Hi everyone. I am hoping someone can please help me. I have been experiencing so many complications and I am in so much despair. I apologize in advance for this long posting. I was banded nine weeks ago. I am a self-pay and paid $15,000. After 5 weeks and my first fill, I had major pain on my left side near my diaphragm where the band is located. My LB doctor told me there was nothing he could do in his office (no testing equipment) and if I felt that much pain, I should go to the ER. After 8 hrs in the ER and a battery of tests, and an $8,500 bill, I was told they can’t find anything wrong. I was given a prescription for pain killers and sent home. Upon follow up with my lap band doctor, he said that it is just one of those things. The pain finally went away two weeks later and I hoped that it was in the past. About two weeks later, at 8 weeks post-op, I went in for my second fill. That same evening, the port area began bruising and I assumed this was normal, like when getting a shot. After one week, the bruising turned into a dark red and itchy rash about 5 inches in diameter. I became increasingly concerned and had my LB doctor look at it. He prescribed some oral antibiotics and told me to keep an eye on it. Four days later, the red rash turned into a full blown, ugly infection. It was directly over the port incision (which had already healed and closed over the previous 8 weeks). Today, the infection looked nasty. It was bubbling along the area where the port incision is, about 4 inches long. My doctor had me come in immediately this afternoon. He had me lay down and I thought he was squeezing the blistering area to drain the fluid. It was incredibly PAINFUL and I begged him to stop. I then looked down and was horrified to see a hole that was almost twice the size of a silver dollar right into my abdomen. He wasn’t “draining” it but scraping/digging out the infection/dead skin tissue. I thought I was going to pass out right there. Most of what he told me was only half understood because I was in a state of shock and disbelief. He stuffed a big wad of gauze in me, covered it up and told me to come back tomorrow morning to see “how I respond to the treatment”. He said he will have to schedule me for a "scope" (whatever that is) to see if I have any band erosion and possibly schedule me for emergency surgery to remove everything. Of course I'm still trying to get over the hole in my stomach. I can’t help but think that I will be disfigured forever, not to mention broke. And for 8 weeks the only fills I had were 2CC each and have had zero restriction. I feel like I’m the poster child for everything that can go wrong with the Lap Band. I wonder if my initial pain has something to do with this and my doctor was not vigilant enough. It seems like this infection was festering even before the rash began.

Edited October 29, 200817 yr by TJWOOD

Hi TJ Wood, I am so sorry for what you are going through. I wanted to share my story with you and tell you that based on my experience you need to take action quickly. I don't know how good or bad you're doctor is but I can tell you that my surgeron took my infection very seriously and took immediate action.

I was banded on Oct 2nd and my band was removed on Oct 17. About a week and a half after I got it, I started experiencing some pain in my abdomen. It was getting worse so I went to see the dr and he first thought that there was Fluid building up around my port and band (something your body does sometimes when it doesn't recognize what is happening to your body) and they drained the area. We thought this would take care of it but the pain got progressively worse. That night the pain was unbearable and my surgeon told me to go to the ER and then come see him first thing in the morning. I went to the ER and got some blood tests and pain medicine and decided not to do any further testing until I saw my dr the next morning. My white blood cell count was elevated which indicated infection so my surgeon put me on Levaquin antibiotics. He pushed around on my abdomen and I screamed when he pressed on my band. He was very concerned with this and said that my band was probably infected. He told me that he would give me 2 days of being on the antibiotics and if it didn't get better that he would have to go in and see where the infection was. There was a possibility that it could be my gall bladder or maybe my port was infected but he didn't think so and he couldn't be for sure without going in to see. He told me right then and there that if it was my band that was infected that the whole thing would have to come out. I was devestated but hopeful that the antibiotics would work. He was very concerned and said if they didn't work that he did not want to go past the weekend without surgery. He also told me that if I got fever over 101 to go immediately to the hospital. That night I got a 101.5 fever and went to the ER. They did a CAT scan and more blood tests but found nothing. The next morning my surgeon personally drove from West Fort Worth all the way to East Mansfield (about a 45 minute drive) to go get my tests and xrays from the ER I went to the night before. He met me back at his office and said I had one more day to take the antibiotics and then we needed to schedule the surgery if it wasn't miraculously better by morning. The next morning I woke up in even more pain and we called to schedule my surgery that day. He had me in surgery by 3:30 that day. When I woke up from surgery he told me that my band was very infected, the whole area was surrounded by pus (sorry, gross) and he had to take the whole thing out. I was devestated. It's been a month and a half since that happened. My surgeon has been very supportive and my follow up visits have been very frequent to make sure I'm doing okay.

