Thursday, October 13, 2011

Surprise!

Leave it to me to have a complication. I'm in a really bad place right now.

I had an upper GI today and it showed band erosion. This means I will need to have the lap band completely removed. The band has eroded into my stomach lining. From doing research online, there seems to be a bunch of theories about why this happens. Some say it's from the band being too tight. Some say it is from the damage that is done to the stomach lining during surgery, making the lining weak.
And surprise! It happens in less than 2% of patients. Yeah that's right. LESS THAN TWO PERCENT. But, of course, it happens to me.

I meet with my doctor tomorrow morning to discuss options and when I'll have the band removed. He thinks we can wait till after the wedding on November 12th.
From talking with the nurse today, she said that we let things heal and then put a new lap band in. (Or , from my research online today, possibly I choose a different type of surgery. Maybe the gastric sleeve?) The research I've done online says normal healing time is 6-8 months. I know I really have to wait to discuss things with him tomorrow.

I have lost 85 lbs.
My guess? They remove the band and I gain 85 lbs. I mean I clearly wasn't able to do this on my own before. Hence why I had to have the surgery. I was told today that I'm placing too much stock in the band. I needed the band in the first place for a reason.
They take the band out and what's left? Me on my own.
Houston....we have a problem.

2 comments:

  1. oh no! I hope you get the guidence you need from your provider.
    I know the process of having the band has forced me to change my habits. I am guessingyou have had to do the same things. Stick with those new habits and I think you will be surprised at how strong you really are without your band :)

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  2. I'm so sorry this is happening to you. I follow lap band gal and she mentioned you on her blog. I came over to see you because I too am a victim of band erosion. I had my band for about 23 months (yep. just one month shy of 2 years). I know what you are going through and if there is anything I can do to support you please let me know. I would be glad to email back and forth with you or chat on the phone. The thing that made the whole thing so difficult for me was not really having anyone to talk to who completely understood how devastating it has been to lose my band. I hope you will stop by my blog, I did share a lot on my blog as I have been dealing with all of it- and just to give you some hope... I have lost about 6lbs since my band was removed last June. Hang in there and please if you need to talk, email me jennaysteele at yahoo dot com and I can send you my phone number... big hugs to you.

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