Up Date On My LapBand Issues And What Has Been Decided

Went to see my doctor today after having yet another fill last Friday, I have received 5 fills in the last few weeks and within a day of the each fill I had no restriction. The doctor has decided to replace the port with a smaller port at no cost but, the repair will be done in his office. If I were to have the replacement done at the hospital the cost would be $1500.00 to $2000.00. I was told I would receive a local to the area of the current port and that I would not feel much discomfort during the procedure. The new port would be placed back into the same area where the current port resides. It's been four months from the time the band was installed and the last month I have seen no weight loss. Hope to be on track again soon.

Oh geez...yes, I really hope this gets things back on track!

Hope things get better for you soon Keith!

I've been wondering about this.  I kinda feel like I might want a tiny fill but I'm afraid now.  I have good restriction and I don't want anything to mess it up.  I've also had Scott dig around in there trying to find the port and have often worried about the tubing or port getting punctured. Maybe I'll stick with this fill a while longer. 

If it's any consolation, once you get a good one that stays, you can last a long time with it.  My last fill was March 28th and I still have really good restriction with 10cc in a 14cc band.

Good luck!

Looks like next Tuesday is the repair day. What really p**sed me off is that there is no guarantee that this is not going to happen again. If memory serves me correctly I thought I had read a while back that these doctors were to be using some form of X-Ray to identify exactly where the port was located. Additionally we the patients are being the one to get screwed when someone fails at locating the port. Sarah you should go to the meeting this Saturday. I am hoping the too meet up with the person who had the port replaced so I can gather some additional information. We all share the same doctor and same fill center.

Reggie thanks for the encouraging words.

Lyn's I hope this all come to a head and I can get on with my life. I was hoping to be approaching 100 LBs weight loss by Thanksgiving but I do not see this happening now. It has been nearly a month that I have been messing with this mess without seeing any weight loss and I am stasrting to fall into bad habits on eating.

I think I saw in another post that you were planning to talk to this other person who had her port replaced and had to pay for it.  If I were you, I might not mention to her that they are doing your replacement for free if that option was not given to her. 

The scenario I picture is you telling her you're getting this for free and her calling them to raise hell about the fact that she had to pay for hers.  If you **** of the doc he could change his mind and decide no free replacement for you.  I would tread lightly until your port is actually replaced.

Some doctors do all their fills under fluroscopy.  Some do them that way if there's some issue like a flipped port or trouble accessing the port.  To my knowledge, our center never does them that way.  You hear lots of different protocols on the Lapband board.

I'm sorry all this is happening but your weight loss is still fantastic for a bandster.  You'll get moving here again.

I am saying a little prayer and sending a little angel your way for a successful revision.

Keith,
Best of luck to you on getting this resolved.  Hope to see you on Saturday.  I am planning on being there.
Deanne

I received my new port today. It’s much small in diameter and a lower profile port. The old port was leaking on the outside inner edges of the hard plastic that meets the silicon center. After the port was removed and injected with saline is when the leaked appeared. It took about 30 minutes and the procedure was done at my doctor’s office. I received a local to numb up the area. I received 5cc’s into the new port, checked for leaks and then the new port was stitchered to the muscle. I am to see the doctor in a week and I hope to receive more saline to get this band back to the level I was at that allowed me to lose 70 pounds in 3 months. 

  I did ask why I was able to get this procedure done in his office while others had to have the surgery done in the hospital. It all comes down to the patient’s health. I was a great candidate health wise and why I received my new port in office. This was the first time that Dr. Schwartz had really spent some time and was very open to listening and talking. Even shared a few laughs. Scott his assistant who does all the fills at another location was on hand and was the person who stitched me up and took the time to make sure I had a smooth flat scar once I heal.

In all I am very happy with the outcome even though this has slowed my march to lose my weight. I feel that maybe it was a blessing to have had this leak as I received Lap Bands new style of port that will not even be noticeable at all.

That is great news.  Maybe now you can get back on track.  Are you coming to the OH Event?