removal of old band to being rebanded?

I have less than two weeks to decide to remove the band. I feel stuck in this decision bc everyone including myself is so tired of me vomiting and suffering with symptoms related to the band being slipped. Me and my doctor arent really on the same page about my problems either. I was told after a scope that my band has slipped and I have no pouch, I told him this and he says that it isnt possible for a doctor to see the band that way. I have a friend that works in the field and she says you can go into the stomach and also see the band itself. But he did offer to remove it and acknowledged the serious pain I would have lately in the port area is not normal. So now I am scheduled and I just feel like I spent 16,000 for the band btw and still paying on it and I am not sure I want it out even though you think I would after going through so much. I am no where near done losing weight. I lost 65, now I am back to pre op weight. I just feel like the rny or ds would be a more drastic approach to put an end to my weight issues, binge or large portion eating and I would have the malabsorption and dumping. Although not everyone dumps. I am not saying rny and ds only work the best, its just one of the many options of wls. The band since it hasnt been working right, hasnt gotten me anywhere even with the help of myself since even though my band is in me it isnt working therefore I have no tool to help right now. I am not miss will power thats why I looked into the lapband to help me. I admit that I do need help with losing the weight. But I am also tired of being tired and want to start losing again so I can feel good like I used to. I just am scared about the whole thing and really not sure how to take this, think about it, how to talk to my doctor, if its worth it. I dont know.

i was in a similar situation--but let me encourage you to do *something* when they take the band off...don't just leave it off and wait to do something later on. I had the band. I lost 160 pounds with it. got pregnant, started throwing up..and the last 3 months of preganncy i threw up blood every day. if you're throwing up that much you HAVE to do something or risk rupturing your esophagus. that would be fatal. I never realized how serious that could be until I was going through it. They removed my band, thinking that "oh she'll keep the weight off". well, within a year and a half, i'd gained it all back. so i decided to get re-banded. well, guess what. there's no guarantee that they could do the band because of the scar tissue (scar from initial banding, then scar from having it removed). I was self-pay the first time. I'm self-pay now. I'm optin for the roux-y this go around. My main reason is that i KNOW i have to have something permanent. My initial thinking for the band was (oh, if something goes wrong it'll be easy to get off). well, it was, but i gained everything back. According to my surgeon, the risk of re-banding is as high as the risks with roux-y (which is about twice as risky as the initial band surgery)...and being self-pay again, i don't want to pay for the band if it might not work...so i'm going for the rouxy. i'm scheduled for tuesday. just be firm in your decision. do what you feel is best. don't be swayed by others. you can get their opinion, but you have to live with whatever you choose. *hugs* good luck. mary

I also had the lap band and it slipped. I threw up for over one year until I just could not take it anymore. I lived on milk and cookies, crackers for almost a year.. high calorie soft stuff. I found a surgeon that would take the band out and he suggested the RNY. I am also self pay. I went ahead with it on 1-10-06. I was in the OR for 7 hours. What a mess inside I was. The band had slipped and embedded in my stomache. It was a mess. Now I have a stricture which will be taken care of next week by a scope. This is releated to the revision surgery. Strictures are higher after this type of surgery. I myself regret having the lap band to begin with. I have last 35 lbs since 1-10-06 and feel great. Nanc