Hello all

I was banded October 25th 2011 in Grand Forks North Dakota. Everything seemed to be going fine, I was eating much less and I had dropped 12 pounds right away. During November I started having slight pain in my port site and was told this was normal and it should go away. I was active doing Water aerobics 3x a week and walking. One night while I as at the gym the pain in my port site was stronger than normal. I bent over to pick up my gym bag and I felt excruciating pain in my port site. My friends had to dress me since I was unable to move hardly and I was rushed to the ER. After x-rays had told us that everything looked fine I was sent home with medication and followed up with my surgeon the next day. I was in so much pain I could not walk, bend, twist, or move by myself.

He admitted me to the hospital for further testing. The conclusion was that I had developed a rectus sheaf hematoma underneath my port site (bleeding into the muscle). This is apparently extremely painful while healing and takes a long time. He had never heard of this happening before and he has done over 600 surgeries. I was put on bed rest for an ENTIRE MONTH. I was in the hospital December 7-9th and finally could walk without assistance by Christmas. During that time I had 0 activity.

I am pleased to announce that since I had that complication I have not had any pain in my port site. I just want to let you guys know if you are having prolonged pain in your port site to please please contact your surgeon right away.

I am only down 18 pounds since October which makes me very very sad. I was hoping to be down much more by now. I have a total of 4cc in my band after 2 fills at the moment but I am hungry between meals and am not sure why. I am very concerned about my hunger because I cannot seem to sedate it! If you have any tips about calming hunger in between meals it would be greatly appreciated!

I am feeling a bit un-inspired at the moment and need some advice

Thank you so much for posting this. I am having discomfort, so now I will see my surgeon tomorrow! Thanks for sharing!

I am sorry for what you've been going through! Don't be bummed, you're down 18 lbs even with 0 activity for that long! Just get back on track (follow your doc's orders, of course), and you will start losing again. You're doing great, you're going to keep doing great!!!

I'm thinking of doing a NO carb diet along with my band, to maybe speed things up a bit? since I am losing maybe 1 pound a week. I am a lot more active right now too!

You are losing 1lb a week? That's great and an ideal rate of weight loss.That may not be what you want to hear when you have so much further to reach your goal, but take heart in the fact that you are doing it really well at the moment. After your very rare complication, you are definitely on track! It took a long time to gain the weight and it will take time to lose it.

Good luck and keep up your great work.

Are you cleared to get another fill now? It sounds like you are not in the green zone yet. Look at it as a bump in the road and a slow start, but it does sound like things will go better for you now.

Oh my! Thank you so much for posting, so sorry you have had to go through this!

wow, that is scary stuff. I am glad you are better now. I agree, if you are losing a lb each week that is great.

i'm glad you didn't freak and start eating wildly again.I don't know what I would have done? I have been losing a lb. each week now too and I have been working so hard to believe that it is ok. I am losing, not gaining! keep doing your best, going in the correct direction - DOWN....

Well i guess it has been a pound every other week or so? I have 4cc's in my band right now. I know i really really need to go to the gym and this week i have scheduled 4 Water aerobics classes that i must push my self to go to. I think my lack of weight loss has to do with my inactivity. Before i had my complication i was very active but now i have just kinda slid downhill. Tomorrow I am going to get my life back on track and shed those pounds!

I have been trying to do Carnation instant Breakfast for 2 meals a day and have chicken breast for dinner to start dropping some pounds.

Don't be down on yourself; you had a big complication & it changed things. You still lost weight and that is something to be proud of! As for hunger between meals, drink lots of water, and maybe snack on some crunchy veggies; the fiber will help keep you full longer. And maybe you do need another fill.

I just had a fill a week ago she put a full cc in. I have been doing lots of water/crystal light, munching on pumpkin seeds and trying to fill up on that instant breakfast stuff, it seems to be going much better than before.

Fills can be so frustrating. I often wonder where they "go" when it seems you have restriction but then it fades. I hope it gets easier for you!

So last monday/tuesday I did my workouts and then Wednesday I started having port pain again... i thought maybe it would just go away. It has gotten worse every single day since then. I see my surgeon tomorrow for a CT scan and talk about doing surgery to move my port because it is causing LOADS of pain/problems

Oh no! That's so crappy. I hope it is a minor issue this time.

UPDATE On march 5th I had to have emergency surgery to have my port moved to a different location. While my surgeon was inside he noticed that my hose to my port was bent and was causing the port itself to wedge itself into my abdomen. i am much better now! -40 pounds down and i have 4.5cc in my band