My Lapband Story

First I want to say that whatever surgery you choose is a personal decision and I don't advocate or condemn any WLS. I know many who have had success and failure with Lapband and RNY. I am merely telling my story in hopes that it will help someone make their own decision on what surgery is best for them. I had a lapband placed 4/6/05 and had very high hopes. It took me a couple of months to reach proper restriction and I finally started losing and managed to lose 41 pounds total (including the 10 lbs lost the week before surgery). In September I lost restriction and my weight loss stopped in its tracks and I couldn't get going again. I went in for fill after fill until they couldn't put any more fluid in and kept losing restriction. We finally determined that I had a leak and tried for over a month to figure out where it was coming from but it would never reveal itself on fluoro. Since leaks are in the port or tubing around the port 99% of the time we took a gamble and replaced the port. Sure enough when they got in there I had a big leak in the port AND the tubing so clearly I would not have been able to sustain restriction. Problem solved, right? I had two fills after my port replacement and lost about 8 pounds the first month (in the months prior while I had no restriction I gained all but 5 pounds back of weight lost since surgery). Once again, my restriction went away, my weight loss stalled and I had a new problem of SEVERE reflux all night every night no matter how early I stopped eating for the day. I knew I didn't have a leak because my fill was there every time we checked. Now it appeared that my band had slipped. I went in for an EGD to confirm what we suspected and sure enough I had a significant prolapse (slip) of my band. We tried a total unfill of my band and that did not help my slip so the only way to repair it is to have surgery. Easy enough, right? For reasons I won't go into I decided to change surgeons and had started going to a new doctor. When he submitted paperwork to the insurance he submitted as a revision in case I needed a new band once he got in there because without approval to replace the band he would only be able to repair or remove it. Makes sense, right? Insurance DENIED my claim to repair my band. Now that I was 11 pounds below Morbidly Obese (BMI 38.4) I no longer had coverage for bariatric surgery PERIOD. They will allow the doctor to remove the band but not repair it. ABSOLUTELY THE STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE!!!! If I gain the 11 pounds back then we can resubmit the paperwork and they will cover it which is the whole purpose of why I am posting here today. IF YOU HAVE COMPLICATIONS WITH YOUR BAND, i.e., A SLIP AND HAVE LOST A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WEIGHT AND/OR YOUR BMI IS BELOW 40 YOUR INSURANCE MAY NOT COVER TO FIX IT. I have United Healthcare and they were fantastic about approving the surgery but they NEVER told me that if I had problems and had lost enough weight to get below BMI of 40 EVEN IF THAT WAS ONLY 5 OR 10 POUNDS that they would not pay to fix those problems. If I had lost 80 pounds then I would have to gain 80 pounds to have insurance coverage to fix it!! I'm told I can get an attorney and fight it but WTF?? It's easier to gain 11 pounds than pay several hundred dollars to hire an attorney! What happens if I have it repaired, lose 100 pounds and it slips again? SAME THING!! I have to tell you that I was a HUGE opponent of bypass surgery because of the additional risk involved but I have and am taking a closer look at it. I haven't made a definite decision but I can tell you that I am seriously considering it. There are people that have had their bands for years and have had no problem and I am so thankful and happy for them. BUT there are also people that are struggling through complications like I am and if you have even had minor success then you may not be covered anymore. For some that risk may be worth it and it may even be for me, I just don't know. I am totally frustrated and sorry I ever started down this road because it has been a nightmare. It doesn't happen for everyone this way but it sure happened for me and that's all I have to go by. Good luck on whatever decision you make and think LONG AND HARD about what choice is right for you because there is no guarantee on ANY WLS - you just have to pick what you can get most comfortable with. Have a blessed day!

May I suggest the vertical sleeve gastrectomy. There is no malabsorption, purely restrictive. There is a forum here on obesityhelp.com for you to check it out. Hope this helps, Jenny

I had esophageal issues with MY band and went for a revision to DS (Duodenal Switch) last November. For better or worse, I was back up to an MO weight when I submitted. So I was a candidate for the removal of the band and still eligible for the DS. It was a tough couple of months while the esophagus repaired, but it's 8 months now...I'm down 86 pounds and I feel fine. There are a couple of us revisions from band to DS at the OH-DS board. Come visit.) Good luck finding your solution! Sue

Sue, What happened with your esophagus that it had to be repaired? That sounds scary!! Susan

Susan, I developed esophageal dysmotility. When healthy, the esophagus doesn't just sit there; it massages the food on down to the stomach. Mine stopped doing that. Food would go down a little, move back up, and float around. I couldn't, for example drink water before or during exercising...it would just come back up. I kept insisting that it was happening. Doctors who should have known better kept looking like I was making this up. FINALLY, when I went to have the saline removed before revising to the DS, the doctor (and the radiologist he was training) and my husband and I all observed. The saline was removed, I drank the barium, it went half-way down my esophagus and just sat there. Finally, PROOF. We didn't do anything other than remove the LapBand to repair the esophagus. It had to repair itself...which took about ten weeks. I also had some dilatation--which means that the esophagus widens. Some say that's from eating "too much." It is...BUT...in my case, it was "too much food" because it didn't move to the stomach, but got hung up in the esophagus, and by the time I fiugred out what was happening, it was too late. Also, I was one of those who had no reflux before banding, but plenty of it post-op. Here's a journal article on the problem I was having. Unfortunately, it wasn't published until I'd had problems for two years, so none of the doctors I saw even understood the problem. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/508578 Sue

Sue, Thanks for telling me your saga! Goodness...it sounds frustrating! I will read the article as soon as I remove the parental controls that are blocking me from reading it, LOL! It blocks the craziest things.... I was particularly interested because I had my pre-op UGI the other day and the doc said my distal esophagus was abnormally large but that I don't have reflux. We certainly are learning more about the digestive system than we ever thought! Thanks again! Susan

I'd have your doctor contact Inamed about your band. A faulty band has been covered by them before. I can't recall which poster told us about it. The doctor submitted bills to Inamed and they paid. Hope things get better for you. GrannyLaLa

Help! I am far away from my original surgeon, and must have my band removed. i have just been diagnosed with extensive breast cancer, and need it out during my surgery next week. The breast surgeon has no idea of how complicated this might be. How did they do yours? thank you. Lynn

So sorry to hear about your diagnosis. You will be in my prayers. Where are you now? My new surgeon removed my band when he did my revision to RNY last month. Your doctor will definitely need to coordinate with a bariatric surgeon familiar with Lap-Band to remove your band so there is no damage caused.

Thank you for responding. I am in Houston. I really do not have time to get with a bariatric surgeon. I really thought that it was easy to remove the band. what damage are you talking about? Thanks! ~Lynn