Ask Dr. Curry

Dr. Curry thank you for your help. I have been banded for a year and a half now. In this time I have been completely unfilled twice, once for to tight and again a couple of months ago for dilated pouch.  Upper  GI's look good so went in for a fill abut a month ago. 1 cc in a 4cc band. Again I was to tight so fill taken out. I was doing ok but now I have this crazy restriciton that  I have never felt when I was completely unfilled before??? Im afraid it is an erosion problem or esophagus problem. Can you give me some insight, thank you.

If you have crazy restriction and are completely unfilled, you probably have a slip I'm afraid.  I would get an upper GI.

Hi Dr. Curry,

I had my band placed on October 15, 2007 and have had 6 fills since then.  I have never had restriction lasting longer than a few days.   Two months ago my surgeon told me he suspects that I might have leak.  He wants to put me under and shoot dye into my band to see if there is a leak and he will either fix the band or replace the band.  We are waiting for insurance approval right now. 

My questions are one I'm assuming that a leak is caused by the fill needle hitting the band and if that is true should the surgeon be responsible for fixing it considering this probably happened early on as I haven't even had the band a year yet without the insurance company having to pay twice. 

My other questions is isn't there some other way to determine if I have a leak without me having to be put under to test the band.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Laura

These fills can be very difficult, I don't think it's fair to hold the surgeon responsible, but that's just my opinion.  You can inject radio-opaque dye into the tubing to see if there is a leak but it's not foolproof either.

Hi,
I was banded a year ago, and I have lost a total of 111 lbs. I recently began having hot flashes on a daily basis, and I'm only 31. Could this have anything to do with my band or the weight loss? They recently checked all of my vitamin levels and thyroid, and everything was normal. Have you ever heard of other WLS patients having hot flashes? Just wondering.
Thanks, Gina

Dr. Curry:

I need a reality check on the pain managment I recieved for my banding last week in Italy. I woke up in pain from surgery and was put on a drip that didn't seem to help much. Then I began to get a reaction to the medication (co-comidol I think), shaking, teeth chattering, hot and cold sweats, etc.
 
I was in a hospital with nursing staff but there didn't seem to be a pharmacist available after hours. Anyway, I finally convinced the Italian nurse to turn the drip off about four in the morning and got about an hour's rest. The next shift came in and tried to hook it up again and I had to get pretty strong with them to take it off. Anyway, the surgeon came in around 8 and we discussed it and waited an hour and then he gave me a liquid under the tongue medication that seemed to work for a while. (I think I was actually just getting the benefit of not being on the drip)  Anyway, he checked again in another hour and I was ok and he said it was actually the same medication I had in the drip and he thought maybe I'd just been given too much of it since I was complaining about pain from the time I woke up.

So I was discharged, went to my hotel, took another dose and immediately had the same reaction. I haven't taken it since, but on my way back to the UK I called my UK consultant's office and said I needed something because by then I was really feeling a bit tramatized and very stressed by the pain. I know lots of people don't have bad pain but I did and I had a pretty good idea I would and I'd flagged it up with my doctor and here I was facing a 6 hour flight with no pain support. And even when I got back to the UK I was told to go to my GP if I needed pain relief. Now that's not right is it?
 
I'm an American living in the UK. Everything else about my care in Italy was good, and the surgeon is one of the most experienced in the world. I chose Italy because of his reputation and because they don't have the superbugs that are in every UK hospital.  (You can't imagine how clean the hospital was, it was amazing.)  So is US pain management more aggressive? Because I don't feel I got much support at all and it was very hard and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself the first few days. Just interested in your opinion. Thanks.

P:S Also, I had my gall bladder removed and a hernia repair as well so I was in surgery for two hours.

Hi Dr. Curry, I got a question for you. I asked before about the terrible stomach pains I've been getting and you suggested it may be my gallbladder. My surgeon thought the same and I got a sonogram that looked fine. I still get the pains though, sometimes so bad that I can't move. It comes after eating sometimes so I thought the food is blocking the gas exit and that's why it hurts, but the pain doesn't come every time I eat and it often comes when I don't. My surgeon also thinks I have a leak-do you think the saline can possibly be causing the pain? I know that sounds ridiculous but I can't imagine what it is! If it's not that, do you have any other ideas? The pain is no where near the band, it's kind of level with the port but it's not the port that's hurting. Lately the pain has even spread to my back and even though I think it's severe gas pains GasX doesn't really help. Usually the pain is all over but at times it's just shooting pains on my left side (opposite the port so again, it can't be that). Any idea what this could be?

Thanks!

ETA: My doc says I need a port replacement to fix my leak. It's a fast leak and happens right after my fill if it happens at all. I've been feeling restriction since my last fill-do you think it's safe to play around with it right now or should I wait till I lose restriction?

Hello Dr. Curry,

I had my first baby 4 months ago (March 12th) and got my first postpartum band fill May 13th. To make a long story short, I went home to Oklahoma to visit family for 3 weeks starting June 10th and didn't get a fill before I left..... Needless to say, I lost a few lbs and my band isn't very restrictive anymore., now I think I've gained a few lbs. I'm still not able to eat most breads, but I can eat rice and pasta and cereal. I'm going in to my doctor today to get a band check, because I had some serious band swelling when I got my first postpartum period and couldn't really eat anything without it hurting.

My question is this. Do I get my band emptied, it's only at 2.0 cc's and it's not doing hardly anything for me, or get a fill?

I was thinking of emptying it for a week or two and letting my stomach get a wee bit bigger, (I know this sounds crazy), but then I could start over again and do things the right way....getting fills when I need to instead of waiting too long. I still have about 50 lbs to lose. I lost 45 before I got pregnant.

Does this make any sense?

Thanks in advance!

Tasha

It's been 5 days since my lap-band surgery.  My doctor is having me drink 2oz of liquids every 30 minutes.   Each time I do I feel so bloated to where I cant breath properly, is this normal?  And how long does the gassiness and bloating last?

Dr. Curry,
I have a question about the tubing and port.  I had a hysterectomy in Feb. and all went well.  At the end of May I started having pain on my left side below my port.  I have had many tests, (Barium Edema,, MRI, Cat Scan) and they all came back normal.  My pain is severe at times and I am living on pain meds.  I also am having nerve pain.

My question is, is it possible that my tubing came loose during my hysterectomy surgery and is rubing on a nerve?  Also, what do they do to check the tubing to see if it is still in the rigth place?  I did have a complete unfill after my surgery but I just recently had all of my fill put back and I don't have any restriction at all, which is making me think there is something wrong with my tubing.

I appreciate your help in this matter.  I did call my doctor and I am going to ask for a complete band check up. 

Thank you for your time,
Maureen