Friend with lap band woes

JackieOnLine

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My friend has a lap band she got from the same surgeon I had in Mexico.
She can't find anyone willing to help her, she would like an unfill at least.
Advice? She lives in Reno.

I'd like to see her get a revision or at least have the band removed, but she doesn't want to think that far ahead and would just be happy if she could just eat! None of the doctors here will touch her, she tells me.
 
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thanks, Diana, I told her that and she just rolled her eyes. She is only 33 years old (a baby!) and I don't think she realizes how bad this is for her. I just see her having to throw up any time she eats much at all, it's a pity.

She has offered to help me have a moving sale (two weeks from yesterday, OMG so much to do) so I wished I could do something for her in return.
 
I bet it would be cheaper to fly from Reno to Los Angeles and get that unfill with Dr. K than it would be to get an unfill with most bariatric surgeons. Some of the charges I've seen are outrageous (hundreds of $$). And maybe have a nice mini-vacation in Los Angeles while she's at it.
The bottom line is that she'll do something about it when she's desperate enough, she's just not quite at that point yet.
 
I picture her body trying to get rid of that foreign object. The human body can move a TOOTH down your neck, in an effort to get rid of infection. I have seen this firsthand. And good luck getting insurance to cover THAT. Its a tooth, but because its in the neck, a specialist needs to do it.
 
Jackie,

Tell her that your friend Sue knows what it’s like to choose the seat in the restaurant that’s closest to the restroom.

In three years...2002-2005, I think...the band caused my esophagus to stop “massaging” the food down...food would get stuck...and up it would come. It also caused reflux (GERD), and treating the GERD has caused even more problems...even today...almost 17 years after the band was placed.

So, Jackie’s Friend, get that piece of shit removed ASAP or be prepared for HUGE, EXPENSIVE, DISABLING complications. The damage that is now being caused won’t just go away once the damned thing is out.

Sorry.
 
don't be sorry, she needs to hear this. might not be enough, though.

I should know about putting off taking care of health problems!! :frown:
 
My goofy mom used to sarcastically comment, “Why don’t you just ignore that? It will probably go away on its own, just like cancer.”

So, I’m offering:

Don’t be in any rush to get that band out. Once you DO remove it, all the problems will disappear...just like lung cancer goes away once you stop smoking.
 
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seriously, my friend was probably never told that damage can be VERY BAD and permanent. it's not like we have either one of us had regular health care....it's one of the things we have in common.
 
Sue makes a very important point (as she so often does). As someone on another forum put it, lap band is removable but not always reversible. And the damage can be very tough to live with.
 
I bet it would be cheaper to fly from Reno to Los Angeles and get that unfill with Dr. K than it would be to get an unfill with most bariatric surgeons. Some of the charges I've seen are outrageous (hundreds of $$). And maybe have a nice mini-vacation in Los Angeles while she's at it.
The bottom line is that she'll do something about it when she's desperate enough, she's just not quite at that point yet.

Dr. Kuri in Tijuana would probably unfill it. Verboonen in Tijuana unfilled mine (and was AMAZED when the contrast just stayed put in my esophagus...he was trying to show his new assistant how it would move, but it didn’t.)

But then, there’s the whole getting-back-across-the-border thing.
 
Sue makes a very important point (as she so often does). As someone on another forum put it, lap band is removable but not always reversible. And the damage can be very tough to live with.

And die with. My BFF of 50+ years died of lung cancer. She had stopped smoking 25-30 years earlier.
 

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