Wasn't Sure Where to Post This..I have the Lap-Band...feeling blue

On March 10, 2009 I had the lap-band surgery.  I did pretty well the first couple of months I did really well.  In early May I started developed heartburn at night time.  It was horrible.  I have never had that before, I've had acid reflux but this heartburn was way worse.  Before Memorial Day I had to contact the doctors because I couldn't stand the pain but there was no one on call at the hospital and the hosptial where I live can't perform an unfill.  I'm like great so now what do I do , the one on call doctor for the surgerons office said he would have ot keep me on all liquids and wait until the surgeron comes in on Tuesday.

I said no I can live till then, I'm sure.  Which I did.  It sucked big time but I lost weight not the right way but I lost.

Now I'm back up to what I was last Oct. and I just don't know what do to.  I checked my insurance and they won't remove the band unless there is a complication and they might do a revision but it would only be for gastric bypass and I just don't want to consider that at all. 

Below is a chart of my weight loss/gain.  I included some notes that I'm going to mention to the PA when I see him on Monday, Oct. 18th.

I used to love eating fruits, vegtables, etc. but now I can't eat any of them.  I want to so badly but I just can't.  I've been doing a lot of reading about what other people have posted in the revision section about going from Band to VSG but my insurance won't cover a VSG and now I'm just worried about what I did to myself and my skin condition that I have and I'm also worried about the long term effects the band will have on my system since I'm still throwing up a few times a week.

There are some things I could improve on like chewing better is the biggest one but even when I do I still have problems.

I'm just so irritated now with this thing and I just hope I'm not throwing it away.

Feb. 24, 2009	309
March 10th	290
March 25th	277
April 20th	277	1st Fill
May 18th	268	2nd Fill
June 22nd	260	3rd Fill
Aug. 3rd	254	4th Fill
Sept. 14th	247	No Fill see in 3 again in 3 months
Oct. 26th	252	5th Fill
Dec. 14th	245	(scheduled wrong but showed up for appt.)
Feb. 1st	248	6th Fill
May 3rd	237
June 2nd	235	Had 1 cc removed
(vacation during July, appts. in Aug. got in trouble at work in Sept. so rescheduled)
Sept. 28th	254
Can't eat fruits or vegtables, throwing up a couple times a week.  Scared about what could happen to the band if it is left in long term.
I tried some broccill the other night and after taking a small bit it came back up.
Thinking if I remove the band and just do it the old fashion way, diet and exercise
How possible is it since I have been diagnosed with Endometriosis that I could have adhensions attaching the band to another organ such as my liver?
I'm afraid of getting an ulcer because of throwing up so much
I'm also afraid of what it might be doing to my skin condition that I have Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Can't take any anti-inflammatory medications - it would help my lower back issues

Here are some of the posts I have found that scared me:

Don't let anyone tell ya that the lapband is reversable.  Yes, you can get it taken out.... However the damage it does inside of you may not be reversable.  I ended up going the self pay route and went to Mexico to have one of the best surgeons in the world do my revision.  Thank god I did as the internal damage was so severe.
I had a band, I was the poster bandster girl.  I got to goal, below goal even.  The band about killed me, it's ruined my esophagus and I will live with that for the rest of my life.  I had malnutrition, lived on liquids for 4 months, and life was sheer hell with that damn thing.
I hope you never experience what I did but make no mistake, if you do, and you will, I'm going to remind you that the band is magic and you should have done better with dealing with the side effects.

Your heartburn is a well-known side effect of the Band, and it can lead to esophageal damage. I would think your insurance would consider that a sufficient 'complication' for its removal.

What is your basic objection to the gastric bypass? (I personally wouldn't have one, but I'd like to know more about how YOU feel about it.)

Have you researched the DS (duodenal switch) or the VSG/Sleeve?

It's not that I have anything really bad againist, just to make that clear for anyone who has had it that's your choice justl ike it was my choice about having the band put in.

I'm just getting more and more scared about the lap-band being inside since I found out that with my skin condition you can have some GI problems which I was unaware of until about a month ago when my mom and I went to see a dermatologist.  It was for my mom but the guy informed up that we need to keep up getting our eyes checked out, dentist done, and GI doctor in place.

So I don't think I would want to mess around with the GI thing and have a gastric bypass.