My point in telling you all of this is that I feel from what you are telling me that your doctor is not taking this very seriously. I'm not a doctor but having an infection like that inside your body can be very serious. You need to listen to your body. Nobody else is going to take as much responsibility for your health as you are. Your high fevers and the pain you are experiencing is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong. Trust me, I did not want to get my band removed. It was devestating to me. I've lost $15,000 and a dream of a new life. But your life is more important. I just think you should either get a second opinion or demand some action from your doctor --- and not wait until the 20th. I pray that you find answers and healing and that you don't have to have your band removed but I also pray that you take charge of your own health. I hope this helps.

:thumbup: Dear JMH, your dreams of W/Loss are not over. Even though the Lapband didn't work out did your doctor mention waiting until you are well healed and then trying another procedure?

THere is Gastric Balloon, Gastic SLEEVE and a Mini-Gastric bypass...

Perhaps he'd cut you a deal on an alternative surgery, since the band was infected...

Just a thought... I am so sorry for what you've been thru... HUGS!!!! :girl_hug:

My port was infected, broke thur the skin and was removed 2 months ago. She needs to be on some major antibodatics. The culture will tell them which one to use. A white count of 15,000.00 points to internal infection. It is true that bact. can migrate up the tube to the band. You need a Cat Scan to R/O any infection around the band. Make sure that your doc. orders one. good luck to you.

I will blog more later, but for now, provide a quick update. I am still weak as I just returned home from being in the hospital two full weeks. I finally went to the ER on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (11/25). It was bad. My white blood count rose to 29,000 and temperature to 104. They did a CT Scan and found band erosion and that the band, tubing, and port was all infected in addition to three abscesses deep in my abdomen. My Lap Band surgeon, who had returned from being out of town due to his family crisis, had to perform emergency surgery. He made an incision from my breastbone to my belly button to remove the entire Lap Band system and also for exploratory surgery to find any other infected areas. When I came out of surgery, I had a feeding tube leading directly into my small intestines, a drain tube from my stomach and three other drain tubes from the abscesses. My original wound/hole was "re-opened" and twice the size. The wound culture that my primary care physician took on 11/18 took almost 3 full weeks to grow and identify. It was some form of Mycobacterium which is supposedly a stain of tuberculosis. The past two weeks have been a horrifying experience. Fortunately, through many prayers, I am on the road to 100% recovery. In a way, I am relieved to have everything foreign out of me. For me, the Lap Band proved to be the worst decision in my life. As far as determining my Lap Band doctor's performance, the jury is still out. There will be plenty of time for that. For now I just want to get healthy. I am tired now and will blog later.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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PS Not that it really matters, but I am not a woman, but rather a 42 year old father of 4 beautiful daughters and a husband to a very devoted wife.<o:p></o:p>

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TJ, glad to hear you are home and OK.

After reading your last post, I was very worried for you and had a feeling that you were hospitalized. One didn't need to be a doctor or nurse to know that for such a degree of infection to exist so long after the initial surgery, there was a serious problem brewing and INDEED THERE WAS!! I can't help but wonder if your surgeon had taken the time to culture and properly treat the infection early on, that maybe it could have been eradicated and you could have kept the band (and not wound up with a gigantic scar and having to heal from major surgery). Many people have had uneventful recoveries and great results with the lapband, so I'm wondering why your experience went so wrong. And, of course, I'm thinking about the sterilization techniques applied to the surgical instruments and other items used in the hospital or surgical unit, because this TB strain mycobacterium had to come from somewhere and I seriously doubt that it was lurking in your home! Maybe the hospital needs to be investigated so that this doesn't happen to anyone else! Maybe there was human error where a lab tech didn't properly autoclave an instrument or something and there was residual contagion on it that got passed on to you in your surgery?

