Schnugglebunny

Hello, I was originally banded in 2002 and lost 100lbs in about a year and kept 70lbs off for 5 years. In 2007 I had various problems with the band and an unrelated appendix surgery and after a year of pain and surgeries, my band was removed. Within 7 months of removal, I put back 70lbs. I was devistated. On October 31 of 2008, I was rebanded. Since then, I've lost nothing and have in fact gained 20 pounds. I find I have no restriction. The feeling this time around has been NOTHING like my first band. I am having troubles with the fills. I am only at 6cc. If I get a fill larger than .5cc, I have difficulties. When I'm at the dr. office, I feel fine post fill. I can swallow my Water, all is good. By the time I go to bed at night, I can't swallow my own spit and I end up in washroom every hour or so. So I restricted myself to no larger than .5 CC fills. I got a fill a few weeks ago and the .5 felt very little difference. I went 2 days ago and got another .5cc. All was well, I stayed on liquids that day no issues. The next day, I had a small bowl of Cereal, no issue. At lunch I had a small bit of ground meat which immediately came back up. Since then, I have not been able to keep water down and I did not sleep well due to not being able to keep down my own saliva or water. I suspect this is due to some type of swelling and am wondering if I should just tough this out for a day or so more or if I should go and get a de-fill. The problem is, I really felt no restriction before this fill and am certain that I need more than what I had. Has anyone had a fill that completely blocks them up, but then subsides over a couple of days? cheers, Schnugglebunny from Toronto

Thanks so much for the reply. I have phoned my dr. to request a defill immediately. I don't think I could even make it through one more day of this. I can't even sip Water without it eventually coming back up. I'm just so bummed because I know that prior to this .5cc fill, I had very little restriction and was steadily gaining. But I can't live like this. I beginning to think that I made a mistake getting this band again. It just worked so well for me the first time. I am going to start investingating rny conversion I think. s.

Hello All, I was banded in 2002 by Dr. Yau and have had great success losing nearly 100 lbs and have been very happy with my band. Occasionally, over the years, I have had abdominal bloating and servere pain. I asked Dr. Yau if these symptoms could be from the band and he dismissed my fears saying that the band could not be the cause of the issue. My family doctor was unable to diagnose the issue and issisted that I should have Dr. Yau check the band. Well it all came a head and I ended up in hospital with some sort of intestinal blockage. I underwent open abdominal surgery. The staff surgeon said it was the band but Dr. Yau doesn't buy it and has been adamant that the staff surgeon was mistaken. In any case, my family doc is getting all the surgical reports and investigating for me. But as you can see, I have reason to feel scared and lost. I've recovered from the open surgery and went in today to have my fill put back (Dr. Yau removed the fill while I recovered from surgery). I told the fill tech that I was experiencing pain in my port area, and asked if I should be concerned. She said I did not need to be concerned about the port. She gave me the fill and even mentioned that there was swelling around the port. Well, my port is now very painful and visibly swollen. It's the weekend, I'm worried and don't know what to do. I don't feel I can go to hospital as they are completely lost when it comes to the band. They didn't even know how to defill me when I went in and needed an NG tube. Has anyone else had a swollen, painful port area? I don't have a fever and generally feel fine physically otherwise. Any advice would be appreciated. Flo from Toronto

Hello All, I was banded in 2002 by Dr. Yau and have had great success losing nearly 100 lbs and have been very happy with my band. Occasionally, over the years, I have had abdominal bloating and servere pain. I asked Dr. Yau if these symptoms could be from the band and he dismissed my fears saying that the band could not be the cause of the issue. My family doctor was unable to diagnose the issue and issisted that I should have Dr. Yau check the band. Well it all came a head and I ended up in hospital with some sort of intestinal blockage. I underwent open abdominal surgery. The staff surgeon said it was the band but Dr. Yau doesn't buy it and has been adamant that the staff surgeon was mistaken. In any case, my family doc is getting all the surgical reports and investigating for me. But as you can see, I have reason to feel scared and lost. I've recovered from the open surgery and went in today to have my fill put back (Dr. Yau removed the fill while I recovered from surgery). I told the fill tech that I was experiencing pain in my port area, and asked if I should be concerned. She said I did not need to be concerned about the port. She gave me the fill and even mentioned that there was swelling around the port. Well, my port is now very painful and visibly swollen. It's the weekend, I'm worried and don't know what to do. I don't feel I can go to hospital as they are completely lost when it comes to the band. They didn't even know how to defill me when I went in and needed an NG tube. Has anyone else had a swollen, painful port area? I don't have a fever and generally feel fine physically otherwise. Any advice would be appreciated. Flo from Toronto

Thanks for the input. In the past 24 hours it has gotten red and more uncomfortable...sigh. I am going to try to make it through to monday morning and call tlbc then. If I start running a fever, I might make my way out to scarborough...though my last experience there was terrifying. I'll be sure to post the outcome should any one else have these issues. Sorry if I sounded so desparate yesterday, but frankly I was. I feel a bit better today knowing that it is most likely an infection. At least I think I know what's going on and what to expect (even if it is a horrible disapointment). Flo from Toronto