Help my sister, PLEASE!!

[Zoe 6]

Ladyg, there's another Scots bandster who posts here occasionally. Her screen name is Audrey. She and her friend Fiona have lost almost 400 lbs. between the two of them. Try to send her a private message; she may be able to recommend a doctor. Sounds to me as if your sister needs to see a specialist ASAP. Good luck, and please let us know what happens.

[La_madam 20]

Major problems with Pbing and vomiting leads to slippage..and by the sounds of it with her not being able to even keep down liquids, it sounds like her band has slipped. That is a symptom of slippage. Some who have had slippage have not had this symptom but I was tod by my Dr. that if I pb and vomit often I am at a higher rate of slippage and if I can keep down liquids I need to have my band checked for slippage. Have her get her band checked. Please have her call her doctor..

[GeezerSue 7]

Just a thought...in the past, people in the UK have gone to Belgium or France for second opinions. Can she handle that or is she too sick/stuck with the medical services she has. On another board I visit, people have traveled quite a ways to get a second opinion from another doctor...and they were glad they did.

I think the exam people meant was an endoscopy.

[ladiebird 0]

Hi there is also another site that the two scotish ladies use which you might find helpful www.wlsinfo.org.uk they may know the surgeon your sister used being from the same area. hope she gets it sorted soon

[La_madam 20]

im sorry to hear of your sisters troubles. may i ask do the doctors think her stroke is band related ? 34 is so young. could it be from all she has gone through with her band. if your sister wont let you help her, intervene like addicts have interventions from their families and friends. her band . sounds like it may have slipped she has classic signs of slippage. they will be able to see it under flouro without havin to do an endoscopy

[I'llsucceed 1]

I wish I had advise to give, sorry i don't But I do have you in my prayer groups' prayers & that is powerful stuff. God Bless you both! Speedy Health

[ladyg 0]

Thank you all so much for your support, you guys are fantastic. I'll try and get in touch with Audrey, thanks. In answer to your questions, I'm not certain whether the stroke was band related, but I doubt it. She'd been excercising an awful lotand her bloodpressure was sky high, so I don't really think so. One doc did say that losing so much weight in such a short period of time may have contributed, but personally, I wouldn't think so. Nothing was ever officially said about it. Finances would prohibit a trip abroad for a second opinion. I have to say, I'm not really getting anywhere with her, in trying to get her to a doc. Although she has taken on board the things I have been saying, and has followed some of your advice in earlier posts. I'm still trying with her, and she's actually looking a little better. Didn't have much luck finding powdered Protein or liquid vitamins in our chemists, only available for children. I'm going to try the health food shops next time I'm in town. On a positive note tho, she's managed to stop smoking also! 8 days now, and she's doing great with it!

[La_madam 20]

LadyG

This is a post from another board..it is not meant to scare you or your sister..but its intent isto let you read what happened to another woman who would not call her doctor when she knew things were wrong with her band. I hope this will make her get in touch with her band doctor immediately

Dear Fellow Bandsters,

I am repeating the post I did below on 1/5/05 with additional information.

My friend died this last weekend and I am still in shock. She spent over a

month in the hospital and had to have an additional second surgery after she

developed a bowel obstruction and they had to remove some of her intestine.

She was released from Kaiser @ 1/28. On Wed. last week, she went back to

Kaiser for a check up and the doc did not like the way she looked and wanted

to hospitalize her again, but she refused. On Friday, she went again to

Kaiser and said in passing that she was having "a little shortness of

breath." The doc ordered a cat-scan and discovered a huge pulmonary

embolism. She was admitted, but died early Sat. morning.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...be aware that we all must keep in contact with our

doctor at the first sign of any trouble and have regular follow up even if

there is not a problem. This is a foreign object we have in our bodies and

things can happen. We are responsible for our own health. I do believe

that my friend would be alive today if she had not waited so long to get

medical help in the first place and possibly if she would have agreed to be

hospitalized again last week. Kaiser did their best, but they are not

educated about the band, like so many other HMO's and doctors. I hope this

message will help someone else, since I could not help my friend. Please be

careful and take care of yourself!!!!

Carolyn

1//5/05

It is with great sadness I am writing this post, but with the hopes that

this will help someone else avoid problems that can occur.

I am acquainted with a lady who works at Kaiser, like I do, and had band

surgery by Dr. Rodriguez in Acuna, Mexico 2/03. To date she has lost @ 100

lbs., still needing to lose @ 75 more. She did not want anyone at her job

to know she had band surgery, so therefore did not discuss it and was always

very secretive. She has never had any follow up, such as attending support

groups, even though I encouraged her many times to do so or attend with me.

I had band surgery myself by Dr. Ortiz in Oct. 02. She did go with me twice

and had fills with Dr. Ortiz/Martinez in Tijuana. Her last fill she went to

Dr. Rodriguez, as she was visiting a friend who lives close by. However, he

did not do the fill with fluoro.

About a month ago, she started experiencing strong reflux/heartburn and was

taking over the counter Pepcid. She did not contact her doctor. This was

the first tell tale sign that her band was too tight or something was wrong

and she was frequently PBing. Then around 10 days ago, she got the flu (so

she says) and was vomiting violently for several days. Again, she did not

contact her doctor or seek medical attention. Not until she was vomiting

blood, did she finally go to the ER at Kaiser. The first time, they said

she had gastritis and sent her home with an RX. She could not even swallow

the pills and continued vomiting blood. She returned to the ER the next day

and they hospitalized her to determine the cause. I spoke to her on the

phone the day after her hospitalization and told her she needed to insist on

immediately having the Fluid removed from her band and that Kaiser should

refer her to a hospital or someone who had knowledge of the band for her

care. I suggested she have her daughter contact her band doctor. She did not

do either and said that she didn't see why Kaiser couldn't take care of her.

