Lapband to Sleeve Revision

Last Monday, I revised to the Sleeve. I am not a Band Basher. I actually loved my LapBand until about 6 months ago when it started acting up. I never had one problem with my Band. I never had an overfill, never had an unfill and never really had any problems at all. I lost a lot of weight with it.

My last fill was over a year ago. I was going along fine, losing regularly and eating right. One night I started having really bad reflux and the next day, I couldn't even drink my protein shake without having that "stuck in my throat" feeling. Late night, I could eat anything without a problem. Early and mid day, I think I had a lot of inflammation from the nightly reflux and it kept me from being able to eat. This went on and I learned bad habits and started eating the slider foods. In the last six months, I gained 42lbs. I was ashamed and very scared.

My insurance approved the revision in one day.

When my surgeon got in to revise me, he said that the band had caused so much scar tissue around my stomach that he had to cut the band out. And the worst of it was the band tubing was tightly wrapped around my internal organs. He took pictures because he had never seen anything like that before.

I am here to tell you that IF you feel sudden tightening of your band, nightly reflux or any other change in your band and how it is acting, discuss it with your doctor. Do not ignore it! Pay attention to your body.

I am fortunate. I got the Band out in time and I am very fortunate that my insurance approved it all.

You are indeed fortunate because there are a good number of us that have problems with our bands but no insurance coverage for bariatrics. Myself I have had to get mine emptied to get rid of the reflux and tight feeling. So far it is going ok but I'm just biding time until I can get on medcare and get a sleeve. My insurance now doesn't cover it so I have to just pray that nothing goes bad before then. I try hard not to push my luck with my band to cause any issues.

I'm very glad you were able to get yours taken care of so promptly! We are finding more and more people having this issue and I hope your post will encourage them to act quickly as it can make all the difference.

Thanks for posting your story. We all loved our band in the beginning..........but things change. Thanks for putting this out there for the perspective and current bandsters.

Glad you had insurance to cover yours. Many of us are in the position of being self-pay and after paying a LOT for our bands...........now have to pay even more to remove/revise. Some bandsters have had to pay for a removal when they are still trying to pay off the initial band placement! :-(

Wish you much success with your revision!!!

Thank you.  I was self pay for my Lapband too.  It was very expensive.  I had never been approved for anything with my insurance.  My surgeon wasn't sure they would approve the removal.  I still was in shock and the friday before surgery, I called to check for the third time!

 Maria, how are you doing with your band empty?

I feel so much better now! I'm going to go for another upper GI though to make sure it looks ok. I am hoping to revise in the next few months. Thanks for asking.

 I am so happy to hear that you were able to revise so quickly.

Thank you for sharing your story.  It is important for everyone to know that things can change literally overnight ..... And that to ignore changes only prolongs the problem.

Good luck healing from your surgery and with your new sleeve, I wish you the very best.

Glad to hear you where able to get yours removed promptly before
any more issues!

Good luck with your sleeve.

Hi, 
I'm just wondering...did they remove your band and do the revision in one surgery or did you have it removed and then revise?  

I'm happy that the revision process was speedy and that you are feeling better soon!  Night time reflux is no joke!

Take care, Lisa O.

 He did the revision at the same time. Said it was a good thing because he had to make holes on my stomach to get the band off. The scar tissue was so bad.