Bensmum1109

Huber needles are made by All-Med Medical Supply and are very easy to find on the internet, as is sterile saline and lidocaine cream. I have an emergency kit because I travel constantly for work and thank heaven I have never had to use it. But I can feel my port very easily and I know my tubing is above it because my doctor uses flouro. So therefore I would try to hit the bottom of the port and sneak the needle upward. That being said, no one should do their own fills because of cost, distance, or recreational eating. Real emergencies would be the only time I would consider it.

I just had a fill as my restriction seems to have gone down significantly lately. When my surgeon found my port and drew out the saline, it was red (bloody). He did not say anything but he did replace the fill with new saline. Is this normal?? If not what could it mean? :w00t:

Anybody else?? I seem to be losing restriction too.

Any updates? I have the same problem, plus very little restriction.

Thanks for your replies. I don't feel much restriction yet (and I am filled up!!!) but sometimes my restriction takes a few days to kick in. I will wait it out and see.

I just had a fill as my restriction seems to have gone down significantly lately. When my surgeon found my port and drew out the saline, it was red (bloody). He did not say anything but he did replace the fill with new saline. Is this normal?? If not what could it mean?

Please do! I will be looking forward to your response.

I hope you feel better soon. Did you definitely feel like you did not have enough restriction when you went in?

I believe you are OK with your surgeon not using a Huber needle as long as he uses a NON-CORING needle. That is really the key. My doctor has an interesting technique. He sticks a regular needle just through my skin and threads a non-coring needle through it. My port is very easy to find and he has never had to poke me more than once.

Only 13 pounds to go folks. What a long arduous road we travel to get there, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Unfortuntely, I have been having a lot of trouble with my band lately. I was PBing a lot and having a lot of trouble with solids so about 4 weeks ago I went to my surgeon to have a complete unfill to let my esophagus rest and get back on the right eating plan. I only had 1CC at the time and he talked me into going down to .5CCs instead of the complete unfill. Well, I was OK for a few weeks and now I am in the same spot I was in the last time. I PB almost everything healthy and solid I attempt to eat unless I stick to 3 or four tiny bites which leaves me starving most of the time. For the last 3 days it has been nothing but Protein shakes, split pea Soup, mashed potatoes and yogurt- anything else I have tried has made me violently PB. I know I need to get all of the fill out now and probably have an endo or barium swallow. The problem is, it's Saturday night and on Monday morning I fly to Southern California for four days to train for my new job at my new company's corporate office. The training is not just for me- there are eight new Managers nationwide and it is for all of us. There is simply no getting out of it. What can I do?? Does anyone know of a doctor in the Ontario CA area or surrounding areas that I should call if this becomes an emergency? It is bordering on one now and I will be seeing my surgeon the minute I get home but I am pretty freaked out about going four more days like this. I am in agony!!! By the way, I know sometimes there are no symptoms for a slip or erosion, but for the record I have not seen any blood in my PBs and until today the result of them has just been the chest pain and irritation. But for about 24 hours I have felt like I have a terrible stomachache in my lower stomach as well.

Hi Guys- Sorry. I did start a new thread and I have been so consumed with work I haven't been here in a few weeks. I had revision surgery on my slipped band and I got to keep it- YAY!! I can actually eat now and it is wonderful, but I am keeping tabs on myself since I have gained three pounds. I think I did a number on my metabolism from being on liquids for a month and my body was just crying out for solid food. But I can live with three pounds. I will not get a fill anytime soon- I need to let my system rest and I still feel moderate restriction without one. I am almost 100% 3 weeks after my surgery and I absolutely implore you all to get help IMMEDIATELY if you have the same symptoms I had. And for the record my gall bladder is fine- phew!

Hi all- On Monday I had surgery for repositioning/possible removal of my band. I am happy to report that despite a complicated 3 hour surgery, my surgeons were able to get my band and stomach back into the correct position and I got to keep my band!! They actually had to unhook the band and hook it back together again so that it formed the proper pouch again. I am home today and very sore and tired, but relieved. I have never been more panicked than I was sitting in the OR waiting room to go in for my surgery, not knowing if I would have a band when I woke up or not. I will really be diligent with band rules from here on out, and my advice to any of you that have repeated vomiting for any reason- get it checked out ASAP. I was not only too tight but had a horrible stomach bug that I was unaware of. This caused my slip. FYI- even though I was a self-pay, insurance did cover this surgery as it was medically necessary.

