Lap-Band slip, advice from anyone who has been there...

so today I found out that my band has slipped, a large portion of my stomach has come though the band. I have not had ANY issues with my band, I don't have pain, I have always been able to maintain proper restriction (although I have been super loose for more then a year because I was pregnant and nursing), no reflux or vomiting and if it was not for the doc deciding to fill me under fluro today we would have never knew anything was wrong.

I have to go for a complete Upper GI series, and then we will talk about options, but does anyone know what some of my options are. 

I know I will probably have to have a complete unfill, but will that REALLY help at all? Can it be fixed without surgery? What are the odds of it happening again now that it has happend once? 

I know, crazy load of questions. Just looking for stories, good and bad, from people who have been here. I am kind of freaking out (well, not kind of, I am SUPER freaked out) and I have just been sitting here crying all night long. I can't go back to the person I was before surgery, but I can't see me revising to any other surgery, I just don't know.

I had a slip and was completely unfilled. After 30 days the band had worked itself back in place and refills were restarted slowly.....I gained around 25 lbs at that time and still trying to lose it (a year later)....

Thank you for sharing your story! I go for my upper GI tomorrow to figure out just how bad this is, then I will be able to make a more informed decision. I have been hanging on to the same 20 lbs since I gave birth to my son 16 months ago, so I know how frustrating that is!

 i was wondering if you did anything inparticular to work your band back into place, i am terrified that my band has slipped. 

What makes you think your band may have slipped, and were you self pay ?

Wow, this was a blast from the past. I was able to get my band back into place after this particular slip with a complete unfill, but within a few months it completely slipped again and had to be removed in an emergency surgery. If you think you might have a slip you need to call your doctor and ask for a complete Upper GI and perhaps a CT scan. 

Good luck!

I was diagnosed with a slip a year ago.  I had to have surgery to fix mine.  I was unfilled for over a month before my surgery, and then my doc took fills VERY conservatively and slowly after my surgery.  It took a full 8 months to get back to the restriction that is optimal.  During that 9 months I regained 40 pounds!  UGH.  I am working to get those off now, but I still have my band, and I am very thankful for that!

I know that minor slips can be remedied by a complete unfill.  However, I think statistics show that once you have a slip you have a better chance of having another one.   At time time of my surgery to reposition my band, my doc felt like I wouldn't qualify for another WLS because I was no longer MO.  If that is an option for you, this might be a good time to explore maybe revising to the sleeve.  Just a thought!!

Thank you for sharing your story, I am looking into revising to the sleeve. I have an Upper GI tomorrow which will show us better the degree of the slip and then I can look at my options a little more in closely.

I am currently without a band.  I had food get stuck on 3 Jan.  For several days, I was unable to even get liquids down.  Went to my surgeon on 7 Jan.  They did xrays, and within an hour, I was being advised that the band had slipped so badly they would have to do surgery.  Best case scenario they would be able to correct it, worst case scenario, they would have to remove it.  When I woke up, my band had been removed.  The first few days home, I figured I would be okay, because I had no appetite.  WRONG!  My appetite is back in full force.  I have gained around 4 pounds.  I am weighing myself daily to try to keep it under control.  In the hospital, I swore I would never get the band put back in.   Today, I am trying to contact my Tri Care (military insurance) rep to find out my options.  I think I want my band back.  With Tri care, I have that option or RNY.  I still do not want RNY.  That leaves me with the lapband looking pretty darn good.  I lost 40 pounds while I had the band placed.  approx 3 months.  I was hoping to be at my first goal by spring break.  If I get the band back in, I might still have a chance to make that goal.  I don't really think it was user error that caused the problem.  I did get stuck from eating too quickly, but I did not over fill the pouch, or break any other band rules.  At this point, it is all up in the air for me.  I wish you luck with your band, hopefully, since you can still get liquids down, they will only have to take out all the saline and it will adjust itself.
Susan

Thank you so much for sharing your story! I am thinking that I need to revise immediatly if I am going to do anything, my slip looks bad on the CT scan, but because I am not having any issues they let me keep my fill for now (although they took out 1 cc to make it easier for food to pass). My insurance will cover a new band, or a revision to the sleeve, I am thinking sleeve because I just can't imagin having to go though all of this over again! It's so frustrating because I never had an issue until a few weeks ago, I had a stomach virus and after throwing up a few times I had horrible pain (I am pretty sure that is when the slip happend), then I went to the ER b/c the pain was so intense, they did a CT scan and told me everything was normal, the pain actually died down and was gone after a day and I had no further issues with my band.

My current doctor took one look at that CT scan and said that even then it was obvious that something was wrong and that they should have never sent me home! Gah, I am just so angry and sad over the whole thing.