freedom0702

Your pain is probably not from the port like mine. My port is more on the left side than in the middle. Hope the pain meds work and that it is just gas and will soon pass (a little play on words, LOL). Good luck!

I got my band on July 2nd.

Thanks! The reason I asked that is because I fell 5 days out of surgery. However, my dr didn't think I hurt anything but I've had pain/discomfort in my left ribcage ever since. He checked it again a couple of weeks ago and said that he did place the band a little high and that could be causing the pain. He told me that it would probably get better as I lose weight. Not sure if I believe that, though. It's sewn into muscle and I don't think my muscle is going to go lower when I lose the weight. I could be wrong, who knows!

RestlessMonkey - what do you think the cause would be if she had jarred herself?

So how did your fill go? I hope no horror stories to report and that everything went well.

I went for my first fill and when the dr's assistant (she's the one that does the fills for his office) couldn't find my port after poking & digging around in and out about eight times, I couldn't take it any more. I starting getting lightheaded and hot. :laugh: I asked her to stop and she said to relax for a few minutes and she would try again. :thumbup: I decided I couldn't let her try again that day so she prescribed me some zanax and told me to come back later that day or the next day. I went back the next day and was calmer after taking the zanax and she was able to do the fill (with the nurse holding my hand and my husband beside me for support). Pretty pathetic, huh? I saw the doctor a few days ago and we discussed the fill and he told me that maybe the lap band wasn't such a good choice for me since I am 'needle phobic'. It would have been nice of him to have told me that before I got the band. I had asked him about it at a pre op meeting and told him that the thought of needles make me sick as they always have a hard time taking blood and I wasn't sure I could do this if they were poking around in my stomach. He just laughed and told me that they don't have to poke around much, it's usually pretty fast. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, what did you do to get past the fear, etc.? I am losing with the band but am very uncomfortable even thinking about going for another fill. HELP!

IllinoisHusker - Congratulations, I'm so happy for you.. It won't be long now!:wink_smile:

Is port revision the same as going in and moving the port? Let me know if that's what your dr decides to do and how it goes. IM LORI - I don't know if you were asking me, but my port is on the left side, right under my ribs and off to the side a little bit. And mine can't be my gallbladder, since I don't have one anymore. I believe it is the port rubbing on my rib...ouch!

Ya know, when I lived in Oregon, I went to a urologist in Tualatin (just outside of Portland) named Dr. Skeeters. I was getting bladder infections alot and he prescribed something that he called an "after diddle mint" and told me to take one each time we had sex and to be sure to go to the bathroom afterwards (to pee). I wish I could remember what the medication was. I just thought it was funny that he called it that. It did help!

Dr Hammer did my surgery here in Springfield on July 2nd. I've been reading some of Indio's posts. She does seem to have alot of good info to share. So glad there are people like all of you here. I'm gonna need some mentoring as time goes by. I've had my first fill and it didn't go too well. I go for my 2nd on the 19th. Hope it goes better. Do you go to any support group. We have one at Memorial once a month, I'm sure you could join us if you would like. In October a plastic surgeon is coming to speak to us. Should be interesting.

Hey Bochs - I was just reading the posts, haven't posted in this forum before but noticed you are from Springfield IL. I am in Rochester, we're neighbors! If you don't mind my asking, who did your surgery? It's so exciting to see someone on here so close to home.

Where were you able to find liquid Advil? I'm in the midwest and haven't been able to find it anywhere, even Walmart and Kroger are unalbe to order it from their supplier. Thanks.

How did you get them to move your port? Did your dr suggest that? Did they go in like for the initial surgery? How long was the recovery time for that? I'm about 9 weeks out and still have that problem, however, dr says my port is "a little high". He was only concerned about infection and when there was none, he was satisified and didn't tell me that he could move the port or, for that matter, that there was anything to be done except it may get better as I lose some weight! So, in the meantime, I can't lift, bend, or walk over a mile at a time or it starts hurting and I have to lay down or stretch out to make it go away.

