Erosion/Phila Surgeon

I am so sad. I've had my band for 7 years but I just found out it has grown into my stomach and it needs to be removed. I am so scared. I would like to fund a bariatric surgeon in the Philly area with experience in this type of problem. Can you make a recommendation? Thanks in advance. 

 
Sorry about your band, that sucks.

First things first, what providers are covered under your plan?  You don't need a band surgeon, you don't need a bariatric surgeon, you NEED a bariatric REVISION surgeon.  Please, don't go by who is nice, or this guy has placed 2000 bands.  Look at how many stomachs they have put back together.  Big difference.

 I know this is a dumb question, but how to you know how many revisions they've done?

 
You call them and ask.  Then you ask them to clarify, are their revisions fixing flipped ports or are they really doing true revisions such as putting your stomach back together after an erosion, doing band to sleeve or bypass, those are true revisions.  But doctors will inflate their stats by claiming replacing a port, or fixing a flipped port is a revision.  Technically, it is a revision, but not the kind YOU are looking for.

Then you call the hospital they claim to be doing all these revisions from and you verify their records match what the doctor is claiming.  THEN... you ask for 10 or so patients that had the same surgery as you for references.  Most doctors will ask patients up front if they can use them for references.  Call, don't email but call each of these patients and ask questions.

The reason I say to call is because I know of one doc that has a slew of IDs and email addresses.  When you ask for references they are all from his coordinator just using fake email addresses.

You have to do your work, fixing an eroded stomach can be easy if it is a small tiny erosion or it can be a 7 hour surgery.  Do it right.

 Wow, I never would have though of all of that on my own. I'm still scared but at least I know what I need to do. I'm still hoping to get some referrals on here but I feel like I have some direction. Thank you!

 
Perhaps this will help:

wasabubblebutt.blogspot.mx/2010/03/researching-mexican-or-us-sleeve.html

I don't have any answers for you but can you tell my what your symptoms are?

 Sure. I've been getting this pain directly between my breasts under my ribcage. It almost feels like when you've had too big of a sip of soda and you accidently swallow air with it. The pressure is unbearable but it doesn't alleviate with burping. I just have to wait for the attack to subside. They last anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours. The pain radiates around to my back and sometimes up into my head as if it's touching a nerve. I also feel nauseous almost all the time. When the symptoms first started I thought maybe I was gaining weight and my bras were just too tight. Obviously not the case.

hth

 Do you still have your gall bladder? 

 I do still have my gall bladder but both the ultrasound and HIDA scan were normal. I had an endoscopy today and it showed evidence of erosion.