Band to be Removed - terrified of weight gain

Hi there, I wonder if anyone can advise. I had my band 7 years ago and to be honest it has never really worked well for me, only 14lb weight loss. Each time I got the band to a good place, it took on fluid from surrounding tissues and got too tight resulting in constant sickness and unfills.

About a month ago I suffered severe pain in my abdomen which got progressively worse resulting in me ending up in hospital on triple antibiotics introveniously, where I was diagnosed with pneumonia and an abscess and infection around the bottom half of the tubing (absolute agony) through CT scan. They also did an endoscopy and found that the band is also eroding into the stomach so has to be removed.

This is happening next Tues when antibiotics have cleared the infection/pus away to enable them to operate. 

Despite not being that successful with the band, I have lost 20lb in the last month with the infection and dieting with WW, I am terrified of being without this band, frightened to get any more surgery and wonder how others have done with losing weight after having a band out.

Have you all gained weight, or have any of you managing to do it on your own or with the help of slimming club? I am so scared of being starving hungry again and ballooning.

I know exactly what you are talking about. I went for a routine check up and all of sudden found out that my band had to be removed.....granted that there were some tests involved....but, it felt sudden. I cried and cried, mostly because I was afraid of gaining weight. At first, I did really well and then slowly, I started to try different foods that I had not eaten in large quantities since I had my band in 2007. Then, it all went down hill for me. I ended up gaining over 30 pounds in the 6 months between having my band removed and my sleeve surgery. Fortunately, that weight gain is long gone and I am at the lowest weight that I ever achieved with my band.

Now, while I was not successful in keeping the weight off after losing my band, I have seen many people successfully do it and you will be one of those people! I think the secret is committing to it. Don't go down that slippery slope like I did. Maybe sign up for Weigh****chers or at least, My Fitness Pal, and be accountable for every bite.  If you do go with My Fitness Pal, add me as a friend so that I can be your cheerleader....I'm gorditabonita74.

 

I hope all goes will with your surgery and don't worry, you will keep the pounds off!

 

Gordita gives good advice.  I had to have my band removed last month and unfortunately have gained an alarming amount of weight back.  I lost 120 with my band and have gained 20 lbs since removal.  I thought I would be able to apply what I learned but  I don't really think I gave my band enough credit because without it, keeping portion size down is extremely difficult.  My addiction to sugar and compulsive and emotional eating is getting the best of me.  

I don't mean to be a downer.  I loved my band and it gave me a second chance at living the life I thought I would never have.  I caused my complication by overfilling the pouch and pbing too often because of my food issues.  I'm not handling the freedom well at all!

If you haven't had any restriction with your band then it may not be that different for you and you may be able to keep the 20 lbs off.    

Make a plan to succeed and do what you can to not gain the weight.  I'm considering a revision now because I just can't go back to where I was pre band!  Life is too short!

But no matter what, you must take care of yourself and have the band removed.  The damage sounds serious and is not something to mess with for the sake of 20 lbs.

Best,

Lisa O.

 

Easy peasy!  Just get another band.  You know your mistakes and your achievements, so just get another band.

BTW, across the board we ALL typically regain without a tool.  I revised at a 20.8 BMI because I flat out refused to regain just to wait for revision, thus.. self pay.  And every bloody penny worth it.  Without restriction I WOULD regain.  No way around it.

So, get another band.

I can't have another band with what happened to my gastro esophageal junction. It's completely compromised (open) due to dilation of my pouch and esophagus. My surgeon will not do another band after what I've been through and the sleeve is also not an option because I have severe reflux. I will either have to get a Fundiplication surgery to repair the GE junction or RNY.
Sorry I wasn't more specific with what my complications were.
LisaO.

 

I am sincerely sorry that the band caused you so much damage.

I would think long and hard about a fundoplication, it only buys you about 5 years of reflux free, then you are back to square one.

The band is a high pressure device below your esophagus, however,  a sleeve is a medium pressure procedure below your esophagus.  Bypass is a zero pressure procedure.  It's a choice, YOUR choice.  Please research your heart out. A healthy esophagus can handle low pressure, an unhealthy esophagus cannot handle excess pressure.

