Hi All!

Have a question I am hoping someone can help me with. I had my Lap Band surgery on November 19 with no complications. Every day gets better as far as less pain and soreness. Well, at least until yesterday. I have been following my liquid diet to the letter and have been very careful in everything I do so as not to risk injury. Anyway, yesterday I was sitting slightly slouched down in a chair which was uncomfortable for my stomach so I decided to sit up straighter. All I did to accomplish this was to take the palms of both hands and put one down on the edge of the seat on each side of me and push myself up. Didn't take much to do it but I felt what I thought maybe was an incision tear inside. Ouch! I just can't make up my mind if it was possibly the port or the band around the stomach. Since then I have been sorer inside in that place. Then today I was laughing at something my daughter had said and wow, it felt like something pulled in that same place! Kind of surprised me as well as hurt.:biggrin: My daughter and I were out shopping at the time and we had done nothing but walking and looking, no pushing, pulling, lifting or twisting. We had to put our shopping to a stop because the pain kept increasing to the point I was in tears. I was cooking dinner tonight and had to have my husband and one of my daughters finish it because I began hurting too bad. I started crying because of the pain as well as because I was frustrated to have this set back. It is frustrating me as now I feel sore almost like I did when I was only about two days out of surgery. And I'm supposed to go back to work on Monday. I have missed too much work over the past month already as I had my gallbladder removed only one month before I had my Lap Band surgery, so I have been off twice in a month's time.

Has anyone had anything like this happen shortly after banding? I pray that I didn't damage anything that might cause complications. When I am sitting down or lying still it hardly hurts but when I am moving around then it gets painful. Especially when I am up walking around. My youngest daughter is all ready to send me to the doctor but I don't want to get in a panic and make a bother of myself if it's nothing to be worried about. I would feel pretty sheepish if I paniced and the doctor told me it was nothing. :thumbup:

If anyone has experienced anything similar to this and can give me some advise, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!!

wow i was banded on the 16th and i must tell you i have been wearing a binder just about since a week out. it makes everything feel better i have less swelling and my belly has that extra support i need. You might want to try that out see if the extra support helps out with your pain. Keep in mind that everything is fresh in there and any sudden movement can cause things to hurt. If you are really concerened or if yoiu have any new symptoms like redness or swelling you should contact your doctor.

Thanks for your response. I feel a little silly asking you this...what is a binder? Is it kind of like a girdle or band to wear around the stomach. Where can I get one?

I do not have any swelling or redness thankfully.

the binder i wear is like a briefer its panties that come all the way up to under my bra line. Similar to spanks higher power panties. I tell you it has been a life saver.

Bunches of thanks for replying back to me. I am doing much better. I think hanging in there was the right choice instead of running to my surgeon right away. Maybe I paniced to easily.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!!!

Hello, My surgery was on the 23rd. I asked the surgeon about such a pain and he told me that it was normal. What I am understanding, is they have to attach that port to something, other wise it would just be floating freely in your tummy. So, I am thinking they attached it to a muscle. When I use that muscle on the left side of my tummy, it feels like a terrible burning sensation and it pulls something awful. But, my surgeon assured me it was normal. My pain has been getting better and better with each day. I had an infection at the port site though, so I have been on antibiotics also. But, I finished those finally.

yes it is the port site. My doctor told me the same thing. Sneezing and coughing hurt and I'm still sitting up straighter just because I feel it and it's sore. I believe in about 4 weeks it should feel better.. I have about 1 1/2 weeks to go for that. Please don't worry about work either. I'm out for a total of 6 weeks because I'm a CNA and there is no way I can go back to work lifting patients right now. This is for YOU and you need to take care of yourself.

it's PROBABLY nothing since healing for each of us is different and your pain could be completely normal...BUT if it's something that's so bad you're in tears? DON'T FEEL SILLY ABOUT TALKING TO YOUR SURGEON! What's the worst that he's gonna say? He'll say (or he SHOULD say) "why don't you come in so i can check it out"....it will be a quick visit.

And if it IS something, you don't want to wait any longer to have it looked at before it can become something more serious....CALL YOUR SURGEON! Don't take any chances....GOODLUCK!!!!!!

I have been wondering about the very same pain. Today is day 16 for me and i am considerably better than i was a week ago. HOWEVER, i have been getting unexpected pain. That burning/tearing pain in the left abdominal is really annoying!! I havent been too worried about it because I was expecting some unexpected things and have heard about port pain. Mine is getting better. Good to know that it can take 4 weeks though, it means i have plenty of time to heal.

I cant promise you thats it's ok, but i can tell you that you are definitely not alone!!

Good Luck!!!

I'm 4 weeks out from surgery and my port is still sore. I'm on my feet most of the day, moving around my warehouse, lifting/bending and for the last few days my port has been so sore, I wanted to cry.

I told my doc about it on my last visit and he said it really takes about 6 weeks for that soreness to disappear completely because the port is 'settling' in.

Makes sense, but I think I'm going to try that binder idea to help stabilize the area around the port.

Hi JadaCamp,

I have the same symptoms you have. How long did it take for the port side pain/burning to go away for you? Thanks!

K-Rod,

When did the tearing/burning pain in port go away from you? Thanks!

Socalchic - where did you get your binder? Thanks!

Terri

Yes, please tell more about your binder. My surgery is Wednesday and I think I would like to be able to get one before then.