Have you had problems with the band?
On March 17, 2011 at 5:18 AM Pacific Time, abandster wrote:
Maria....just the removal of the last port cost me over $2000 and that's not counting all the packing gauze and tape I've bought in the last 9 months. Changing the bandage at least twice a day....that gets costly. Since I was banded in November, 2005, I (thankfully) didn't keep up with the price of the fills and unfills and mileage and all of that. My copay is $35 a pop and over 5 years, I never reached a sweet spot, continued to have the band adjusted, drove the 20 miles round trip with the price of gas steadily going up, and had more than my share of things getting stuck and having to see the surgeon for an unfill.
So, I don't know exactly how much this little venture has costs me but any future wls will be out of pocket for me as my insurance company no longer covers any procedures. I don't know how my surgeon got this last port removal approved but he did which is why I ONLY paid $2000 out of pocket.
Thanks for your posts. I didn't mean to cause such a turmoil here. I've known from the past that you can be blasted on here if you aren't careful so I think I'll go back to reading....after I've addressed all the posts that have come in with my one question this time around.
LaWanda
Thanks for responding. The band can get rather expensive for us sefl-payers. Which wouldn't be so bad if it worked! But to spend so much money and have it NOT work...........or in your case not work AND cause so many problems...........that's just devestating! :-(
You are right about ppl getting blasted on here unfortunately! You go way back on the band forum so as you know it occured even BEFORE I started posting on here (they tend to act like this is all MY fault!).
So sorry that with all the severe band problems you have faced that you didn't feel comfortable till now coming on the band forum to try to get support.................and now what you have..........you get blasted! :-(
I guess we know why so many ppl just stick to reading on the forum and keeping all their band complications to theirselves! :-(
I wish u the very best, and so sorry you have had this band nightmare! Hugs!!!
(deactivated member)
on 3/16/11 5:39 am
on 3/16/11 5:39 am
LaWanda, I remember you very well, 
sorry to hear you have had so many problems. I can't help but think the surgeon did a lousy job. You really need to write a letter to him with a copy sent to his local peer review committee. Myself I have done very well and have had no problems at all. I appreciate your post we need to hear the good with the bad. Good luck.
sorry to hear you have had so many problems. I can't help but think the surgeon did a lousy job. You really need to write a letter to him with a copy sent to his local peer review committee. Myself I have done very well and have had no problems at all. I appreciate your post we need to hear the good with the bad. Good luck. 
abandster
on 3/16/11 10:22 pm
on 3/16/11 10:22 pm
Evil Twin.....NO WAY!!!! But cute.
I'm so delighted to hear you've done so well. Part of me wants to write LOTS of letters and part of me just wants to wake up from this nightmare. But the biggest part of me (no pun intended) wants to focus on my mother and her health and get her back to feeling much better so my daddy psychologically feels better. I'm so worried about them its hard to worry about myself.....though my mother constantly worries about my weight.
So, congrats to you. Keep up the good work. Size 6....OMG....I've only seen a 6 with an X after it. LOL
SmurfWhisperer
on 3/16/11 5:59 am - WA
on 3/16/11 5:59 am - WA
Wow... so sorry to hear this story and even more sorry to see how your post seeking support was met with suspicion. It seems that's the nature of the beast over here though as there are some with an agenda to sway newbies away from the band, which puts everyone on the defensive when they see a real horror story show up.
It's like the crying wolf thing... bandsters are so used to hearing the alarm that when a new one arrives, what would normally be a genuine outpouring of sympathy is cautious and guarded until they've been able to ascertain whether you're really interested in hearing from others who've had a similar experience or if you're just trying to scare would be bansters into reconsidering.
If it's helpful, I've found another LapBand forum that doesn't seem to have nearly as many trolls as there are here because the entire forum is dedicated solely to the band (no other WLS methods are discussed on the site) you may find less suspicion/more support there. PM me and I'll give you the link as I'd like to keep from pointing to it here, lest the wolf criers start showing up there too.
