Tally

Thanks, I really hope I don't go back over onederland. Well then, I have faith too!!

I am right there with you going through the same thing so don't feel alone I still have restriction from my fill on the 8th so I was so happy figuring I obviously do not have a leak. I spoke with Dr. K's office yesterday and they said when I left he told them he was very positive that he did indeed puncture it. So I asked lots of questions including how fast does it leak, does it leak all the way out, why do I still feel restriction??? Anyway after speaking to them and sitting down with my husband and a diagram of the band and port etc. I guess the leak is very very slow and can take several weeks or longer. They say it is more like it's "weeping". Remember it is not leaking directly from your band but from the tubing on the port (most likely). So with the silicone material and the tiny puncture it is almost closed and only weeping with almost no pressure behind it to drive it out. I hope this made some sense. What Dr. K's office told me was to hold off on buying my plane tickets and if I still feel any restriction around Dec. 5 (I am scheduled to meet him on the 10th and surgery on the 11th) to postpone it a few weeks until I feel no restriction. That way we are not doing it sooner than we need to and we will be more certain if it is a leak by the amount of saline he is able to pull out. This leaves no room for error. It is very frustrating though isn't it? For now, I am just happy to have restriction.

I'm afraid to speak too soon but this morning when I got on the scale it says I am in onederland!!! It has been sooo many years since I've been here. I just hope I can remain in onederland. I am going on a car trip to Maryland with my daughter tomorrow morning and I usually eat a lot on long trips. I am bringing fruit and water and protein bars so we'll see.

I am going to make them too, yum! And I have lots of honey, we have honey bees. Thanks for the recipe Jaime. Deb

I didn't realize the challenge was 7 weeks. Instead of the 8 pounds I am going to try for lucky 13. Thanks :thumbdown: Deb

I wasn't going to do the challenge but I decided I would give it a try. I will shoot for 8 pounds. Thanks for tracking all of this :thumbdown: Deb

The timing of this post is funny. I am just learning this the past two days. It is so true. Deb

Of course only you can make the decision of which Dr. to stay with but from the sound of everything you have said, sounds to me like Dr. M is a good choice. Everything he seems to be saying is identical with everything Dr. K has just said to me. It's funny because even Dr. K was like "well, it was probably a manufactureer defect" but he said the company will not ever admit to that, they told him that it is almost always that the Dr. punctured the tubing. Then Dr. K told me that he was indeed right on the tubing so he is quite sure that he just punctured it. I know he was pissed off at himself over the whole thing and I kinda felt bad for him, lol. I just told him "no worries, it is what it is". Afterall I know he didn't do it on purpose (if he even did it, I don't know yet). Sounds to me like you are getting good advice from Dr. M and you trust him that's important. Deb

Dr. K says after one week you can remove them just make sure you remove them from side to side not up and down.

I may or may not have a leak but that is a whole other long story. But when I grilled Dr. K on how he knew that the leak was in the port and not somewhere else he assured me that that is where leaks occur almost always. When I questioned him more, because the port is such a solid little thing and I couldn't understand where it would leak from, he pulled one out of the package and showed me and it turns out that he has contacted Allergan several times about the design of the tubing that is connected to the port. The tubing that is connected to the port is thin and flat and then goes into a round tubing. Dr. K showed me with a needle how the needle can slip off the edge of the port and go into that flat tubing creating a leak. He said if the tubing were round like the rest of it, the needle would slip off of it instead of going into it. I hope this makes sense. This is how he (thinks) he punctured mine. It really is very easy to do and I am surprised it doesn't happen more often. I hope this helps some. Deb

Olliegator, where do you live? I see you were banded in Ocala and based on your Avatar.... I live in Tallahassee (but I am a gator fan, moved here from Gainesville, lol) Deb

I just asked my doctor this a few days ago and he said he has never once had someone's band totally filled. He assured me that won't happen so... Also remember there is .8 cc of "dead space" from the tubing so a 10cc band can really be filled to 10.8 but he insists he has never had one totally filled. I hope this helps a little. Deb

Well, as of right now I have to be there on the 10th to meet him at Crown Point and then the 11th (for now) I am scheduled for surgery.

I just looked it up and you're right, vomiting and tightness. With my luck I have a leak and a slip, ha, ha :thumbup:

For me it was a good 2-3 weeks.

Thanks Mini, Dr. K said the "dead space" is .8 cc. He accounted for that in his findings so who knows. I'm not really as concerned with the leak possibility as I am something being wrong with my band. If it slipped or was unlatched (same thing as slipped) as he first thought, would I still be feeeling restriction? I'm not really sure what the signs of a slip are.

Thanks Jaime, I'm really ok with all of it, just a bit confused ya know? Not really sure what is going on but it is what it is and whatever it turns out to be (if anything) I'll deal with it. It has all just been very weird. A lot in three days. You sound like you are doing great. I didn't lose anything on liquids so good for you!

