Band Rejection - Answer to Port Problems
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First, let me apologize to my band buddies for not posing this sooner, but some drama (B.S. to be exact) kept me from being honest about the latest on my port situation. I told only a couple close band buddies that I had an appointment a couple weeks ago to see my band surgeon about my still-open wound (it had closed over a couple times but kept opening and draining.)
While I was at my surgeon's office, he received a phone call. It was very disturbing, because the caller knew my business and asked my surgeon for a "free port since you're giving Lisa one." Till this day, I don't know who that caller was, or where they got that information. I haven't seen any posts, and the few people that knew of my appointment swore they didn't say anything, but the whole dramatic nonsense had me pretty ticked off. I've been playing "Detective" since that day. Nothing is free. And as far as a new port, when I made the appointment, I was going in with a blindfold on. I was under the impression I'd be put to sleep for an endoscopy, then I'd either wake up with a new port, or without the band depending on the endoscopy results. To top it off, I came home to find several different PMs to me from various people, all asking about my port and about my surgeon. Sure, they were probabaly coincidental, but it was too strange.
So, I'm sorry that I had another surgery last week without telling you guys, but you can all probably understand why I felt better keeping quiet.
On to the important stuff: Most people know my whole story, but for anyone new, I got my band on May 5, 2004 but the port became infected. On June 16, I had a second surgery to remove the infected port. But the port incision never healed, even after the port was removed. When they removed the port, they left the tube in (this is the standard procedure for an infected port - to remove the port and clamp off the tube so that the area can heal.) But my incision area never healed. It remained an open wound most of the year with a little Fluid draining every day.
I saw several doctors about the open wound, and nobody was able to tell me why it wounldn't heal, although everyone agreed the area was definitely not infected.
So January 6, I went to my band surgeon for an endocsopy. I gave my surgeon results from an Upper GI that I had last month. My surgeon reviewed the Upper GI and said my band looked good. But then he took one look at the incision, and he told me that I'm rejecting the tube. And that, my friends, is why the wound refused to heal - because I'm rejecting the tube.
I will eventually need my entire band removed. The tube is made of the same material as the band, so I will eventually reject the band also. Based on the good Upper GI results, my good weight loss, and my desire to lose more weight, my doctor said he would try to help me lose even more before having the band removed. I had to sign a waiver stating that I had already faced one port removal and tube rejection, and that I understand a new port will also reject in a matter of time. I willingly signed the release, and then I went into surgery, where he gave me a new port. He said it could reject in one week, or one month, or one year... it could even reject today or in three years, but there's no way of knowing when it will happen.
Meanwhile, he removed a lot of inflammatory tissue from the old port site, and OUCH, this was a painful one. Yahoo, it still hurts like a bullet wound. He removed the tube from the old incision and removed all that inflammed tissue, then put a new port in much lower and to the left in some clean, healthy tissue. He used the same incision but made it bigger. He didn't make any other new cuts. I came home with five stitches (about 2 inch incison) that was much more painful than any other incision, and after a week, the incision opened and drained like a faucet. So far the new port site (he put the port away from any incisions) is calm and quiet, but this incision is taking it's time healing, and is still draining. I took 3 stitches out myself, and I'm seeing my local sureon tomorrow to check the wound and hopefully take out the other two.
He did not perform the endocscopy since my band looks good right now, and since we are on borrowed time. He said we will do the scope once I start having signs of port infection, and that we'll keep my band inside me as long as possible. Two hours after the surgery, I got dressed and walked to radiology, where he gave me a fill under fluoroscopy. My surgeon was very pleased with the way the entire procedure went. I was very pleased, as was my husband (who stayed with me the whole time.) I told my surgeon that my first fill was 1.8 cc, but he disagreed. He told me I only had 1cc of saline in my band, so he gave me a total of 1.7. Honestly, I can't feel the new fill because my port incision is so hard and swollen and bruised that it's all I can really focus on.
This was the hardest of my 3 surgeries. I actually layed in bed for 3 days and every single night after work cuz this bugger hurts! It's been 10 days and it still feels like a bullet wound, so I hope my local surgeon says it looks good and takes the last 2 stitches out tomorrow.. crossing my fingers.
Part of the reason I haven't posted is because I don't want any sympathy. This is the hand I've been dealt, so I'll deal with it accordingly.
Just for today I have a band, and a port. This is my last chance to get my eating back in control, and for 2 days I haven't done so well (after a whole week of fasting I went a little junk-foodie.)