It's like the crying wolf thing... bandsters are so used to hearing the alarm that when a new one arrives, what would normally be a genuine outpouring of sympathy is cautious and guarded until they've been able to ascertain whether you're really interested in hearing from others who've had a similar experience or if you're just trying to scare would be bansters into reconsidering.
If it's helpful, I've found another LapBand forum that doesn't seem to have nearly as many trolls as there are here because the entire forum is dedicated solely to the band (no other WLS methods are discussed on the site) you may find less suspicion/more support there. PM me and I'll give you the link as I'd like to keep from pointing to it here, lest the wolf criers start showing up there too.
abandster
on 3/16/11 10:24 pm
on 3/16/11 10:24 pm
I wasn't trying to scare anybody but I'm a firm believer in knowing all the good and all the bad. You have to be ready for anything this experience throws at you.
And, yes, I will PM you. Thank you for the offer. I look forward to moving my attention to another forum.
LaWanda
And, yes, I will PM you. Thank you for the offer. I look forward to moving my attention to another forum.
LaWanda
Hi there! I had a horrible first surgeon. He was a quack, definitely a band mill type guy. I experienced a slip that was bad enough to require surgery to fix it. Luckily, I was already seeing a new surgeon and had excellent care with him. I am very slow at taking the regain back off, but I WILL take it off!!
I am sorry that you have had so many problems.
I am sorry that you have had so many problems.
LapBand Surgery 01/10/08, Revison to Sleeve 04/03/12
Hi LaWanda,
So sorry to hear about your serious band issues. You may want to look into getting an attorney. If you have copies of your tests that have been done, that may help too. That surgeon/doctor seems to be inexperienced in what he/she is doing for you. Do they think that's normal to have a tube coming out?
My experience with the band has not been good at all. I had mine put in almost 9 years ago. Had fills/unfills, vomited too many times to talk about, drooled, foamed, food getting stuck even after it's been chewed to paste and I followed the menu plans and went for support. I wanted it to work for me. I lost 70 pounds. Never reached my goal at all. Some people have great success with it. I didn't. a few years back, I started experiencing random fevers and abdmoninal pain. Took some pain reliever, and the fever would go down. I started gaining weight. Last thing I wanted was my scale to be going up. I started looking into having a revision. Did my research on surgeons. While I was doing my research, I was getting fevers more often and the pain started to become more intense. I went to my doctor, who gave me a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy. Waiting for that test (three weeks wait), a fistula formed where the port site was. It started oozing. Had to keep that covered with guaze and changed it 3 or 4 times a day. When i did get the endoscopy done, the band was inside my stomach. It erroded into my stomach, and it wasn't even filled. The fistula was from an infected port. Went to a bariatric surgeon, he scheduled me right away for surgery. I was in the hospital for 5 days. He repaired my stomach, cut out the infected port and tubing, and had to leave the site opened and packed because of the severe infection I had there. When they released me out of the hospital, I had to clean that open wound 3 times a day and pack it. It healed, and so did my stomach.
I had to wait at least 6 months before I could have a revision done, the stomach had to heal and go back to normal. While I was waiting for my stomach to heal, I tell you, the greatest thing that I felt was that nothing was getting stuck again. No more hurling, no more foaming, no more pain, no more worrying about what I could eat, ..... it was wonderful.
Now I have lost 87 pound and I am so glad I had the revision surgery. I can eat just about anything. Nothing gets stuck ever. I should have done this surgery first instead of putting that crap band in.
The lap band doesn't last forever. There will be a time everyone will have to have it removed, or replaced.
Best wishes to you.
Donna
So sorry to hear about your serious band issues. You may want to look into getting an attorney. If you have copies of your tests that have been done, that may help too. That surgeon/doctor seems to be inexperienced in what he/she is doing for you. Do they think that's normal to have a tube coming out?
