I am losing my band and I need help.

Hello. I have had my band 3 years. I have lost 125 lbs. I am under my goal weight. I have been for quite some time. I feel great and I look great. Actually I think i could stand to gain about 10 obs and look a little better. I never thought I would be saying that.

The last 6 months I have been unable to eat properly. It started with GERD and has progressed to where I cannot even consume liquids. I had only 1 fill right after my surgery, 1cc. My surgery was in another state. Today I had an upper Gi and nothing, not even one drop, went through at all. The PA at the surgeons office took out the 1 cc that was in there. Fluid is going through now but barely. He is recommending removal of the band. For now I am on clear liquids only. I am scared out of my wits and I don't know what to do.

If I have to have my badn remmoved than that is all there is to it. There really isn't anything I can do about it. What will happen to me? I will be honest with you- it took me about 4 years to pack on that 125 lbs. How long will it take to come back or can I fight it? What is the recovery like?

Anyone who has had the experience of having their band removed and has lived to tell the tale I would love to hear from you, I really need the support right now.

czeiber@vioclehighvalley.com

Did they say WHY they recommend band removal? Unless there is evidence of slippage or erosion, I don't guess I understand the need to do more than treat your reflux and let the restriction out temporarily. I'm real sorry to hear you're having problems. Please keep us updated. You've done an awesome job!!

My stomach has herniated through the badn at this point. I am tolerating clear liquids righ tnow but it doesn't look as though I will be able to make it to solid foods. Although, I am going to try to go that route first.

Do you mean your band has eroded the stomach tissue? If that's the case, band removal is the next step. If your band has just moved out of position so that, for example, there's more stomach above the band than is correct, it's possible that the unfill will help. I had a similar experience a couple of months ago, and an unfill completely fixed my symptoms and I'm doing great.

Stay on liquids and take it really easy. Good luck and please let us know how you're doing!!

The way I read your post is that you are underweight, can't eat a healthy diet and the band is making you sick. OF COURSE, you want it out!

I had mine out, but not under those circumstances.

I wish I could help beyond saying that I certainly understand your concern and hope it all goes smoothly.

When you say your stomach has herniated through your band that sounds like a bad slippage to me. Many banded people think that a slippage is when the band slides down but the way you describe this herniation is the same way my doc described what slippage really is.

When I was first banded I never assumed it the band would be a permanent fixture because I wasn't comfortable with a foreign object squeezing my belly shut (just doesn't seem natural or healthy.) I told myself I'd keep the band 3-4 years then fly solo. Los and beholdings - I eroded after 18 months and had the band removed. Now I'm in a lot of pain and need another scope to see what kind of damage the band did while I had it.

I don't say this to discourage you - quite the contrary. I'm up 5 lbs (after losing 80) and struggling to maintain so I'm rooting for you to keep up your thin, healthy spirit and continue your new healthy eating after the band is gone.

Good luck for a speedy healing.

Sounds like you need the band removed because the "slip" is not repairable. I'd be willing to bet that after 3 years and 125 pounds you've learned a thing or two about keeping that weight off. Don't assume you'll become a wild ravenous beast once the band is removed. That doesn't have to be your scenario. People lose & maintain weight everyday WITHOUT a band - I don't care what the so-called statistics say. Now............as for me...........I've been unbanded for a month and haven't lost diddley squat. I know exactly why too. I'm eating too damned much. Nothing new for me since I did that while I was banded too. Fortunately for me I am maintaining my weight and choose to believe, however deluded, that I will continue to do so. A little belief & delusion go a long way! Sooner or later I'll need to throw some excercise and less food into the mix. One thing's for sure - I am MUCH happier with the choke chain off.

-ana maria

A choke chain -- that's a new one! Definitely describes my experience in the months before band being removed b/c of slippage. Corrinasue, keep us posted on what's happening! There ARE success stories for people keeping weight off after the band was removed. Choose to be one of them!

Elizabeth

A friend of mine is being pressured to have her band removed. She was part of the early trials and they now believe her band physically shrunk, butting her off the point of near complete restriction (she often PBs her own saliva, just from swallowing). They've made changes to the band construction since, but from what she told me this shrinkage is becoming a more frequent issue than anyone anticipated. Maybe something to mention to your doc...?

"Being pressured" or being "wisely warned?"

I really DO understand the desire to hold on to the band--whether one is at goal and wants to stay there or wants to give it "one more try." I waited two years to have mine removed.

But once someone's band starts hurting them or setting them up for permanent damage or keeps them from having a normal life, IMHO it really is time to stop trying to help them "work with it" and start trying to help them deal with choosing a life-after-banding option.

It's only natural to want to help people succeed with the path they have chosen...especially if the approach we are using is working for us...but sometimes it's even wiser to HEAR them when they say it isn't working or it is scaring them.

This site is the most notoriously supportive of both pre-banded and un-banded people I think exists. I hope we keep up the good work!

UPDATE: I was admitted to the hospital on Friday and had emergency band removal surgery yesterday (sunday), it took 2 days to get me enough fluids to rehydrate me. So now I am bandless. I am definately one that never asks for help but here I know I will need help. My AIM username is corinnasue1400 if anyone wants to chat ever. I am home now. This is actually more painful then my original band surgery believe it or not. I am kinda relieved in a way but also very scared in a lot of ways. I thank everyone for their posts...I have begun another journey and I hope to walk straight upright with confidence and pride as I have done since my band was "installed".

Corinna, best wishes for quick healing!! I hope you come through as painlessly as possible and are back to 100% health very soon.

Can you give us more information on what happened with your band? Did the doctors tell you anything more?

Wheetsin, does your friend have any fill in? That sounds oddly like what happened to me a couple of months ago, but an unfill fixed the problem very well. Band "shrinkage" isn't something I've ever heard of before.

The band did slip quite a bit and I also had scar tissue underneath that may have been preventing it from allowing my stomach to un-herminate back through to "normal" levels. My port was not tilted and missing oly one stitch - which is not uncommon, a popped port stitch.