Kimberly Theisler

I am 29 years old. I had the lapband surgery on November 19, 2010. Since then, I have lost 122 lbs. April 2011 I started getting very swollen and red on my stomach where the port was located. I had a CT scan and i was filled with fluid and inflammation. My surgeon had me come in 3 days later for surgery to remove it. The fluid ended up being a MRSA infection. One week later, I went back in for surgery and had the port relocated to the right side. My hospital had only been doing this surgery for a month prior to me getting it done, so this was something my surgeon had not yet come across, so therefore I was his first patient to have a relocation done, and it was successful. Here we are, 7 months later, and I was having terrible pain on the right side near my port, and it felt almost like gallbladder pain. It increased throughout the day, and I couldnt stand up straight or sit up straight. I went to the ER, had another CT scan, and they found a lot of inflammation again (but didnt see fluid this time). I've been admitted to the hospital for a week, been on a round of Vancomycin antibiotics, pain meds, the whole 9 yards. My surgeon thinks that when I had the infection last time, part of it may have been inside the catheter part of the lapband (the actual band), not just the port. The infection had taken months to settle around the port itself. He said we could relocate it again, but I was worried about getting another infection months down the road. I can't keep ending up in the hospital and having surgeries left and right. I have a 6 yr old son at home and I'm a single parent. I made the decision to have the entire lapband removed, hoping it will solve the infection issue. It was a very difficult decision to make, I was very emotional over it, hoping I was doing the right thing. I'm deathly afraid of gaining weight again. I started at 312 lbs 2 weeks before surgery, 306 lbs the day of, and was wearing a size 24 jeans. I am now down to 190 lbs and am in a size 14 jeans. I havent been this size since 7th grade. I never want to go back there again. I'm very scared, but everyone keeps telling me I'm definitely making the proper decision, for health reasons. Losing weight was great for my health, but constant infections are more dangerous...one infection can sneak into my heart or somewhere else and kill me. I'm not going to let that happen. I just hope this all works out for me in the end. My surgery is at 1:00 this afternoon...here goes nothing!!