DeLarla

Shoot, today I have a tiny red patch below the incision and just a little itchy as if I'm allergic to the tube. Me and my friends are keeping eagle-eyes on it. If it gets any redder or warm, I have an emergency round of antibiotics at home (thanks, Donali!) I know my own body better than any doctor, and it feels exactly like an allergy. I'm taking two Benedryl tablets right now, and my friend is going to track the time and incision to see if the redness goes away. But why have I gone 6 months with no redness or irritaton? And isn't it strange/odd/coincidental that the wound closed up for 2 days with no leaking, and during that time it got red? As if the liquid needs to come out or the tube gets pissed? Sonia, none of my posts are meant to scare anyone. I live on this board for answers. These people have saved my life. I'm actually glad to go through all these problems if it means someone else won't have to suffer one day. I don't mind being an experiment! We're all glad you're researching beforehand. It's important to know that there are risks involved. But please know that even after all I've been through, I'd be banded again in a heartbeat. As far as my problem being unusual, yes, that's true. But even so, you have to add my possible "rejection" into the list of potential problems. Maybe erosion is only 1% nationwide, but if you add up all the infections, slippages, port revisions, rejections, etc., that risk goes up. But lots of stuff can be corrected without removing the band. I didn't know who Lindsey Lohan was, so I checked her out. That's a total compliment! She's hot! I better post a new pic of me soon, cuz my avatar is that one special pic that is really cute but doesn't look like me. That's why I keep it there! And NO, I'm not kidding about my port being missing. I need to call Dr. Kuri's office and see if they know what happened to it. Maybe Inamed received it but here's why I say it's lost: Craig Arthur at Inamed needed the serial number, so he called Lopez's office since the serial number should be in my medical file. Inamed was unable to get the information from Lopez (scary, huh?) I didn't chase it any further though. Then when Kuri took out my port, I was under the impression he had to send it to Inamed. But if Kuri sent it to Inamed, then why is Craig Arthur having trouble getting the serial number? Hmmm.... I've heard "rumors" that Mexican doctors use cheaper ports, and that issue was addressed to Inamed just recently. They stand firm by Lopez. As far as I'm aware, I have an Inamed band. Even if China or Japan made a new band, how would one tell the difference between the the fake and the real one? All valid concerns. Shelly, I always get so excited when you jump in. Thanks for showing up!

I haven't farted all day. I'm meeting Greg today for the first time. I hope he farts first. HAHAHA.

Shrinking Violet, you should call your doctor and tell him about the discomfort. You might have a little infection or something. Maybe it's fine, but such misery over the port is uncommon. Sounds like the kind of thing you want to bring to your doctor's attention right away. I think everyone is always aware of their port, and there are days it's more sore than others, but you should not be so uncomfy. Trust me, I'm the Queen of Bad Ports! They removed mine because of infection. You're probably fine, but for peace of mind, see your doc. If not for you then for me?

We should meet up with this Santa fella and ask him to provide LapBands and capable band surgeons to every obese person in the world. Santa could use a band himself. Thanks Jane, that's so nice of you! Made me get all girly inside reading that. But then I laughed at the house for your MIL. "Inlaw" stories are my favorite, got any good ones? I'm going to start a new post for funny inlaw stories. This should be good.

Ladies, I'll be meeting Greg for lunch today. I'll bonk him on the head for that remark. How many bonks?

Fabulous! Happy 8 months!

"Lisa's case is VERY unusual." Yes, it is. Many will tell you LISA is very unsual, but that's me! Even Lopez said rejection only happens to a small percentage. Larry at Inamed told me there's a 13 year-old girl that rejected her port. She had her port removed and is doing pretty well with just the band. If this wound was closed, I wouldn't be concerned with a new port yet. I still have restriction. The only reason I want a new port now is because I want to resolve this open wound. If they move the tube, maybe it can heal. And since I'll have to go under anesthesia for the endoscopy, it's better to have everything taken care of at once. Now I just have to figure out the who, what, when, where and how$. Thanks, Whip. I honestly would not have handled this alone. I wasn't handling it very well for awhile, but I'm good now. There are people out there with bands unaware of this boards. All I have to do is post an SOS and people crawl out of the woodwork with suggestions, help, support, phone calls. I have peace of mind knowing I'm not alone. I hope one day my experience can help someone else. Then it will worth it.

Next time I lose restriction I'm buying some fresh pork rinds. I'll do anything for good restriction! Polish Fill. (I can make Pollock jokes since I are one.)

Interesting concept, Zoe. I didn't start believing in myself till late in life. But since then "what is" is never good enough. There's always something better, and I feel a huge change coming on. I only finished college a few years ago and said if I ever became a paralegal I'd stick with it 5 years. It's only been 3 years but it's getting really old. Considering our legal system is supposed to be based around justice, it sure is an unfair and head-spinning game. Elizabeth, did you get your GI results yet? I hope they're good.

Getting older and losing love ones is wrong. I simply can't comprehend why we have to go through that. Maybe we should start a new post since they both deserve the respect of something better than this title?

