After a week of band misery that I thought was caused by a bad pollen allergy attack, I went to see the NP at my new bariatric surgeon's office, who said, "Sounds like a band slip" and took every last drop of fluid out of my band. I have to get an upper GI x-ray and let my stomach rest for 6 weeks before they will consider gradually re-filling me.This wasn't good news, but the unfill instantly relieved my symptoms (I'm maybe 95% better now - and the 5% is probably due to irritation).
Band slips can be caused by vomiting, overeating, failure to follow the post-op recovery diet, poor eating skills, a band that is too tight, or a combination of those things. None of them apply to me. So that happened? I think the culprit is my untreated hiatal hernia. I've had it for years. Dr. Argotte (my original band surgeon) said it was "too small" for him to repair it during my band surgery, and I haven't worried about it since because the weight loss alleviated its symptoms (left upper abdominal pain and an awful feeling of "strangulation" when my innards slid through the hernia). But lately it has been bothering me again, and from the research I've done while writing my book about the adjustable gastric band, untreated hiatal hernias pose a risk of band slippage.
I'll ask my new surgeon, Dr. Weaver, about the hernia when I see her in 6 weeks. Since she's not the one who put my band in there and has never laid eyes on my hernia, she may not be willing to attribute the slip to the hernia. But I'm betting that's what did it. And if that's the case, I want the danged thing fixed so this won't happen again!
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