LuckyGirl

After having my band for 5 years, I had to have it removed in an emergency situation. The dr said there was a ton of scar tissue on my stomach and my port site. Now, one year later, I am still noticing pain in both places. My husband says it is from the scar tissue. I am convinced some of us handle foreign objects in our body better than others. My body obviously wasn't happy and fought it. Now, when I strain my stomach - doing sit ups or sitting up fast, i have deep pain at the port site. Not fun!

Hey Donna, I think the only reason we had pain was because our tubing got loose and was poking us in our insides - sort of like a sharp knife because the tubing is pretty hard on the ends. If you are not having pain your tubing must still be attached or in the same place - which is a good thing:) That is why you have to get it fixed quickly before it travels!

My doctor has never said anything about Ibuprofen and I take it often. I hope its just the port for your sake. Mine offered to fix it in the office for a reasonable fee but I waited too long and it started moving down into my belly so I had to go under and get it fixed. Yuck! Hope you don't have to do that! Good luck!

Sorry it took so long to respond. What happened? Did you get the surgery? I had surgery 1 day after we figured out my band was loose. Let me know how you are doing!

Hi TJ's Mama, Isn't the pain horrible?? I thought something major was wrong - like my appendix had burst! I feel great after surgery and there was no damage that I could tell. I think my doctors office thought I was lying about the pain but it was so intense I couldn't hardly move. It started on one side and moved to the other which had me all confused. I first thought appendix, then ovaries and because it was moving I thought colon.... crazy! Hope it gets better. No, my band was not recalled that I know of.

I do not have the realize band. I think I have the Lapband - is that made by Allergen... I do not know how these things break and we are supposed to be responsible...

Hey Gary, I had my follow up this week. All is well. I demanded a little more than he wanted to put in and found myself choking on my spit so I had to go right back in for a small unfil. It feels nice to have restriction again too! He said mine broke at the pin, by the port so he had to replace the section. I talked to him about sleeping on it and he said sleeping on it is fine - that the tubing is so deep in the stomach that rolling on it will not break it. I am just paranoid because I want it to stay good for a long time! Glad you are well. I was talking to someone with a sleeve yesterday and was wondering if I had done the right thing - having to maintain this thing and get fills often but I concluded that for me this was the best option. I never want the opportunity to stretch my stomach or get back to my old eating habits. The band seems to keep me straight! Take care!

Hi Gary, Glad to hear it went well! I should have done mine in the office right away because waiting a few weeks may have given it too much time to travel. He said mine was a break too. Sometimes it can leak at the port or at the middle pin but I think mine was just plain broken in the middle. I will find out more when I get my fill in a couple of days. I have a 4 cc band and 3.25 was good so I am hoping he puts at least 2.5 in this week. I have gained like 5 pounds so I am ready for a fill! I have been a freak about my port - not sleeping on it or anything... I do not want this thing to mess up again! Thanks for the update!

Hey Gary, It was just like the previous 2 surgeries (for the band and the slip). They put me under. I had to wait til the end of the day though so I went over 24 hours without any food or water! That sucked! The recovery was about the same too. About 4 full days of pain and then it let up. I just took it easy. I was given hydrocodone for pain which was great but found out it makes you constipated. So for a few days things were going in and nothing was coming out so I felt like I was blowing up and would pop! I don't know if that is true - you may want to ask your dr - if pain meds do that to you. All I know is finally stopped taking it and stuck to just ibuprofen and things started to flow. Plus, I had all that air stuck in my abdomen from the surgery which takes a few days to leave. My shoulder was killing me that night in the hospital because of that! Hope it all goes well. Are they putting you under? Please post and let us know how it goes! good luck! oh, i have a fill scheduled for next week so hopefully everything will be up and running again soon!

Hey all, Update: once we figured out it was leaking I was scheduled to have it repaired in office. I asked for a flouro so we could make sure we knew exactly where it was. It took 2 weeks for me to get the flouro and first they took a shot of my abdomen. Found that the tubing had completely come loose on one side and was floating around in my belly - like a snake. It was causing so much pain - poking me everywhere. I had to end up going in for surgery to repair the tubing. Insurance did not cover the repair - i had to come out of pocket quite a bit. sucks but hopefully this will be it!

Hey Gary, Well I went in and he attempted to pull out fluid and got none so he said def a leak. Basically, insurance, although it paid for my band and slip, will not pay for a tube repair so I have to pay 500 to do it in the office. If I wanted to go to the hospital it would cost 5k... no thanks! really sucks but what are you gonna do - gotta fix it! oh well, kind of like expensive tires! let me know how yours turns out. oh and port doesn't hurt when I lay on it but its uncomfortable, i can feel it. I just wonder if all that laying on it for 4 years made it leak... who knows!

Hi Gary, Let us know how it goes. I go in tomorrow to talk to him about the leak. Something is going on but you know I sleep on that side and I am always dealing with positioning my pillow so that I am comfortable by my port - maybe I knocked it loose... who knows but I am like you =- I love my band and it's sort of like a car that needs maintenance. I will continue to do what I have to do to keep it!

I will have had my band 4 years in December. I did slip in the first year and had it fixed but all has been well since then. I went in for a fill the other day and the doctor could hardly get any fluid out. He said, "uh-oh!" He went ahead and gave me more fluid but I can eat just about anything. I wonder how I am going to have this fixed... is it a real surgery or in office? I was insurance pay so it should pay for this too. I said as long as insurance keeps paying for the upkeep I will keep the band... sucks though!