Almost lost my band

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful surgeon.  I can not thank Dr. Woods enough for fixing my band when it may have been easier to take it out.  I received my band in September 2009.  For the past 2 years I have had problems with heart burn, acid reflux, and what appears to be gall bladder issues.  I did not do what I should have.  I should have called my surgeon right away and been persistent but I didn't.  Due to trying to cover my issues with tums, lots and lots of tums, I ended up with a slipped band.  A severely slipped band that they were not sure was fixable.  I am thankful that I am now day 3 post-op.  I am basically starting over and am confident that I will be able to move forward with my journey and finally hit my goal weight.  Don't get me wrong I have lost a lot of weight and for the most part kept it off but I have yet to hit that magic number.  Thanks for listening!

The problem with lap band complications is that they often present as innocuous and common problems that non banded folks have.  My early signs of complications were also heartburn, reflux (started taking my ppi again) and I coincidentally had to have my GB removed.  Problem solved, or so we thought, till the problems returned, escalated, eventually leading to my band removal 10 months ago.  It turns out that my band was misplaced; it was on my esophagus above the gastro esophogeal junction and that's why I was having symptoms of achalasia and probably 10 other very serious conditions.

Unfortunately, once a band has slipped, it tends to slip again, so be diligent in monitoring any returning signs of trouble.

congrats on your weight loss!

What Steph said, I too had my band removed because of what I thought was heartburn, that was 2 months ago. Now I'm having to see a gastro becuase the heartburn never resolved. It felt a little better at first but didn't stay that way so please be diligent and very in tune with your body. I wouldn't want anyone to feel the way I do!

Thanks guys - Believe me I am going to be very in tune with my body and never hesitate to call again.  I really don't want to lose my band.  I am going back to basics and even bought new baby spoons and forks to keep me in check with bite size when I get to that point.  I do not ever want to feel the way I have been feeling again.  I am definitely ready to start feeling healthy again!

I am so glad you contacted your doc and got this taken care of! Best wishes and success on finding your magic number!

How did they discover you had a slipped band, do they have to go in and look or is there some sort of test like an MRI type thing where they can actually see it?

There is a test that is done in the radiology department.  I am unsure of the full name of it but the short name is floro. 

Fluoroscopy, maybe?