Slippage: Causes? Treatment?

[lindaa 1]

I was told today that I have “a little slippage." The radiologist will send the report to the doctors who are supposed to contact me tomorrow about what needs to be done. In the interest of being informed ahead of time, I'm hoping that someone can clarify for me what exactly a slippage is, what causes it, and what are the treatment options?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[K@t 38]

Hi Linda,

Slippage can happen for a number of reasons it's best to leave it to your doctor to say why. But usually if it's just minor they will give you a complete unfill and hope that it goes back into place. If it turns out to be severe they may have to actually do another surgery to correct it or remove it. Hopefully you will just need an unfill and it will go back...keep us updated.

[Leather 0]

Bummer! Let us know what you find out, this is something we all fear. The good news is an un-fill/re-fill can fix it sometimes.

Any idea what might have caused it? heavy lifting? eating too much early on? run over by dump truck? Just trying to figure out what to avoid.

[Leather 0]

One more question lindaa-- do you have any idea how long after surgery the slippage was? Has the weight been coming off? (ok, that was two)

[lindaa 1]

Well, I'm about 7+ months post op, and things seemed to go really south about 2 weeks ago. I think I may have been overfilled about 6 weeks ago. I had about half of that fill removed 4 weeks ago, but the unrelenting vomiting at night has been going on for over a week now and last weekend things became intolerable (every 20 minutes all night long) leading to my dr. visit today.

[jojo398 0]

Hi Guys- I am new here and joined due to a persistent problem that no on e else seems to have an answer for. I am almost 2 1/2 years post-op. I have been at goal for almost a year having started at 265 and now at 140. In July I had to a crown and the dentist put me on an antibiotic (which inflamed my pouch) so I had an unfill. Since then I have had terrible reflux. Had an endoscopy in December - no problems, just abraiding of esophogus from acid. Starting early January had severe back pain in upper back and pain in sternum area everytime I eat lasting several hours. Now, progressing to vomitting almost everytime I eat. Have modified diet to reduce acid, not eating after 6 pm, living off Tylenol (when I can keep it down). Scared to death that I have slippage and the possible repercussions. Did I mention that my doctor is in Mexico and I am in Washington State - not real convenient - and haven't found a doc in the area too excited to work with a "Mexico patient".

Has anyone had any similar symptoms? or offer any suggestions?

[lindaa 1]

jojo--many of your symptoms are similar to what brought me to the doctor yesterday. Specifically, severe back pain in upper back and pain in sternum area everytime I eat lasting several hours. I had some of that. Now, progressing to vomitting almost everytime I eat. I was headed in that direction. Mostly, I was vomiting only at night, but when it started happening during the day is when I got really scared. Have modified diet to reduce acid, not eating after 6 pm, living off Tylenol (when I can keep it down). Yup, did all of that too. Last night was the first time in months I didn't take a pepsid before going to bed. Scared to death. I hear you, hon. I think it's time to either contact your doctor in Mexico or go to the ER of a hospital that is familiar with bands. I truly understand the money part, but if you have health insurance at all, they should pick up the cost of complicatons. Laura MD has a post about this somewhere in this thread. She said: "I have seen many posts on this site regarding "self-pays" worried about paying for subsequent surgery when they have a problem such as slippage. You should all be aware that even though the Lap-band surgery was elective and may not have been covered by your insurance, problems that arise later are very different! If you have a slippage for instance, that is potentially life threatening and MUST be corrected. That means it is required, not elective, surgery and your insurance must pay for it.

Go to the mat with your insurance company, even call the insurance commissioner's office for help if you have to, write the appeal letters and ask your doctors' office to help you if need be, but make them cover it! Don't take no for an answer, and DO NOT put off proper care because you are worried about the cost. Besides, any doctor worth their Hippocratic Oath will do the surgery regardless of your coverage, if your health is at risk.

Please take care of yourself first and the details later"

Public hospitals are required by law to provide care regardless of your ability to pay. They have the right to require you to agree to a payment plan later, but they still need to provide life-saving care when you need it. If your band slipped, and you can't keep anything down, you are at risk of becomming dehydrated, and that has serious complications. So if you don't get better, or heaven forbid, things get worse, don't hesitate to go to the ER.

[jojo398 0]

Thanks so much! Had a really rough night last night and just confirmed - Can't live like this. I am gonna call the doctor (sorta locally - 2 1/2 hours away) and see if he can't get me in soon.

What really scares me is 1st: getting a complete unfill and possibly gaining weight and 2nd: having the band completely removed (even temporarily) until any slippage can be "fixed" and the weight gain. This has become my lifesaver and the thought of not having it leaves me insanely panicked!! I would rather give up an arm than gain my weight back.

Does anyone know, if it is slippage, does that always need to be removed and replaced? This sounds dumb but can't it laproscopicly be repositioned?

Scared - Jody:scared2:

[ELKETTA 0]

i have heard it go both ways depends on your Dr. and how bad theslippage is, good luck let us know how it goes..

[lindaa 1]

jojo, Let us know what the doctor says. I totally understand your fears--they're mine exactly! My doctor has not called back, which is VERY annoying. I'm not urgent, I get that, but I sure would like to know what I should be doing so that I don't cause any more damage. For now, I'm sticking to liquids.< /p>

[mrp3333 0]

I had surgery to correct my band 2/15/08. the surgeon went in with the intention of repositioning the band but went ahead and replaced it with a "newer" model that is supposed to have a lower chance of slipping. Needless to say before the surgery I was terrified because I was completely unfilled. I did gain some weight back (8lbs) but that was my own doing. There was certain things I wanted to eat one last time. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I am on the liquids again for 2 weeks and am struggling with that. Good Luck!