Weight-loss surgery warning

Yet one more reason why it is SO important to make sure a potential WLS patient is mentally and emotionally healthy enough for surgery. I think far more attention needs to be paid to the person's mental health than their physical health since being over weight is such an emotional issue for the majority of people. We need to be seen by a mental health professional who is well versed in WLS and obesity to see that we are going into this with the proper attitude and information. I think we should have enough time with them that they can indeed make a determination of whether we are mentally ready for this journey because after all it is a life long one. Some of us are ready now and some will never be ready.

This woman abused her band by not getting proper treatment, she should have been seeing her surgeon not a GP or at the very least see them both to make sure she was getting the right treatment. Hind sight is 20/20 and I'm sure we can all admit to not handling some things in our lives the way we should. It is good tho to see these so we all know what to be aware of that can cause more serious problems for us. There is plenty of blame to share in this story.

Oh dear, here we go again. And, no I am not angry, just saddened that some people/s experience has been so awful (through no fault of their own) that they have become unable to see anything other than their own agenda. (Edited to remove a sentence which was inaccurate due to careless reading on my part)

1. I fully accepted problems are not always the fault of the patient.

2. I referred to the article which said this woman had not told the doctor about her problems

3. Anyone who brings back food regularly, whatever they call that, is too tight. If it happened to me more than, say, once a month, I would, IMO, have a problem, that problem might be I had chosen to have the band too right, it might be a build up of scar tissue, it might be a slip, it might be an oesophageal problem. But a problem it would be. And off to my doctor I would go.

And that Is what my post said! Not that bands were perfect but that people should seek medical advice if they vomit more than vey occasionally. Such a controversial comment! Silly me!

Nice to see Pineview and Hislady can have bad band experiences, think that banding is a very bad and yet still be fair. A much more effective way of educating. 

In reply to your # 3:  yes, they are too tight, but this is happening with empty bands, as was the case with mine.  I got mine unfilled completely since it tightened up to the point the barium wouldn't pass 15 months after a .5 cc fill.  I stayed tight for months, I sought medical attention.  My point remains that one can die from these complications while seeking medical attention.  We have another member of the FB group who went in for a removal and despite all tests showing normal band position and no erosion, ended up losing her stomach below the band and pylorus due to gangrene and necrosis.  This is a potentially deadly situation.

I know MY pcp would have admitted me over my objections, but this woman didn't have the benefit of a doctor who has treated her for over 30 years and knows her well.  I took my temp, watched closely for ANY signs of infection.  I'm not your average patient, though.  I've had near death emergency surgery, I know when things are going downhill.  When I became uneasy about how things were going, I went to my band doctor, 2 hours from home because I knew I'd get a barium swallow that day.  That UGI in March led to my band removal 10 weeks later by a completely different medical team.  I know how to use our system to get what I need, but even so it took a full year of tests for my very competent doctors to throw their hands up and send me to THE esophageal specialist  who said what I thought:  you didn't have these symptoms before the band?  No, then it's the band, and it was.  

In less than 4 weeks I'm eating again, salad, asparagus, artichokes...pretty much anything I want.  I can't eat much, but I can eat.  I can drink water and lay down and not feel like I'm drowning.  I don't have heartburn, regurgitation, reflux or vomiting.  

I respect you, I'm happy your band is ok, Kate, but without knowing all the facts and not having experienced the frustration of knowing something is seriously wrong and presenting to the doctors as a spectrum of seemingly unrelated medical issues, undergoing miserable testing, and the docs scratching their heads in wonder, you just cannot blame this woman for the tragic outcome.

It's very likely that even if her doctor insisted she go to hospital, they would have ordered some meds and sent her home and the outcome would have been the same.

Peace Out 

Edited to add:  I'm down 3 lb since surgery on June 7.

Sheesh!!!!! Words of one syllable. No, will have be several syllables but will try to clarify.

I know nothing about this woman. I responded purely to the information given that she did not tell her doc of problems.

Whatever happened to this lady, I fail to see how my point that we should seek medical attention for vomiting whatever the cause can be controversial. At no time on this thread have I denied problems can happen with an empty band.

and, although I did not actually write this, I completely agree that medical professionals are woefully ignorant about bariatric surgery.

But I am delighted that things are so much improved for you. I know that at one stage you feared that you might never be able to eat normally again. Excellent news that this is not the case. 

Yes, it's a huge relief.  

The problem with saying she should have sought medical treatment is that it feels like blaming the patient.  It takes focus off of the real problem.  Outside of the bariatric community there is a woeful lack of knowledge of how to treat a bariatric patient having complications, especially since those complications often present as other conditions/causes.  I was screened for many different diseases and conditions and was Dx with gastroparesis, achalasia, slow colonic transit.  I was screened for pancreatic cancer (scary since my mom died of it at age 53), coronary artery disease, stomach cancer, esophageal cancer and other diseases no one would wish on their worst enemy.  I went into surgery not knowing if I would wake up with an esophagus.  

This problem is important since more and more band patients are having problems with swallowing, reflux, vomiting and many doctors are reluctant to address it as a primary band complication since it messes up their stats.  In the US we had many "band mills" who are in it solely for the $$$.  Many patients are up against huge obstacles in seeking help with band-related issues.  I have access to exceptional care, but my non bariatric docs were clueless as to what to do to help me without hurting me further, except to refer me out.  The Perth patient did seek care, her doctor "recommended" hospitalization, she refused.  If her symptoms presented as "critical" the doctor would have insisted on emergency care and not allowed her to go home.