I had to have my port replaced last year due to a leak in the tubing (was punctured during a fill) and I'm wondering how common this problem is.

Please answer the poll and discuss!

yes after about 6 months of not having any restriction and after many difficult fills the dr decided to ck the tubing under fluro and die was injected into the tubing you could see the big leak. the fills i had had were always very difficult consisting of anywhere from 6-8 sticks each time and 2 fills under fluro. i am sure the reason for the leak was the sticks but i still had to pay to have a repair to the port where the tubing was repair and i really didn't ask for a lot of the details. they didn't have to replace the whole port. Since the repair i finally know what restriction is, but i think that the six months of not having any restriction really didn't help me because i picked up a lot of bad eating habits during that time that have been hard for me to break. i have only lost 47 lbs in 14 months and most of that came after the repair which was in march 07

I have had only 3 fills. After the first fill they stated abot 1/2 a cc "was lost", but not to worry about it. The last fill kept pretty much all the liqiud. I am concerned though...Why does it take these nurses a couple of sticks to find the port. I can feel it so easily and my tummy is not that big. Plus they see the port on the screen. I don't appreciate the doublesticking, because I am worried about puncturing the tubing, besides the discomfort of course...

Are most of you bandsters experiencing this or do they hit your port on the first stick??!!

My dr. always hits me on the first poke. I thought I had a leak last week. I lost all my fill and I don't know why. They say he may have not had the needle in far enough.

I got another fill today and I am definitely restricted. I just hope it loosens up some, or I am going to have to go and get a slight unfill. I don't want that needle poking me anymore than necessary after the scare of a possible leak.

does a repair require another surgery?!?!?!? I havent had a fill yet and am a little anxious and scared....does it hurt? I would love a detailed reply..lol

Yes, the repair required surgery. I chose to be put totally asleep like with the initial surgery but I know a girl who just had her tubing and port replaced that did it with a local.

The surgery for me was much easier than the banding. My doc went in through the same port incision and there was no gas involved. I took a couple of days off to recover (mostly from the anesthesia) and was back in action within a few days!

I have had only 3 fills. After the first fill they stated abot 1/2 a cc "was lost", but not to worry about it. The last fill kept pretty much all the liqiud. I am concerned though...Why does it take these nurses a couple of sticks to find the port. I can feel it so easily and my tummy is not that big. Plus they see the port on the screen. I don't appreciate the doublesticking, because I am worried about puncturing the tubing, besides the discomfort of course...

Are most of you bandsters experiencing this or do they hit your port on the first stick??!!

It's hard to hit the port without fluoro. You can feel the port but the target for where the needle goes is much much smaller than the port.

Put a thimble under a couch cushion and try to stick the needle dead center in the thimble. It's harder than you think.

With that said... using fluoro should make all the difference in the world. If they are still missing and your port hasn't turned to a whacky position, it's a lack of skill on the part of the nurse.

My doc has never poked me more than once and he goes right into the port. He uses fluoro.

Just came from Dr. office and he thinks that I may have a leak. We will know on Monday when he will put some dye and use the floroscope to see. Today he only pulled about 1/2 of what has been put in through the port. That is not a good sign. Will keep you informed...

Bumpity bump bump!

What do you mean by "Bumpity bump bump..." ???!!!

Just curious.

What do you mean by "Bumpity bump bump..." ???!!!

Just curious.

Just bumping the thread back up to the top of new posts is all. It's a common term on message boards.

I'm new to the forum. I had made up my mind to get the band, (self pay) and I knew about the possible complications, but I guess what I never thought about was, does anyone really know what the complication rate is? I mean, it seems like many people get complications after a certain period of time (3-5 yrs). Is a complication just a matter of time? Is a 3% errosion rate time dependant? I'm so bummed about this feeling i have that you only have so long with a band before it fails, and then it's back to square one. Can someone help?

Jmarie

:clap2:Okay, I do have a leak. It was found through floroscope this past Monday. Once that was discovered, my physician decided that we would get this fixed asap. I had the fix yesterday and am doing great today. I was put to sleep and did take today off to recover, but will be going back to work tomorrow. It was no big deal. I did not get to talk with my doctor, so I am curious as to what the cause of the leak was from. I guess I will get that info next week....

I am getting frustrated. About two months ago, I had pretty decent restriction but not enough. After losing 75 pounds I have been plateau-ed for almost a year. I have about 30-50 lbs still to lose. So, went in for a fill. Well, it ended up being too tight so went for a slight unfill then ended up with very little restriction. Went back, and there was only 1/2 of the fill that was supposed to be there. The dr. thought he just screwed up and filled me back up. Well, now I don't have much restriction again.

So, am going back for fluoro. This totally sucks b/c I am self pay. Not sure if I can afford to have it fixed even if it is a leak.

Is anyone self pay that had a leak?

I was self pay.

Drews- how much was it for your port replacement?