Question for those who have had lap band

YellowLily · November 12, 2008

I want to apologize in advance for the nature of this question, but I am desperate:

To make a long story short, my family and I have suspected for the past few years that my 30 year old cousin has an eating disorder. Fast forward to this month: my mom finally confronts her (not mentioning a specific eating disorder) but tells her that she is worried about her and would like to accompany her to doctors appointments to find out what is wrong since she is SO skinny and has been having multiple trips to the ER.

Tonight my cousin confronted my mom and told her that she doesn't need to worry about her having an eating disorder and that she has been keeping a secret....she had the lap band procedure performed in 2005 and DID NOT TELL ANYONE. To make matters worse she is saying that she had it performed in Mexico!?!?! She said that it was working well up until this year when the band supposedly "slipped." Her stomach is now so tiny that she can't eat anything. She's passing out, having blood pressure problems, and requires IV therapy since she can't get any nutrition. She said she chokes on her own saliva. She is so skinny, she looks like a skeleton.

This is rather unnerving to hear, especially since we were thinking she was anorexic/bulimic. We have no idea if she is telling the truth or if it is some exaggerated story to make us think that she does not have an eating disorder. She is claiming that she will be going to a doctor tomorrow to see if he can fix the lap band so my mom is going to try to go with her to one of her appointments in the future to see if this entire thing is real...but in the meantime, I was just wondering what all of you think about this? Is there anything I can ask her to see if she really had it done? Are there any scars? Anything at all would be very helpful! Thank you in advance!

annieM · November 12, 2008

What an odd story. If she does have a lab band she will have 4-6 small scars on her belly. If she is as skinny as you say, those might be very hard to find. I think she probably does have one because otherwise how would she know about slipping and the other details and since she is thin she can just have it removed. If the slip is as bad as it sounds she would need surgery where they would unclip the band, put the slip back in place and re clip the band. A really bad slip won't fix itself.

The docs in Mexico do a fine job installing the band, but proper care and follow-up after surgery is essential. If she wants to keep her band she needs to get in with a doc here who can follow her.

I hope this helps.