Honestly not starting a surgery wars here, I have an question regarding your port

The chemo port (Infusa-port) is high profile and sits in an area with little flesh (top of the chest). My mum had one for her chemo, her veins were shot. The lap band port is lower profile and sitting in a fatty area (the stomach). Mine sticks out a bit and I have 100 lbs to lose still. I do find it a bit unusual to feel it but I have a strong stomach for creepy things. I used an insulin pump for 6.5 years and the infusion site had to be changed every 3 days, by myself. And it stuck out of the skin, visible for all to see.

Best wishes with your cancer journey.

Cat.

No, my port doesn't creep me out, and neither does the acrylic on my nails or the dental bridge that's permanently installed in my mouth.

I've talked to women with chemo ports (customers where I work). Their ports looked like they were in a very tender place. These women said they had to be careful with undergarment and garment choices, and were looking forward to having their ports removed, and I can understand that. 

My port used to bother me a bit because it was too close to my waistband, but since it was repositioned and nestled deep into tummy flab, I'm no longer aware of it at all.

Jean

I am kind of nosing in on someone else's question, but I have been wondering about the port.  You said yours was repositioned.  I guess there is enough leeway to let the doctor know where you want it (not at your waist or on your sleeping side)???  I am in the pre-surgery diet before my band, and find the port idea odd...not creepy, just odd.  I felt the same way after my back fusion when I saw the Xrays of all the titanium in me....odd.

No problem about nosing in on someone else's question! Your question is a good one.

In my last pre-op surgical consult, I asked where my port would be placed, was shown the general location, and didn't give it much more thought. It wasn't until I lost some weight and had lived with that port position for a while that I realized it wasn't a great location for me - perhaps because I'm short, and short-waisted.

I don't know if my surgeon would have changed the location if I'd objected to it up front, so I always recommend asking about it before surgery and making your own suggestion (if you have one). It's hard to predict what location would be good or a potential problem for you, and the surgeon may not be willing or able to comply for technical reasons or because of idiosyncrasies in the individual patients' anatomy, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I have a bandster friend whose port in the center of her chest at her bra line. I wouldn't want that location because of garment/undergarment friction and discomfort when you bend over. My port's original location near my waist was uncomfortable because of waistband friction and because it tended to collide with the edge of my kitchen counter and the counter in the store where I work.

I had my port repositioned because it had flipped over and was inaccessible for fills. The side benefit was that my surgeon moved it northward just enough to eliminate the problems I'd been having, and also buried it deeper into my flab (it had been protruding a bit before). She was probably just trying to avoid the scar tissue from my original surgery.

One thing I like about the Realize band is that its port is low-profile, so less likely to cause problems. I would have replaced my flipped port with a low-profile style if my insurance would have paid for it.  

Jean

Does the titanium in your neck set off alarms when you go through airport security checks? People often ask if their band or port will do that, and I've only heard of one incident, reported by a guy with the exact same band as mine who was using an airport I'd used several times without problems. There's such a tiny amount of titanium in the Lap-Band port, it's hard to imagine a device sensitive enough to detect it.

I was able to put my port concerns into better perspective about 3 months after I was banded, when I had to go to court (in NY) to get a restraining order against my violent & problematic brother. I had hired a security expert to protect me (it's a long story) and didn't realize until we arrived at the courthouse that there was anything unusual about his body (I knew he limped a bit, but so do a lot of people my age). As we approached the security guard, my security guy said, "I have a prosthesis" and pulled up his trouser leg to expose a prosethetic leg. Later when I had dinner with him and his family at their home, I saw his back-up prosethesis propped up against the laundry room wall and thought, "Maybe my little port isn't so bad after all."

Jean

 I have never had problems with setting of airport scanners so I guess it is fine.  

I love your story about your security expert.  I work in the Warrior Transition Unit on an Army Post.  We deal with injuried or seriously ill soldiers.  I mainly took the job because I had been through three back surgeries and understood the healing process and chronic pain personally.  Whenever I start to feel a "pity party" coming on all I have to do is think about my soldiers.  I snap right out of it.

I dont know if it does or not! I will find out in September when I fly to Seattle. I normally fly about 5 times per year yet I haven't flown since last September when I started all the surgery and treatments. I get the port out in November thank goodness!

I am NOT starting a war.

LOL! You're a brave soul. All it takes to start a war here on OH is a random sneeze!

Very true!  I rarely post on the Lap Band area so I didn't know the reception I'd be receiving. I have to say, I am very impressed with this group  :)   Thank you to all *****ceived my post as it was intended.   
Big Hugs
XXX