Slippage

Why do I hear so much about the band slipping.  I though they are also sutured to help prevent slippage?

Although the band is sutured to the stomach, it can still slip for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:
 > poor surgical technique
> patient does not follow post-op eating progression (liquids-purees-soft-solid foods)
> patient experiences severe vomiting or coughing (due to illness or side effects from
   careless eating)
> patient consistently overeats and overpacks the stomach pouch, so that the pressure of the
   excess food forces the band to slip out of position
> patient has an undiagnosed or untreated hiatal hernia (hiatal hernias contribute to band slips)
> plain old bad luck

My original surgeon had told me he would repair my hiatal hernia during my band surgery but chose not to (or just plain forgot). Since he apparently had substance abuse issues, he may not have been operating will a full deck during my surgery. So although I didn't have any overt problems, my band slipped when I was almost 2 years post-op. I had a complete unfill, my band settled back into place, and gradually my band was re-filled again. Depending on the severity of the slip, some patients need surgery to correct it.

Jean

 My doctor thinks I have slipped but I don't have insurance and due to loss of my job, we are living hand to mouth.  I literally do not have the money for the xray.  
We have done a complete unfil (as of yesterday) but I am still experiencing pain.  I can get liquids down easily but am not going to try solids for a coupld of days.  I feel a buldging pain in my chest, under and to the right of the sternum.  It hurts with every breath and lying down makes it even harder to breathe.  I had some really intense burning, this was not  your typical heartburn pain.  This was emergency room type of pain.  It was worse than the pain after surgery.  I took 40mg of prilosec for about a week and it went away but this buldging pain is killing me.  
So my question is, how long after an unfill did the symptoms subside and did you have this buldging feeling?
Thank you!

I know exactly what you mean about the pain under your sternum. I had that pain after I tried to swallow a huge antibiotic capsule that wouldn't go through my stoma and sat in there slowly dissolving into a corrosive sludge. The pain was so bad, I thought I was having a heart attack and went to the ER. They gave me what they called a "GI ****tail" to drink. It contained several ingredients (can't recall now - I think it was a painkiller, an acid reducer, and anti spasmodic) that helped ease the pain until I could get an unfill.

The unfill immediately eliminated my chest pain. If you stick with liquids for a few days, it should allow everything in there to calm down. If you're not feeling better tomorrow, I would call your surgeon's office and ask for their help - can they put you on a payment plan? is there someone you could talk to at the hospital where you had your band surgery about getting free or reduced price treatment via a charitable fund? When  my mother had colon cancer, I was able to negotiate a greatly reduced fee with the administrator of the hospital's charity foundation.

Jean

Thanks for the info.