Rockin' Robyn

I'm still a little groggy from my anesthesia today, but I just had my infected port taken out today, and I will be 5 months post-op on Jan 5th. I kept putting off the band removal because I like you am worried that I won't be able to use my band optimally if the port was taken out (I had an american doc). What I learned is that they can "cap off" the tubing and put a little cap on the end of the band when they remove the actual port piece. If they choose this technique, you should maintain your restriction that you are currently at. The unfortunate thing is that if you are not at your "sweet spot" yet and they remove the port, then obviously they have no way to adjust (add fills) during your 6 week to 6 month healing time. The only thing I would have done differently is to make sure I got one last fill and was at my sweet spot and comfortably there (not too tight) before the band removal. Keep on them don't let them blow you off. This is a serious situation. I will be posting pics tomorrow of my port removal site. Better to be safe than sorry. You have come too far, don't go back. Best wishes to you and keep us updated.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I'm home....The procedure itself was about 45 mins with a 2 hour recovery room time. I have to say, I wasn't expecting it to me this much. I am in just as much pain as I was with the band being put in. He removed the port and left a gaping (and I mean gaping/deep) hole in my stomach to drain out all of the infection. Praise the Lord it is over. I had my nurse friend come over the pack it with gauze, as I couldn't do it to myself. I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow when I have another dressing change. Warning though, it is pretty gaudy and not for the squeamish Thanks again! You guys are awesome:squareeye

I'm in....The end of year challenge has been an awesome experience for me. I'll do it again and again;-) I think a 'minimum' of one NSV is a great idea, then people can post more if they choose. I am for the longer time span, because I am destined to have at least 1-2 off weeks/plateau and that way it makes me feel like I have more of a chance to succeed over the long haul. Will see you next week!!

It took me a total of 5 fills, getting up to 8 cc in an 11 cc band to feel even a smidgen of anything! I went one beyond and have had 6 fills, currently standing at 9 cc, and could probably use a tiny tiny top off. Everyone is definitely different, but it is definitely interesting to see other's stories:cross-eye

Well it's official, my port is coming out emergently tomorrow at noon (December 28th). I am nervous and incredibly relieved all at the same time. Please pray that I do well with the procedure/anesthesia. My doc is planning on giving me at least 6 weeks to heal before going in and putting in a new port in a different location. I'm hoping I don't lose any of my restriction by having the procedure. Most of all though, I'm just relieved to get the baseball sized knot removed from between my boobs!!!:rolleyes Thanks to all of you for your support and words of encouragement through the past 4 months. I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

I too have had a port infection for the past 4 months and have NEVER had a fever. The area is just hard and tender to palpation. Only one day out of the past 4 months has the skin been reddened. You don't necessarily have a fever because the port infection is compartmentalized in the area, not a systemic (body wide) infection. However, it can become that way (which is very dangerous-also known as sepsis) if not treated.

Cheri- Not to scare you, but that is EXACTLY how my port incision looked. I am going to try to post a picture (I haven't done that here before, so we will see how it works out). This picture was taken 5 weeks out-not at all what a typical healing incision should look like at that point. My port site took an unusually long amount of time to heal on the skin--almost looked like a cigarette burn in the middle of my scar that kept oozing and wouldn't heal. It took 2 months all together for the skin to be completely drainage and scab free! Now almost 5 months later, I am just now finding out that I definitely have had a port infection all this time (that the docs all the time suspected and never told me) and now I have to get it taken out probably next week, if not sooner. The pain is intense at times, and I feel like a have a baseball under my skin between my boobs I have been through 4 rounds of antibiotics, and if you are keeping up on Delarla's posts, you know this is just a bandaid so-to-speak in order to 'put off' the port removal (which is the ONLY cure for getting rid of the infection). The port is a very porous piece of the band (meaning it has lots of microscopic holes where bacteria love to grow) which makes it an ideal area for nasty goop to live. Knowing what I know how, I can't say that I would have done anything differently, as the band has worked wonderfully for me up to this point, and I'm very afraid that after my port removal, my progress will stall. However, I am not very far into my lapband journey yet, and I am praying this infection doesn't lead to erosion for me someday (as I know statistically it can). If I ever erode, my view on things will most likely be much different on what I could have/should have done differently. My advice to you is to watch the area very closely, be assertive in what you want your doctor to do for you, avoid the antibiotics if possible, STOP using Neosporin (It is oil based and actually can trap bacteria into an incision-its fine for superficial wounds but not deep incisional/surgical wounds), GENTLY feel around the area often and immediately report any changes like firmness that grows in diameter/redness/pain/swelling. Good luck to you Cheri. Thanks Delarla for your infinite wisdom. You have helped me so much in my journey already! I also just want to say....This Thread is AWESOME...Finally a place to put all of these posts. When you are going through the thick of things (with complications), it will be nice to have a centralized place to quickly read through to find information on what others have experienced in relation to their similiar experiences. Thanks LBT!

I have had that happen as well. Have you lost any weight since your last fill? My doc explained that this phenomenon sometimes occurs when your body chooses to lose the fat specifically located around the stomach/band area. This in turn can cause a 'loosening' effect of the band.

