So....
on 5/30/12 12:11 am, edited 5/30/12 12:14 am
IT' GOOD you are going into this with your eyes wide open...MOST people that have a good surgical team, aftercare and follow rules have wonderful experiences with band ...it's good that you already know the pitfalls where you can avoid them...
Don't be discouraged about not removing most of your stomach...remember NO weight surgery is perfect or come without side effects and issues....and if something goes wrong with the band it can be removed..if you remove your stomach one day you may need it....just saying....
on 5/30/12 1:08 pm
You do realize, of course, that you can appeal your ins for the surgery type you want, right? We will walk you through the steps. You just say the word.........
I am not attacking you here, so please don't take it that way. However, in one of your responses above, you stated that if people eat band friendly and chew right, they will NOT throw up. These are the kinds of remarks that bother me. I would eat yogurt and throw up. I did not have any saline in my band for over 2-1/2 years and still threw up. I begged for help and didn't get any until I ended up in the ER for the second night in a row. My band was not too tight (well, maybe the band itself was... LOL) Even when I was in emergency surgery, the surgeon that came in and asked if I knew this was life and death, also made the comment, "I hate fixing other doctors errors"
My original surgeon, moved from central Illinois (where I had my surgery), to Chicago, to North Carolina, to Pennsylvania, and I believe there was one more state in there somewhere. I had to Google him to even find that much out about him.
Honestly, I don't know why anyone would try to self destruct their band. I would have done anything for mine to have worked properly. I did the chew, chew, chew, and when I thought I was done chewing, I would chew some more. I did the no straws, I did the no soda, I did not eat bread products, no rice, no pasta, ate my protein first (at least tried).... Anyway, I am sure you get the picture. So, what I am trying to say, is I completely understand your frustration when people tell EVERYONE they are doomed if they have the lapband. It has worked for some people. However, please try to understand my frustration when you say, "because if you eat band friendly foods on a tight band and chew well and stop eating when you are satisfied....YOU WILL NOT VOMIT...."
this may be true to most, however there are some of us out there that did try everything and still had major complications. Why??? I wish I knew... I could drink a protein shake and vomit... For some reason, after about 2-1/2 to 3 years, I found it next to impossible to digest any sort of protein. I tried several different protein shakes, protein water, etc. My body would not accept it. So, in order to survive, when I could not find a doctor to help me, I ate mashed potatoes when nothing else would agree. I am not sure why, but there were days when that was the only thing my stomach could handle.
I truly hope the rest of your journey goes well with the band. As I have said, I am not trying to condemn anyone who has had success, just understand there are those of us out there that have had serious complications which are not our faults. Please try to refrain from grouping us in the categories with the people that have sabotaged their bands. For some there is failure without cause...
on 5/30/12 12:25 am
I would eat yogurt and throw up. I did not have any saline in my band for over 2-1/2 years and still threw up. I begged for help and didn't get any until I ended up in the ER for the second night in a row.
If you did not have saline in your band and still threw up soft foods -- that indicated your band slipped a long time BEFORE YOU GOT HELP...sometimes minor band slippages are not urgent and if you don't get help or know the warning signs of reflux and vomiting of minor band slippage...it can turn into a urgent severe complication and it looks like that is what happened to you.
Remember this does not happen to those have a normal band placed they can eat small amounts of solid foods with little or no side effects.
Again I am sorry you had a horrible surgeon and little to no aftercare, I don't remember you at all from posting on the boards...but I GOT HELP FROM MANY VETS HERE...they told me the warning signs to look for and what is considered a too tight lap band and I listened to them and I am grateful for the vets that paved the way for me in order to keep myself complication free with my band because the band can be tricky if you don't have constant aftercare...again I am sorry and I wish you well and hopefully you can heal and move on to another wls.
As for my band slipping long before I got help... I did have it checked by the other doctor in the clinic that my doctor had originally worked at. That doctor is the one that took the fluid out of the band in 2008. I was regularly checked for slippage. I have had MRI's, barium swallows, the whole works. The band did not slip. However, the doctor that did all the checking was still not my doctor, and as I said, it is hard to find another doctor that wants to correct the other surgeons errors. Let's see...
Dr. T put in my band, then moved several times. Dr. R took out the fluid after Dr T moved, checked my band for slippage (as I did know the signs of a slipped band and I thought that it might have slipped), however, with all the tests, they all came back that the band had not slipped, eroded, and actually he told me that the hernia that I had in 2008 had healed up beautifully. Why was I still puking???? I have no clue. I DID GO FOR HELP!!!!
Dr. I is the one that performed the emergency surgery to finally take the band out... Even telling him what my symptoms had been for 2-3 years prior, he said that it looked like my band had JUST slipped and choked off my stomach. He said that it "IS VERY COMMON" for banders to throw up even without oveeating. He still performs weightloss surgery. He does the sleeve, bypass, and still performs the band. He told me that the stats on the band are changing daily and is actually using pictures of my stomach to show some of his new patients what can actually happen for NO APPARENT REASON with the band in some cases.
