IssaquahMom578
My Journey So Far..
Dec 21, 2011
I'm 33 years old and have been overweight since I was about in 5th Grade. I grew up in Texas and moved to WA State in late 2010.
I had Lap-Band Surgery in August 2005. My surgeon was Robert O. Powell, M.D. I had day surgery at Renaissance Hospital in Dallas, TX. I originally lost 140lbs from my all time high of 303lbs. However, like most of Dr. Powell's patients I developed problems that he either was unable to figure out or just didn't give a damn to deal with. He was very much into the making money part of Bariatric Surgery regardless of how sweet and kind he seems to be. To make a very long story short (I may put some of my history with Dr. Powell on here in the future) he has since had all his patients removed from his care and placed with other surgeons. Like many of his former patients, I got my medical records along with at least one more patients in the mail after demanding them. Dr. Powell moved to Rancho Mirage, CA full-time and performed weight loss surgeries there for a short period of time. Currently I am unable to find where he is slicing and dicing innocent people who want and need help losing weight.
After Dr. Powell I was placed with Dr. Frank Felts based solely on my health insurance. I wanted to be with Dr. Benavides however he did not take my plan at that time (2007-2008). When I started with Dr. Felts I had experienced problems with being able to swallow. I had ZERO liquid in my band yet I vomitted several times per month, was dehydrated and had pain in my center chest. Dr. Felts ordered a Barium Swallow that was performed at the place across the hall from his practice (sorry I don't recall the name). I watched the Barium Swallow (along with Dr. Felts) and noticed that the rate that my band emptied seemed VERY slow even with no saline in my band. I reminded him of that fact and he scheduled me for an Upper Endoscopy. I had a total of 2 scopes with him and each time the RN's at the facilities mentioned how dehydrated I was when they started my IV's. After a year of primarily drinking liquids and dealing with him the idea of revision to a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy was mentioned. Dr. Felts wanted to do two seperate surgeries for the revision. The first to remove the failed Lap-Band and the second several months afterwards to do the VSG. I asked Dr. Felts and his Office Manager how many VSG Surgeries he had performed at that time. He said "several" yet was unable to give me a number as was his Office Manager. I have worked in the offices of Surgeons before. I can tell you that in general they are competitive, proud and controlling individuals by nature (which is good qualities to have in an OR) and they keep up with the number of times they have done a certain type of surgery successfully, especially when they are trying to "sell themselves" to other patients.I found out that Dr. Felts had just started doing the VGS Surgery in 2010. I did not want to have 2 surgeries and quite frankly I felt like he was inexperienced at the time (Summer 2010) and didn't want to admit to it. I also felt like he was covering up a lot of what Dr. Powell had done to his former patients. After putting my health at risk with Dr. Powell I needed an experienced and HONEST surgeon.
I had my youngest daughter in February 2009 while the band was in place. I will say I experienced less nausea in this pregnancy than previous. I guess that's one plus of the band?
I did a lot of research after Dr. Felts and found it difficult to find legit physicians that are willing to fix problems caused by other physicians due to liability. I honestly can't blame them with the amount of malpractice claims that are filed in the US.
Eventually I found Dr. Manuel E. Castro at Methodist Hospital in Dallas. He is specialized in Lap-Band to VSG Revisions. I had a very detailed consult with Dr. Castro prior to surgery. He was very kind and knowledgable about the various types of weight loss surgeries and what he could offer me. With my prior success with a restrictive type surgery I decided that RNY would probably not be my best choice. I knew that if the VSG was not enough to bring me to a healthy weight I would be eligible for a DS. I attended a 2 hour class taught by a Nutritionist and RN before my surgery date.
I had my revision on August 26, 2010. Because my insurance (BCBS Microsoft) considered VSG as "investigational" at the time and would only pay for the removal of my problem causing Lap-Band I paid the difference.
After surgery Dr. Castro came into my hospital room and explained to me that Dr. Powell had placed my Lap-Band BACKWARDS AND IT WAS within inches of my Aorta. I was extremely lucky not to have any problems during my pregnancy with my baby kicking it closer to my heart. Dr. Felts never mentioned this nor did he deal with it. To this day I wonder if that along with his lack of experience at the time was the reason he wanted to do 2 surgeries in order to remove the band and do the VSG. Dr. Castro also informed me that the Lap-Band had done permanent damage and weakening to my esophagus. This was likely the cause for vomitting, reflux and extremely slow emptying of my stomach with no saline in the band.