CCBSTX-I tend to agree with you. I have been losing weight much better than I expected throughout this 4 month journey. But I have always been of the philosophy that since reading so many posts on LBT that it was obviously going to take a great deal of time (3.5 months for me to be exact) to get to my sweet spot. Therefore, I wanted my doc to be agressive in getting me there-weight loss or not! I know a lot of docs won't fill you if you are still losing weight. But my doc is great and takes many factors into account when making the decision to fill (including can you still eat bread/meat, how long are you satisfied after a meal, how much can you eat at one time). I like the fact that he doesn't determine whether or not you need a fill based on your weight loss for the week/month. You can lose 2 pounds a week on Weight Watchers, but the stamina to stay on the program, and maintaining the weight loss was always the problem for me. I, like you, always lost 2-3 pound per week in the weeks/months following my surgery, but never experienced much of any restriction until just two weeks ago. In the back of my mind I thought of my first few months as a very strict "diet" so to speak, and like all the other millions of diets I had been on in my life, I knew that my success would at some point come to an end if I didn't have my band to help me. And when that point DID come, I wanted my band to be there to back me up so I could truly use it as my tool. I therefore was filled every 2-3 weeks until I experienced restriction (I didn't wait for my weight loss to slow and THEN get a fill). I know others will disagree with me on this philosophy, but all I can say is that it worked well for me and each and every person here has to do what is best for them. I have loss 78 pounds in just 4 months, and I feel fantastic! I realize that this is an unusually high amount of weight to lose for bandsters, but I have worked very hard and I believe I truly owe it all to my 'assertive fill' philosophy. My relationship with food has completely changed. I now view eating almost as a chore, instead of a recreational sport. I have only been able to "feel" the effects of a restrictive band-therefore being ABLE to use it as my weight loss tool-for the last two weeks since I have gotten to my sweet spot. Had I waited all this time to start my fills or be more agressive/assertive with them, I know that at some point I would have fallen off the wagon and desperately BINGED repeatedly just as I have so many millions of times before, gaining back what I had lost. Knowing what I know now...Had I taken that road, it still would have taken me the 5 more fills and 3 months to reach my sweet spot since our bands get filled incrementally. I personally never felt the band was truly a "TOOL" for me until it was perfectly adjusted. The difference now is #1, I have no 'desire' to binge. And #2, even if I had the desire-I couldn't because my band is perfectly adjusted and she wouldn't let me even if I tried!

I know exactly where you all are coming from. Today is my 4 month bandiversary, and just one week ago, after 6 fills (and a wonderfully agressive fill dr) did I finally get to my sweet spot! I for the first time in my life don't care about food. I kept reading other people say that, and thought "Well they may experience that, but I doubt I ever will." Knowing you are at your sweet spot truly is only something you can experience. People can explain it to you all you want, but I personally didn't believe it would ever happen-or for that matter even comprehend how "sweet" it is, until it happened to me. My advice is to continue being VERY patient, and if you are still hungry...not restricted...and able to eat regular amounts at each meal-be agressive and ask for those fills! My theory is that time is of the essence (since statistically most people lose the largest amount of their weight in the first 6-12 months). Hang in there

Hi Everyone- I have a question. I have had 4 fills and am at 7 cc in a VG band. I don't feel that I am at the point I need to be yet, restriction-wise, but my mind is playing games with me. The situation is that I have done well chewing and eating slow, and I am feeling a sense of 'tightness' with the first few bites at each meal, but then it seems as everything gradually opens up and I can continue eating a full meal. Am I supposed to be just stopping after the first couple of bites? Will the band eventually keep me from continuing past a certain point if I get it filled even more? Or will there always be the feeling of having restriction initially-which is the point at which I should stop and not continue eating? Also, I also am MUCH tighter in the morning, and feel like I could eat the kitchen sink in the evening. Will this also go away when I hit my sweet spot, and will I ever get restriction in the evening? I guess I'm just confused as to whether or not to continue being so agressive with my fills since I AM actually feeling restriction with the first few bites. Any advice would be much appreciated

Thank you for this post everyone! I have been quietly worried about this same thing. I just had my 4th fill with a total of 7cc's in my 10cc band, and am still not feeling much restriction. With my last fill, my doc made the comment "I have a feelling you're going to get great restriction after this one. In fact you might even have to be on clears/mushies for two weeks." Much to my disappointment, I have had little to no restriction after the fill and am eating regularly. It makes me feel better to know I'm not alone and other's have gone up to more than 10cc of a fill.

I am the one who was hospitalized for the huge hematoma after my first fill of the port. I had my second fill 2 weeks ago, and again, had a huge hard knot around the area of my port. The weird thing was this time it wasn't as painful as the first, and the knot grew more slowly and started 2 days after the fill. I think in some people, there are blood vessels that actually grow around or close to the surgical site after surgery as part of the body's healing process. I have come to the conclusion that this will be something I always have to deal with. I'm going to just plan and take it very easy after fills. As far as the hematoma's (blood clot) in the tissue resolving, my doc said there is nothing I can do except wait for the body to reabsorb the clot and take pain meds if it gets too uncomfortable. Hang in there! I know how you feel, but it will all be worth it in the end

Hello Everyone- Needing some support. I was totally excited for my first fill. There was some difficulty in trying to locate my port...but all in all I thought it went well. The next day, I started having severe abdominal pain (worse than the surgery or even childbirth!) My husband ended up taking me to the ER, where I was hospitalized for 3 days (Now I'm going to be stuck with another large hospital bill). The final verdict by my surgeon was that he had inadvertantly "nicked" (sp?) a small artery next to my port when trying to locate it during my fill. What ended up happening is that I had developed large hematomas (blood clots) in my abdomen. He said this is a very rare occurrance..of course I would be the lucky one But my problem now is that I'm having massive amounts of anxiety about the next fill! I contemplated doing the next one under fluroscopy, but that would cost me an extra $650 each time (I'm self pay). My question is has anyone had anything close to this experience before, because I had never even heard of the possibility if hitting a blood vessel during a fill causing abdominal bleeding. Also, for those of you that have had trouble with the surgeon locating your ports for fills and then opted to instead fill under fluroscopy, was it worth it? Just needing encouragement I guess, as I'm just thinking to myself...what if this happens again-because arteries typically don't just move out of the way or disappear...they will still be there the next time we try!