Thanks, Mandi! I am home and have posted a new thread. Surgery was successful and I still have my band!

Hi Mandi- My insurance did not cover my band but they are covering the costs of my repositioning surgery (tomorrow morning!!), because of the complications I have had and the fact that it is medically necessary to fix my slip. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield.

If any of you read my thread in the Complications section, you know that I had some pretty serious problems which landed me in the hospital for an unfill and xrays last Friday (after being unable to even keep Water down for almost 3 days). I have a slightly flipped port and they had to go in sideways through my bellybutton under xray to deflate my band. Then I was told I had a slip, and the wonderful surgeon who got me through all of this (Dr. Husted from LAPSF, not my original surgeon but the one I am keeping- he is AWESOME), told me that the slip is not too major and can "probably" be fixed with a repositioning surgery. I am on liquids now but it seems unlikely that it will fix the slip. I don't care about the cost (well a little, that's one less IVF round we could pay for), or the downtime, and I am not scared about the surgery, providing he gets in and can reposition my band. What I am TERRIFIED OF is that he gets in and sees things he didn't see on the xrays and has to remove my band while I am under. Despite my complications, I am not ready to lose this band. I am 10 pounds from my goal weight but I just feel like I am not ready to do this on my own. I have learned so much about portion control (like I had a choice once I got my band), healthier eating and Protein consumption, etc. But if I lose my band I don't know if I will be able to maintain my weight, let alone lose the rest. I am 41, and my husband and I have been trying desperately to have another child. Unsuccessful so far. If I lose my band and do end up having another baby, it will be the most wonderful miracle, but I have no doubt under those circumstances that my weight problems will resume. I don't know what to do. I have been in bed (doctors orders) for three days and I can't stop the tears from the fear of the unknown. I don't even know what responses I am looking for, but you all have been so supportive in the past and I need you now!

:phanvan Tomorrow I have an endoscopy and I will be checked for ulcers, esophogitis, erosion, and abnormal cells. I have a slipped band and my stomach is herniated over my band. Providing there is no erosion, which we are fairly certain of since all of my xrays showed the dye trickling through the way it should have, my band will be repositioned via surgery on Thursday. Because of the horrific complications, the surgeon is coding this as an "acute obstruction" so it looks like my insurance WILL cover all of this. Thank heaven! I have enough on my plate without the worry of coughing up another 10K+. I'll be back in a few days with an update. Please keep me in your prayers!

I just went through the exact same thing (see my thread in the Complications Section). I have spent two separate days at the hospital. The first day I was so swollen that the only thing the surgeon could determine via xray for sure was extreme gastritis, but he did also see that I had slipped. I was completely unfilled and put on Clear Liquids for two days (by that point I had thrown up everything including tiny sips of Water for almost 72 hours), then full liquids for two days, then mushies. Mushies had me pb'ing again within hours. Now that the swelling from the gastritis had gone down, and my band was deflated, I went in for another set of xrays yesterday. My stomach has herniated over my band and I have an esophageal stricture as well, which was caused by the vomiting. I have an endoscopy tomorrow morning where they will check for esophagitis (which they basically know I have), ulcers, and abnormal cancer cells. On Thursday I will have surgery to repair my herniated stomach and reposition my band. Then I get to start over. At least this time I get to start at 75 pounds down :-) There is no reason for those of you that have closed up to have to have your band removed, unless it has eroded. However, get unfilled ASAP and stay on clear liquids until instructed otherwise. Do not risk any additional vomiting under these circumstances or a slip is PROBABLE if you don't already have one. Also, a note to self payers (which I was). If your surgeon does need to operate and you have similar circumstances, most insurance companies will cover WLS complications. Request that your surgeon code the surgery as an "acute obstruction" and you will most likely be covered!! I have BCBS, by the way.

Only recently have I pb'd a lot, and I would not be suprised if it contributed to the slip. PLease listen to someone who is in trouble- IF YOU ARE TOO TIGHT, DON'T IGNORE IT. Get unfilled ASAP. I was doing pretty well last week and progressed from Clear Liquids to mushies, but the pain and pb's returned yesterday. I will call the doc on Monday. I am almost ready to give up. I am really not sure I can take this anymore. I am scared to death that I will gain the wait back, but I seriously doubt that they will do a VG conversion on someone who weighs 143 pounds.

