I no longer have a port

I had a port infection and the surgeon took it out.  Does anybody know what happens to the tubing?  Its still in there, attached to the band, and SURELY its not just loose in there.  SURELY the surgeon attached it to something, right?  Does anybody know?  Do we maybe have a doctor on here we can ask a question to? 

And you're probably asking why I just don't call the surgeon and ask him.  Well, He was supposed to take the tubing out and leave the port because the tubing had broken thru one of the incisions and we KNEW it had bee compromised but he said he "cleaned" the tubing and put it back in the RIGHT place (which the original surgeon did not do) but the port was infected and had to be removed.

Well, doc, guess what....In the 4 years since I had this done, this incision has busted open 3 times.  The first time it drained for a little while and healed up.  Broke open the second time and was open and draining for 10 months.  The last time it burst (and there was so much liquid the complete front of my jeans were wet to my knees), it was January, 2013.  Today is November 4th of the same year and its still open and still draining.  Yeah, I know.  Get the dang thing out.  I'm scared.  I'm worried that the infection has attached itself to everything inside of me and they'll open me up and close me back up and send me home to die.  I'd just as soon die and never know.

You can not ignore this, hiding your head in the sand will not accomplish anything. You need to find a wound specialist who can get this to heal up. Actually the best thing would be to get the whole dang thing out, band and tubing before you cause more damage. The infection CAN be healed but you must keep pushing who ever is treating it to continue until the infection is completely gone. It probably keeps reinfecting you because it is in the tubing itself. You do not have to die unless you choose to because you refuse to push the doctor to treat it correctly. You most likely need antibiotics and maybe even admittance to the hospital for IV antibiotics to really slam the germs.

There is no longer a doctor here who answers questions, in fact the whole forum is pretty dead so you can not rely on untrained people like us to give you answers. If I were you I would go to the emergency room and start there with getting it cleaned out good and see if they can advise a doc for you to see about treatment.

I remeMBer you postinG abouT The issues You State here so Long Ago - you goT good aDvice Too so I am dumbfounDEd thAT YOut have Not  beeN moved To take ActioN On Saving your health, your Life.

I get that you have fear of having surGery but i'd fear so much more having so much infection living in my body.  Have you been checked for an erosion

I wish you All the Best

It's been compromised merely because it was attached to an infected port.

Theoretically, you can bury the tubing in the peritoneum and the body should take care of it.  Theoretically.

The infection is going to be exceedingly difficult to treat and here is why.  There is a foreign object in your body and thus antibiotics are not going to touch the tubing and band.  Where there is no blood supply the antibiotics can't do their job.  Two examples here, think of a cath and a bladder.  If someone gets a urinary tract infection while they are still cathed it is very hard to treat the infection.  You pretty much just have to keep them on antibiotics until it is pulled because you can't treat the tubing, you can only treat the parts of your body that have a blood supply and tubing doesn't have a blood supply.  Same difference with your port and tubing.  They removed the tubing but the port and likely the band is still infected.

An abscess... why do you think it needs to be drained so often?  It's because there is no blood supply on the inside of the abscess, it's all pus, no blood supply.  So you drain it and then treat it with antibiotics.

Erosion happens often when there is a port infection.  The bacteria travel up the tubing to the band and erode your stomach. With your history if you do not already have an erosion I would be surprised if you do not erode in the future.   Anytime you have a port infection you should always, without fail, do an endoscopy a few month later to check for erosion.

You didn't ask but I am going to give you my opinion anyway.  If you are not already going to a NON band mill surgeon, you need to.  You need to have the damn thing out.  You have already given it more than once chance and clearly, the band just isn't for you.  It sounds like you are going to a band mill.  That's all they know how to do, easy peasy bands.  You need to go to a revision surgeon and have it removed, cleaned up, and later revise to something safer.  Bands just plain aren't safe.  They aren't.  You are proof of such.  Your problem is not uncommon.

Get it out, heal, get a revision, and move on with your life.  In the meantime antibiotics will likely keep the infection to a dull roar.  It is very unlikely you will die of this as long as you are being treated but it's time it comes out.  You gave it your best shot, move on with your life.

~~They removed the tubing but the port and likely the band is still infected.~~

Sorry, I meant the tubing and band are likely still infected.

Agreeing with everyone else. Get this dealt with for once and all. It is not going to go away. Idb has explained the science of this very clearly. 

I am not a doctor but it sounds like you might consider having everything removed and having another surgery.  I recently changed from the lapband to the gastric sleeve and have been pleased with the results.

Please direct these questions to your surgeon as he was the one who performed the procedure and can tell you what happened.  Better yet why not get a copy of your medical report.