7 year bandster- complete removal band-

I had my band taken out yesterday after 7 years of having it. Havent posted on this board for a long time. I was having abdominal pain...up toward and under left ribs...almost like something was getting stuck on an organ. I still got sick when filled and gained weight back for the first time last yr after 7 yrs of doing good. Luckly my insurance paid for the insertion as well as the removal. Dr asked me if I wanted it completely out, so I figured with the pain, sickness. and aqward sitting due to the port placement 7 yrs ago ...why not.
Now I am wondering if I should try to get the gastric sleeve. Not sure if insurance will pay for a new surgery but I am 11 lbs from when I first qualified for the band. And, since my dr never mentioned a revision/transition to sleeve...I assumed he either didnt want to do it, or something...who knows...
I am sore where the port site was...thats the largest incision...but so far so good. For those of you who are having similiar pain...if you are, talk to you dr about it. Mine said when he went in to take it out, it looked as good as the day he put it in.
But I also went through the motions...got a egd done to make sure there was no slips or strictures...(there were none) and he unfilled me for about 3 months to see if that pain would stop....I am sad now that I "counted" on the band...it was my reminder to eat small and slow...

I will debate on trying for the sleeve...heard alot of good things about it...would love to have restriction as well as NOT get sick or not know what the band will let me eat for that day.....

I just revised from the band to a sleeve after 5 1/2 yrs of being banded.
I had gone through a series of fills \ unfills and lots of reflux. I am very happy that i did this.
I went to a different surgeon to have this done. my original surgeon wanted to just do a slight unfill and continue to see what happened.
Glad i found a surgeon that actually listened to me. Turns out i had a hiatal hernia tht was causing some of my problems.
i recommend that you go to someone else and ask about the sleeve.

Please come over to the sleeve board and post this question - we have at least a dozen active band to sleeve revisions over there and all of them have been thrilled.

If your insurance paid to take the band out, then it's likely they have already concluded that taking it out was necessary. This makes it more likely they will pay for a sleeve.

I love my sleeve, but am not a revision patient.

I'm very surprised that revision wasnt discussed prior to removing your band.  However, there are very good options including the sleeve, RNY and DS.  Read, read, read and ask tons of questions to figure out which one will work best for you.  And call your insurance company to see what they cover then you will know what direction to go.

Sorry that you had to go through this and lose your band.  I know how you feel.  My doctor said that because I'm two years out from removal that most of the scar tissue will be soft and I have a better chance of getting a good seal on my sleeve.  Because of all the adhesions and scar tissue, some band revision patients develop problems because the surrounding tissue is not in good shape and hasn't had time to heal.

I found that I did pretty good on my own for the first year.  I still felt restriction and continued with the good habits that I'd developed with my band.  I wish you all the best!  Greg

My dr told my husband that there was no scar tissue...and that it looked like he just put it in...which is good for me....so now its just a matter of recovery. I am going to talk to the dr on my 2 week follow up and see if he thinks the sleeve would be an option for me. If so, he can send to insurance and we can see what happens. My insurance seems to be pretty good...they paid for the insertion and removal.

I can honestly say now, that I have it removed that the band did what it was suppose to do. It was a tool, and I chose to either use it or not. The ONLY thing I hated was that the port was in a unusual area because I am short wasted, so it would cause me to sit ****eyed, and I would learn to compensate for that and now have back issues. Thanks for the support, for those that are new, hang in there. For those that have been there...you know exactly what I mean with my words.

I have had this pain for a long time also.  Did they say what causes this? Mine is also on the left side upper ribs.  I cannot lay on my left side.  It is very tender to touch.  I have had the fluid out for a few years because of the pain.    I have been trying for a revision buy my insurance is denying it because I have had a lap band. Minded I had it placed over 9 years ago and i didn't have this insurance.  I am up for a long long fight.
 

I went and got an EGD done...I had a ct of my abdomen done also before I got the band out. Insurance wants to see that there is a common problem. For me it was Lt upper quad pain. And I was having some dysphagia...to where I couldnt swallow small pills. Thought  had a stricture in my esophagus. After all those tests, my dr figured nothing is helping, so why not take it out.
That pain I was feeling felt like something was moving or getting stuck on an organ. My dr mentioned because of where the location was that it was my tubing from the port. But when I would be sitting there or walking and it would stop me in my tracks...forget it...tubing or not it was coming out. After 7 yrs of vomiting, eliminating veggies and most fruits out of my diet along with meat I said this is enough. I was anemic and actually started to gain weight.
Hang in there...talk to your dr..if you have insurance see about getting a ct scan of your upper abdomen...could be a hernia...or adhesions. Which happens after every surgery...some adhesions might have formed to something they shouldnt have..such as another organ for you.

 

A LOT of people with bands get the left side and left shoulder pain. It mostly stems from the Vagus nerve system.  Those of us who have had bands AND the left side pain know that it is a direct result of banding... but I don't think the medical community realizes just how bad it is... or they just don't care to talk about it.   I had CT scans done, too, that showed nothing. But that's commonplace, too. I became anemic while banded, as well.

I had my banding surgery over 9 years ago and have watched this happen over and over and over. It's not a new thing. And yet not enough doctors seem to know the correlation of the band and the Vagus nerves.

Do a Google search of Lapband- Vagus nerves- referred left shoulder pain... any combination of those words... you'll find a lot of other people in the same boat.