Surgery on Tuesday

I had lap band surgery in August 2007, lost 60 pounds within 6 months and have maintained that loss for the last 9 years (even after all fluid was removed in 2013 due to complications).  Had the band removed in October 2015 due to erosion.  RNY is scheduled fo Tuesday.  I've been seeing the NP at Northwestern since October 2014 and am finally having surgery.  I have complete faith in Dr. Nagle and his team and am excited to finally begin this portion of the journey and get off my meds and insulin.  I have seen many successes on this site and appreciate the support and love shown here.  Wish me luck!!

Sonja

I wish you lots of luck and a speedy recovery! Would you mind sharing if you had any symptoms from the erosion and what they were? I am also seeking a revision from band to bypass. I have reflux, weight gain, pain at port site, and dysphasia. I don't know yet if it is due to erosion. Best of luck and Congrats on your surgery! 

Danimadd73,

Thanks for the support!  Until the last year or so, I wasn't aware that I was having symptoms of erosion.  In 2013 I got a fill from a local doc in Illinois (my lap band surgery was done in Arizona).  Before the fill, I supposedly had 6.5 cc's in my 10 cc band.  The doc was able to add 8 cc's.  He didn't understand that and did a barium x-ray to check the placement of the band.  He said the x-ray showed that I had a small pouch over the top of the band (due to slippage he said), but otherwise things looked normal.  He insisted on removing all fluid from my band and refused to treat me further (since he had not done the original surgery - which is pretty common from what I hear).  I had periodic pain near my port site, but nothing major after that for about a year. 

In October 2014 I moved to Chicago and started seeing a new doc seeking a revision to the sleeve.  Things drug on for almost a year (mostly due to my work schedule and missing appointments).  I was still having the intermittent pain near my port and on the left side of my abdomen (and still do even though I no longer have a port), and mild reflux.  In September 2015 the Chicago doc did a pre-surgery endoscopy to check my stomach and esophagus and discovered the band erosion.  He removed the band in October 2015 - it was 80% eroded into my stomach with scar tissue covering the outside.  He wanted to wait 6 months before doing the sleeve surgery.

I had a follow-up endoscopy in March, which showed undigested food in my stomach - even after 12+ hours of no food.  He sent me to a specialist who did a number of tests and determined that I have nerve damage (likely caused by the band erosion) and gastroparesis.  I have also had worsening reflux.  Because the sleeve has a risk of reflux, my doc recommended that I have RNY instead.

So, to answer your question, I also had reflux and pain at port site and surrounding.  Recently, I've experienced frequent night cough (which had only ever happened twice since getting my band in 2007) and having food back up into my lungs after eating at times, all likely due to the gastroparesis and reflux.  Needless to say, the last year has not been fun.

I hope this info is helpful and wish you luck in your revision and continued journey.

Sonja

Thank you so much for sharing and I hope you are recovering and resting well. 

All my best, 

Dani

Good luck to you! Hope all goes well. Keep us informed. I had my band placed in 2006 and will have revision on 9/23.