I know, none of it really makes sense. I didn't have a leak I am guessing since I was so very tight (from Fridays fill) But still he only pulled out 6 cc's when there should have been a little over 7.1 (on Saturday) I am now at 5.5 and I am having some restriction so I don't think I have a leak at this point. I am just wondering if there isn't some swelling after all those fills and unfills (3 in 3 days) so I will see how the restriction is in a couple of days. When he accessed my port he realized he wasn't in the port and said he had to either be in my muscle (which I would have felt) or in the tubing (which would have created a leak). He said if he didn't puncture it it will just be because we got incredibly lucky somehow. The confusing thing to me is how he keeps withdrawing such different amounts compared to what he says he put in. In one visit alone (Friday) he got two different amounts. Once he pulled out 5 and once he pulled out 6. I think somewhere along the line he miscalculated. Either that or something really strange is happening. He said he has never once had anything like this happen so he said we are leaving it at I don't know for now.

Yeah, it's been pretty confusing for sure. Dr. K was so certain the first time because he said within 24 hours there was 2 cc less in there and he was going to leave my band empty but I said no put back in what I had yesterday thinking even a few hours of restriction would be better than none so why not? At that point he said Fluoro wouldn't help much because there had to be a leak. That's when I found that I was overfilled so I am glad I had him fill it back up. But of course now that he is pretty certain that he punctured it I don't know what to think. I have been thinking a lot about all of this and I think I would like some kind of test whether fluro or ultrasound or whatever. If nothing else, just to know that the band is in place and rule that out. Would a regular ultrasound be able to show that? Because maybe I can just have my PCP here order that.

Thanks for coming out to Panera. I know you were in pain. I hope you are feeling better now. I'm not sure if my fill situation is figured out or not. I called Dr. K Sat. morning and met him at his office where they were moving so it was under "battle ground conditions" as he said, lol. Luckily he had a kit in his car. When I left his office on Friday he said I had a little over 7.1 cc in my band but he thought I had a leak. On Sat. am when I couldn't even get a baby sip of water in, he pulled out only 6 cc. Then he said "I hate to tell you this but I am quite certain I just punctured your tubing". So I left Friday thinking I had a leak and set a surgery date for Dec. went in Sat. overfilled and feeling relieved that I did not have a leak. Then he says he punctured my tubing and kept the Dec. surgery date. I left Sat. with 5.5 cc. I am currently feeling restriction so I really have no clue. Poor Dr. K says he has no clue either and has never experienced anything like this before. I am having a bit of pain on the right side of my stomach at times so I am hoping my band hasn't slipped or isn't unlatched a she thought originally. Whether or not I have any band or port problems though I believe he miscalculated but not sure by how much. I don't understand why else I would have such different amounts in my band every time he withdraws it. I'm not sure if I have true restriction or swelling. If you can have swelling with a fill then imagine what it is like after 3 fills in three days with several unfills at the same time. I will just have to wait and see what the coming days bring.

Dee, thanks for posting the picture. It was so nice meeting all of you. It certainly was an interesting trip for me.

Thanks Mini, I am going to do that. I went to bed thinking I might be able to handle this pain but I woke up at 5 a.m and was so dry from having almost no liquids (4 oz.) yesterday so I took a sip of water and it is now 5:40 and I am still having such pain from that one sip. I am wondering what would be an approopriate time to call him. I really would like to make my flight today at 3:30.

Hi all, It was so nice to meet everyone who came to Panera for dinner. I have had a very interesting trip to say the least. Where to start? I went for a fill (my second) on Thursday which Dr. K said was very large, it brought me up to 7.1 cc's so he said he absolutely would not put any more in. Then we went to Panera for dinner and I had no restriction at all. I took everyone's advice and called Dr. K.'s office this morning to get more of a fill. Afterall, I did fly here from Florida and didn't want to go home with no restriction. I went in to see Dr. K at 10:45 this morning and he said he was very concerned and that he thought I had one of two problems either he did not latch the band and it slipped or I might have a leaky port. He then proceeded to unfill me to see how much was in there and surprise, only 5 cc.'s but then he put it back in and unfilled it again and he got 6 cc.'s. He said he was going to leave it empty and I said no, put back what I had yesterday so he agreed, he put back 7 cc.'s. To make this story short he said I have a leak and that he thought he punctured it yesterday during my fill so he scheduled me for a port replacement surgery on Dec. 11. Needless to say I was disappointed and didn't even think about eating or drinking all day. Then I got hungry around 4 pm and had three teaspoons of oatmeal and OMG! I am so tight. I can't get much of anything in that won't come right back up. So, I'm thinking I do not have a leak and that he must have miscalculated how much he put in yesterday and now I have 7 cc's which he thought I had and now I am over filled. Just thought I would share. It has been a crazy day for me. Question: How tight is too tight because I am flying home tomorrow.

Congratulations! You are doing awesome. So close to goal. I feel like I will never get there. I wish I had closer access to fills though, it would make it so much easier. Keep up the good work Deb

That is awesome!! Good for you