I went in for a fill and after the first stick, the NP said my port had flipped or twisted but she got it back in place enough to do a fill. I do have more restriction so it worked but I am really worried about the port being flipped or twisted. Anyone else have this? What did you do about it? Did you see the surgeon to discuss? The NP just gave me a fill and said she would see me in a month. Should I be worried? I am 15 months out and today broke the under 200 pound mark. 25.5 pounds to go!

My realize band port did the weirdest thing. About a month after surgery I bent over to pick up a piece of paper off the floor and it popped out! Seriously, I had to push it back in, and then wear a compression belt for about a month. Ever since then there is some funky kink in my hose, and drawing Fluid out is nearly impossible without jiggling my ever more flabby belly around near the port site. All this does though is make it more difficult at fill time. If they put too much in at first, fine tuning the fill is more difficult, but not impossible.

On the other hand.. YAY for breaking 200!!!!! Congratulations! Keep up the good work, and try not to spend too much time worrying about your port!

Thanks, kirafiki, I am really excited. AT 59, it has taken awhile. This was my hardest and sorest fill yet, Maybe I won't need another. I am at 6.4 in a 10cc realize band. Thanks again and good luck with your weightloss

That doesn't seem right?! Does your doctor know of the problem with the port? I haven't gone for my surgery yet and I'm wondering if this a common problem with bandsters?

Not yet...my current dr. did not do the surgery. He is very good though and I am hoping she was wrong. I won't see him for a month. I don't think this is a common problem and completely unexpected for me. Since the port is anchored in the muscle with the realize band, it seems unlikely that it flipped. I am sure they will have to do an upper GI to find out for sure. For now, it is just really, really sore from the fill....or maybe because it really is flipped!

I went today for a fill and my port is flipped. Surgery again in 2 weeks (I am less than 2 months post-op)

Did you realize that your port had flipped prior to going , i keep touching my port and it feels like it flipped, feels like a rim pushing thru? IS that what happened?

Did you realize that your port had flipped prior to going , i keep touching my port and it feels like it flipped, feels like a rim pushing thru? IS that what happened?

No, I had no idea. I went in for a fill and that is when I found out.

I knew something was wrong with my port right after surgery I turned too quick and I felt a burning inside where the port was stationed.

I went in for my 1st fill last Thurs and the doctor bent 3 needles before he realized he could not find it. 2 days later I was taken the hospital/ radiology for a Floroscopy.

And the darn thing was completely facing the opposite direction. My doctor pressed down on my stomach and was able to make it flip sideways and he was able to do a 2.5 cc fill in a 10 cc band.

I am most upset because I have never had any restriction following this ordeal!!!

Oh well, I'm hoping for restriction next month when I go back for another fill.:thumbup:

My port is flipped as well. My doctor puts a pillow under my back and is able to tip it up enough to get a fill in. Has done this the last four fills but today he was not able to get any fluid out so I'm having a fill under fluoro next time to see what is going on. Am hoping there is just a kink or something and not a leak. Don't want to have surgery again.

How did we get so lucky. :thumbup:

Hi,

Yes mine flipped as well. The docs tried to get the fill needle in several times and kept hearing metal and clicking sounds. I just had port revision surgery last week to fix it, he said he hadn't seen a case as bad as mine ever. Hope all works out with yours.

I went in for a fill and after the first stick, the NP said my port had flipped or twisted but she got it back in place enough to do a fill. I do have more restriction so it worked but I am really worried about the port being flipped or twisted. Anyone else have this? What did you do about it? Did you see the surgeon to discuss? The NP just gave me a fill and said she would see me in a month. Should I be worried? I am 15 months out and today broke the under 200 pound mark. 25.5 pounds to go!

I had to have a port revision also when I was 4 years past the original surgery. My doc couldn't access the port, so over to the surgery center to look at it under flouroscope, and sure enough.....it was turned upside down, with the underside of the port "sunny side up"! I had a short surgery to reposition it, and voila! .... back in business! I guess it isn't that uncommon for them to flip? Too many people have that issue so too bad there isn't a better "anchoring" system!

I went in for my 3rd fill today. 5 months post-op. My last fill was in May and we discovered then that the port had "twisted". My surgeon pushed the bottom up and BINGO - after 5 tries, he got the needle in to the port and was successful with the fill. Today, well that is another story. 10 attempts, No fill, still no restriction! I am going back on July 11th to try again and discuss booking a revision surgery. I am bummed and sore to boot but hope this is only a blip in the radar! My surgeon mentioned today that he has been doing this for a long time and has never seen this before. He has over 500 band surgeries completed with 85% of patients continuing to see him for follow-up on a regular basis.

Did anyone else seem to be REALLY aware of thier port all the time? Is that normal? Since day 1, I have been very aware of it at all times. If i rub up against anything or have pants touching the site. Also, I can not lay on my stomach comfortably since the surgery. Anyone have the same thing?

I had port revision surgery as well 2 months post op. I also have a kink that makes fills difficult. To make matters worse, I am losing my insurance at the end of this month so not sure how I'll pay for or get more fills. I wasn't able to sleep on my stomach for 6 weeks after my port revision.

I also have a Realize Band, and I also have a dislocated port. I believe that the port was improperly installed since I had surgery, but it wasn't really noticeable at first. Each port is attached to your body (usually your abs) with four little clips. You can kind of envision where they are located by looking at this pic:

Anyway, with me, since surgery I believe 2 of those clips were improperly put in. This caused problems accessing my port; the first 4 or so fills I had, the nurse practitioner didn't get the liquid into my band at all because the port was crooked. (Later I started demanding to get my fills directly from my surgeon, and he was able to work around the crooked port.)

Now I'm 2 years from surgery and I have been investigating the best way to get my port replaced. You'd be surprised at how many different options there are out there for a port revision! Last week I popped a 3rd clip on my port, and let me tell you, it's REALLY noticeable!

(super big picture....click on it to see my port sticking out)

http://www.phoenixrevolution.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/IMG_4888.jpg

The danger of this is pretty obvious: when you've lost a lot of weight and have less fat to protect the twisted port, it can very well erode through your skin and pop out. I encourage you to discuss a port replacement surgery ASAP. Deal with it now before it becomes a problem.

Hope that helps a bit!