Why did Lopez and Larry refuse "to let you bring up the past"? That's a darn good question and one I addressed adamantly. Larry put me through to Nora on a 3 way call and the first thing I asked is "why have you guys ignored me." But Larry cut me off and told me not to bring up the past, so I tried again. He then disconnected me from Nora, which made flames shoot out of my nose. He told me that he's here to help me get my problem fixed and bringing up the past won't help. I told him bringing up the past is the only way to resolving the issues that will get my problems corrected in the future. When Lopez called, he only wanted to talk about resolving my medical problem. I'm at their mercy, so I let it go because I can't afford to step on any toes with people that are helping me. I'm exhausted, and I just need to be fixed up. Damn leaky port is just a flowin' away. I always think of the positive, so I imagine the liquid is melted fat just flowing out of my body. Maybe visual imagery helped me lose all the weight! Becky, today was my regular bike group in addition to the toy run. We drove the truck to our meeting place, and it broke my heart to stay behind. I decided to stay off my motorcycle in fear it might open my closed wound. I could've went, considering the wound opened anyway. It's icy and raining here so my Angels temporarily closed the wound to trick me so I wouldn't ride... they're always watching out for me.

Nancy, Penni is the LBT wiz. You can always tell who is on-line here, and you can see exactly where they are. That's how I know she was lurking in my profile. I don't think they can change anything, but anyone lurking around my profile too many times is damn creepy.

I'm not going to be angry or upset. I simply refuse to let this bugger win, but this afternoon I felt like I had a wet diaper - only it was my shirt. Yep, sprung a leak. Oh well, being closed for over 24 hours was a start, right? And the PMS hormones have shifted from weepy to bitch so no more crying (but looking for shoes to throw.) I came home (out playing all day) embarrassed that I was so weepy and mushy earlier and feeling goofy for writing such a long post. Silly hormones. I knew you guys would all be there, and Penni, I look forward to waking up with you holding my hanny one day. Thanks girlies for being my backbone. No matter what, I'm not going to wallow in self-pity cause that won't get me anywhere. Now it's rainy and cold so I'm gonna snuggle in the big bed with my mutts. Maybe take a nap! Love you guys! Lis Oh, and it's no secret how I got Lopez to call me. I called Inamed directly. The guy that answered didn't know what to do with me cuz I was hyped up, talking a million miles a minute, half-crying, at my wit's end. He actually put me thru to Lopez's office where Nora answered, but that didn't go well. So Larry left a message on a number only Lopez answers, and Lopez called me back. They are great friends, so Larry had some pull.

Everyone was saying how beautiful he (but they say that about all babies) so I had to check him out. My goodness, the only thing missing are the halo and wings. Breathtaking. I'd never want another present as long as live.

I edited the original version of this post cause things changed during the day; I originally posted that my wound had finally closed for 2 days, but it opened up again this afternoon. It was a thrilling 2 days while it lasted! So I'm shortening this long post. For newbies, my port site became badly infected so they removed my port in June, and the wound remains open. It's not infected but it leaks every day so I have to keep it clean and bandaged. My second update had me in tears this morning after hubby gave me my one-month-weigh-in-smooch. In November, I gained 6 pounds on vacation. It took me 2 weeks to lose it, but then I went to California and gained it back. Add Thanksgiving, indulging in countless no-nos (food wise) and the fact I work with the Erin, the world's biggest diet saboteur, PLUS, My period will be here in a day or two so I'm probably bloated, PLUS I DON'T EVEN HAVE A PORT, and I managed to lose an additional 2 pounds (crying again) bringing my total loss in 7 months to sniff, 66 pounds. SIXTY-SIX. It's unreal, unbelievable, insane, baffling, cunning, powerful, righteous and indescribably miraculous. And I didn't diet - not one single day. I'm going to copy this part in the weigh-in thread also, cuz I'm on top of the world so duplicity is okay. About my port: I've shared with a few people because I didn't want everyone to know; but now I realize how unfair it is to hold information back since this board is integral to our safety, success, and general band health. We need all the info we can get, right? Here goes: In the past months I've been to Urgent Care 3 times, the veterinarian, my primary doc, my secondary doc, my gastroenterologist, a local surgeon, an official band doctor, two radiologists, and I've shown my open incision to over 25 people including several nurses. Everybody says it looks great (even though it leaks.) 45 days ago, both surgeons agreed it would heal. But I was still lost since none of these doctors are capable of giving me a new port. So I called Inamed last week and gave them an earful and cried and complained and vented my anger. Larry got Lopez to call me. Inamed & Lopez refused to let me bring up the past, and I felt at their mercy, so I talked to Lopez and gave him my history since being banded. His first statement was that he needed to open the wound and let it heal from the inside out. That pleased me greatly since he was in sync with the local surgeon - at least they both had the same opinion. But I told Lopez that the surgeon already did that over a month ago, and it never healed (remember the pics I posted of the hole the surgeon made in my wound?) So Lopez was glad I had it cleaned out, but he said the only other reason it wouldn't heal was infection. I told him all the folks that looked at the goop ensured me it's not infectious fluid, and based on all the information, Lopez was 99% sure the tube is rejecting. He said since the tube and band are made of the same material, that my band would eventually reject as well, and that he needs to remove my band. We went over a lot of details, but he wants me in Mexico ASAP to do an endoscopy to confirm his beliefs. I asked if rejected bands erode, and he said, "most likely." He said a small percentage of people reject the material, and I'm one of them. I told him, "no, you can't have my band" so we started making deals. He said if there's no erosion, we could "milk" my band a little longer. He was extremely impressed with my weight loss - pleasantly shocked. Based on my loss, he agreed to put a new temporary port in to see if I can lose more. But he said that I'd have to come to TJ prepared to have the band removed, cuz they'd do the endoscopy when I was under the anesthesia, which means I'd go to sleep but won't know if I either have a new port or no band at all till I wake up in some Mexico hospital. He said if I'm 100% no erosion, he'd put the port on the opposite side. He said it will most likely react the same way my first did, which is to leak and never heal, but based on my experience dealing with an open wound, if I keep it clean every day, I may be able to get the same mileage out of a 2nd port before needing to have the entire contraption removed, I'm taking everything with a grain of salt till I get the endoscopy results, but I'm not headed to Mexico yet because I don't have the money. Lopez won't charge me surgical fees, but I'd have to pay the hospital and endoscopy, but he said he'd get me discounted rates. I don't have the money now so thank God he said my situation is not an emergency. Meanwhile, I've got my wheels spinning in many different directions checking out other options, other doctors, other prices. I'm extremely grateful this isn't an emergency so I have time to kick it around and get other opinions. I'm preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. I'm handling it super well. And I STILL HAVE RESTRICTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So no hurry. Blessed. Truly blessed. There's something to that "one day at a time" that keeps my spirits rejuvenated. Just for today I have a band. Just for today I can eat one taco and a couple bites of burrito. Just for today I can be free from compulsive binge eating. Just for today I am alive and well and damn it, crying again. I wish I could bottle this feeling and share it with the world. Thank you, every one of you, for being my backbone. Please pass me a tissue – rolling alligator tears – the good ones. Thanks for reading. I love you.

