Honestly THIS board SCARES me too! But I just had an Upper GI post 7 years and..

I had an Upper GI yesterday after some recent burning in my lower stomach and my band still looks text book perfect. My esophagus looks perfect, no dilation and my pouch still looks normal after all the "abuse" of eating too much and getting food stuck over the years.

So this begs the question , does eating too much REALLY cause band slippage or pouch dilation? For me, when I suffered pouch dilation 6 years ago, it was honestly from NOT eating too much, but from being dangerously too tight, "and oh was I tight", I could barely swallow my spit and was frothing at the mouth.

I had gotten a fill and made a mistake of driving from Virginia to Atlanta and then to Florida and then back to Virginia and I tend to swell while sitting for long periods of time and I think this caused my stomach tissues to inflame and swell more around the band.

By the time I got to my surgeon about 5 days later, my pouch had dilated and It was the worse burning ever and pain, my lap band pouch was throbbing as well, (typical symptoms of band slippage, not exactly like heart attack chest pains but throbbing pain). He emptied my band and put me on medication and it took almost 6 months before my band felt "right", but my pouch was only temporarily dilated and my pouch returned to normal size within a week and I've never had problem since.

Now, I've had BAD FILLS too, from my previous surgeon -- my surgeon was learning too over 7 years ago. He really did not have a lot of clinical experience with fills -- AFTER ALL he performed MOSTLY RNYs, so filing a lap band was probably not his cup of tea and over time I am sure he got tired of filing bands; he never would hit the sweet spot especially after I'd lost about 100 pounds, I would go back and forth, too tight or too loose, and when I would be too tight I would have that dreadful night time reflux and I'd wake up with vomit in my mouth or it shooting straight up in my nose (sweet)! ...those who've had band slippage or too tight can relate to this ....

So....after meeting with my previous surgeon about 3 years ago -- he had began doing Sleeves and getting more busy with this, along with his RNY patients and he got an assistant to do the fills, the last straw was when I went in and got a fill and I felt more when I went in than when I came out. I guess he was hoping that I would get tired of my band too and be his next revision patient to the Sleeve or RNY....NOT!.
So...I marched into their office and asked for all my medical records and never looked back. I knew that my lap band would work if I had someone that was skilled and dedicated to help me and was PRO LAP BAND. So I found a new surgeon only about 15 minutes away that ONLY DOES LAP BAND, no RNY or Sleeve, they are dedicated to lap band patients ONLY and I have never been happier with my aftercare. They have patients traveling from several states to install their bands they are just THIS GOOD. By the way...I love the way they fill my band, they have me lie down and gradually have me raise up while he fills my band and have me drink water while filling the band and
he fills the band until I tell him to stop, I can acutally feel my sweet spot, for me, my band is properly adjusted when there is a brief delay when I drink water, if water goes down too quickly I am not tight enough.

Now I gained some weight while at this practice, but it WAS MY FAULT, I never went back to get my band filled regularly after I got married because I wanted to eat more and when I got fills I continued to eat too much, but I NEVER got the horrible reflux even when eating too much on a restricted band.

Over the labor day weekend we went to Jersey shore and I made a mistake and ate some salsa and pico de gallo ...that goes down smooth with chips and a few bites of fish...and a day later I started to burn...burn baby burn....the heartburn would not stopI should have known better, but the greedy part of me STILL want to EAT....and plus I've been stressed out with my long commute to work daily which is about 2 hours so combine eating spicy foods and stressful conditions = GERD again.

I had GERD before I got my band and never really had it since, now it has reared its ugly head and GERD with the the lap band = FIRE ...call the FIRE DEPARTMENT because my stomach felt like it was on FIRE...

So...by reading THIS board and thinking oh well, the band bashers are right! I am 7 years post and now it is time for my band to explode, there is a time expiration and my time clock is ticking

So I called my surgeon and told him how bad I was burning since I ate some spicy food during my vacation and I am thinking something is "wrong in there" so I went and got an Upper GI yesterday....and sure enough -- my band "Suzie" is still kicking...no dilation, esophagus is perfect and my band is STILL functioning perfect after all these years....so the burning has nothing to do with my lap band, the burning is coming from my lower stomach, I am thinking I have created a case of gastritis from too much stress and spicy foods.

So I see a gastro doc next week and hopefully get scoped in the next week to see how much fire is burning down in my stomach.....

So the moral of this post is ....never believe the hype of band bashing, everyone is different, have different ailments, medical conditions, some people have shorter esophagus than others....different lifestyles, etc....

I've had many stuck episodes, (many vomiting episodes, but NOT daily), eaten too much food, horrible reflux, pouch dilation and my band is still in perfect condition after 7 years..because only ONE thing, I never let "problems go on for long periods of time" and I was my own advocate ...even if I have gastritis, I am hoping that will go away with medication and changing my "spicy diet" for awhile.

That's the truth the hold truth and nothing but the truth of my band journey! I don't sugar coat...or lie, I still think MY old 4cc 10ml band is a GREAT TOOL long term -- I can hit the sweet spot quickly and easily with it, it's been there with me through thick and thin...literally... ...

And of course I can still be silly ...with my posts while being serious...that's me.......

Nice post! Thanks Nana!

Thanks Mary!

So glad to hear all is well, Nana! 

Thanks Chicka! how are you doing with your Sleeve?

Yahoo!!  Great news!! I'm 3.5 years out and am keeping my fingers crossed that  I will also be a long time bander!! 

Feel better soon!!

Glad to hear your band and you will be ok!

Thanks Sue!

Thanks Tooty, I am sure you will be a long term bandster, you've done so well!

Glad to hear all is well with your band.  I love a happy ending.

Just a FYI, an  Upper GI  told me my band was perfect also. 
It took a scope to find the damage.