leak,erosion? idk what is going on but im OVER this band
I've had this thing for 4 years. Seemed ok at first though I never really thought it worked as described. I never got full, just got stuck. Over the course of the first 2 years, I had many fills and slight unfills trying to find that sweet spot. I ended up losing about 85 pounds with the band and 15 before surgery. Anyway in 2008, I had gotten to the point of vomiting all day. It felt like forced bulemia. No good food would go down: salad, grilled meat, fruit, etc only mushies and liquids or sometimes crunchy stuff would go. I ended up getting all the fill out.
Over the next two years I had a couple of fills and unfills and in April of last year decided to have all of the fluid taken out again and try to do this on my own. Well since 2008, I have gained back 60 of what I lost. Of course I ate normal and had quit excercising (divorce played a part too with the emotional eating :-(
Anyway, I havent had any restriction with the band unfilled though I do notice if I completely scarf something down I will get what I call mini -stucks. It goes down, just slow.
I decided to get my band filled back up last week. I asked the doctor to put me back at where I had lost the majority of the weight before it got too tight. He looked at his records and put me at 3.5 cc. Four cc is where I got wayyyyyy too tight and had to have it all out for a while.
During the appointment I gave permission for a med student to observe my fill. When I went back to have my fill done, she was the one who actually did it. She put in the needle for the fill and seemed like it took forever for her to find the port. Once she thought she found it, I had to then sit up like normal and walk over to the xray thing to drink the barium and look at restriction. I noticed when she was pushing in the saline that it burned and I told the doctor who was watching her. She put in 3.5cc and he saw no restriction, she put in 5cc and still no restriction. So she withdrew and only 2cc came out. He said that the needle must have slipped out of the port or something. So I went back over to the table and he did the insertion this time. He finally gave me numbing meds since he was having a hard time getting it in the port. (My stomach is all kinds of shades of purple, black and blue)
Anyway I walk back over to xray (just a few feet) and he does the fill. 3.5 still not enought restriction he says. Keep in mind the most I have ever had is 4cc and that was vomiting all day. At 3.5 there is usually ample restriction for me. He put in 5cc and said he saw enough restriction.
I stuck to the directions, liquids for a couple days then onto mushies and solids. I noticed though that I was still having stomach pain but wrote it off to the bruising. No restriction.
I moved to solids this weekend and still no restriction. I have been fighting a cold/fluish sinus junk so I am pretty sure my lack of appetite has been due to that. But, so far I can eat tough chewy steak, bread, basically anything i have tried (i have been testing to see if normal foods that would normally cause stuck issues would go) No restriction. I don't get it... At 4cc I was vomiting all day, but now when I supposedly have 5cc in...nothing. My stomach is sorta achey and burning a lil but no horrible pain, no vomiting, no stucks, etc
Thoughts???? (fyi waiting on a call back from the doc)
Over the next two years I had a couple of fills and unfills and in April of last year decided to have all of the fluid taken out again and try to do this on my own. Well since 2008, I have gained back 60 of what I lost. Of course I ate normal and had quit excercising (divorce played a part too with the emotional eating :-(
Anyway, I havent had any restriction with the band unfilled though I do notice if I completely scarf something down I will get what I call mini -stucks. It goes down, just slow.
I decided to get my band filled back up last week. I asked the doctor to put me back at where I had lost the majority of the weight before it got too tight. He looked at his records and put me at 3.5 cc. Four cc is where I got wayyyyyy too tight and had to have it all out for a while.
During the appointment I gave permission for a med student to observe my fill. When I went back to have my fill done, she was the one who actually did it. She put in the needle for the fill and seemed like it took forever for her to find the port. Once she thought she found it, I had to then sit up like normal and walk over to the xray thing to drink the barium and look at restriction. I noticed when she was pushing in the saline that it burned and I told the doctor who was watching her. She put in 3.5cc and he saw no restriction, she put in 5cc and still no restriction. So she withdrew and only 2cc came out. He said that the needle must have slipped out of the port or something. So I went back over to the table and he did the insertion this time. He finally gave me numbing meds since he was having a hard time getting it in the port. (My stomach is all kinds of shades of purple, black and blue)
Anyway I walk back over to xray (just a few feet) and he does the fill. 3.5 still not enought restriction he says. Keep in mind the most I have ever had is 4cc and that was vomiting all day. At 3.5 there is usually ample restriction for me. He put in 5cc and said he saw enough restriction.
