My journey to an 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 month. I was happy with that.

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 from the department of justice 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!

[savyourdvine1 110]

If you can, get legal advice. He may have not known it was expired but he is still liable. Then again him not returning your call could be an indicator that he was aware. He may be hoping that you would just give up and go away. If you had insurance at the time you may want to pull them in too. Before doing anything get legal advise.

[laurabarto26 4]

Yeah I have my lawyer looking into things, but as of right now I'm more worried about my health, I'll deal with the legal stuff after. I had insurance but I was self pay so that's up in the air. There are at least 7 other people that have been affected by this so I was hoping to be able to reach one of them and see if they have found any info. But thank you!!!

[Berry78 4,261]

I wouldn't panic. As long as it was stored appropriately, nothing should have changed. After all, they are expected to last for years inside you!

But, if you are not experiencing restriction, it may be a good time to think about pulling it and possibly going with a sleeve or bypass.

I doubt there is an emergency for removal though, so you have time to figure it all out.

[laurabarto26 4]

Which this got me thinking, how was it expired if it's supposed to be in me forever ?! But yes I've been
Thinking about removing the band and going with the sleeve for awhile now, before I even found out about the band being expired. Thank you for your response, it brought some peace so thank you again!

[Berry78 4,261]

You're welcome!

[JacquieK 12]

Laura
Like you I've had major issues with my band still waiting for insurance to approve removal. Hoping and praying for a quick resolution to your issue.
Keep us updated
Jacquie


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