12 Days Post-Op, could I have "slipped" my band?

[Todzilla 0]

I was banded Tuesday, November 3rd, and so far my recovery has been pretty good. Like most folks I was pretty busted up the first couple days but after that, I was only getting better each day.

My menu was pretty much like everyone else’s: clear fluids the first couple days and then “thick liquids” for the next two weeks. However since my recovery had been going so well, I started to “unconsciously” push the limits. Nothing horrible, but I have been eating some Soups with a lot of thick noodles, and some “stewy like meats”, etc.

My friend who had the LB a couple years ago warned me that you can “slip” the band easily in the first month (before the first fill).

I guess my question is there any way besides what people describe as horrible pain and vomiting to tell if the band slipped? Is there an easy way for the doctor to tell? Or will I have to wait for my first fill? Lastly, is it correct the only way to fix a slip is with surgery?

Sorry for all the questions, it’s just most of my surgery was out of pocket, and I’d hate to have screwed everything all up already.

:wink2:

[kiz 1]

I'm a firm believer in following the doctor's instructions to the letter, but it doesn't sound like you went wild with your eating. Unfortunately, from everything I've read, you really won't know if you've done damage to your healing until further down the line, if in fact you did any at all. The post-op diet is to allow the stitches around the band to heal so that the band is held in nice and tight. When you eat anything solid, your stomach has to churn to digest the food, so to minimize the churning we're on a post-op diet. Doctor's diets vary though, even post-op.

As far as fixing a slip, sometimes it just requires taking all the Fluid out of your band, and the stomach falls back into place. More severe slips require surgery. If you have a band that has a buckle, they might go in and unbuckle it for a period of time, and then go back in and re-buckle it. The newer methods of stitching in the band and the newer wider bands are less susceptible to slips.

The only way to know for certain that you have a slip is by an x-ray.

The idea of further surgery, in addition to the thousands of dollars needless expense, help keep me on the straight and narrow.

[lasttry09 0]

I know exactly how you feel. I was banded 10/16 and i followed the instructions- wk liquids- wk more liquids- by week 3 I was soi sick of Jello and smoothies- Now I didn;t do any carbs but I started to do meats- chew on them really really well (until almost liquid) and then swallow. End of week three I experienced some pain when i was chewing chiken and it hurt so bad (but that was because I was sooo hungry) that I didn't chew really well. i was scared that the band had slipped. I'm not quite sure what slipping is like but the only other time I experience the pasi was when I had a dry chicken breast and didn;t chew it well other than that I've been fine. I go for my first fill on Wed 11/18 and I will ask the doctor. I'll let you know what happens. Until then hang in there- It's hard to 'digest" true the days get better.:biggrin:

[Todzilla 0]

Today I called my LB center and they told me to come down to get looked at. I told them my story and I the girl that does the fills told me that she was 99% sure that my band didn’t “slip”. She said that I just irritated the “pouch” and stomach with the “moist solids” I tried to tackle only 12 days post op.

The irritation causes it to swell which does basically causes even more restriction around the band, hence my issue with not being able to swallow as easily as before. She said to help fix the problem, she would remove some Fluid from the band to help the stomach rest. I told her that I’ve never had a fill before! But she explained that the doctor primes the band with some Fluid, so there was some room to take it down.

It was my first fill (well I guess un-fill) so she had to find my port (which took two tries) and then she removed some saline from it. I think I did feel a little better after that but she said I had to go back to Clear liquids for two days. The internal swelling should go down in a couple of days and hopefully I’ll be able to swallow like before.

Kiz is 100% right: this surgery costs too much (both physically and economically) not to follow the post surgery diet to a T. It wasn’t like I was out eating pizza and hamburgers 12 days out, but there truly is a fine line between “thick liquids” and “thick liquids with chunks of meats and veggies”.

I’m with you lasttry09, the 3 weeks of liquids is the worst. I think those 3 weeks even help you subconsciously “beat the band” because the whole time you are eating things that aren’t restricted. So if ever in the future you want “more food” you can turn to thick liquids to satisfy you. Can’t be a good thing. That’s why I think I was trying to get to solids so quick, because I wanted to feel the restriction. But it only took “once” for me to be pretty much “scared straight”.

Anyhow, thanks for the support everyone.

[kiz 1]

Thanks so much for the update. I'm glad you're feeling better! You never know, you might help the next person resist the urge to branch out, even a little, on their post-op diet. One thing most of us know, that post-op diet can be tough.