Jetsy62- I do wish you the best. I'll bet the time will fly by while you wait. If you get sick of the pre op diet and want something kinda tasty you might want to mix unflavored protein powder with chicken or beef broth and add some Mrs Dash seasoning to it. It almost tastes like a creamy soup. Much better than the protein shakes all the time. That's what got me through it. Thanks for letting me know what your dr said about fills. He sounds like he knows what he's doing. I'm gonna as the pa why she doesn't have me crunch. All she told me to do was to raise my arm over my head. Interesting! Where is your dr?

I was banded on July 2nd and have been having discomfort at the port site for about a month now. Whenever I try to do anything streneous such as lifting, twisting, etc. it hurts. My doctor looked at it and pushed around, he was concerned that it was infected. The large incision area isn't red or showing any signs of infection so he just said that he must have placed it a little high and possible rubbing on my rib. He didn't tell me if he could go in and move it or what else to do for it except wait to see when I lose some weight if it will move down some.

lyllynkr - have you ever tried making protein ice cream? There are several recipes on "the world according to egg face" theworldaccordingtoeggface I think she has an ice cream flavor for every occasion, as well as several other great recipes,too. I've tried a few flavors of her ice cream and they are pretty good, just not as creamy as the store bought stuff, but much better for us. Hope you enjoy them.

Thanks for the encouagement. I'll try to remember the benefits instead of the discomfort/fear. Maybe it won't be as bad since I'll know what to expect this time.

Jetsy62 - Do you have a date scheduled for your surgery yet?

Jetsy62 - I'm so sorry if I scared you. I posted this to see if anyone else had these issues and how they handled them, not to scare or discourage anyone. I still think the band will be worth it and I know there has to be an answer to this fill thing. Please don't make your decision to get banded on my experience. You'll see as you read the other posts that most people don't experience this so I don't think this is the norm. MrsFlipFlops - I'm with you! No more digging for me, either. I'm going to let them give it one more try on the 19th and if they start digging around too much, they are going to stop. If they can't or don't want to use floro, I'm going to call my insurance and see if I can go to dr in another city (since he is the only one here) to get my fills. This is ridiculous!

I went to support group meeting tonight and told them about my fill "drama". Most of them said they haven't had any problems but one lady said on her last fill she was bleeding and very bruised. Not good! If they have a problem filling me next time, I'm going to ask for the dr to do it. I'm not going to be their pin cushion agian. TxChelsey - I asked the dr last friday about flouro and he told me they used to use it, but it isn't any better. He said he had a hard time finding the port with it as it has to be lined up with a shadow and it would take him about 8 tries to get it??? :thumbup: I don't know if my insurance would pay for me to go to another dr for fills and I don't think there is another dr in this town that does them. If it doesn't get better though, I may be finding out. yayi - I like your idea about "guided imagery". I'm gonna try that. I go for my next fill on Sept 19th. I'll let you all know how it goes this time (of course, I will have my hubby and my zanax). Thanks again to all of you for your support!:party:

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I have no intention of having the band removed. I didn't watch her do the fill or even look at the needle. It doesn't really hurt, just the pressure and being able to feel the movement and thinking about what she was doing. She tried talking to me while she was doing the fill but would pause when she thought she was in and I'd think again about what she was doing. I know this is crazy and will have to work thru it. She did say that it will get easier as I lose more weight. Hope that's true. I will take the zanax at least for the next fill and see how it goes.

I was banded on July 2nd and still can't drink as much as I'm supposed to(64 oz). Just recently I started making Crystal Lite lemonade in the 16.9oz bottle and freezing it just until it becomes slushy. I drink about 2 of these a day now. I goes down easier than plain water or even Crystal Lite that hasn't been frozen. I'm gonna try the Raspberry Ice flavor tomorrow. Hope this will be helpful to you too.

Latrice - haven't heard from you. Did you get your band? How did everything go? Hope you're doing well. Keep us posted.

Hey Illinoishusker - Isn't Mt Zion having some kind of festival this weekend? What's happening there? Might go if they have crafts and such. I think I heard something about it on TV a couple of days ago but didn't catch the whole thing.

EllinidaGreek - Congratulations on getting a surgery date. It won't be much longer now! Bubblyblonde- just a few more days for you, :biggrin: how are you feeling..scared, excited???