Anyone else had this happen? (Lap-band revisions)

I am actually asking for my DH. He has lapband in Dec 2009 & has lost 130+ lbs. He has recently been having problems with "gurgling/frothing at the mouth" at night, enough that he wakes up gagging and coughing. No reports of heartburn. He saw the surgeon on July 11th & the Dr ordered a Upper GI to evaluate his esphogas & his band. He had it on July 16th (just before leaving town for work for 3 weeks) The radiologist that was there when he had his Upper GI said the band looked like it was in good placement but that when he laid down he did have a little reflux. (We haven't heard from the surgeon yet!) I suggested DH start prilosec 2x's a day just as a preventative & to see if it helped. I did talk to the nurse @ the surgeon's office & she said that was probably what the Dr would have him do. However, this morning DH calls me at 7am and says he hasn't slept well the last three nights because of the gurgling/frothing, and that this morning he could barely get anything down, just a few sips of water and 1 bite of food. I suggested he call the surgeon and let him know what was going on & that DH is out of town (currently near Birmingham AL, we live in Wichita, KS) and see if he thinks he should go get checked @ a local ER or wait until tomorrow & call a local surgeon. He doesn't think it is that bad to call the surgeon (I am a nurse and know that you should call the Dr for any potential problems so they can either reassure you or tell you what needs to be done!) I see the Dr tomorrow for my 1 month follow up and DH wants me to ask the Dr then.

What do you all think???

Sounds like something is certainly wrong to me. I have been dealing with a band slip/prolapse and when it happens, I get that same type of feeling and also get acid reflux in the middle of the night where I can't sleep and wake up choking. I am so confused right now b/c of what my Dr tells me one time and then the next is a different answer, so I may not be the best to answer this; however, one thing my Dr said was that my band placement was still okay, but my stomach was prolapsing, causing an enlarged pouch, thus the acid, etc. Still not a good prognosis. Is he doing straight liquids now? I would suggest that. That is what I do. It doesn't solve it, but it helps some and at least keeps it from getting worse. He has to decide how long he wants to keep from sleeping and all that, but when it gets bad enough, he will want to get fluid out. Hope that helps.

This is exactly what was happening to me b/c of my band slip, I would ask for an Upper GI and have your SURGEON read the results (sometimes they just look at the report, and the person writing the report does not always know what to look for with a slight slip). 

Good luck to your hubby, if he starts having any pain I suggest a trip to the office and if they won't see him right away, go to the ER (then they HAVE to see you). 

I'm a vsg patient revised from 2 lapbands plus my niece has one. What he is experiencing is a sure sign of a slip or a dilated pouch or esophagus and is not normal. My niece did the same. Now she can't even keep even fluid in her band to even have restriction at all because of this problem.

I lived for 7 years with pain and vomiting 6-7 times per day or either I was wide open. No in between. PLus my band caused alot of scar tissue and hernia.

My advice......start getting approved for a vsg revision asap. He is having enough medication problems to warrant an appproval.

Leigh

Thank you everyone for your input!!!  I was finally able to get him to call our surgeon and he suggested  going to one of the local lap-band docs to get a little taken out of the band.  The bad thing is he is going to have to see a whole new dr when he returns home, because ours is moving.  I am worried that he will have major problems & the other bariatric docs around here are only taking our Dr's patients on a case by case basis.  Plus our dr is the only one in town who does the VSG.  I was his last one here!  Hopefully DH doesn't get too much flack from the Dr in AL about getting some fluid taken off.  And I will definately talk to the surgeon tomorrow and see what he think about the upper GI DH had last Saturday!

I guess what bothers me the most is how quickly he has gone from occasional reflux to not being able to sleep @ night from choking.  Plus he is by himself in a different state 14 hours away!

 Some things that might help him while he is waitng. Make sure he does not eat or drink for at least an hour before sleeping, if he has access to comfortable chair to sleep in (like a recliner) use that to catch a few winks when he can for some reason I was able to sleep better during the day then at night, BLAND foods and possibly going back to liquids for a bit. These helped me get a few solid hours between the gagging/choking before they removed my band. 

Good luck!