Band repositioning?! Hiatal hernia and reflux. HELP please.

 I was recently diagnosed with severe esophagitis and a hiatal hernia. My Dr wants to repair the hernia and we are discussing repositioning the band. Honestly I just want it out at this point. The last 4 years have sucked and I am over it. I have already repaired the band once (port replacement) and I don't want to fix it again and waste more time and money. 

If I didn't remove it, ideally I would like to convert to a sleeve or RNY... but I am self pay and cannot afford to. So I find myself in the ugly position of contemplating yet another fix on this crappy hunk of plastic wrapped around my gut. 

So I am in search of ANYONE who has had reflux cured by repositioning of the band. I also would like to know if repositioning helped with weightloss? I just think it will be a waste of time to reposition it. If it hasn't worked after 4 years... why would this make a difference?

I am so sick of being mad, angry, frustrated, and stuck. I am ready to throw the towel in completely and resign myself to a life of being fat. The thought of being able to eat breakfast, lunch without pain, and salads are enough to make me want to rip it out with my bare hands right now!! 

Sorry for the vent. I am really reaching out for some ray of hope!! 

First how did you do with the band when you got your port fixed?  If you did well and you think the band could still work for you, go for it.  If not, I don't mean to be negative - reposition is not worth it especially when the first position did not work for you. 

Your doc is torturing you and even worse, this time around (you know the saying "you fool me once, shame on YOU - you fool me twice,  shame on ME!) 

When I had restriction, I lost weight - it is how I knew more or less that my stomach sleeved would probably work for me.  If  my band did not work with restriction, I would have gone straight for the Sleeve w. Duodenal Switch.

All the Best,
Leila

I suffered for nearly 1.5 years and actually my current surgen suspected that my last one put a too small of a band in, he replaced it fixed my hernia and bomb just like that I was all better!
I swear it was a life saver. I have had other problems in the past and basically they all boiled down to the band being small rather than large and now I feel like a million bucks.
Good luck I hope it works out for you.
But ask what size band you have and if it is the smaller one maybe they can just replace it.

I have the AP Large. So I can't go up in size. He did say he can unclasp it and reposition it easily when he goes in to repair the hiatal.

I don't know if it is positioning or just wrong for me altogether. I wish I had a crystal ball!

I agree with everone else if you have had sucess with the band and it is not going to cost you much then go ahead. I lost about 120 initally gained back about 20 though pregnancy was10 lbs back down when I got pregant again. So my band worked for me it was just the heart burn that killed me! And my new surgen (God bless him) figured out what the problem was and now I feel great! I love my band but you will have to evaluate your entire band history and weigh pros and cons.
Good luck!

I've been diagnosed with a moderate hiatal hernia and my surgeon wants it repaired and said something about taking out the band and replacing it. When you had your hernia fixed, did they take the band out and replace it at the same time or was it 2 different surgeries?

Hi! It was done all at the same time, but there are cases (which they can only identify once they get in there ) where the new band will need to be put in place later after you heal. Good luck! I swear it was the best thing I ever did and now (knock on wood) I have not problems, I am living and loving my band..

My reflux was 100% cured by band replacement two years ago. I'd never had reflux before or after my initial band placement so when this happened it was a total red flag. I think my doctor repaired a hernia as well.

I didn't consider having it removed when it slipped. My doctor didn't replace the original port when he replaced the band because it looked good, and he thought he'd leave well enough alone. I recently found out it has a leak, and so my band isn't able take a fill. I wish he'd replaced the port along with the band. I often wonder if things would be different if I'd gone to my current band surgeon to place my original band. I guess it's easy to blame the surgeon who put the first one in. I'm opting not to get the port replaced for now but will monitor my weight.

I would say my band restriction post surgery wasn't really helpful, but it was more about my "immunity" to its signals. My weight loss/maintenance after my band slip has all been via my monitoring of my diet and exercise. My doctor actually told me I likely wouldn't see a huge weight loss after the band replacement, but it was necessary in order to prevent me from regaining all of the weight I had lost. Other weight loss procedures weren't an option since he only does banding.

Best wishes in your decision! Keep us updated!

Thanks for sharing. I feel like my Dr thinks repositioning the band and repairing the hernia will alleviate my reflux symptoms. I am just not so sure. Your experience gives me some hope.

The Dr I see for follow up care is not the same one who placed my band. I wish he had placed my band... because I have a feeling this hernia was there before and wasn't repaired at the time of my first surgery. Ah well. Like you said. Easy to blame first Dr.

I hope a rebanding will help for me as well although I don't know the success rate for this plus he has to go in to fix a small hernia.  I have the 4cc lapband.

In my 6 yrs with the band I only experienced major problems over the past 12 months with two pouch dilations.

Curious how you are doing and for how long you had been banded then rebanded.