An endoscopy was performed, with negative results. No erosion was detected

and they told her the band looked OK. On day 3 of her hospital stay, a GI

test was done as they suspected an ulcer, which again was negative. She

continued vomiting all this time and was even unable to swallow Water or

eat anything. Finally, on day 5 of hospitalization, a doctor removed the

fluid from her band. She felt better the next day. The doctor at Kaiser

finally consulted with a bariatric doctor at another Kaiser facility who

wanted her transferred to that facility (Harbor City) so she could be

treated with the experts (???). These bariatric doctors had been proctored

by Dr. Ortiz 2 years ago, but Kaiser has never started a band program. Then

she got a fever and was in severe abdominal pain, so they did not transfer

her. At this point, she had massive abdominal infection and was on morphine

for the pain. It was decided that surgery would be performed to remove her

band as an emergency procedure, even though the Kaiser surgeon knew nothing

about the band. I was told that the Kaiser surgeons were frantically looking

up the band on the internet trying to get some information. I called Dr.

Ortiz's office to see if he couldn't talk to the Kaiser doctor and give any

kind of advice or help. The Kaiser doctor was given Dr. Ortiz's number and

asked to call, but he refused. My friend was taken to surgery late

yesterday afternoon and opened up. They did find a hole in her stomach and

removed her band along with half of her stomach. I understand it was touch

and go and she could have died. I do not know if the hole was from band

erosion or from an ulcer or what. Of course, all the surgeons at Kaiser are

now saying: "Surgery in Mexico is not safe and the band is unsafe." I only

know about all this horror story as my best friend works in surgery at

Kaiser. She says we can both get in big trouble for repeating any

information due to patient confidentiality.

The moral to the story is this: if you are experiencing any kind of

problem, please contact your doctor. We are responsible for our own care

and must have follow up and be knowledgeable about our band and what

complications can occur. We must get treatment or ask questions when even

the slightest problem arises. If one has insurance that does not cover the

band and you cannot get back to your band doctor, I would suggest that you

seek treatment from a local medical center or doctor that does have

knowledge of the band. Money is not the important thing at this point. Your

medical bill can always be fought with your insurance company after the

fact. Your life, your health and your band are what is important. I, for

one, will never go to my HMO if I have a band emergency as I know they do

not know how to treat it or me.

I do not ever regret getting my band or helping my daughter to get banded.

It has been life saving for me. But, we all must be mindful that things can

happen and we must be responsible for ourselves if they do happen. I do

wish that I could not have done more to help my friend.

Carolyn

Dr. Ortiz -103 lbs.

[ladyg 0]

Thank you for taking the time to do this. This is truly a tragic story. Believe me, I am keeping a very close bond with my sister right now, because the thought of something like this happening just terrifies me. I am trying my hardest to help her, and am considering getting in touch with her doctor myself, whether she'd forgive me for it or not!!

[New Hope 37]

If her health is in danger, her being angry at you are the least of your worries! Please get in touch w/her band doctor ASAP!

[Iluvharleys 15]

You really need to quit asking her to go and make her go. Sick people usually don't realize what is best for them. I would call an ambulance and send her to the emergency room right now! You are the only one that can do this for her right now. It's up to you to save her life right now.

[Zoe 6]

Ladyg, you are a great sister, whether your own sister appreciates you or not. If you are really worried about her health -- and it sounds as if you are, with good reason -- go ahead and contact a doctor, even if your sister gets angry. You may save her life.

I mention this only because I demanded care for a relative who had a nervous breakdown two years ago and refused to get help. He thought I was part of the conspiracy against him, but finally (after months of struggle) he was involuntarily admitted to a mental hospital. After he recovered, he told me that if he hadn't been hospitalized, he would have killed himself. Was he pissed off at me at the time? You bet. Would I do it all over again? Absolutely. And I'd take even more extreme measures knowing what I do now.

[Audrey 21]

Hiya - I've only just seen this thread - what a nightmare !!

We run a support group here in Scotland - we hold it in Glasgow. There are at least 2 people from Dundee. The next one is on 26th February. Does your sister have internet access? It's run from this site which is UK based (I'm a moderator on it) it's www.wlsinfo.org.uk

The support meeting is from 1:30pm till 3:30 (4ish) pm at Gartnavel General Hospital, Great Western Road Glasgow

We are meeting in the boardroom which is on the ground floor in the Admin. Dept, if she's not sure where to go there is a porters station just as you enter the main foyer on the left and they will be able to direct her. Maybe you could come with her?

Maybe she can call our support line? All she has to do is leave a message saying where she is, leaving her phone number and name & one of the team (probably me) will call her back.. That might help her out a little? the phone number is 0151-222-4737

I can't imagine how isolated she must feel. Please ask her to get in touch. She really has to contact her surgeon - but maybe when I get the chance to speak to her & stress this to her person to person (so to speak) she might listen? Maybe an "outsider" telling her how dangerous this can be might be the wee kick she needs?

Please keep us updated.

Aud x

[DeLarla 22]

Good luck with your sister. This is a great place for support and to get information, but your sister needs immediate medical attention. She's been through way too much already. I've had six surgeries in less than a year, but they all relate to my port. But messing around with the actual Band is a much more serious matter. She needs to be seen by professionals and shouldn't leave until she has answers. She's lucky to have such a great sis.