Gastric band - Beware

gastricbanddisaster

Please be careful and look into the full ins andouts of the surgery and its after care.

I thought that I had and chose the reputable Spire hospital to have my band fitted, even though it was a hell of a lot cheaper abroad.

I had a band fitted Aug 08, first fill September but by early Jan I was so ill.
Went back to Spire charged for a barium meal (WANTED £300.66) after they de-flated band my band.

Started again with fill in March within days ended up in hospital, the local NHS hospital, to have the band un- buckled. Spire wanted £3-4000.00 to take me back to theatre to do the unbuckling. This I did not have.

I am now with a useless band and they want £9000.00 to re do the band. To make it work again.

After wards when I went back to Spire I had a discussion with the surgeon he told me that unless I pay again that I was best going to WEIGHT WATCHERS!

When I went to see about the self funding band he mentioned insurance, but I assumed (wrongly) that the surgery would be covered for a year, he did not explain the insurance policy in enough detail. The policy also cost an extra £1500.00 which is a lot of money.
I asked why he did not go into more detail on the insurance policy he said that he would be accused of trying yo sell insurance.

The surgery is only covered until you come out of surgery!

A friend had a moved port within weeks and if she had not got the insurance she would have had to pay again and that was only a few weeks after he surgery.

Has any body else had a disasterous experience, if you have or know of someone who has please get in touch.

Does anyone have any suggestions please as I am getting more depressed by the day as I like many others thought that this was the ideal solution for weight control for LIFE!

Toothsmith

No surgical proceedure is 100% risk free. I'm sure the surgeons will have explained that to you. It's just people always believe the bad things won't happen to them, and fail to plan for what they will do if they do.

The ideal solution for weight control for life is to eat the same amount of calories as you expend. (I too struggle with my weight a bit, but still regularly cycle 100+ miles a week, so although bigish, I'm very fit).

There are no quick fixes.

simpywimpy

Im so sorry to hear of your terrible treatment by your chosen hospital. I truly believe it was them at fault and not the band itself as you problems seen to have appeared very quickly.

If it was me, I would get a second opinion on the fitting of the band if possible and if that was to say it wasnt fitted correctly, I would start proceedings against the hospital.

You say you now have a useless band but can you elaborate on what you mean? I got the impression that the NHS had unbuckled the band. Did you mean it was twisted in some way and is now right?

I have had a band now for 9 years this year so they do work, I think the way the hospital treated you is appalling!!

Penny-Pincher!!

gastricbanddisaster wrote: »

Please be careful and look into the full ins andouts of the surgery and its after care.

I thought that I had and chose the reputable Spire hospital to have my band fitted, even though it was a hell of a lot cheaper abroad.

I had a band fitted Aug 08, first fill September but by early Jan I was so ill.
Went back to Spire charged for a barium meal (WANTED £300.66) after they de-flated band my band.

Started again with fill in March within days ended up in hospital, the local NHS hospital, to have the band un- buckled. Spire wanted £3-4000.00 to take me back to theatre to do the unbuckling. This I did not have.

I am now with a useless band and they want £9000.00 to re do the band. To make it work again.

After wards when I went back to Spire I had a discussion with the surgeon he told me that unless I pay again that I was best going to WEIGHT WATCHERS!

When I went to see about the self funding band he mentioned insurance, but I assumed (wrongly) that the surgery would be covered for a year, he did not explain the insurance policy in enough detail. The policy also cost an extra £1500.00 which is a lot of money.
I asked why he did not go into more detail on the insurance policy he said that he would be accused of trying yo sell insurance.

The surgery is only covered until you come out of surgery!

A friend had a moved port within weeks and if she had not got the insurance she would have had to pay again and that was only a few weeks after he surgery.

Has any body else had a disasterous experience, if you have or know of someone who has please get in touch.

Does anyone have any suggestions please as I am getting more depressed by the day as I like many others thought that this was the ideal solution for weight control for LIFE!

If you are at risk, then you can see your GP and they can refer you to an NHS specialist.

You could have had these problems even if you had gone with the NHS.

Many people have these type of operations without seeking proper medical advice beforehand and dont undertsand what exactly is involved after surgery.

PP
xx

gastricbanddisaster

Hi
The band is till around the stomach but not stitched in place. It needs to be repositioned for it to work again.
The NHS were not allowed to do this they could only get me out of pain.
I had a meeting with the surgeon who had a nurse present, he told me not to take notes as he would send me a copy of them. These I have requested a few times by email. So far they have not been sent.
I sent another email yesterday asking them to send them asap and that all future correspondence be in writing.
I also said that if the surgeon did not remember me I was the one he told to go to Weight Watchers!
If he had fully explained the insurance policy I would have bought it but my theory was that I was a size 18 and wanted to be a 12/14 so to loose 4 stone.
This I thought I could achieve in a year so I would not need the insurance. Little did I know that the cost was only to cover the initial operation.
He seems to think that I ate a piece of meat in January but did now chew it properly so it dislodged the band, surely the band is made to with stand this. I think that it may not have been sewn down as it should which is why it moved so easily.
I just feel so upset all the time as I dad saved for the operation for so long for it all to be so useless in such a short time.
Thank you for your reply.

