Emergency removal of my band

kathyy68 · June 18, 2009

Well I lost my band on Tuesday. It started Friday with very bad burning around my belly button any time I ate or drank. By Saturday the burning had stopped but I felt tightness in my chest area. I quit eating as of Friday and only drank on Saturday. By Sunday, I could no longer drink anymore. I saw my Dr. at 7am on Monday morning and the barium swallow showed complete blockage and a slip. I was referred to another Dr. since my Dr. is out of the Dallas area. I went to him that afternoon and he said since I was not throwing up severely, that if I wanted I could wait until the next morning to do the emergency removal and that way they could call to see if my insurance would approve replacement of a new band. I chose to wait and Tuesday morning went through the emergency room to have the removal since my replacement had been denied. After surgery the Dr. said I had a pretty bad hiatal hernia and lots of scar tissue. I stayed in the hospital that night and came home the next day. I am now at home on a liquid diet for a week and then progressing to mushies. The surgery didnt hurt near as bad this time post op so I am thankful for that. My insurance does pay for 1 bariatric surgery so in 6 months I can go through the process again. My first surgery was on my husbands insurance so that one didnt count. Im terrified about gaining weight back, but thankful that my insurance will pay for it after healing for 6 months. I was pretty successful the first time, so I dont have to far to go to reach my goal. Moral of my story, as others have said....please listen to your body. If you think something might be wrong it doesnt hurt to check it out. Im just glad I got it out before there was erosion or severe damage to my organs.

Edited June 18, 2009 by kathyy68

WASaBubbleButt · June 19, 2009

Well I lost my band on Tuesday. It started Friday with very bad burning around my belly button any time I ate or drank. By Saturday the burning had stopped but I felt tightness in my chest area. I quit eating as of Friday and only drank on Saturday. By Sunday, I could no longer drink anymore. I saw my Dr. at 7am on Monday morning and the barium swallow showed complete blockage and a slip. I was referred to another Dr. since my Dr. is out of the Dallas area. I went to him that afternoon and he said since I was not throwing up severely, that if I wanted I could wait until the next morning to do the emergency removal and that way they could call to see if my insurance would approve replacement of a new band. I chose to wait and Tuesday morning went through the emergency room to have the removal since my replacement had been denied. After surgery the Dr. said I had a pretty bad hiatal hernia and lots of scar tissue. I stayed in the hospital that night and came home the next day. I am now at home on a liquid diet for a week and then progressing to mushies. The surgery didnt hurt near as bad this time post op so I am thankful for that. My insurance does pay for 1 bariatric surgery so in 6 months I can go through the process again. My first surgery was on my husbands insurance so that one didnt count. Im terrified about gaining weight back, but thankful that my insurance will pay for it after healing for 6 months. I was pretty successful the first time, so I dont have to far to go to reach my goal. Moral of my story, as others have said....please listen to your body. If you think something might be wrong it doesnt hurt to check it out. Im just glad I got it out before there was erosion or severe damage to my organs.

I'd seriously use this time to research a sleeve. Stats are showing that if you surgically reposition or replace a band you are likely (70% of the time) to have another slip in the first five years. If you only get one bariatric surgery what will you do if you slip again?

kathyy68 · June 19, 2009

Thanks for the advice!! I am definitely using this time to do a lot of research and soul searching! As of right now, I do not want to even think about another surgery LOL I have already bookmarked the sleeve site and will spend a lot of time researching it. Thanks again.

Kathy