Erosion/Phila Surgeon

I am sorry to hear that.  I was banded in 2005 and never had much trouble.  Lost about 48 pounds (50%) but didn't like the tightness so didn't have any fills after 2007.  Pretty much have stayed the same until about 6 weeks ago with lots of abdomin pain.  Had a CT scan by my regular doctor and he diagnosed diverticulitis.  Said it had nothing to do with the band.  I just wanted to make sure.  My band doctor quit doing band related surgeries and I could not find a doctor to take me as a paitent.

 I understand your concern.

My surgery was actually done in Mexico and I'm having a difficult time finding a surgeon here who is willing to remove the band.  This is so frustrating. :(

 
It's not the least bit difficult to find a surgeon to do your removal.  Remember, you aren't placing a band, you are removing it.  You no longer need a bariatric surgeon.  You can go to any GI surgeon or general surgeon.  It's only the bariatric surgeons that play these games, they feel like if they didn't get to do the surgery to place it, they won't do the follow up.  I don't really blame them.  Some states have a LOT of follow up bariatric surgeons, some like New Mexico have very few.

But you don't need a bariatric surgeon.  You should be good to go.

 Good to know. I was focused on finding a bariatric surgeon so this opens up the possibilites.

 My surgeon has removed eroded bands that were placed in by surgeons outside of the US. 

 
Most surgeons have removed (not necessarily eroded) bands that were done in the MX.  They WANT the surgery business, what they do not want is someone having surgery in MX and wanting fills/unfills locally and for that I don't blame them.  Surgery is a money maker and especially for band mills.  Well, it USED to be a money maker.  Not so much today.

There is a guy in Phoenix that used to be one of the best surgeons you could find.  He did DS, RNY to DS revisions, he took the really tough cases and did a heck of a good job.  Then he discovered money in banding.  The fill/unfills, port replacements, port repairs, rebanding... it was too much for him to pass up so now he downs all the other surgery types and claims only banding is safe.

That one is back firing on him.  Now he can't get he band business he used to bank on.  It's too late for him to go back to the other surgery types, he's downed them for too long.

Karma, I guess.

www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=+lap+band+and+diverti culitis&oq=+lap+band+and+diverticulitis&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_l= hp.3...0l0l4l1107l0l0l0l0l0l0l0l0ll0l0.frgbld.&pbx=1&bav=on. 2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=6791f0a8b4f506c2&biw=1263&bih =571

There seems to be a link between the two.

It's not uncommon to have difficulty locating a surgeon to "repair" someone else's work. Identify a few surgeon's offices that you are interested in, then call and find out who their patient advocate or patient care coordinator is and what their fax number is. Fax a detailed letter explaining your situation, including why you don't wish to go back to your original surgeon. Follow up a couple of days later with a phone call. Be persistent. This is really an urgent situation, if your problems seem to get worse in any way, get yourself to the emergency room.

I'm so sorry this has happened to you.  If I could also suggest...when  researching phycians/surgeons...always check them with your State licensing Board.  Most often, State licensing Boards will list any public orders that a physican has against them.  These Boards often also list lawsuits filed against a physician.  When present, this information isn't always a perfect indicator of skill, but it is information nonetheless.

Here is a link to the PA Board of Physican licensing.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/sta te_board_of_medicine/12512

 This is incredibly useful. Thank you for sharing it with me!