My life as a Lap-Bander was fill, unfill, fill, unfill, fill, unfill. There was times I couldn't swallow my own saliva to be honest. While I was happy with the results (losing 140lbs) the cost to my body was NOT worth it. I would have been better off not having a band.
It is now December 2011 and while I haven't lost a lot of weight since my revision it's my own fault. I moved across the country and to be honest I have a Coke Cola Addiction. I have not done what I need to do in order to utilize the sleeve to full potential. I have been very pleased with the skills and bedside manner of Dr. Castro. I developed a rash across my stomach immediately after surgery. Dr. Castro took the time to investigate what was used to "prep" me prior to surgery. He found out I am allergic to Chloraprep, a common pre-op prep that is also often used prior to drawing blood and in the field of denistry. He also called me the day after I came home to make sure I was doing okay.
My husband was banded by Dr. Powell in January 2006. He too went through multiple fills and unfills. He has experienced pouch dilation and has a band that has restriction and loses restriction. One of Dr. Powell's favorite things to do in between Lap-Bands was port revisions. Many insurance companies cover port revisions so he would do several fills on a patient and "accidently" nick the cord near the port, thus requiring another surgery to replace it.
I am currently looking for a physician in the Puget Sound area to address the problems my husband has. He has gained weight since having Lap-Band surgery. He experiences reflux, belching and discomfort in the band area at times. We are considering a revision to RNY for him as we are not sure a restrictive surgery such as a VSG would be in his best interest. I have contacted several patients of experienced surgeons to get feed back and I plan to attend information seminars to avoid dealing with another inexperienced money grabbing surgeon.
If we were in the DFW area it would not be a question of who we would pick as Dr. Castro is one of the best physicians on the planet in my book. He is experienced with most types of WLS, smaller BMI patients, revisions and Super Obese Patients.
If you are interested in my Lap-Band journey as it happened with Dr. Powell my Lap-Band Blog on OH is
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/msbutterkup23/
0 comments
I had Lap-Band Surgery in August 2005. My surgeon was Robert O. Powell, M.D. I had day surgery at Renaissance Hospital in Dallas, TX. I originally lost 140lbs from my all time high of 303lbs. However, like most of Dr. Powell's patients I developed problems that he either was unable to figure out or just didn't give a damn to deal with. He was very much into the making money part of Bariatric Surgery regardless of how sweet and kind he seems to be. To make a very long story short (I may put some of my history with Dr. Powell on here in the future) he has since had all his patients removed from his care and placed with other surgeons. Like many of his former patients, I got my medical records along with at least one more patients in the mail after demanding them. Dr. Powell moved to Rancho Mirage, CA full-time and performed weight loss surgeries there for a short period of time. Currently I am unable to find where he is slicing and dicing innocent people who want and need help losing weight.
After Dr. Powell I was placed with Dr. Frank Felts based solely on my health insurance. I wanted to be with Dr. Benavides however he did not take my plan at that time (2007-2008). When I started with Dr. Felts I had experienced problems with being able to swallow. I had ZERO liquid in my band yet I vomitted several times per month, was dehydrated and had pain in my center chest. Dr. Felts ordered a Barium Swallow that was performed at the place across the hall from his practice (sorry I don't recall the name). I watched the Barium Swallow (along with Dr. Felts) and noticed that the rate that my band emptied seemed VERY slow even with no saline in my band. I reminded him of that fact and he scheduled me for an Upper Endoscopy. I had a total of 2 scopes with him and each time the RN's at the facilities mentioned how dehydrated I was when they started my IV's. After a year of primarily drinking liquids and dealing with him the idea of revision to a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy was mentioned. Dr. Felts wanted to do two seperate surgeries for the revision. The first to remove the failed Lap-Band and the second several months afterwards to do the VSG. I asked Dr. Felts and his Office Manager how many VSG Surgeries he had performed at that time. He said "several" yet was unable to give me a number as was his Office Manager. I have worked in the offices of Surgeons before. I can tell you that in general they are competitive, proud and controlling individuals by nature (which is good qualities to have in an OR) and they keep up with the number of times they have done a certain type of surgery successfully, especially when they are trying to "sell themselves" to other patients.I found out that Dr. Felts had just started doing the VGS Surgery in 2010. I did not want to have 2 surgeries and quite frankly I felt like he was inexperienced at the time (Summer 2010) and didn't want to admit to it. I also felt like he was covering up a lot of what Dr. Powell had done to his former patients. After putting my health at risk with Dr. Powell I needed an experienced and HONEST surgeon.
