Leak???

Hi all..it has been 6 months since I was banded and I had my second adjustment today. I have been frustrated as I have not been losing as expected and not feeling the desired restriction. During my appointment today, my surgeon pointed out that there was .5 cc of saline in my band and he added another 3.5 for a total of 4.0. I distinctly remember him putting in 3.5 during my first adjustment. When i mentioned this to him, he suggested that I may have a leak.

I'm feeling really bad about this. Has anyone had this? What is the procedure to determine a leak? He also mentioned that the band or port could be defective. I did recall the band having a warranty..but will it cover corrective surgery and/or procedures or will I have to pribate pay. (God help me!)

I'm feeling very begative..like I just wasted 6 months. :-(  

Any thoughts? I need a little help here..

If your doctor thinks there might be a problem did he/she schedule some tests?  If not I'd find a new doctor. My doctor told me that some of the solution from the initial fill will adhere to the the band, that might be part of it.  Maybe it's different for everyone but only 2 fills after 6 months seems low to me.  I'm just over 3 months out and I've had 5 or 6 fills.

I hope you get everything straightened out, this is a scary enough surgery without having serious issue.  Good luck.

Hi,

I was originally banded 8/13/08. I was also having trouble with fills/restriction. Every time I went for a fill when they would draw back the fluid to check the volume, I would have way less than what should be in there. At first we were not concerned because sometimes you can't get it all out, but by the end if I had every cc that they had put in I would have had over 12cc's in a realize (9cc) band. (I wouldn't have been able to swallow my own spit!) so on April 2nd they injected contrast dye into my port to check for a leak and you guessed it I had a leak. I kind of knew that I must have had a leak although I was hoping for not and I had prepared myself (sort of as much as I could) for the possibilty that they might have to replace my port. But, the leak was not in my port or tubing it was in my actual band.  Since it was likely a band defect the band company would have given me a free band which would have done me a lot of good. I could have walked around with that band in my hands shown all my friends Etc. but unless I could find a way to get it into my body it wasn't going to help me lose an ounce.  Fortunately they submitted to my insurance and they approved my band replacement. I was able to have the new band placed Wed 4/29/09 so less than a month from when we confirmed the leak to replacement. 

In conclusion, if this is the only time that the fluid is off no big deal it happens. Particulary in the realize band which is a low pressure band it is sometimes hard to draw out the fluid. If this continues to be a problem each time you get a fill they will need to check for a leak.  A leak is very very rare (I am a freak if it CAN happen to someone, it will happen to ME! LOL) so hopefully that is not the case for you.  As far as feeling the restriction you desire that is very common it can sometimes take several fills to get to the optimum amount of restriction. It sucks but it is the way it is.  Until you are to that point of restriction try not to eat too much at each meal try to stick to the guidelines and if you have to add a couple of LOW calories snacks between meals.  Drink as much as possible and keep your head up, it DOES get better.  If you have any questions/concerns feel free to contact me.

Thanks for the responses. I was feeling a little lost because no one could give me any feedback and I am not really happy with my Doctor's response. We finally did a study and it was determined that there is a leak and it is thr port tubing that must be corrected. My insurance company is reviewing the submission. I have a felling it is more the surgeon's error than the band itself. I want this resolved immediately..I really feel like I am moving backward instead of forward. Having commited myself to this procedure..I think I deserve to see the results of it. :-(

I can completely 100% understand where you are coming from. I hope that you are able to get this taken care of quickly. I am so looking forward to being back on the losing weight path. 

From one leaky bandster to another, Good Luck!

I wish you all of the luck in the world.  You'll get this fixed and moved forward with your life.