So... as some of you know I just started a new job as the Sales Manager for a Mortgage Company. As MOST of you know, for a number of reasons I have chosen to be a closet bandster. Only my immediate family knows I have the band. So today I am at my office to meet the Sales Manager for the nearest office to mine, about 45 miles away. She and I split part of our territory and will be working very closely together. She and I also have a number of mutual friends/colleagues because the mortgage community is a very small world (six degrees of separation? HAH! In our business it's usually about two). I heard her tell my Branch Manager that she was down 86 pounds to date and she was feeling really great. My response of course was "Wow!! That's wonderful! How in the world did you do it?" Her response? "SURGERY" She had the VG and is thrilled with the results and the procedure. I totally admire her bravery in just spilling her guts and honestly admitting what she had done. Here's the thing- I am not that brave and I prefer to remain a closeted WLS patient. We are all entitled to that choice, right? I only met this woman today and although I like her very much, I have no idea whether or not she would keep this quiet if I told her I have a band. BUT THEN I FIND OUT WE HAVE THE SAME SURGEON. HOW GREAT IS THAT:nervous I just know that one of these days I am going to walk into that office and she will be sitting there, or vice versa. Thoughts on this dilemna, anyone?

Thank you all for your support! No update yet, but I am out of bed and on full liquids.

It's not exactly normal, what you are experiencing, but it sounds like something that can be controlled. Make sure you call your doctors with anything you are concerned about, regardless of how silly you might think it is. Many of us feel awful for 3 or 4 weeks after our surgeries, and others are in the gym a week later. It is definitely case by case. just make sue you keep yourself very hydrated and use liquid Vitamins and liquid Protein as much as you can tolerate (SMALL SIPS A FEW MINUTES APART). And keep us posted!

Well, first of all, when the surgeon tried to deflate my band he found that my port had flipped (yay, let's start the morning with 5 needle sticks). He plopped me right down into xray and found that the port is only slightly sideways so he was able to go in sideways through my belly button. He made a note in my file that any future adjustments may have to be done that way. I then had xrays where I did have to swallow some horrible gunk (not barium, apparently, but just as awful, tasted like Jagermeister and paint thinner with kind of an orange flavor), so he could see that everything was flowing through. At that point...... ....HE INFORMED ME THAT I HAVE SLIPPED. Now he was also able to determine that I have gastroenteritis and I have some pretty massive swelling and Fluid in the area, so he wants me to wait a few days before taking any further action. There is a very small chance that reduction of all the swelling may put the band back into place. But most like he says I will require surgery to reposition the band. I am not looking forward to another surgery, or putting out more money, but at least we know the band does not have to come out unless I have more complications over the weekend. I am on bedrest and Clear Liquids for now. No gall bladder issues that he could determine, and the back pain is from the gastroenteritis. By the way, the surgeon who saw me is new to the practice I go to. My original surgeon left and I had been seeing someone else in the practice. But the new guy ROCKS, so I am staking my claim on him. His name is Dr. Husted and he is with LAPSF Associates in San Francisco. He even gave me his cell phone number and said if I had any problems over the weekend to call, and if he had to come in and remove my band at 2 a.m. in the morning because I wasn't improving, he would do it. That is the kind of service all of us deserve for the crazy amounts of money we have paid for our bands ( if you were a self pay like me)!! Thanks so much for your concern and prayers and I will keep you posted!!:sick

Thanks for all of your support guys. Despite staying on liquids and mushies I am now even throwing up Water. I am dehydrated and exhausted. I have noticed some pretty significant lower back pain in addition to the horrible reflux and stomachache so I am going to ask about my gall bladder as well. I fly home tomorrow night and my surgeon will see me at 11 Friday morning. If you all don't hear from me by Friday night I am probably in the hospital, but I will update you as soon as I know what the heck is going on!

Unfortunately, I can't keep anything solid down. I tried some low fat swiss a few days ago and up it came. I also lost my cream of wheat Friday morning. I have split pea soup and squash soup, vanilla Protein powder, and instant mashed potatoes for my trip. It's going to be lots of fun explaining to all of my new colleagues why I can't eat with them at all during this training. I hear they already have a few fun outings planned to some of the hip restaurants in LA (Cut and Koi). But I'm going to pass, it would be too tempting! By the way, I don't tell people about my band so if anyone can think of a good excuse for the liquids, bring it on:help: !!

Yes, I do have my gall bladder. Would that account for all of the reflux, though? I never thought about that.