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.

Hi

Did the doctor explain how having a smaller port might make any difference?
 
Does he think that your current port is broken and the fill is leaking out each time? If thats the case then there was something wrong with it and it seems unfair to suggest you pay for replacement.

I am just curious, your ticker says you are down 70lbs, was that since april?  I had mine done in june and have only lost 12 lbs and most of that was from my liquid diet, I have lost nothing since then and I have had 2 fills and still no restriction,                  Thanks

The doctor did mention a smaller port, why I do not know other than maybe LapBand has changed the size of the port. Personally I do not think the port is leaking, what is leaking I believe is the tubing from the port to the band. The reason I think it’s the tubing is I believe during a fill the tubing was penetrated with a needle. I recall a fill where the needle was injected I thought to low.

As for my weight loss, my surgery date was April 29^th but I started lowering my food intake two weeks before this date to prepare for surgery to shrink the liver size per my doctor. My weight loss of 70 pounds is through July 31^st. I have not loss any addition weight due to the band losing saline solution. Once I am repaired I hope to continue my journey of losing the remaining 80 pounds.

As for your weight loss and you having only two fills. I doubt that you have reached this point of where you are restricted. Once you reach this point you should feel a knot in your throat when you drink water and the water slowly travels downward. You should only be able to consume just a few ounces of food per meal time. Also you have to exercise in order to lose weight. This operation is NO magic device, you still have to work at losing weight. On the day of my surgery, that evening I walked 1.5 miles inside the hospital. I continued to walk about 3 miles per day afterwards. I have joined LA Fitness but have yet to go due to this BS with the band, but I currently get enough exercise while at work to maintain my current weight loss of which is 68 pounds.

Did he do a fill with contrast under fluoro?  How does he know the leak is in the port?  It could be anywhere.