My experience with the band has not been good at all. I had mine put in almost 9 years ago. Had fills/unfills, vomited too many times to talk about, drooled, foamed, food getting stuck even after it's been chewed to paste and I followed the menu plans and went for support. I wanted it to work for me. I lost 70 pounds. Never reached my goal at all. Some people have great success with it. I didn't. a few years back, I started experiencing random fevers and abdmoninal pain. Took some pain reliever, and the fever would go down. I started gaining weight. Last thing I wanted was my scale to be going up. I started looking into having a revision. Did my research on surgeons. While I was doing my research, I was getting fevers more often and the pain started to become more intense. I went to my doctor, who gave me a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy. Waiting for that test (three weeks wait), a fistula formed where the port site was. It started oozing. Had to keep that covered with guaze and changed it 3 or 4 times a day. When i did get the endoscopy done, the band was inside my stomach. It erroded into my stomach, and it wasn't even filled. The fistula was from an infected port. Went to a bariatric surgeon, he scheduled me right away for surgery. I was in the hospital for 5 days. He repaired my stomach, cut out the infected port and tubing, and had to leave the site opened and packed because of the severe infection I had there. When they released me out of the hospital, I had to clean that open wound 3 times a day and pack it. It healed, and so did my stomach.
I had to wait at least 6 months before I could have a revision done, the stomach had to heal and go back to normal. While I was waiting for my stomach to heal, I tell you, the greatest thing that I felt was that nothing was getting stuck again. No more hurling, no more foaming, no more pain, no more worrying about what I could eat, ..... it was wonderful.
Now I have lost 87 pound and I am so glad I had the revision surgery. I can eat just about anything. Nothing gets stuck ever. I should have done this surgery first instead of putting that crap band in.
The lap band doesn't last forever. There will be a time everyone will have to have it removed, or replaced.
Best wishes to you.
Donna
Erroded lapband removed 12/28/09, stomach repaired, infected port cut out.
WLS done on Dec 14th, 2010.WOOHOO!! I survived & I'm alive! Dr. Gagner is my life saver!
On March 16, 2011 at 2:50 PM Pacific Time, neacres100 wrote:
Hi LaWanda,So sorry to hear about your serious band issues. You may want to look into getting an attorney. If you have copies of your tests that have been done, that may help too. That surgeon/doctor seems to be inexperienced in what he/she is doing for you. Do they think that's normal to have a tube coming out?
My experience with the band has not been good at all. I had mine put in almost 9 years ago. Had fills/unfills, vomited too many times to talk about, drooled, foamed, food getting stuck even after it's been chewed to paste and I followed the menu plans and went for support. I wanted it to work for me. I lost 70 pounds. Never reached my goal at all. Some people have great success with it. I didn't. a few years back, I started experiencing random fevers and abdmoninal pain. Took some pain reliever, and the fever would go down. I started gaining weight. Last thing I wanted was my scale to be going up. I started looking into having a revision. Did my research on surgeons. While I was doing my research, I was getting fevers more often and the pain started to become more intense. I went to my doctor, who gave me a gastroenterologist for an endoscopy. Waiting for that test (three weeks wait), a fistula formed where the port site was. It started oozing. Had to keep that covered with guaze and changed it 3 or 4 times a day. When i did get the endoscopy done, the band was inside my stomach. It erroded into my stomach, and it wasn't even filled. The fistula was from an infected port. Went to a bariatric surgeon, he scheduled me right away for surgery. I was in the hospital for 5 days. He repaired my stomach, cut out the infected port and tubing, and had to leave the site opened and packed because of the severe infection I had there. When they released me out of the hospital, I had to clean that open wound 3 times a day and pack it. It healed, and so did my stomach.
I had to wait at least 6 months before I could have a revision done, the stomach had to heal and go back to normal. While I was waiting for my stomach to heal, I tell you, the greatest thing that I felt was that nothing was getting stuck again. No more hurling, no more foaming, no more pain, no more worrying about what I could eat, ..... it was wonderful.
Now I have lost 87 pound and I am so glad I had the revision surgery. I can eat just about anything. Nothing gets stuck ever. I should have done this surgery first instead of putting that crap band in.
The lap band doesn't last forever. There will be a time everyone will have to have it removed, or replaced.
Best wishes to you.
Donna
Thanks for posting. So sorry about your band problems. Ppl need to know BEFORE surgery that these things happen!
Glad you were able to revise to an effective WLS! Wish I was able to revise also!!!
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