I had my youngest daughter in February 2009 while the band was in place. I will say I experienced less nausea in this pregnancy than previous. I guess that's one plus of the band?
I did a lot of research after Dr. Felts and found it difficult to find legit physicians that are willing to fix problems caused by other physicians due to liability. I honestly can't blame them with the amount of malpractice claims that are filed in the US.
Eventually I found Dr. Manuel E. Castro at Methodist Hospital in Dallas. He is specialized in Lap-Band to VSG Revisions. I had a very detailed consult with Dr. Castro prior to surgery. He was very kind and knowledgable about the various types of weight loss surgeries and what he could offer me. With my prior success with a restrictive type surgery I decided that RNY would probably not be my best choice. I knew that if the VSG was not enough to bring me to a healthy weight I would be eligible for a DS. I attended a 2 hour class taught by a Nutritionist and RN before my surgery date.
I had my revision on August 26, 2010. Because my insurance (BCBS Microsoft) considered VSG as "investigational" at the time and would only pay for the removal of my problem causing Lap-Band I paid the difference.
After surgery Dr. Castro came into my hospital room and explained to me that Dr. Powell had placed my Lap-Band BACKWARDS AND IT WAS within inches of my Aorta. I was extremely lucky not to have any problems during my pregnancy with my baby kicking it closer to my heart. Dr. Felts never mentioned this nor did he deal with it. To this day I wonder if that along with his lack of experience at the time was the reason he wanted to do 2 surgeries in order to remove the band and do the VSG. Dr. Castro also informed me that the Lap-Band had done permanent damage and weakening to my esophagus. This was likely the cause for vomitting, reflux and extremely slow emptying of my stomach with no saline in the band.
My life as a Lap-Bander was fill, unfill, fill, unfill, fill, unfill. There was times I couldn't swallow my own saliva to be honest. While I was happy with the results (losing 140lbs) the cost to my body was NOT worth it. I would have been better off not having a band.
It is now December 2011 and while I haven't lost a lot of weight since my revision it's my own fault. I moved across the country and to be honest I have a Coke Cola Addiction. I have not done what I need to do in order to utilize the sleeve to full potential. I have been very pleased with the skills and bedside manner of Dr. Castro. I developed a rash across my stomach immediately after surgery. Dr. Castro took the time to investigate what was used to "prep" me prior to surgery. He found out I am allergic to Chloraprep, a common pre-op prep that is also often used prior to drawing blood and in the field of denistry. He also called me the day after I came home to make sure I was doing okay.
My husband was banded by Dr. Powell in January 2006. He too went through multiple fills and unfills. He has experienced pouch dilation and has a band that has restriction and loses restriction. One of Dr. Powell's favorite things to do in between Lap-Bands was port revisions. Many insurance companies cover port revisions so he would do several fills on a patient and "accidently" nick the cord near the port, thus requiring another surgery to replace it.
I am currently looking for a physician in the Puget Sound area to address the problems my husband has. He has gained weight since having Lap-Band surgery. He experiences reflux, belching and discomfort in the band area at times. We are considering a revision to RNY for him as we are not sure a restrictive surgery such as a VSG would be in his best interest. I have contacted several patients of experienced surgeons to get feed back and I plan to attend information seminars to avoid dealing with another inexperienced money grabbing surgeon.
If we were in the DFW area it would not be a question of who we would pick as Dr. Castro is one of the best physicians on the planet in my book. He is experienced with most types of WLS, smaller BMI patients, revisions and Super Obese Patients.
If you are interested in my Lap-Band journey as it happened with Dr. Powell my Lap-Band Blog on OH is
http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/msbutterkup23/
