My Kusmak Lap Banding Experience

How It All Began...

My Kusmak lap banding experience started back in 1998, when I was looking for a way to lose weight, quickly and for good.

I was advised to opt for the Kusmak lap banding as it was known as the safest and surest way to lose weight: an inflatable ring that didn't require any fasten, an inflatable ring adaptable to necessities.

Regardless to the fact that the surgeon considered himself as some kind of idol or God... I believed everything he told me. 

A big lie in reality... But in March 1998, I trusted the surgeon and took my ticket for a new life and new me.

Kusmak Lap Banding Was Fun in the Beginning

Once the Kusmak lap banding in place, I started to lose weight. I lost 20 pounds in the first month and another 20 pounds in the second month. Because I had big problems to eat, I asked the surgeon to deflate the lap banding; which he did. I then lost less pounds per month for a grand total of 90 pounds in 1 year.

Having a Kusmak lap banding wasn't always a pleasure. Indeed, I suffocated twice with a piece of beefsteak, if I ate pastas, I could count them: 25 spaghetti were all that I was able to eat! I couldn't eat pork any more except 4 tiny spare ribs; I had to avoid chicken white and could only eat chicken tights, etc.

All in all, the variety of foods I could ingest was quite limited and quickly became boring. However, I was happy to have lost weight. 

The Nightmare Begins

Because the last time the Kusmak lap band was too much deflated, I asked the surgeon to re-inflate it; which he did. After a few weeks, I noticed that the lap band was tightened far too much and this provoked problems to ingest food as well as beverages. For this reason, I went back to see the surgeon to ask to adapt it.

I spoke about the personal opinion he had about himself.  Well, that day, he was of a bad humor and it seems that it's the day he broke the lap band catheter. For the first time, the band inflate was painful.

Because I started to gain weight, I went back to the hospital, once again and asked the surgeon to check as to whether the lap band was OK. Well, it was not! The catheter was broken in several places and he had to replace it; which meant that I would have to have a new surgery.

Three weeks later, got a new catheter and... a wonderful horizontal 8"/20 cm scar on the right side of my abdomen.

My Lap Band Has Become a One-Way Ticket to Death

The surgery took place in May 2000. Because of the surgeon's attitude and refusal to take any responsibility in the troubles I faced, I decided to go else where to inflate and deflate the lap band. However, the new doctor had hard times to place the needle in the catheter box.

He has also some responsibility in this as he didn't check if the box was fixed.

In the beginning of 2001, I started to have problems to eat and even drink. The small portion of my stomach didn't work properly any more and eating became nightmarish. Drinking created also a lot of problems. However, and because these problems gradually increased in 18 months, I didn't take measures before neither any doctor I saw.

In December 2001, I was so bad that I went to see a third surgeon. She told me that the surgeon forgot to fix the catheter box when he changed it and that it was now somewhere in my body. 

On December 24th, 2001, she removed the lap band entirely. I shouldn't have stay in the hospital more than 2/3 days but finally stayed for the whole week because of consecutive complications . Happy Christmas, me!

The surgeon told me that my oesophagus doesn't close any more, I can eat only small quantities at once; the Kusmak lap band penetrated into the stomach wall and was about to provoke a moral occlusion; the catheter complied in two and penetrated into my intestines, the box, continued to walk in my body.

In general, the Kusmak lap band provoked adhesions that I have to bear all my life, making my belly and general body movements painful.
In a few days, nine years later, I am going to have a new surgery because I still suffer from my Kusmak lap band exprience.
 

Conclusion

The Kusmak lap band cost me more than 2500 euro. I contacted the Kusmak manufacturer (INAMED) in Santa Barbara, California. They pretended they would contact the Belgian distributor and ask them to give a refund. Although someone from the Belgian company contacted me to fix a meeting, I've never seen anyone neither got a single red cent. 

The next surgery will be done on the back of the social security, because none of the parts accepted to take their responsibilities.
I began a legal procedure against the surgeon, but Belgium isn't ready to condemn medical errors and even less this arrogant "caste" that is the one of "Doctors in Medicine". I'm the only one to pay the bill.

My conclusion would be that, if you wish to have a lap banding surgery, make a search on the Internet, see different doctors and surgeons, try to find other people who tried such a weight loss means and then, make your own decision.

As for me, my decision is made: if I'd have to get 12 years back, I wouldn't do it.

Note: two friends had the very same problem with the same lap band. My family MD lost two patients because of the Kusmak lap band.