Ask Dr. Curry?

Many of you may have seen Dr. Curry around on the boards.  He gives much of his time to help pre-op and post-ops about general Lap Band questions.  If you have a question about the Lap Band for Dr. Curry please ask them here.  He will be following this thread and answering as he has time.  Thank you Dr. Curry for the time you devote to Obesityhelp.

Some information about Dr. Curry.


Dr. Curry is a board-certified general surgeon who specializes in minimally invasive weight loss surgery. He is a Cincinnati native and trained at Good Samaritan Hospital. He has performed nearly 1000 successful laparoscopic gastric bands and bypasses, making him one of the most experienced in the region at the minimally invasive technique. In fact, he completes nearly 100% of his procedures laparoscopically. He is also well-known for his accessibility, and he frequently has patients from all over the country contacting him for advice and guidance. He even spends time on the ObesityHelp.com LAP-BAND® System message board helping patients. He makes himself freely available by email. So, if you have any questions, just write to him! Click here to learn more about Dr. Curry.


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Dr. Curry,

I am almost eight months post op.  I have lost 83 lbs and follow the band rules, and exercise daily.  I had been feeling great.  So much energy, able to do things I couldn't do for such a long time.  Recently, every morning I get up, shaky, nervous and nauseous and have a headache.  It was getting better after I ate, maybe mid morning.  Now it is happening still in the morning, but now even throughout the day.  I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Panic Disorder and take medication for this.  The feeling I get is like the feeling I get right before a panic attack.  Could this be a side effect of the lap band and what can I do?

Your advice will be appreciated.

Thank you sir.

Brenda C

Brenda,
I would think most likely it may be related to low blood sugar.  Might follow up with your PCP about this, it may be indirectly related to your band in terms of dietary intake.

You are telling me that you have some compulsive eating behaviors, which is a problem that needs to be addressed probably by both your dietitian and a mental health counselor.  You have to get 2 or 3 fills before the band really starts to kick in usually, so what you are experiencing isn't necessarily abnormal, but you have to really try and stick to the program for maximum success.

Here's my story:

I am just completely lost. . .

I will attempt to keep this short and kind of the cliffnotes version for you.

October 1st - LapBand placed
October 2nd - recovering in the hospital, one of the nurses made me pull myself up into the bed, and I pulled something at my port site. An enormous hematoma developed that spread from the mid-abdominal line to the right side of my body.

7-8 days post op - The hematoma is still present and continues to spread across my abdomen. My surgeon "diagnosed" the condition as Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia with no blood study being ordered. My bloodwork including my platelets and RBC was normal pre-op. They can't remove my sutures because of the swelling at the port side and the enormous hematoma that is present. At one of the lap sites, the sutures can not be removed because there is a "scab" of some sort grown over it, the nurse "digs" around in the lap site and  determines she can't get to them, and tells me to come back in a week.

3 days later, a disgusting dark brownish "cottage cheese consisitency" substance starts coming out of the lap site that the nurse dug around in. I go in, he "cleans it out" and I have an open wound and can see into my abdomen. I saw nice pink tissue, not a layer of fat, it is gross, and takes another 3 weeks to heal properly. That is only after, it seals up then gets infected and I demand to be put on antibiotics.

All of that healed by the week of Thanksgiving and I got my first fill. 2cc's, still no restriction. I wait until January 21st to go back in for another fill because my doctor refuses to give more than 1 fill every 2 months even though I call mid-December questioning my fill schedule. January 22, another fill, 1cc in, for a total of 3.5cc in a 10cc band, I was miserable. I had no restriction, was hungry all the time. He told me to call him back in 3 weeks for an update. I did as I was told, and he told me to come back in.

Oh yeah, I was down 30 pounds from October 1st to December 18th. I weighed in today and have gained 8 pounds since December. I am extremely "thick" through my abdomen, I carry the majority of my weight in my abdomen, and have constant port pain. Well, today he could not access my port. We are doing a fluoroscopy (spell check on that one), he dug around in my port site for several minutes and could not get in the port. He drew back blood on a few tries, it was beyond painful, it was more than pressure, I have a huge pain tolerance and I was almost in tears. I have a large amount of scar tissue around the port site due to the "popped" port suture (this is my assumption). He does NOT use fluoroscopy on a regular basis, and my port has always been "Weird" (almost inverted) since I came home from the hospital. My band has never had restriction except for immediate post op swelling. I also want to mention that I was given a total of 5cc of heparin during my hospital stay (over a 30 hour period), and had a horrible recovery. My blood pressure dropped dangerously low, I have never "thrown up" and only gotten something stuck 3 times and it was microwaved meat.

Anyways, I am scared out of my mind and need some direction, help, guidance. I can  not change surgeons as I am married to an Air Force member, and our surgeon choices are very limited. There is only one other surgeon in our area and he won't take me for at least 1 year. Changing surgeons is not an option due to insurance rules with Tricare. I am so upset, I've had nothing but problems with the band since having the surgery and now this. I truly feel like it isn't my band, it's been my after care, and my surgeon. I know the band works, but I think it may not be the WLS for me. If I have to go through another surgery, I am considering a revision.

I do not have the emotional fortitude to continue with this, and it's been emotionally draining. My husband is about to deploy, I am a mom to a wonderful 10 year, and have a career that is being affected by my appointments and constant issues. . . I do not know what to do anymore.

I'll take any advice, support, or direction you are willing to give me.

Thank you for your time and input.

This is a really difficult situation for me to help you with.  I can't think of any good solution unfortunately.

Hello Dr. Curry,   I've just found out my band has slipped and my pouch is very large above the band.   What options are there other than having another surgery.  Is it possible this will correct itself?  If not, how long can I go without the surgery before it starts causing major problems.  I just don't have the cash to fund a second surgery.  I carry insurance that coveres weight loss surgery but I did not use it because of all the hoops I would have had to jump through.  Now that I'm having complications do you supose I could use the insurance company to cover the corrective surgery?  I was band Sept 6th 08 and have lost a total of 44lbs.  This is the second complication I've had.  The first was inflammation above the band, I wasn't able to swollow even water till the band was unfilled.  I'm a trooper and will continue to chug along.  Please any advise is welcome...

Kimberly

Kimberly,
The only way you'll find out about your insurance is to call and have your benefits checked.  Your surgeon's office may do this for you.  Pouch dilation sometimes improves with an unfill, but we find that most patients who have a significant case of it eventually require revision.