While it may not have been your surgeon's fault that you got this infection, it was his responsibility to properly diagnose, identify and treat it at an early stage and that was not done! And, did you read my previous post where I found out your surgeon WAS IN TOWN (someone on OH posted that he did surgery on her on Friday 11/21/08), when his office told YOU he was not!

I feel so badly for you to have had to endure all of this when you knew that something wasn't right in the first place. Don't you hate it when doctors tell you that everything will be fine and then down the line, YOU (not them) are the one who winds up hospitalized and in pain? And, then they act like it was just some random thing and couldn't have been prevented?

Please take care of yourself (your wife is probably taking good care of you!) I am praying that you have a fast recovery. You have been through enough! When you are up to it, please post how you are doing. I don't know why I thought you were female, but accept my apology please and now I know you're a guy!

Edited December 11, 200817 yr by SaintsandSailors

TJ, glad to hear you are home and OK.

After reading your last post, I was very worried for you and had a feeling that you were hospitalized. One didn't need to be a doctor or nurse to know that for such a degree of infection to exist so long after the initial surgery, there was a serious problem brewing and INDEED THERE WAS!! I can't help but wonder if your surgeon had taken the time to culture and properly treat the infection early on, that maybe it could have been eradicated and you could have kept the band (and not wound up with a gigantic scar and having to heal from major surgery). Many people have had uneventful recoveries and great results with the lapband, so I'm wondering why your experience went so wrong. And, of course, I'm thinking about the sterilization techniques applied to the surgical instruments and other items used in the hospital or surgical unit, because this TB strain mycobacterium had to come from somewhere and I seriously doubt that it was lurking in your home! Maybe the hospital needs to be investigated so that this doesn't happen to anyone else! Maybe there was human error where a lab tech didn't properly autoclave an instrument or something and there was residual contagion on it that got passed on to you in your surgery?

While it may not have been your surgeon's fault that you got this infection, it was his responsibility to properly diagnose, identify and treat it at an early stage and that was not done! And, did you read my previous post where I found out your surgeon WAS IN TOWN (someone on OH posted that he did surgery on her on Friday 11/21/08), when his office told YOU he was not!

I feel so badly for you to have had to endure all of this when you knew that something wasn't right in the first place. Don't you hate it when doctors tell you that everything will be fine and then down the line, YOU (not them) are the one who winds up hospitalized and in pain? And, then they act like it was just some random thing and couldn't have been prevented?

Please take care of yourself (your wife is probably taking good care of you!) I am praying that you have a fast recovery. You have been through enough! When you are up to it, please post how you are doing. I don't know why I thought you were female, but accept my apology please and now I know you're a guy!

Are you a litigation attorney? LOL.......

I'm so sorry to hear about your infection and your docs rather casual reaction to it all. How frustrating it must be! Good Luck ....I'm sure this is just a bump in the road!

Sweaty, TJWOOD is in Mansfield Tx. not Mansfield Oh. Unless the person in Oh. went to Tx. to have their surgery, which is a possability. Are you from Oh? I am origanally from Mansfield,Oh.

TJWOOD is from Phoenix, or at least that's what it says here. Her surgeon is also in Phoenix, so I don't know why you think she is in TX. I am not from Ohio, nor am I an attorney! I just am appalled at the cavalier reaction her surgeon has shown to her serious infection!

Thank you everyone for your words of support!!. I really don't mind hearing anyone's opinions. I always remember that's only what they are, opinions. That being said, I hope that everyone can express themselves (not just this thread, but any thread) without criticism. I find that most people just want to be helpful.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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Anyway, after being out of the hospital for two days, I was re-admitted for two more days and got home two hours ago. What an ordeal. I went to My Lap Band doctor’s office on Thursday because “fluid” was seeping through my surgical incision. He opened up two spots about 1 inch long for drainage. I now have two more holes to pack w/gauze. He immediately sent me to the hospital for a test where they inject a dye into an abscess. This particular abscess is one of three that I had from the infection and located right next my stomach where the band used to be. They inject dye to see if it stays in this abscess or travels somewhere else. Specifically, he wanted to know if it was “communicating” with the stomach. The test showed the dye filling the abscess and then traveling to inside my stomach confirming that I have a small hole in my stomach maybe about the diameter of a pencil. The doctor started me back on the feeding tube and reconnected the drain tube to my stomach to relieve it of pressure from the gastric fluids. He said I need to be fed this way for a month. After about 3 or 4 weeks, he said the holed in the stomach will heal by itself. Can anyone confirm this? I was sent home with all the portable contraptions to make it happen. I have tubes everywhere, plus, I now have three holes that need to be packed with gauze everyday. I am trying so hard to stay positive but it is very difficult. It seems like every time I go one step forward, I take two back. <o:p></o:p>

