Lapband Removal

Nic
How long before you had your problems?
How are you handling it now? We're you able to get another WLS procedure?
Prek3

I had problems immediately. I had a crappy surgeon who placed the band incorrectly. 6 months later, I found a new surgeon who saved my life since my band had caused my stomach to twist into a Figure 8 and I was about to kick the bucket and my original surgeon told me to "go home and get a hobby" when I told him I hadn't pooped in almost 2 weeks. It was awful. I really thought I was a goner.

Unfortunately, the corrective surgery didn't help and I still had chronic pain (left shoulder, stomach, unable to eat solid foods) and it was determined that my diaphragm had been damaged. If my first surgeon would have addressed my issues, some of the damage might have been avoided...at least for a while, maybe. Unfortunately, dozens of people in my support group (with different surgeons) have experienced similar things, so it's not only a bad surgeon who causes the referred left shoulder pain. It's the placement of the band near the diaphragm and (Phrenic) Vagus nerves... that's the underlying cause of the pain.

I still get left shoulder pain at least a couple times every week and I have gastritis, hiatal hernia, diverticulitis, ulcers... my guts are wrecked. No other WLS procedures for me. I had talked about revising, but the Duodenal Switch would have been the only option and I was scared to death to undergo any further surgeries. I got to a point where I was going to do it, but my husband and son were so upset by it that I simply couldn't put them through it again. I've regained all I lost with the band, but I've come to a place where I'm accepting of myself, no matter what I weigh. It's just not as important to me anymore. I'd rather be fat without the debilitating pain I had while banded than risk going through it again. And my "gut" tells me this is what the outcome would be, so I just have to keep on truckin', I guess.

I'm so vocal about how much I dislike the band because it just was the worst thing that ever happened to me... and I hated seeing my friends going through the same issues. It truly hurts my heart when I think of it.

The lap band was THE worst decision I have ever made in my ENTIRE life. The repercussions are never ending, and I have suffered and lost so damn much of my quality of life. I am down 96 lbs ( I weigh 164 ) I would GLADLY exchange the weight I lost if I could go back in time and undo all this suffering and damage. I had that damn band for almost six years, until thankfully it eroded into my stomach and I was finally able to have it removed. ( all this while my test showed a " Perfectly Placed Band " )

The band is a tortuous device that just keeps on giving.

I feel the same way. My guts feel worse and worse every day. I just can't seem to heal from the damage. The band took years from our lives it seems.

The band is the worst decision I ever made, too. EVER. THE WORST. I also wish I could go back in time and slap myself across the face before agreeing to such an idiotic, horrible surgery. Knowing NOW about the Vagus nerves and the band's close proximity to them, and how they control SO much of our health, I'd never agree to it again.

OMG, I am so upset that people are STILL being banded. There is so much more information at our finger tips these days, then when you and I were banded. There are just not enough bandsters out there that have not had band complications to warrant anyone choosing to go forward with banding.

Yup, people just want to think I'm bitter...you bet I'm bitter, if they had to live in pain everyday like I STILL do, then they'd be bitter too.

Some people think I'm a hater because I was unsuccessful with my weight loss. NOPE, my BMI is 28.1 I'm still in the overweight category until my BMI hits 24.9, my starting BMI was 43.9 which indicated I was" Extremely Obese". My husband is happy with the way I look, but he too wishes I had never been banded. The LAGB has ruined my health, and it just keeps getting worse.

 

 

I guess I'm still bitter about it, too. I went into surgery thinking that I was doing something to make myself healthier... and I came out damaged and got more and more damaged with every day I kept that band in.  And I believed the whole, "Reversible" thing. Hey, if something goes wrong, we'll just have it taken out and go about our business, right?  Yeah, right. After the nerve damage and the way the band chews a persons' guts up... nothing is normal after band surgery.  It would be a lot easier to be "less bitter" about the experience if I didn't have to live in this body every day, maybe. But it's hard to just "get over it" when your stomach burns and hurts and your shoulder gets that stabby feeling out of the blue. Yeah, it's enough to make a person a little bitter, definitely.

It also makes me angry that a lot of people are making a lot of money off this, knowing full well how damaging it is. It's despicable and unethical.

Nicci, I live every freaking day of my life with some degree of nerve pain. Some days it's so intense I don't want to go on living, and other days it's manageable. These days I have more "manageable" pain days then I do intense pain days, and my " manageable " pain days would bring a grown ass man to his knees, I'm just that used to dealing with pain.

Whenever I share my story with someone, I'm often asked, " Why haven't I sued somebody ?' My answer is always the same. I'm not interested in the money, I'm interested in getting the band recalled, so it doesn't injure one more person.  I would help out with a lawsuit for FREE !

 

Carmen, not answering on the board because I get flamed for this.  But Uk and Australian bandsters seem to do much better.  I wonder if it is because we are more often self pay and our cultures are less geared to expecting miraculous surgical cures?

There are many cases of the band not working but so many on OH seem to expect too much.

oops, didn't mean to put this here! Meant to PM  Prek! But as it is here, I will leave it! Please note, I am not in any way trying  to downplay the experiences of people like Pumpkin, Nic, Zee and many others. Their problems could and  will certainly will happen in any country. But as I accidentally posted this one here, I will just say that the private hospital group (national group) in which I was banded and my local National Health Service both say they get under 3% slips, under 10% removals, and a 20% "failure" rate BUT that 20% includes everything from removal to a failure to lose more than 40% excess weight.

Kate

 

I have had my band for 5 years.  Lost 140 pound during the first 2.  Since then I have put 60 back on.  I'm having some complications such as reflux and in order to maintain a good restriction level I can't eat "healthy" food like brussel sprouts, apples, oranges etc because they get stuck.  The good news is when I had my gallbladder removed (by the same surgeion who placed my band) he said it looked good (I feel better knowing he actually looked at it instead of through X-Rays and Upper GI's).  However, I am no looking at seeing if my insurance will cover a revision to a sleeve.  After reading the posts above I am even more certain I need to do something that is a little more permanent. 

I lost my band this past October after 3.5 years of virtually no problems. In my case, my body started to reject the band and I went through a year of treatment for reflux,nighttime reflux, decreased motility, damage to my esophagus, and pain. My EGD in July showed band in the correct position. I was completely unfillednd still could not get food to go down or stay down. When my stomach perforated up through my stoma, essentially closing off all flow, I could no longer hold down liquids, including my own saliva. I came quite close to death and had emergency surgery to remove the band. I am currently in a fight with my insurance company to get the costs of the surgery covered ( it is a different carrier than the one I had when the band was placed), because if their " no weight loss surgery" rule. I was told that another 12-24 hours and I would have gone into septic shock.i will not be revising. My family freaked out even by the mere mention of it.