Most of all, I am very sorry you have become one of us.  I know you won't believe me but with all sincere care in my heart I am telling you how sorry I am.  It really doesn't matter where the fault is, this IS what the band does.  You can over eat or not, the same thing happens.  Do not... EVER blame yourself.  It happens, you can only wait for so long before the band actually does what it does.  You are sweet, I am just sorry you are a victim.  I actually mean that, no sarcasm in the least.

I am so sorry you have to deal with this.

Thank you, for your kind words. Luckily for me the Manometry test ( not fun btw) showed normal motility. I appreciate the info on fundiplication. I am leaning toward RNY at this point but I have a couple of months b4 my surgeon will do any surgery to decide.
I do blame myself, because I have to take responsibility for over eating beyond the pouches capacity and pb'ing WAY too often. Once the pouch dilated having the band in place, doing what it does, didn't help things. You are correct about that.
That 's why I came here to share my experience because I kept my band too tight at times and started abusing portion size around the 3rd year. I can't stress enough to newbies or anyone with a band how important portion control is and that a tighter band does not mean you will lose more weight, faster.
Lisa O.

 

Let's get real here, a manometry sucks donkey penises, no way around that one.

But you are wrong to blame yourself.  WRONG on every bloody level.  We are a population that overeats, that is what we do.  That is why we are fat.  Ever notice that every single surgery type has some sort of restriction?  Some have malabsorption, they ALL have restriction. Having a band does not cure this disorder, it just does not.  We need  a procedure that is a bit more forgiving.  Having a band placed does not fix our heads.  It is still a high pressure device under the esophugus.  The same darn thing happens to those who do not overeat.  Stop blaming yourself for having a disease.

If your manometry shows no esophageal damage a sleeve is a good option but.. in your case, maybe not. Maybe (and I hate to utter these words let alone type them) bypass is your best bet.

So, let's say you have bypass.  This is not an easy decision.  You need to think about which bypass you want.  A Fobi pouch?  That is where they place a metal ring around your stoma.  Those buggars can do the same thing as a band. They can grow scar tissue under your band giving you more restriction than you wanted or... they can erode.  Or, you can opt for a mesh around your stoma, see above for complications.  Orrrrrrrrrrrrrr, you can opt for plain old bypass, no rings, no mesh and you hope for the best and no dilation. You actually have more benefit vs. risk merely because you are a vet and know how/what to eat.

Most of all, STOP blaming yourself.  It comes to an end NOW!  The SAME exact problems happen without good restriction.  This is not your fault so it is damn time you quit blaming yourself. If a disease owns a fault, we are all at fault.  We cannnot continue to blame newbies for complications because they behave as a newbie behave.  Being a vet  takes a lot of time and practice, it does not happen overnight.

Lisa, if you blame yourself one more time I swear I am going to track you down in real time just to smack you upside your head.  This is not your fault!!!!!!!!! Repeat this over and over until you finally believe it really is true!!

 

You probably just need to change Drs. From what I understand, Nana was told that she couldn't be rebanded also. But she believed in her band and found a Dr. that would do it and now she is doing AWESOME! So see........problem solved. Just get another band! :-)

While I still have my band it has been empty for over 2 yrs. and I was able to maintain my ever so tiny weight loss with the band and even lose a bit more. This is because I was able to eat more healthy foods once my band was empty. It somewhat depends on whether you have made lifestyle changes and dealt with any emotional issues that may have caused the over eating in the first place.

However right now you need to deal with this serious condition you are in now. Get that band out and heal the infection, then you can think about and deal with whether you want to consider a revision. It is pretty common to regain unless you really go back to old fashioned dieting and journaling your food. So once you've healed and are feeling better you may feel differently about a revision, right now you must get it removed. Getting another band is pretty much not a good idea, second bands rarely work out as well and will just cause more damage to your stomach so will need to look at other options. I wish you well and I hope your infection is easily cleared up.