I just know my band has a leak... HELP

I was banded in June of 07.  Once I started feeling restriction I lost over 135 pounds.... I went from 259 to 124 pounds... Everything was great ... until a year ago... I  lost all restriction.  I would get a fill and would have restriction for about a day and then it would go away... when I would go back to the doc he would check fluid in band and it would be down from 8cc to 5cc  everytime.  The doc changed out my port and still the same thing.  about 3 months after changing out the port I knew it still wasnt right...  My doc doesnt do lap band anymore.. he says it is a "failed product"  and now only does bypass and sleeve...  He said he wanted to change out my band and do one of those... I have gained almost 50lbs...  I just want a new band.  My doc did an Upper Gi and tried telling me my band was still tight and my esophagus was stretched out and that was why I had no restriction.  I don't believe him that my band is tight.... I can take a bunch of vitamins at one time with no tight feeling.. I can eat anything... I know my band has a leak and I think since my doc doesnt do bands anymore he just wants me to change over.  My insurance says it wont cover a different surgery.. it will pay to remove the band but wont pay for 2 bariatric surgeries within 5 years.  I WANT IT REPLACED   I don't want to gain all my weight back!!  Any suggestions????

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WEIGHT LOSS

I understand your fear of gaining even more weight without the band but don't you think you've gone through enough?

When a band loses fluid they suspect port, tubing, leakage Did the Doc do FLURO? it will check the flow of fluid Through the band. IT's obviously leaking if your losing CC's If the port has been changed then it seems it's possibly the tubing. 

Your Doctor is allot smarter than you think if he's opting out of doing bands, their fraught with Complications.

If your not feeling comfortable with his findings get a 2 nd opinion.

But If he's already telling you that your esophagus is stretched I'd get it OUT YESTERDAY.

you could have a multitude of problems occurring and not even be aware of them, and this is not a scare tactic just a reality of the band.

I'm going to provide a link to Complications of Gastric banding (a Surgeon's guide) 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3038361/

Trust me when I say If you have to have EMERGENCY surgery to remove your band you CAN appeal your insurance company to pay for another surgery. It's been DONE and will CONTINUE as long as people are still being banded.

Did you bother to ask your doctor if when he does the removal of the band if he will do the sleeve at the same time?

Have you visited the VSG portion of this site to see what others that have had the Sleeve done say about it?

I hope I have helped in some manner, I personally can NO longer recommend the BAND to anyone, I've had problems and know TOO many that have suffered and continue to suffer from complications.

I'm not promoting the sleeve either but if  Regain is an issue for you then it seems like you need to entertain other options.

Yes, some surgeons feel the band is "too much trouble" so they are pushing patients to Sleeves or Bypass. I had to find a new surgeon that STILL supports bands, and have no problem with dealing with band issues. I had to travel to find a good surgeon and I am very happy I did so, please don't let any surgeon force you into a surgery you don't want.

It's not that the band is a bad surgery, some surgeons don't have the time to deal with lap band issues, some surgeons only LIKE TO CUT and OPERATE and don't like to see the patient again and with other surgeries they can push them off to their PCP's for their complications and other aliments.

If you REALLY want your band, I would find another surgeon, you may have to travel, your band is not working because your surgeon has abandoned you and no longer want to deal with any lap band issues. 

Hopefully you will be able to find another surgeon, Obesity Help has a section where you can search for a surgeon that is in Washington or nearby.

Good luck

Your surgeon is correct in not doing another band.  Stats show that when you replace or reposition a band 80% will slip in the first two years.  Band makers are no longer claiming they will last a life time, now they are saying MAYBE 10 years but the majority have them out by 6 years.

You could probably find a surgeon to replace your band for you but then what will you do? Wait another 5 years and have it done again?  Most ins co's are going to a once in a lifetime WLS so in 5 years you may end up self pay for ANY WLS type including replacing your band time and time again.  The reality is that after several bands (assuming your ins co will keep paying for them) your stomach will not be in any shape for another band or another WLS type.  You will be left with nothing.  And no, I am not band bashing, I am telling you the cold, hard, truth.  You already know you can't do it alone, so how will you do it when your stomach is not in any shape for more surgeries, band or otherwise?

You already know you do well with restriction alone.  Why not just go for a sleeve?  Unless i am misunderstanding you, it's been six years since your initial WLS.  If you get a sleeve you are done.  Done for life.  No more having new bands every five or so years.  You are at your sweet spot for life.  No maintenance, no after care, no fills, unfills, getting stuck, none of it.  You are just done.  You don't need bypass, you have already proven that to yourself.  You need forever restriction.

One of the biggest long term complications of banding- even after the band is removed is esophageal damage. YOU ALREADY HAVE THAT.  Time just makes it worse and it quickly reaches a point where there is no going back and there is no fixing it even with removing the band.  I can introduce you to hundreds of people with forever esophageal damage, they are all posting on a specific group.  They only wish they were in your shoes.  An opportunity to turn back the clock and get rid of the band before the damage is forever.

I'd get it while the getting is good.  You have WLS benefits today, go for it while you can.  MOST people are self pay for WLS.  I would just hate to see you being self pay down the road.

I had my band for 3.5 years!  The last 2.5 years my esophagus was stretched.  I had it totally un-filled at 1 year for 6 weeks and at 2 years for 8 weeks.  The PCP wanted it out after 2 years but, I fought to keep it another 18 months.  I didn't want to be left with nothing.

My insurance said they wouldn't pay for the sleeve but would pay for removal of the band.  I fought to get the sleeve after the band was removed.  With all the documentation of the medical issues and the report of the damage found with removal the insurance agreed to pay for the sleeve.

Those are a lot of the symptoms I had with a slip.  It slipped down (i.e. stomach popped up over the band) rather than up so the only symptom was no restriction. Think about grabbing a balloon really tight in the middle, sometimes it pops up (and you can't get anything down) and sometimes it pops down (and you can get everything down). They couldn't see it with the UGI, only saw it with the EGD.

Have a fill under fluoro to rule out the leak.

Can you get to Everett and Northwest Weight loss Clinic?  They still do quite a bit of work with the bands, plication and other things they can do.