I believe my Erosion was a end result of my port complications that started 2 months post band placement.

I had my band placed in April, by June my port area was reddened, hot, inflammed, itching, tender to touch. The Mexico surgeon that placed my band finally took a phone call from me after 3 weeks of trying to get in touch with him. He claimed that I was rejecting the band. WRONG!! I didn't know it at the time but a raging infection was brewing. We set up a time for me to go see him. About a week before I am to go see him I get this protruding thingy in the port area. IT was not through my skin but almost. I knew it was the tubing. You could feel the tubing through my skin. So I go visit my MX surgeon in TJ at his nifty swifty new offices. He tells me that I do not have an infection and that I do not need surgery. He also says to me that once I lose more weight the tubing will go back into place. Whatever that meant. SIGH!!

I don't agree with his assessment so I ask for a list of doctors that will take his patients in an emergency. Dr. Helmuth Billy was on that list. I called up his office and made an appt. He took one look at my protruding thingy and said you need to have the port repositioned and the tubing trimmed. The MX surgeon had not trimmed the excess tubing when the band was initially placed. If Dr. Billy had not repositioned and trimmed the tubing and fixed that then I would have had the same situation that Lisa experienced. THank goodness I didn't listen to the MX surgeon.

So fast forward to the 6th of Dec when I had my endosocopy and found Erosion. Dr. Billy seems to think the problems all started with my initial redness around the port site. So now that I no longer have the band I am advocating that anyone that has any port complications PUHLEASE seek out your BAND SURGEON and discuss your options.

Pictures to follow of all mentioned above.

HERE HERE, Thank God for Dr. Billy.

Port infections lead to erosion, not vice versa.

This is certainly a valid opinion, but it is just that, an opinion from a non-medical person. From everything I've read, it seems like "AND vice versa" would be a more accurate way to say it.

Who can really tell what happens in other people? It's wonderful that you have done so much research and understand your own situation so well, but it's risky to generalize too much. There are important lessons to be learned from your and others' experiences, no question. But lets try to avoid speaking in absolutes when we're not in possession of all the facts for every single incidence of band complication out there.

"Erosion causes port site infection."

Yet this statement is acceptible? I know several women who didn't have port site infections that were eroded. Why is my statement being corrected yet this "opinion" isn't?

Just because it wasn't exclusionary. Erosion probably does lead to port site infection, if the doctors have seen it happen. And it's entirely probably that the reverse happens as well. You said "not vice versa" and that's what I was trying to qualify.