4 Year lapbander having reverse to Sleeve
Flipped port from early out (a nurse on the bariatric floor made me extend my arms over my head and lug my huge ass up into the hospital bed the night of surgery, I felt an immediate POP in my abdomen at the port site, woke up to a hematoma and extensive bruising extending from my mid-line abdomen to my right side, it was about 6-8 inches in width, and major pain, I believe this is when I popped an anchor stitch, and movement, working out post-op once I was cleared is what caused the flipped/migrated port)
It migrated, and caused the tubing to actually pull on my band which in turn pulled on my stomach causing chronic pian and vomiting on water some days. I was not able to get fills, or unfills. An unfill is recommended before the revision, but my revision surgeon couldn't get to my port. I only had 3-3.5cc in a 10cc band. We didn't know how bad the damage was until he was in there. There was not a true erosion, it was strictly from the months of the tubing pulling on my band. The pain was so severe that I could not bend at the waist. I had hoards of scar tissue and adhesions throughout my abdomen, on my liver, and diaphragm. I have permanent nerve damage from the band. It is random pain, I've had diagnostics and the only conclusion that has been found is that it is nerve damage that I will live with for the rest of my life. You know that "referred shoulder pain" you hear so many bandsters talk about??? Yeah, I have that pretty much every day of my life and it's worse in pregnancy because of the baby taking up space and pushing on my daiphragm. It's just lovely. There is absolutely nothing wrong with my sleeve. No stricture, narrowing, no ulcers, nothing. I also have transit time issues and this is something I've dealt with since being about 4-5 months out. Any type of food with a skin, such as grapes, plums, apples, pickles, corn and some beans, I have to eat in moderation. Celery and coconut are pretty much off the menu for the rest of my life and I eat those foods with extreme moderations because of my transit time issue. When I say extreme moderation, I might eat 1 celery stalk over a 2-3 day period with cream cheese 2-3 times a year. I've had coconut on about 2-3 occasions, and that was well into maintenance, twice was a sliver of German Chocolate cake, and the other was on a different type of dessert/cupcake thingie. Any of those food seem to hang out in my sleeve. For example, if I eat 6-8 grapes as a snack around 1pm, we have dinner around 6pm every night. I can eat dinner, and sometimes, I'll randomly burp up grape skins from 6 hours before after eating dinner(this happened on Saturday evening, it was repulsive). It's quite lovely if I do say so myself. Least to say, I know that it's something that I will always have to watch. I eat those foods, but I also know that I have to eat them in moderation. My body just does NOT process those foods. I peel most of my fruits and only eat pickles and cucumbers that have been thoroughly de-skinned to prevent these issues as much as possible.
I had all the other band issues; unable to eat solids, sliming, food getting stuck regardless of how much I chewed, it didn't matter.
My band surgeon was a douchebag and blamed "wild crazy sex" on my pain, and umm my husband was deployed so I wasn't f*cking anyone. He was an asshole to the upteenth degree. I left his practice after 5 months, and pretty much him telling me, you're just going to have to diet to lose weight instead of listening to me about my chronic pain.
SW 270lbs GW 150lbs CW Losing Pregancy Weight Maintenance goal W 125-130lbs




~I have been a great example of a model bander! I guess sometimes no matter how good you do something if its not meant to be its not meant to be~
That is what so many Lap-Banders don't realize! Most with failed bands have them through NO fault of their own!!! It has always infuriated me to see on the Lap-Band forum how many ppl there blame the bandsters who has a failed band. Sometimes they work a few years...............some of the unlucky ones have bands that NEVER worked. Either way..........very sad to invest all that time and money into a band that is at best, generally just going to work short term term.
You might think about joining the FB failed band group.
Hi there!
I see that you had the band in 09" you seem very infuriated by the "BAND" please tell me your story! I'm 4years out and just in the past year have been having these damn issues! I switched Surgeon bc my other one thought I was full of ****! I'm gaining 40pounds in about 6months and its rising. My first 20pounds brought back my sciatica! I have had sciatica from being over 285 and any weightgain will trigger it so now 40+ pounds more I'm in dier pain! I have always stuck to a very strict band diet and might I say I was very very sucessful!! Losing over 120lbs in about 1 1/2 years!! I never regret the band and it has saved my life with or without these later year complications. The sleeve was not available 4years ago and I did not and refused to get gastric bypass! The point of bringing out the REALIZE band was to improve the imperfections of the regular BAND. I was 15 when I started researching weight loss surgeries and when I turned 18 I decided to go for it! Now unfort the man made equipment is failing Me. I bowed down to this piece of Sh*t vomitted
starved myself
and did relentess work outs
to please this *******! Now 4years later he is failing me! I'm glad to make my choice of divorce the sleeve is looking like my new partner!
:)
Yes, I'll admit........I am infuraited by the whole band experience.
Here's the Reader's Digest condensed version:
Didn't have insurance. My husband took out money from his pension to pay for the surgery. B/c of me not having insurance I went with the Lap-Band b/c I believed their B.S. advertising about it being the "least invasive". I didn't want to have complications and have to have a 2nd surgery.
I specifically asked the "lap band advocate" at True Results before I made my final decision on the band about POST-OP complications, since I know that the band is the safest during the acutal surgery. I knew that most of the complications occured AFTER surgery.
Well their "advocate" lied straight to my face and told me about how safe the band is. She said that the band stats that I saw were not accurate. She said that the band had been redesigned and all the kinks were worked out of it now. She said that the stats I saw reflected results with the "old band" and that with the new band complications "almost NEVER happend"!
I clarified to her that I didn't have insurance and that I could only afford ONE SURGERY, and that "THIS HAS TO BE A ONE-SHOT DEAL!". She continued to lie about the band safety, and I was stupid enough to believe her. :-(
Anyway..........got the band. Easy surgery. Started getting fills, and waited for restriction. And waited...........and waited...........and waited. NEVER happened! Either too loose or too tight. IT NEVER WORKED AS IT'S ADVERTISED!!! So at 15 months/16 fills/4 partial unfills I finally said to hell with it and just gave up. Cut my losses. I couldn't see wasting more money on fills that didn't work. :-(
I revised to the sleeve in March this year, I got down to my goal weight in less than 6 months and I'm still losing. I can eat solid protein and all healthy veggies, salad and fruit. It was everything they told me the band would be. I switched surgeons because my band surgeons was a band cheerleader and he wasn't experienced in revisions.
I had a ton of scar tissue but I had my sleeve done at the same time he removed my band. I stayed in the hospital 2 nights and went home with some pain but nothing horrible. I took 2 weeks off from work and I was tired the first 6 weeks but fine other than that.
Good luck!




