Need surgery AGAIN!

Here i am, wondering what the hell is going on with my band. Come to find out that my port is just floating around in my stomach! The stiches have torn off. My old doctor couldn't figure out why he couldn't give me a proper fill. My new physician is Dr. Liu. He is SO nice and so experienced. He is taking over my aftercare. On 5-31 i will have to under go an upper endoscopy! They want to make sure that my band is also in good shape along with my stomach. I will have to go under for this procedure (which im not thrilled about). Dr. Liu wants to check that all is well. If not i will have to have my whole band & port replaced, or if they find that my band is fine then i will be scheduled to have my port/tube replaced (outpatient procedure). Either way i definitely now know that i need suregry. Im so dissapointed with my old doc. He just lacked the aftercare experience. I went through so much pain & depression in the past 8 weeks. This has been a MAJOR setback, but i feel confident with Dr. Liu and his staff. Once i have my surgery i will write back with an update. Wish me luck! Rubina

Hang in there Rubina. What a pretty name.

My sister and I were banded on the same day. I breezed thru and she's had nothing but problems. She had to have all the fluid removed from the band, including the primer. The restriction of just the band was enough for her. She still has no fluid in the band and has lost 73 pounds to my 60. She, too, had a endoscope (sp) and they found that her band had slipped. She'd been pretty sick a week or so prior and the throwing up busted the stitches around her stomach where our surgeon folds it up over the band. The the stomach slipped up thru the band and she had to have surgery. They did the scope, an upper GI and fluroscope before they did the surgery to make doubly sure. She didn't have to have the band or the tubing or the port replaced. Everything was in great shape. Our surgeon just had to pull her stomach back thru the band and now she's good to go. Its a surgery must like the original except she didn't have pain at the port site as nothing was done there. The gas pains were the worse part of this ordeal. So, hold on and be delighted you've finally found a surgeon who knows his business. You're going to be fine. But you gotta get this fixed, stop worrying about the setback, and get back on the road to good health and proper restriction. Good luck. Post soon. La Wanda

Oh boy Rubina! I hope all you need is a port replacement. I'll be thinking of you. I'm having an upper GI scope on the 30th, so I'm pretty scared about that too. I'm afraid the sedative will be light and I'll know what is going on. I WANT to be knocked out! I hear it isn't bad though. Good luck with yours and let us know what your treatment will be! ~Alyssa

Alyssa, What's going on with you? Why do you need all those procedures? By the way, YOU LOOK AMAZING! I remember you had dropped a ton of weight. Rubina

Alyssa and Rubina..... Don't worry about the endoscopy! The drugs are great and you'll feel and know nothing until it's over and they wake you up. I had one years ago fully concious and although I did gag....it wasn't the worst thing in the world. But this last one was awesome because the demorol was fab! LOL I wish you both the best.... Kay

Rubina, sorry you're having trouble! Do you mean the port disconnected from the tubing? If so, This is really not a big deal, and easily repaired. If the tubing disconnects and then pulls back into the abdomen (rare) , this does require a surgical reconnect. the tubing is "floating" in your abdominal cavity, but the PORT is not in your abdominal cavity. The port sutures may have come loose, but this is also not a big deal. This often happens, as they are placed into the extremely fragile tissue-paper-like covering of the abdominal muscle (called the fascia). The European docs don't even suture the port down, and there are pros and cons to each method. Your port is not inside your abdominal cavity, so it is not really "floating around". There is nowhere it can go, but it might twist a bit if the sutures are out. Unless this makes fills impossible, it's fine to leave it alone. Scar tissue also holds it, even if the sutures are out. I can understand why your new doc would want a thorough exam, though. He needs to know the status of everything as he takes over your care. However, An endoscopy is quick and easy. It does not require general anesthsia at all, but a quick IV sedation for the 5-minute procedure. You wake up easily and quickly, so don't be too worried. A port replacement/repair is also quick and easy, and done under an IV sadation. it itakes 20 minutes and is not a big deal. A tubing disconnect - if that is even what happened - has nothing at all to do with band placement - so there is no reason at all to think you'll need a whole new band, from what you have said. Please try hard not to imagine trouble that is not there, and try not to make things seem worse than they are. This is really verey important with banding. the mental attitude makes a huge difference in outcome. This is really not a major setback, but only small glitch - and there will be several along the way for each of us. It's important for us to remain flexible, optimistic, and have the attitude that "The band is saving my life, so ANYTHING I have to do is worth it." you'll be right back on track soon. Sandy R

Hi There,

I'm new to this site and find it so informative.  This band life is a crazy ride! Seems like many of us have similar problems regardless of the band we had put in.  Mine is a BIORING by Cousins. I've been banded for almost 7 years and recently had a sudden reduction in restriction.  I went to see my doctor and he felt around my port.  We were able to feel a definite distance between my port and the connector, (about 1 cm).  It feels like there is a little tube still connected to the actual port and when the doctor did add 1cc of saline, I definitely felt, (this was done yesterday), more restriction, actually PERFECT restriction.  He did not suggest doing a fluro or anything other than surgery.  He says it has to be done under general sedation, will only take about 15 minutes and will cost about $1000.  I will need about a week off of work and I am self pay, (had to pay $150 for the fill too).  Not too thrilled about this and am concerned that it could get disconnected again. So, after the appointment, and thinking about it for a while, I have so many questions and no one to ask since my doctor is only in his office on Mondays.  Hopefully you guys can chime in and provide some suggestions or answers.  First question, is there a small tube within the tube that goes through the connector into the port?  How can I still have such great restriction and have this disconnection?  What happens if he gets in there and is unable to reconnect the connector to the port, (if that is in fact the case)?  Do I have to be defilled for a while or can my fill level stay as is or get topped up during the surgery?  Can this be done under local sedation?  I'm trying to get a second opinion but no one seems to want to touch the BIORING band for some reason.  I love my band and can't imagine not having it.  It's like my little buddy who keeps me in check.  I have lost 80 pounds, and am at a weight that I am very comfortable with.  I am terrified that I will gain back the weight.  Any insights you could provide would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

 

Thank you all for your kind words. I feel so much better when i come here. I have been hiding away and not going online. I forget how good it feels when you write things down and read them out loud. Thanks for your support. Im trying to stay positive and i thank god for this wonderful online support system!

Good Luck Rubina - any answer for why the stitches ripped out? Poor surgical technique? Karen