band erosion

 hello , I am need of advice/help. i had the lapband on 02/20/2009 and i had lost about 80lbs i felt great. i then started to  not feel any restriction even after a fill. they told me i was at my max fill and could not understand why i was not feeling any restictioons. i do not think they believed me when i was saying that actually i was eating less and gained about 25-30lbs ...truly devestaing...I went and had an esphogram which i was told at the hospital was a slip...i was excited this meant i was not at fault and it was an easy fix....so i went to the doctor who told me i am sorry but this is not a slip but an erosion of the band and not only do they have to take it out but they can not do any revsion surgery at the same time(as it is serouis and i have to heal). i am frightended as i cannot seem to read alot on the erosion of band.. how long will i be in hospital /out of work etc and why oh why cannot i have revesion surgery at the same time...drs other patients who had this problem please advise . i am due dor surgery on the 21st of july . where can i look. i went to u tube etc. thanks any one who knows what this is all about. please give a shout back

Another member recently had her band removed and was told she'd have to wait a few months for her revision surgery. I think the reason is that the stomach needs to heal from the erosion before it's safe to perform any further surgery on it.

Good luck!

Jean

Hi summertime,

I'm sorry to hear this.
OK, you cannot have revision surgery because your stomach must be damaged from the band erosion. I went through this, too... lapband removal... no revision due to major damage to stomach and diaphragm. To do another surgery on a body that has damage inhibits healing and is VERY risky. An eroded band is literally grown into your stomach tissue. The scar tissue is "gluing" the band to your stomach and possibly other organs. They will have to cut it out, which causes quite a bit of bleeding and damage. However, after band removal, I felt better very quickly, honestly.

My advice is to wait and heal before you even consider another form of WLS. Take the time to research your options, get into a support group so you can maintain your weight loss, mourn the loss of your band and talk when you need to.

Good luck to you and I'm sorry you're going through this.

~Nicci

Nicci, Thank you for responding it has been so hard top find any info on erosion..lots of info on sliped bands but not erosion. when did you go through this surgery and how long were you in the hospital/out of work. Did you gain weight and have you had any further wls. I am so glad you spoke about the loss of the band it had truly given my life back to me for awhile. i felt in control again and now i feel as if that has been taken away from me. I had lapband surgery as i was frigtended of the risk of bypass as i have a 9 and 10 yr old. this surgery scares me. 
did they tell you what they thought caused your erosion?

Hi Summer,
 I had two bands. The first one slipped and when they did the revision back to a band they found a hiatel hernia. My second band not only slipped, but it had also eroded into my stomach. My doctor said that they probably wouldn't be able to revise me to the sleeve because of the slip.
( They had never mentioned the erosion at that time ) he said if there was too much damage then I would have to wait six months for a revision to the sleeve.

To my surprise I woke up in recovery and told that I was sleeved. I think it it depends on the severity of the erosion whether or not they will do the revision.

 are you happy with the sleeve what madeyou choose that one instrad of a bypass. i am happy you were able tyo do this at the same time as the erosion. how long was yourt recovrry

I am happy with my sleeve. As far as why I didn't choose the bypass..... I knew I was a poor candidate for any surgery where I would have to be religious with taking my supplements everyday.
I honestly knew that I would mess it up and end up skipping some of my supplements and with malabsorbative procedures.....that is just not something you can go into without a firm commitment on your part. I have always been lazy about taking my meds which is the only reason why I chose not to have the DS.

If I could have trusted myself to do what needed to be done. Then I would have chosen the DS.

My recovery time from the sleeve was so much easier then with both bands. I don't know why, but it just was.

Hi summertime,

I had my band removed in 2005. I had already lost my job due to massive complications with banding, so I didn't really have to worry about being out of work at the time I had it removed. The removal surgery was a snap... mostly because I had a competent, skilled surgeon. The first surgeon I had might as well have worked in a butcher shop.

The band caused the erosion. That's all there is to it. Soft stomach tissue being irritated by a foreign device is a recipe for disaster. They can tout it as being "less invasive" and market it as the answer to all the problems of obesity, but in truth, the band is a torturous device. Our bodies rebel against that object being there, pressing against the soft tissue.

When I had the band removed I didn't even have to stay overnight in the hospital. I was putting my shoes on while still half unconscious! I was ready to book outta there! I wasn't able to revise to another WLS since I had too much damage. My surgeon told me, "If you get fat again, we'll do the sleeve for you when you're healed up."  I told him that I was never getting fat again after having gone through all that pain and suffering. But, of course, if I could NOT get fat, I wouldn't have needed WLS in the first place. All that, "Well, you've learned the right way to eat" garbage is just that- garbage. The band didn't ALLOW me to eat. At all. And if it was just a matter of KNOWING how to eat right, I would BE thin. I can read. I can research. I know the principles of eating correctly. I just seemed to be hardwired NOT to, though.

After band removal, I came home and cried because I had tried SO hard to make the band work. I went into it with the highest hopes and the plan to do everything right. It was my final resort to lose weight. And I probably cried for quite some time after band removal. It was truly heartbreaking to feel defeated and after having gone through years of chronic pain issues, I probably cried because they had lessened incredibly after having the band out. I was convinced that the band had already done its damage and having it removed wouldn't allay the pain. I was wrong. Band out = pain relief.

No amount of weight loss is worth the damage the lapband does to a body. I got down to a size 8-10 from a 24-26. But I felt like death almost every day. I had no quality of life and it was the most miserable thing I've ever experienced. Now I am chubby but I thank God every day for being alive, being able to BREATHE, having the ability to eat without horking up my guts for hours, not having that damned left shoulder pain morning, noon and night!  I found there are worse things than being fat, for sure.

You can get through this. And, especially if you have the possibility of revision, you can use that as your "light at the end of the tunnel." Hang in there. You're still in control. I wish you the very best. I hope things work out well for you.  Use the time to research options and look within yourself to see what might be best for you. I go to counseling for my issues with overeating. I find that to be an invaluable resource, personally. I KNOW the reasons why I'm fat. I want to deal with them before even considering having another form of WLS.

Nicci

Nicci I just had to send you this hug

I've come to the conclusion that I am permanently damaged by my band and it's much worse then I first thought. I am trying to deny what some of it is because I feel that if I don't accept it then it can't be true, but little by little by little the truth is starting to sink in and it is making me feel very depressed.

I thought all my pain would be a thing of the past and I could finally move forward with my life, now that the band was gone, but it has left a trail of destruction on so many levels with it's departure. As it stands now....... I am actually hiding all the pain I am in from my husband because he seems so excited for me because I was doing so well for the first few weeks post band......... I don't have the heart to tell him that I'm suffering again.

 Pump,

You'll heal up, I know it. It took awhile for me to feel healed up, too. I still have the left shoulder pain occasionally, but nothing like when I had the band. Is that what you're having? The left shoulder still hurting?
xoxo
Nic