I stuck to the directions, liquids for a couple days then onto mushies and solids. I noticed though that I was still having stomach pain but wrote it off to the bruising. No restriction.
I moved to solids this weekend and still no restriction. I have been fighting a cold/fluish sinus junk so I am pretty sure my lack of appetite has been due to that. But, so far I can eat tough chewy steak, bread, basically anything i have tried (i have been testing to see if normal foods that would normally cause stuck issues would go) No restriction. I don't get it... At 4cc I was vomiting all day, but now when I supposedly have 5cc in...nothing. My stomach is sorta achey and burning a lil but no horrible pain, no vomiting, no stucks, etc
Thoughts???? (fyi waiting on a call back from the doc)
I'm so sorry for your trouble and pain. I wonder if the student missed the port altogether. It certainly shouldn't burn when the saline is injected into the port. Then, I have to wonder whether all the poking around damaged the tubing, causing a leak (assuming the doc was accurate about seeing restriction after he did the fill). This really sucks, and I hope your doc works with you to solve it.
In the mean time, one piece of advice I can give you to possibly improve restriction until this is resolved is to drink some icy/slushy liquid before eating. I am completely untilled due to an ulcer, and if I drink something icy, it seems like I have more restriction.
In the mean time, one piece of advice I can give you to possibly improve restriction until this is resolved is to drink some icy/slushy liquid before eating. I am completely untilled due to an ulcer, and if I drink something icy, it seems like I have more restriction.
I could be very, very wrong... but the fact that you went from "forced bulimia" to being able to eat anything AND there was some weirdness with your last fill in terms of who did it... I'm thinking that the med student who gave you the fill may have damaged the tubing and possibly caused a leak when trying to fill you?
My port is a bit wonky (it's tilted) and it's hard to access sometimes, but I've NEVER gone from one extreme to the other like you've suggested!
Good luck! Hope you get something resolved sooner than later!
My port is a bit wonky (it's tilted) and it's hard to access sometimes, but I've NEVER gone from one extreme to the other like you've suggested!
Good luck! Hope you get something resolved sooner than later!
On February 14, 2011 at 5:35 PM Pacific Time, Tiffany1975 wrote:
When do you plan on getting a revision? Have you started the process yet? I will have it done just as soon as I can afford it. I have been researching revisions and surgeons. I just hope I am able to afford to revise before I start having problems with the band as so many bandsters seen to have! :-(
Are u having any luck with your band Tiffany???
I'm so sorry. That's the point I reached, too. It was either, "Get it out or die." Not figuratively, but literally! I fought for a long time and gave it my best shot. If you're feeling consistenly icky, get the band removed. I felt better immediately after removal.
It's not worth doing long term damage to your digestive system. Best of luck to you. I hope you'll feel better soon. Please feel free to send me a message if you need to talk or anything.
~Nicci
It's not worth doing long term damage to your digestive system. Best of luck to you. I hope you'll feel better soon. Please feel free to send me a message if you need to talk or anything.
~Nicci
Avoid kemmerling, Green Bay, WI
Talked to the doc today and waiting to get an appointment to see him again. It was never this hard to get in at his office before and now it is ridiculous. Grrr.
Anyway, he told me that a leak is possible and that he has seen that happen (his nurse who called first acted like I was a complete moron so I demanded a call from him)
He said it did sound like something might be up and that he would take a look at it and run dye thru to see if there were any leaks. He also went on to mention that he is seeing several patients wanting the band removed and choosing another form of WLS. He said that when they first started doing the bands, it seemed like a GREAT weight loss option but now more and more it doesn't. He also said that a few years out people are starting to see many different complications that they don't normally see in the first couple of years.
Ugh.Ugh.Ugh.
Anyway, he told me that a leak is possible and that he has seen that happen (his nurse who called first acted like I was a complete moron so I demanded a call from him)
He said it did sound like something might be up and that he would take a look at it and run dye thru to see if there were any leaks. He also went on to mention that he is seeing several patients wanting the band removed and choosing another form of WLS. He said that when they first started doing the bands, it seemed like a GREAT weight loss option but now more and more it doesn't. He also said that a few years out people are starting to see many different complications that they don't normally see in the first couple of years.
Ugh.Ugh.Ugh.
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