MrsE_2

I agree, you should be expected for it to last a reasonable length of time.
Surely they have a duty to supply you with what you thought you were buying?
Everyone else has to comply with this, why should they be any different?
There must be a higher or governing body who can help you?

gastricbanddisaster

I looked in to this for a long time, the surgeon did not fully explain the insurance policy. He should have told us that once out of surgery the costs begin again without the policy.
I think that my band was not secured properly and he now wants more than the original cost to put it right. I thought that the cost of the band, which can be re-used, would be deducted from the cost.
I was lucky that the NHS doctor was at Spire and saw how ill I was as I did not have a spare £4000.00 to pay to get it un-buckled. The £300.66 for the barium meal was costly enough.
I am going to seek legal advice once my notes have come through, if they ever do. I have requested them many times but they have not been sent.
Thanks

gastricbanddisaster

The reason I did not take out the "unexplained" insurance policy was because I thought that I would be covered for things like this for a year. If I had a TV repaired it would be covered for a year. I thought that I would be too!
I am going to look into a higher body to refer this to but I need my notes which they have not sent as promised.
I think his comment that I should go to Weight Watchers was totally out of order. If I had gone to WW I would be £7000.00 better off!
How unprofessional of him but he had had my money already.
I wonder how many other people this has happened to?

suki1964

You seriously went and had a major operation to lose so little weight?

Im sorry its all gone wrong for you but I can not get my head around how much agony and expense you were prepared to put yourself through to lose the weight. I thought gastric bands were for the morbidly obese,for people who had to lose at least half their body weight or more as they were risking death from being so big, not to go from a size 18 to a 14 - six months with weight watchers would have acheived that.

Like I say, sorry you have had a rough ride but please, forget the band and learn to eat sensibly

gastricbanddisaster

I sas so unhappy with my weight that I made the decision to do something for life. This would have been there for me and I could have had it as a preventor.
I have learnt my lesson the hard way, the surgeon took my money knowing how much weight I wanted to loose. He had no qualms then.
I was concerned when he trained the dietition to do the band fills. Surely this should have been done by the surgeon as I think on my last fill she put too much in as days later I sterted to be ill. I tried to contact the hospital on the Sunday morning at 10am but the phone numbers they gave me for emmergencies was answered by someone who no longer worked at Spire. I looked on the internet but the same phnenumber was on there. I then called the hospital and a nurse gave me a mobile number.The man answered ans daid he would call me back. He did but told me that the hospital should have taken my number and passed it on to him. I was too ill to argue.
He told me to take 2 teaspoons of water every 10 mins, I tried this but could not keep it dow. He said he would call ne back later. He arranged for the dietition to meet me at the hospital at 5pm to deflate the band. Was she qualified to do this?
I went back the next day for the barium meal.
Once in the NHS hospital I was unable to be operated on for 24 hours as I was severley dehydrated.
It was a total nightmare.

Penny-Pincher!!

gastricbanddisaster wrote: »

Hi
The band is till around the stomach but not stitched in place. It needs to be repositioned for it to work again.
The NHS were not allowed to do this they could only get me out of pain.
I had a meeting with the surgeon who had a nurse present, he told me not to take notes as he would send me a copy of them. These I have requested a few times by email. So far they have not been sent.
I sent another email yesterday asking them to send them asap and that all future correspondence be in writing.
I also said that if the surgeon did not remember me I was the one he told to go to Weight Watchers!
If he had fully explained the insurance policy I would have bought it but my theory was that I was a size 18 and wanted to be a 12/14 so to loose 4 stone.
This I thought I could achieve in a year so I would not need the insurance. Little did I know that the cost was only to cover the initial operation.
He seems to think that I ate a piece of meat in January but did now chew it properly so it dislodged the band, surely the band is made to with stand this. I think that it may not have been sewn down as it should which is why it moved so easily.
I just feel so upset all the time as I dad saved for the operation for so long for it all to be so useless in such a short time.
Thank you for your reply.

So are you saying that the NHS has refused to help you with this? How can they not be allowed to help

Normally these private surgeons do do work within the NHS too-is this the case?

When did you have the band done? You would have been given a diet sheet of STRICT instructions on what you can and cant eat. You do have to chew loads with band as food can easily get stuck and obstruct in the gut.

Where in the UK are you based?

PP
xx