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I don't "have it in" for anyone and don't consider my comments "nasty". They are just my opinion and it's a free country the last time I looked! If this were happening to me, it is what I would do. TJWOOD can do whatever she wants. it's her decision. NOT MINE AND NOT YOURS!!

A. I was just answering someone else's question as to who this woman's doc was, because she said she wanted to avoid going to him! Why don't you get on her case? I am not even the one who mentioned that this doc had paid posters. That was someone else as well! I never knew there was such a thing as paid posters! And, you think I AM one of them? Well, for a "paid poster", I'm not doing my job very well. Only (now) 3 (THREE) posts on here and maybe 8-10 on ObesityHelp over a 6-8 month period?

B. I do not "push" Simpson. I don't even know Simpson, or any of these docs for that matter. I only know what I have read from what others have posted, and maybe they are ALL paid posters! I have no idea - truly! Someone was asking about LB doctors in AZ, so I repeated what I had read. I also mentioned Debarros because I read that he has a lapband himself and has been through the experience. And, because you brought it up, I just read my old comments on the AZ board from MONTHS ago (I hadn't been on there in MONTHS before checking in recently) and I also mentioned in ONE post ONLY that I read that a Doctor in Mexico called Aceves was supposed to be good.

C. This woman should not have had to go to her primary physician to test for infection, after all that time with the infection growing in her body - her surgeon should have taken blood, urine, or whatever was necessary when she showed the first signs, instead of just scraping out the wound and letting her go home to a dangerously high fever. The PCP knew what to do! Why didn't her surgeon? What if she had waited a week or so to see her surgeon and not gone to her PCP? And if her surgeon did give her antibiotics (it appeared as though he was just treating the wound, not the systemic infection), why didn't they work? Perhaps she needed ones which were specific to her particular breed of infection which he didn't bother to test for.

P.S. I am not the only one on here who is concerned that this poor woman's surgeon has "dropped the ball" with her care. Perhaps I am the only one who mentioned that he should be reported for it. Maybe that was hasty, but this is the type of thing people can die from and should be taken seriously, as others too have said. Just because someone has an M.D. after his/her name doesn't mean they never make mistakes. If someone is not doing their job properly, they should be called on the carpet for it, no matter if they are a "doctor"! In fact, even more so BECAUSE they are a doctor and have sick people depending on them to make the proper decisions and do the proper tests! Plus, if you read what TJWOOD actually wrote, she said that the doctor's office said that he would not be BACK IN TOWN until Tuesday, so if he was performing surgery on Friday, he was OBVIOUSLY in town.

I'll tell you what I do hate and that's doctors thinking they are above everyone else and lying to patients! That also goes for doctors not informing patients about all the weight loss options that are available to them; they like to just inform patients about the specific surgeries that they perform. Like it or not, medicine is a business just like everything else and everyone is trying to make a buck. I guess that explains the need for "paid posters".

And, if you think they know what they are doing in the ER, you are sadly mistaken. The ER sends people home all the time after misdiagnosing them only to have the patient come back dangerously ill.

BTW, her last message said she had 103+ fever. I'm more concerned about why she isn't posting, than worrying about what her surgeon did or didn't do at this point! She may VERY sick!

It is not "outrageous" (as you say) to report a doctor for not responding appropriately to infection - another surgeon in AZ got reprimanded and cited by the medical board for it and got dropped from his hospital, leaving the patients he had in his pipeline in the lurch - that was about 6 months ago. And, a few other prominent surgeons in AZ have also been cited. Many more than once. You can read for yourself on the medical board, if you are so interested.

