to surgeons in south Florida. Lucky me! I immediately called my surgeon to find out the risks of having the expired band. The receptionist told me he would be calling me back by the end of the day. No word from my surgeon. I called back the next day and the same thing, he would call me back. It's been a MONTH and my surgeon will not take my calls. My primary care doctor has finally found a surgeon that will talk to me about the risks.

At this point, I'm scared. I want this band out. I'm just looking for some words of encouragemet or if anyone has any info on expired lapbands I would greatly appreciate it!

[laurabarto26 4]

There are at least 7 others that have experienced this as well, I'd love to speak about this with any of them!