I know that no one will believe this but ..............

My Realize band has to be totally replaced! I went to see Dr. Feiz yesterday for my first real fill after reconnection of my port (6-19-09) and low and behold....it still will not fill. I also had a very large hematoma which had to be drained but I was told these are normal.

There is a call into the Realize Representative to find out if this has ever happened before, it kinda looks like I have a faulty Band. There is still a leak somewhere in the line, but not knowing where, Dr. Feiz has pretty much decided to removed this band and put in a brand spanking new one! Yippy! The poor Dr. is so frustrated at this point. Me, I am not sure what I am! Here I go again 3 surgeries in less then 4 months. This one I am not really looking forward to because it will be a little bit bigger then the original surgery (3-26-09)

by that I mean the old band has to be taken out and the new one put in, it will take a little more time I am sure.

I am still loosing weight but not much. I guess we could say then that I have never really had a good adjustment or fill. They last only a couple of days then not much restriction after that. I am amazed though that thru all of this 43 pounds are gone. This proves that without any restriction the band still helps to lose weight! This is very good!

Surgery could be tomorrow, Friday, or it will have to wait until next Friday. I will keep my Blog posted. If anyone has had this same thing happen please get in touch with me. I am not real sure as to what to do about the cost of all of this! I do not know if the manufacturer of the Realize Band should have to pay for all my extra surgeries. Please give me your thoughts. Thanks, Cheryl

Sounds like you're having a rough time. I also have a realize band that they thought was leaking at one time. A cat scan revealed that it wasn't. Thank God! Having the surgery sucks! This whole process is a lot harder than people realize. Hang in there! Best of luck.

sabrina c

You will be on my thoughts. Best wishes and a speedy recovery. Stay positive. imaluckydog Kathy

Cheryl- You poor thing! You've got a great attitude.

I thought they could do a test injecting dye into the band and then a scan to see approximately where the leak is? I'm sure if it's anywhere near the port then they'll say the doc punctured it (which can happen). I'm not big on suing, but I would get the help of a lawyer to see what you can do and get some advice on how to approach Realize about all this (and doing things like making sure you ask for all the pieces of the original band just in case). Having to pay for yet another surgery would be a real hardship, I'm sure.

It sounds like you like your doc, but are you sure he's done everything correctly? I don't understand why he wouldn't have tested your band when he did the port replacement...while he still had you open? What kinds of testing and scans did he do to lead him to believe it was a port problem if that's not it now? I'd look into this a little more and get a second opinion if you're not satisfied with what was done. Waiting a little while shouldn't hurt anything, right?

I guess I'm a little perplexed as these incidents are so rare I'm not sure what the protocol is. Good luck to you and I hope everything works out for you. -BG

I hope you can get everything taken care of with one more procedure and that you wont have to pay for it. Here are some of my thoughts:

Seems like they could put something into the port (like a contrast material) and see on a scan where it ends up. Maybe it doesnt matter...a leak is a leak and it would have to be replaced.

Maybe replace it with an Allergan band unless Realize is covering the costs. My doc doesnt use Realize very often because it has a thinner membrane for the fluid and he feels it will be more likely to rupture.

Last, it may be that Realize will pay but not until the band is removed and determined to be defective which might take a very long time.

Good luck you sound like a strong person who can handle this...keep us informed...we care!

Did you end up having to pay for the port revision? Even though I was a self pay I went to a doc who is on my provider list in case I had any complications I hoped they would be covered but who knows!?