Maybe you work for the doctor who did this to her? Maybe you're one of those "paid posters" that BubbleButt was talking about!! Sure sounds like it! Let's see how many others of you are going to jump onto this board and attack this post! I guess BubbleButt was RIGHT!

Hear hear. Excellent post. I agree with everything you write.

Keep up the good work!

:rolleyes2: Dear JMH, your dreams of W/Loss are not over. Even though the Lapband didn't work out did your doctor mention waiting until you are well healed and then trying another procedure?

THere is Gastric Balloon, Gastic SLEEVE and a Mini-Gastric bypass...

Perhaps he'd cut you a deal on an alternative surgery, since the band was infected...

Just a thought... I am so sorry for what you've been thru... HUGS!!!! :cursing:

Sadly, the gastric balloon you refer to is only meant to be temporary, 6 months at best. The MGB is nothing short of dangerous. It's not done by ANY good surgeon with skill and a positive reputation. A sleeve or bypass are better options.

I totally agree with you about the concept that there is life after revision, I'm proof of that. ;o)

Also, as clarification, I live in the Phoenix area and went to Dr. Schlesinger for my Lap Band surgery at Arizona Weight Loss Solutions.

Are you a litigation attorney? LOL.......

Ya have to admit, the poster has some good points.

If they are a lit attorney, *I* woudn't want to go up against the person. ;o)

Wow, Tom!

Sorry to hear of what's been happening to you. I guess the upside is that you'll lose weight from the feeding tube! LOL (I thought you could use a laugh.) Does the doctor have any idea where the infectious agent came from? As I said before, that type of virulent bacteria isn't just hanging around your kitchen at home. More like the type of infectious agent you'd find in a hospital setting. I'm concerned that the surgical instruments (perhaps even the lapband itself?) weren't properly sterilized before they used them on you, or maybe one of the nurses didn't change gloves after treating another patient and then infected you while changing your dressings in the hospital?

I am also concerned that, because you were a self-pay patient for the WLS surgery, your insurance may balk at paying for all of these other hospitalizations, surgeries and emergency procedures which will probably amount to more than the original band costs. (I think a lot of people are wondering about that.) Someone else on here wrote that her surgeon ate a lot of the costs for the follow-up problems. Maybe yours will too?

Thanks for clarifying where you are from. I don't know where that other poster got the idea that you were in Texas.

Godspeed for a uneventful recovery and I hope you have a happy and healthy new year. Please keep posting - I was very concerned when you didn't post for 2 weeks and now we all know why.

Edited December 14, 200817 yr by SaintsandSailors

Hello everyone. Thank you again for all of your support. You don’t know how much it helps. Never, in a million years did I ever think I would end up here, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. I suppose I just have to figure out how to squeeze some prime rib and Christmas cookies through my feeding tube. LOL! As you can tell, I am in better spirits. I really try to stay positive and focus on getting healthy. It doesn’t help to pity myself. Once I am healthy, there will be plenty of time to figure out what I am going to “financially” or “legally”. I don’t know what the bills will come in at, but I do believe my insurance has approved everything. My deductibles (in network and out of network) combined are about $12,000 so I am assuming that is the most I will have to pay. My guess is that the total hospital bill will be around $200,000 so the $12k is a bargain. Does anyone know about “holes” in the stomach? The medical term is fistula. As I previously mentioned, I have one at the upper part of my stomach where the band used to be. The doctor has bypassed my stomach, is draining all gastric fluids out with a drain tube, and prescribed Nexium to “quiet” the stomach down. He says that in 3 to 4 weeks, this hole should heal itself. This is why he did not need to go in and surgically fix it. It sure would be helpful if someone else has any info on this. I’d hate to go 4 weeks with this feeding tube just to find out otherwise. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

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Tom, glad to hear you're in better spirits! When you say that the doctor "bypassed" your stomach, do you mean he gave you an RNY gastric bypass operation? If not, when does he plan to reconnect the stomach? Or is the feeding tube going directly into your intestines?? Usually, I think it goes into the stomach, but I really am not sure.

I hope your insurance covers more than $12,000 - maybe you can appeal? When you add that to the original $15,000 for the lap-band that had to come out, it is not a pretty number. :-(

I am praying for you and wishing you the best holiday possible, considering the circumstances.