Re: Band Problem Symptoms to Aware Of?

[Guest guest]

Boomhauer54 says: " I read these boards intently, and have learned immensely

from them. One thing I am seeing more of, is people writing about their band

difficulties: slips, prolapses, port flips, tubing cracks, erosion, band

removals, revisions, etc. All descriptions seem to increase, as people get

farther away from their original surgery date. "

I am not a Dr - so many I should not respond to this. It seems to me that the

people who seek support, like these especially, are people who need help. If

everything was happy and rainbows you would not be on a support site seeking

support. Rainbows aside, I think that the farther people get from their surgery

dates, the more likely they slip into past poor choices. Weight may not be

droppin as fast as it once was, it takes more effort and eventually they lapse.

That might be a slippery slope. Once they gain a little, the guilt sets in and

BAM! They are back on the self conforming prophecy train of, " See, I knew this

would never work " train. I could be wrong, but I will say that is one of my

strongest fears. That train occasionally whistles from outside my

bedroom/kitchen and the All Aboard call makes me shiver.

I dont have any other words really. I feel for us all as we wade through our

fears and seek support to help us keep our sanity, strength and silliness a

foot. Good luck I will be watching this thread for what to look for.

nne Pierson

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[Guest guest]

nne gave a very nice response, and i agree.

There are lots of online band forums, and it's mostly people having some type of

trouble that post, asking for help. If we are out living our new lives and doing

fine, we're much less likely to spend time on online boards.

It's true, I think, that the further out we are, the more possible many band

problems become. WE may have ignored our please to never keep a tight band and

then start getting into trouble with slips and erosions.

We may have gotten away with things at first, like little exercise, but then

that catches up with us and we stop losing.

Most people start off very enthusiastic and do well making changes and starting

to lose. Then, it can get tougher as time goes on, and we realize these changes

need to be permanent ones (not to say we all don't slip back sometimes).

It seems that in years 2-4 some of the more serious problems can start cropping

up, if we have not taken the band rules to heart or otherwise tried to avoid

what was needed. Most band problems are preventable, though - and that is our

goal here. To educate people on the prevention of the common and less common

band problems that can get us into trouble.

To answer your question directly - the biggest reason for most of the band

problems is trying to keep a too-tight fill. We go over what a GOOD (appropriate

) fill is in the fill documents in the files here. If you meet the criteria for

a good fill vs one that is too -tight, it's very unlikely you'll get into

trouble.

Other things that are important is to not eat more than 1-1.5 cups of food, even

if the band " allows " it. As time goes on, we are hopefully learning much better

habits, so we can depend on the band FAR less to help us eat only small portions

and choose good foods.

I feel that we should all be getting a yearly fluoro to assess band, port,

stomach and esophagus - these will show the beginning of trouble while it is

still easily corrected. If we wait until we are having symptoms of problems,

then the " fix " can be much more complicated and expensive.

Sandy r

>

>

> I was banded in November 2008, with True Results in Houston. Was totally

unfilled in March 2009, due to an unrelated surgery, and have been slowly

working on fills ever since then to February 2010, where I am now 11cc in a 14cc

AP band. Have dropped over 130 pounds so far, and am intent on going much

further.

>

> So far, I've had no reflux, and have upchucked only when I was not paying

close enough attention to what/how I was eating. No other problems.

>

> I read these boards intently, and have learned immensely from them. One thing

I am seeing more of, is people writing about their band difficulties: slips,

prolapses, port flips, tubing cracks, erosion, band removals, revisions, etc.

All descriptions seem to increase, as people get farther away from their

original surgery date.

>

> I have recently been layed off from my job, and no longer have insurance that

covers anything associated with Weight Loss Surgery. My visits to True Results

are now on a cash basis. I can't afford to be returning for periodic

preventative exams; however, monetary issues will not hinder me in addressing

any symptoms which indicate problems that could endanger my ability to keep my

band and maintain my weight loss progress.

>

> Here's my question: What symptoms of band problems (aside from reflux and

steadily increasing lack of restriction) should I be on the lookout for? Which

less-than-obvious band issues should I be observant of, and consider to require

examination by my band provider?

>

>

> Thanks - Boomhauer54

>

[Guest guest]

Your right Dan. When we are doing well we do not post except to help others. But

I tend to not post because I don't want to seem like a " know it all " or a " show

off " but I'm going to remember that writing about your success is just as

important....

BARIATRIC SURGERY + DIET (for me Weight Watchers) + EXERCISE = SUCCESS

>

> > Boomhauer54 says: " I read these boards intently, and have learned

> > immensely from them. One thing I am seeing more of, is people

> > writing about their band difficulties: slips, prolapses, port flips,

> > tubing cracks, erosion, band removals, revisions, etc. All

> > descriptions seem to increase, as people get farther away from their

original surgery date. "

>

>

>

> --

> " It's OK to be a little broken, everybody's broken in this life " Jon Bon Jovi

> Dan Lester, St. , Utah, USA www.riverofdata.com/lapband

> Banded 4/27/03, Dr. Ortiz, Tijuana

> Started at 355, at goal in the 210-220 range for almost 4 years

> Ultimate goal of 195 Tummytuck in Boise and SmartLipo in Tijuana

>

[Guest guest]

It is like the rest of life. People talk when they have problems. At

work all your colleagues drove to work and had no problems. However,

one had to wait an hour in traffic due to a big wreck. Whose commute

do you hear about at coffee? Same for many other things. The people

who are doing fine, don't need help, are much less likely to post,

except to help others.

dan

Monday, March 29, 2010, 12:22:03 AM, you wrote:

> Boomhauer54 says: " I read these boards intently, and have learned

> immensely from them. One thing I am seeing more of, is people

> writing about their band difficulties: slips, prolapses, port flips,

> tubing cracks, erosion, band removals, revisions, etc. All

> descriptions seem to increase, as people get farther away from their original

surgery date. "

--

" It's OK to be a little broken, everybody's broken in this life " Jon Bon Jovi

Dan Lester, St. , Utah, USA www.riverofdata.com/lapband

Banded 4/27/03, Dr. Ortiz, Tijuana

Started at 355, at goal in the 210-220 range for almost 4 years

Ultimate goal of 195 Tummytuck in Boise and SmartLipo in Tijuana