does the port leak?

[sandra1516 1]

I been wondering why after a fill it don't take long before im hungry again.like 3 or 4 weeks. So I been thinking that the needle is put in the port to put the saline in to fill the band. so does that mean that it leaks out the hole that's put in the port to give me a fill,?? I mean, it is a hole with a needle.and the more fills means the more holes in the port and maybe the more saline leaks?? im asking if anyone knows?

[catfish87 3,471]

They use a Huber, NON coring needle. It doesn't/shouldn't leave a hole in the port access material.

Does your surgeon/fill person check to see if you are losing Fluid? They should......

[2muchfun 8,928]

My doctor explained it like this. Our esophagus and stomach are controlled by or are muscles. The esophagus uses peristalsis to massage food through the esophageal sphincter and the pouch is part of the stomach and also contracts and expands to force food through the stoma(band). These muscles seem to gain strength as they are stressed by food swallowed. Being stronger they push the food through easier than before giving you the sense your band isn't working as well.

Seems to make sense to me. Before being banded, our esophagus just massaged the food through the sphincter and it fell into our stomach. Now, the pouch fills up and as we continue to eat, the esophagus and pouch must work harder than before to push food through the stoma.

This could all be BS but it does make sense to me.

tmf

[terrydumont46 1,954]

sounds logical to me. but i would on your next visit just ask the doctor to check how much fill you have. it only takes a second. and be sure you are telling your doctor of your hunger. this helps him decide on the fill he is going to do. sorta keep a record even if its a mental one. i am having to do that now. i question myself as to whether i am eating enough at meal time vs my hunger after eating.

[kll724 3,055]

Usually, ports do not leak, if you have a leak, the only way to find out is have your surgeon, or whoever fills you to check the chart to see how mush you have and then to measure when they fill you! Mine, always, withdraws what is in, and then refills again! Best wishes, Karen..aka..kll724

[BandtoSleevechick 171]

They can but that is usually because of a defective port area and not common.. the covering to the hole on the port is a special substance that stops it from leaking.. think of diabetic insulin and filling the needles.. the vile doesn't leak ..Call your Dr if you are worried.. but you might also have a nauseated feeling associated with the leak. I have not had a leak personally.. friends I know have and that is what they told me.. the feeling of hunger could be your very own bandsters hell.. for some people it takes more then one or two fills before they have proper restriction... Goodluck!

[SandyM 1,956]

Also, when you get a fill, often A little irritation will occur causing a slight swelling. This is Just the bodies protective response. When the swelling is gone, your fill will settled and sometimes this can take weeks to happen.

[Srock 35]

I been wondering why after a fill it don't take long before im hungry again.like 3 or 4 weeks. So I been thinking that the needle is put in the port to put the saline in to fill the band. so does that mean that it leaks out the hole that's put in the port to give me a fill,?? I mean, it is a hole with a needle.and the more fills means the more holes in the port and maybe the more saline leaks?? im asking if anyone knows?

According to the manufacturer, the port has been tested and will withstand over 200 accesses before losing any integrity. My question is this: if the port is difficult to access and the MD is not using guided fluro, he may miss the port and puncture the tubing. How many people have docs that do not routinely use fluro for fills and just accesses blindly?

My surgery is 1/21 but I know my doc does blind access. Should I be concerned?

[2muchfun 8,928]

Srock, the shape of the port is easy to identify and if the tube was overlapping it would be easy to feel. With guys, the port is sewn onto our abdomen and protrudes as a lump on our chest just below the left breast.

[SandyM 1,956]

My port is right between my lower ribs. I can feel the rim of my port easily. My doc does a blind access and has no problem. I access mediports all of the time and really, it's not complicated. I've never missed one even an infant port which is much smaller than ours.

[Pepper28 82]

I recently had all the Fluid drawn out & then put back in just to get an accurate cc because like you, i thought id sprung a leak.

My chart read 8.5cc's but only 6cc's were in my band. A difference of 2.5. Which we figured were about 3-4 visits where either the nurse was just sticking me and the Fluid was going else where OR id had a leak.

I went back 3 weeks later and the fluid was the same so there was no leak, the nurse's fills were unsuccessful.

Once the needle is in, theyre suppose withdraw a tiny bit just to make sure theyve accessed the port successfully and this wasnot being done for 4 visits!!

So have them measure whats in the band next time for a few visits just to make sure the amount remains the same and go from there

Good luck and plz keep us posted

[SandyM 1,956]

What you must understand about these little ports are they have very small tubes and when pulling the saline out, it's very easy to get an air lock (bubble) and think you have it all and there be some residual left in. My surgeon removed all of mine on day 4 due to way too much stomach swelling. She put in 2cc on my next visit. Next one after that, she put in 1/2 cc. Next visit was able to draw out 4cc. Thing is when she drew it all out, she hit an airlock and thought it was all out and it wasn't. Main thing is it works. And I asked my surgeon about the need to know amt in ER and he said not necessary at all. He said ER doc would draw it all out and let him take care of it on next visit. Like he pointed out, if ER doc only took out 1/2 cc and you still had problems it would cost you another ER visit. Makes sense to me.

[2muchfun 8,928]

I've always been suspicious of amounts of saline in our bands and how accurate the readings are. Except, for fluoroscopic fills. Fills under fluoro you can withdraw all Fluid and then re-inject the Fluid and measure it as the doctor monitors the swallow flow on the screen.