Question:
Do you know of any deaths or complications someone had to adjustable lap band surgery

Or how well it works and how long it takes to get back to work?    — [Anonymous] (posted on August 9, 2001)

April 15, 2002
I had the lap band put in 12/01. I have been throwing up ever since. I had another upper GI which showed that food gets stuck in my esophogus. My doctor says this happens in 7% of patients. He's going to remove it and do the RGY.
   — a C.

June 26, 2002
I had the Adjustable gastric band inserted laparoscopically in Australia in 1997. It is inflated using saline injested through a "port" that is placed just under the skin of the abdomen (the port leads to the band around the stomach via a thin tube.) When the band is filled with saline, the opening from the small pouch of the upper stomach is made much narrower. For me, an infection was introduced at the pot site during the operation. After a few weeks I was very sick and had the port removed and a new one put in. It also got infected (they think the infection was still inside at the site of the band from the first time around.) I finally had to have the whole band and port removed. That was the third open operation for a thing that didn't help me lose weight. I just lost a few pounds from being sick. The operation to remove the band and all took over four hours. I had been on IV antibiotics for weeks in hospital and this continued til I healed. I also had to have a blood transfusion. All up, it was a terrible experience and got me absolutely nowhere weight-wise. I have read that infections or non-tolerance of the foreign body (band) is common. Also, the weight loss is not that great if it is successful.....not as good as the RNY and other ops that rely on mal-absorbption also to help us lose weight. This is just my two cents worth but I hope it helps you.
   — Katie E.

August 31, 2005
I had Lap-Band surgery on 2/1/2003. Everything went well for the first year and a half, and then all of a sudden I couldn't keep anything down, including water. After months of extensive testing, they decided to operate to see what was going on inside me. I woke up on 4/15/2005 with my Lap-Band removed, which was devastating. It has been 4 and 1/2 months, and I have gained back 80 of the 190 pounds that I lost with the band. Nobody can figure out my excessive weight-gain... I have been to a weight-loss camp and many dietitians and nutritionists and they are all at a loss for words. It's so hard for me right now - you don't go into something as serious as weight-loss surgery thinking that everything you have worked so hard for is going to be taken away from you in 2 years.
   — BonkyLK