SO....
as I stated before.... If you do not know the entire story, which, you still do not know mine because I could seriously write a book on it, the do NOT ASSume that all banders are alike. The band is a foreign device being put into someones body. All bodies do not respond the same to it. There are more studies coming out on daily basis to show that the band can cause serious irreversible damage and to NO fault of the patient.
As I said before, I am glad that you have had such success with your band, however, do not tell people things that you really don't know anything about. I finally found a good surgeon who saved my life and who still believes in the band, therefore he is not bias... He says there IS a problem with the band in a lot of patients, and there is no way to tell at this point until the band is placed who or how it will affect someone. There will be more warnings coming out about the band, if it is not taken off the market entirely....
Seeing her patronizing attitude toward you is making me want to vomit... and I don't even have a band anymore. You went through hell and I'm glad you survived it.
Like you, I saw my surgeon steadily and didn't just "leave" anything to chance. We know what happened and nothing that some clueless person on a message board says changes the reality of our situations. We shouldn't have to "justify" what happened. I know I was blamed enough by my own horrible surgeon for a lifetime.
I remember actually saying that people who didn't have bands were "jealous" because I'd be able to adjust mine for a lifetime. Riiiiiiight. Derp. It kind of hurt to have to eat those words eventually.
Avoid kemmerling, Green Bay, WI
sorry for the cussing....I just don't think people that have issues with their band, and everyone does because every person had inflammation in their bodys, should be blamed for it.
See ya,400s, 90s,80s,70s, 60s, 50s, 40s, 30s, 20s, 10s 300s!!!!
on 5/30/12 6:26 am, edited 5/29/12 6:31 pm
sorry for the cussing....I just don't think people that have issues with their band, and everyone does because every person had inflammation in their bodys, should be blamed for it.
F....I will just call you that
...there is a BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LAP BAND SLIP AND RANDOM TIGHTNESS....I know all signs and symptoms....
You mentioned that you are on steroids...THAT IS CLEARLY A LAP BAND CONTRADICTION....OF THOSE THAT SHOULD NOT BE BANDED....BUT YOU SEEM TO BE DOING WELL..AND I WISH YOU MUCH CONTINUED SUCCESS WITH YOUR BAND....
And Yes, you are correct there are various things that may cause random tightness such as high elevations, women with menstrual cycles...medications, sometimes people can eat too much and cause irritation and their band will be tighter the next day...
People will KNOW from the git-go if their surgeon installed the wrong size band, some people are never able to hold any saline because their bands are too small for their anatomy...again there are several reasons why the band is tighter for some than others...
Some are tighter in the mornings because they still have food that did not pass the pouch if they eat too late and don't wa**** down.....and there are several factors that may cause "RANDOM" tightness....RANDOM TIGHTNESS IS DIFFERENT THAN NEVER ABLE TO EAT SOLID FOODS....her problem was band slippage --NOT RANDOM TIGHTNESS....AGAIN THERE IS A DIFFERENCE....
Remember............I am a very experienced lap bander
I know we shouldn't have to justify ourselves, it just irks me that someone can be on here telling people that it is OUR fault when even my last surgeon told me it wasn't my fault. I know several of us did EVERYTHING in our powers to make our bands work, and for someone to sit and tell people not to listen to what WE are saying because we are obviously lying and just want to put blame somewhere....
Well Nana.... It will be on YOUR conscious (yeah right that is if you have one), if one of these people choose to believe YOU and your infinite wisdom in telling them that as long as they do everything right they will never have a slippage because a slippage is controllable (yeah right). It will be on YOU if one of their bodies happens to reject the band as mine and several others have done to them. Why do I say it will be on YOU????
Because everyone else is at least letting us tell them the truth behind what has happened to us. You tend to think that YOU know all and that what you say is gold. I have tried to be nice and tell you I understand you not liking people to lie about what has happened. I have tried to tell you that I am happy that you are doing so well with your band. Well.... I am just stating the facts now. If you choose to believe them or not, that is entirely up to you. I do not lie. There is NO reason for it. I am not getting paid by anyone to justify what has happened to ME. If I were at fault, I would clearly admit to it so no one else would make the mistake that I made. Since I am not at fault for what happened with my body, then I am not going to take blame for what the band did to me.
If you want to block me too, then have at it. I do not mind. If someone does not want to believe that it could happen to them, then I feel sorry for them. Their band may not do as well as yours... As for how well yours has done, I am not really sure it is as well as you want everyone to believe. Honestly, I have NEVER heard of anyone having as many fills as you have had.
For everyone else... Good luck with whatever surgery you decide. I appreciate the ones that will listen to what we have to say without trying to blame us for something that was not our fault. If at any time something happens where you are in our boat and no one will listen, remember, we will be here because that is who we are. We have been there, we understand!!!
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