Possibly losing my band..complete unfill today

Hey Everyone,

Today was a pretty rough day. I may lose my band. I went to see my lapband doctor to get an unfill today due to my band getting extremely tight on Monday. I was unable to get any solids in until yesterday. I had this issue a few months back and had a complete unfill to let things settle. After being unfilled for a month..they put 1 cc back in December, I had decent restriction with the 1 cc so I decided to not have anymore put in. He took the full 1 cc back out today. With the symptoms I'm having he said it sounds like a slip but I have had 2 barium swallows, a placement Xray and a EGD in the past 4 months and everything looks fine. He is recommending to have the band removed since I have been having issues on and off. He did bring up the option to submit for revision, if I decide to do this I have to start all over again and act like I'm having surgery for the very first time. I'm not really sure if I want to go through all of this again. He said even if I did revise I may not lose anymore weight since I lost so much with the band, this part didn't sound right to me. I'm not sure how I wouldn't lose anymore with getting a more restrictive surgery done. Any thoughts on this? Has any revised from the band and not lost anymore weight?

I haven't personally gone thru a revision but have kept up on lots who have and I think your doc is mistaken. There are many folks who hit a dead end on weight loss with their bands because of issues with the band but went on to revise and continued to lose the rest of their weight. I would advise you to post or at least read on the forum of whatever revision you are considering and see what they say about it. I had my band emptied nearly a year ago and have maintained my weight altho I never lost much with the band. Actually I'm losing more as a side effect of a new lung drug than I ever did with the band! Just make sure you research everything well so you can be at ease with the choice. I'm always sorry to see another person have to go thru this, it is a difficult situation to be in!

Thanks for the reply. I'm planning on doing a lot of research and don't plan on rushing into anything. I'm almost okay with keeping the band unfilled for awhile to see if I'm able to lose some weight without a lot of restriction.

So sorry to hear the bad news,hope you are able to find a solution .
                                                       Brenda

Ashley,
I am really sorry to read this.

Is he suggesting a revision to another band?
I would not do that, personally.....but lots of people revise to sleeve and do very well and continue to lose.

That would be my choice if I had one.

Paying for you.

Thanks..He suggested the sleeve, he said the sleeve would be the easiest to do at the same time as the band removal.

My doctor is one of the first band doctors and has the band himself. Do you think you would like to contact him for a second opinion? I'd be glad to pass on the information. he is a great surgeon.

anyone i know that revised to the sleeve after te band were thrilled.

I am sorry you are going through this.

It sounds odd to me, too, that a different surgery would result in no WL, in fact I'd think it would be the opposite. You will be eating way less, again in the beginning and if you have RNY, you will be absorbing less.
I hope this un-fill helps and you don't need a new surgery. I know it must be stressful and worrisome,but what ever happens I know you will do great, you've done great so far.