It was GREAT while it lasted

I was banded last March, went through an overfill, but finally had a good fill going.

Over Thanksgiving weekend I either 1. got sick taking antibiotics due to a recent hysterectomy 2. got a stomach virus or 3. food poisoning.

At any rate, I didn't recognize it for the critical situation that it was and didn't push the ER doctors to unfill my band.

I started getting sick Sunday night and finally went to the hospital Monday night. Their main concern was getting me to stop vomiting so they could a "cat scan with contrast". They knew I had the band. They knew I was allergic to compazine. But their main goal was to keep me from vomiting so they could do the cat scan. Unfortunately, nothing worked. Not only did nothing work, but whatever made me allergic to compazine was 1000 times worse when they were giving me every kind of anti nausea meds they could give me and I pretty much hallucinated for 3 days.

Finally when they did the endoscope - which I THINK was Wed AM, they realized my stomach had bent over itself and was necrawhateverizing (dying). They got a surgeon in who DID WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE THE MINUTE I WALKED INTO THE ER AND UNFILLED MY BAND. Amazingly, that stopped me from vomiting (surprise). But they still had to remove the part of my stomach that was dead, and of course, the band.

So....now I have no band. I have what WLS would look at as having my stomach stapled but it's not stapled, it's gone and with a WLS stomach staple they staple off 85% and mine was only 50% removed. Right now I can eat anything I want except pasta which seems to expand :(

I swear, I loved that band and after a year or so, if I can get approval, I will go back and get one put back in again!

But please, if you've been vomiting for more than 12 hours, FIND SOMEONE TO UNFILL YOU. This particular hospital had a bariactric group (who told me later they were considered the red headed step children which was probably why they weren't even aware I was in the hospital until one of the nurses almost a week later had one of their nutritionalist come in to talk to me) so they had the supplies and knowledge and STILL didn't do it.

I, of course, kept thinking I would eventually stop throwing up and didn't get to the hospital as soon as I should have.

Hope my experience helps someone out there.

Missing my band :(

BTW, for those who dismiss "Mexico Doctors" the surgeon said it was one of the best band placements he'd seen :)

Oh no! I am really sorry you went through that. Thanks for posting as a warning and hope you can get another band someday.

Sounds awful, glad that it wasn't worse... at least you are still alive and have your health. What is your plan of action for keeping the weight off and losing more?

I am so sorry. Glad to hear you are doing ok! That sounded scary.

I'm so sorry that you had to lose your band and go through such an ordeal. I hope you are on the road to good health. Focus on getting better and then you can explore options for weight loss. I wish you all the best.

Sorry to hear this.
But, how did your stomach "die"?? Did the band make it die?
I guess I dont' understand that part of what you wrote.

Hopefully someone else with a bit more knowledge can expand on this but it is my understanding that a "slip" isn't really the band slipping down or up the stomach but actually the lining of the lower stomach folds in on itself and tries to push back up through the band. In some ways it kind of like a hemerrhoid. A bad slip if gone untreated like hers can cut off the blood flow to the stomach lining and lead to the tissue "dying".

Interesting! thanks for the graph!

I would consult with an attorney because they didn't take care of you the way you deserved and you went through unnecessary pain and surgery. Feel better. :)

The band didn't slip and really had nothing to do with the stomach "dying".

Because they didn't remove the fill, my stomach basically doubled over itself (look at a picture of the stomach and the right side started doubling over itself trying to get out whatever toxins (flu, food poisoning, antibiotics) that weren't flowing out as fast as they should have been due to the band being full. In addition, it left the toxins in my stomach when the natural reaction is for the stomach to get rid of them during vomiting.

I'll know more once I get the entire report from my attorney and will certainly let you know, but so far, not ONE SINGLE DOCTOR has said the band was at fault, slipped, or had ANY negative factor except it should have been unfilled before it was.

Thanks for the update.

Hope you weren't offended by my earlier post. I wasn't trying to assume I knew what had happened in your specific case I was just trying to explain one possible way that necrosis (sp?) can occur.

I am so sorry you have lost your band. I love my band as well and would be heartbroken to lose it. I think I'd walk through a field of broken glass to get a second one if I ever lost mine no matter what the cause.

Oh no, no offense at all - just wanted to clear it up :)

I swear, I just spent 3 days on a small "vacation" and I was SOOOOOOOOOO missing my band :( I've had no control over food for 46 years, it ain't like I suddenly have it after 9 months of the band :(

I'm so sorry this happened to you, especially since you were happy with it.

I feel bad for people who lose the band in general, but sometimes people are happy to be rid of it, so it works out for the best.

I LOVE my band and if something like this happened, I would be devastated. You are very optimistic and I hope you get the band back one day!

It is called a gastric prolapse with pouch necrosis.

This is a very very rare complication.

So sorry to hear about your troubles.

Tried to do a Google search but couldn't come up with any pics - does that mean the pouch has necrosis? If so, that's not what happened - it was the very bottom of my stomach that died - the area furthest from the band. The upper stomach is what I still have.

If this IS what happened, is there something that could have been done to prevent it?