Ive looked online about the DS and VSG but my surgeon who did the lap-band does not perform those so I would need to find another surgeon.

Melissa

Okay, I can see the GI thing. In that case, I'd REALLY look into the VSG.

Sounds like you are still too tight and I agree try everything to get a VSG if at all possible. Sorry you are having so much trouble!

It sounds like maybe your band has slipped. I had very similar symptoms and my surgeon decided to do a scope. My band slipped and had to be replaced. Unfortunately my second band isn't much better so I will be having a revision over to a bypass. When you see your doctor, ask him about having a scope done just to make sure everything is where it's suppose to be.

Even though I have had my own issues with the band doesn't mean I'm anti-band, it's just not for me. I wish you the best with whatever you decide just make sure you see your doctor as soon as possible so your problems don't get worse!

Jenn

I got the lap-band 3 years ago and have a lot of the same problems that you are having.  I too can't eat hardly any vegetables (only corn, no other veg) and only a few fruits and like you, those were two healthy things that I loved to eat.  Salads completely kill me.  Can't do chicken, can't do steak (can do ground beef like hamburger, but that's the only beef I can eat).  It's forced me to eat bad food choices because I go toward things that I know are going to go down with no (or very little) problems and so I too have not had very good weight loss with the band.     

So I am one of the many haters of the lap band.  However, it sounds to me like your reflux is from your band being too tight.  I had that happen to me (not to gross anybody out, but I had reflux so bad that I was vomiting stomach acid), I also had chest pains with this.  They told me the band was too tight and so they completely deflated it, put me back on a liquid diet for 2-1/2 weeks and then slowly started to fill again.  I was completely deflated 2 times and continued to have the problem of going from not being tight enough for restriction to being too tight and not even being able to ge****er down.    

I am in the process of having a lap-band to VSG revision and can't wait to get the band out of me.  I'm sorry to hear that your insurance doesn't cover VSG at this time, but if you think you can wait and put up with the band for a while longer, they say that more insurance companies are allowing VSG every day and maybe by next year your insurance will cover it?

Thank you for writing to me and everyone else as well.  It's been a struggle to lose weight and this morning I weighed in at 256.

I was able to enjoy a soup at hand vegtable soup the other day and that helped get some veggies in.

I'm so sorry to hear about all the problems you've been having with the band.  I'm glad you are able to get the revision to VSG.  I could wait but I'm going to speak with the PA on Monday and see what happens.  I think I'm kinda scared of him yelling at me or telling me that I'm not eating the right foods, etc. but it's so hard to do when you can't eat properly.

I had a meeting with my shrink this past week and told her how I was feeling about the band and we made of list of things I can do for now till I speak with the doctor and I think that helped me because I know in some ways I'm not caring for myself like I care for others and I should be but I just don't and I think it's why I occupy my time with saving cats, etc so I don't have to consentrate on myself.

I'm kinda scared about my appt. on monday but hopefully it will go ok.

I'm just realizing that I can't really afford to keep making monthly trips to this doctors office and with the weather who knows.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do at this point.  I hate throwing up and I seem to be doing it daily.

Melissa

 
I am completely and totally, 100% anti-band.  I hate seeing people struggle and maybe not even lose weight while they suffer from reflux, puking, foaming, pain, and all the other assorted problems banded folks have.  Then their self esteem that was probably not great pre op and now they feel like they failed WLS and they didn't.  It's usually the band.

Reflux is a known complication of banding.  Last study I read said that 1/3 of bandsters will experience this.  The concern is not an ulcer, the concern is esophageal damage from vomiting, ruining your teeth from stomach acid/vomiting, and Barretts esophagus.  Thanks to the band I have all three.

If your ins does not cover VSG you have two options, appeals or self pay.

Endometriosis and surgical scarring are two very different things and  one has nothing to do with the other.

Why can't you take NSAIDs?  The only WLS group that can't are bypass folks.  They used to believe NSAIDs caused banding erosion but that was disproved a very long time ago.

I feel for you, I really do.  Comment #2 that you posted is mine.  It took me about six months after my revision before I started getting better.

Do what you have to - to get that thing out.

The doctors told me that I can't take any NSAIDs at all.  I asked them if I could do it for short term and they said no.

I'm glad you were able to have the revision.  Do you throw up at all now?

Thank you for writing to me.

Melissa