Hey there, don't consider anything band related complaining. You have a new implant around your belly, and we've all been through it. I've been whining for 7 months here and everyone is still nice to me! Try the heating pad on your lower back for the gas pains. I put my heating pad everywhere that there wasn't an incision. It helped a lot. Nothing else helped my gas pains though - I just had to wait it out. And I started feeling a little better after a couple days, but then it got worse for a week. I asked if that was normal, and lots of people experienced the same thing. Drink your water!

Gosh, I wish I could burp. I wasn't able to burp well before the band, but aterwards I let some pretty impressive sounds out. Better a burp than a toot is what I always say. But I read the famous "Fart Page" and they said the two aren't related, so even if I could burp the alphabet I'd still be toot-tootin' the night away.

Good job Leatha considering I didn't even get the lyrics right. Ya know, someone gave me a good idea, which was to just keep my incision open, yank the tube out, and do my own fills. Waiting for Inamed to put out the new "external port" - do it yourself.

Hi Kathy & Teresa, I can eat anything... except pork rinds! Maybe we should just eat a few before every meal to keep us from eating anything else.

Well hello there, Banded Fran! Glad to see you. I'm a little concerned that you said you are afraid to eat because I was wondering if your doctor told you to eat so soon. Most of us had to stay on liquids for a week or two. Did he give you aftercare instructions? A heating pad for that shoulder pain worked wonders for me and I also put it under my back to relieve some of the gas & bloat. Good job on not having a rough time!

Thanks, Nana. The latest "rumor" I heard about a new Inamed port is that a doctor might not be able to buy the port as a separate part, but instead he'll need to purchase the entire band just to replace my port. Another doc said the port alone would be $600-$800 (yes, for that little nickle-size part.) I don't know what the entire band w/ port part costs. I'm trying to get that clarified. My head will spin right into the clouds if I start getting a wide range of prices. So if anyone ever needs a new port, you need to pay for parts, labor and delivery: Traveling, surgeon's fees, anesthesia, hospital, and the port.... sheesh, they'll probably even charge for the fill, right? Cha-ching! If you can't be, with the port you got, baby, love the port you're with, love the one port with, doo doo doot doot doo do daa doot.... name that tune.

Has anyone paid attention to their surgical scars? When I was first banded, they were all over my body. Now that I've lost 60 pounds they're all closer together, so they're all right in front of me. I used to have to moosh (I like that word) my belly with my hands to see the lower one, and now I just look down at it.

I really like the sound of a sternum port. I don't think they should put it under the ribcage to either the left or the right. Mine was under my left rib, which is too close to the stomach/band. I still have the tube, so I can never tell if the tube is bothering me of if it's the actual band. To place it on the right would be bad since I have occasional gallbladder twinges. If I get a new port on the right, I won't be able to tell if it's my gallbladder or my port. Sternum port sound perfect, plus I'm a Libra so my scales need to be balanced. I'd feel more even if it were in the middle.

And a pony.

Actually, it helps a lot, Babs. Restriction differs for a lot of reasons. If I eat too much salt or drink certain things, I'm tighter. But I know I'm ready for a fill... I've milked my first one for 6 months.