shrinkingV

I was about four weeks out of surgery when I flipped mine. Hubby was gone and a tree limb had blocked my car in (on my way to work and I couldn't miss) so I moved the limb. It wasn't huge but large enough for the sutures holding my still healing port into place to pop resulting in the port flipping 180 degrees. A few weeks later I went for my first fill. After a very frustrating half an hour of attempting medical sent me to get it under fluroscopy (his office didn't have their own yet). That's when we found it was flipped. I had a second surgery a few weeks after that to replace the port. Although it wasn't damaged the surgeon said that since he was going back in to place more sutures it might as well be a new one. Surgery was super short (less than 2 hours prep to finish) and i went back to work after 2 days, weekend really. He even went in where the first incision was and i ended up with a much better looking scar. Lesson learned though. Doc says no lifting over X number of pounds I listen! That was almost 2 years ago and everything has been fine since.

I was banded 11 months ago. I was almost 250 lbs and now have lost almost 50 pounds. I have never had any problems with my joints. No knee pain and no hip pain. Had some trouble with my feet but that is gone. Now, I am finding that my knees pop all the time and my hips do too. Any one else have this happen? Someone at work told me that it was lack of vitamins but I really do take all that my surgeon wants me to. Multi twice a day, calcium three times a day, and a B complex.

It's been a few weeks since I posted this so I thought I would update. Nothing has changed but I will be going in for a fill next week. Hopefully my surgeon has some insight on this.

I was banded 11 months ago. I was almost 250 lbs and now have lost almost 50 pounds. I have never had any problems with my joints. No knee pain and no hip pain. Had some trouble with my feet but that is gone. Now, I am finding that my knees pop all the time and my hips do too. Any one else have this happen? Someone at work told me that it was lack of vitamins but I really do take all that my surgeon wants me to. Multi twice a day, calcium three times a day, and a B complex.

Bubbles, it's not so much that the bad changes as it feels like it's tighter or looser. I know on days that I'm congested and end up breathing through my mouth my band feels tighter. It doesn't hurt as much as I am much more aware of my restriction. I've heard of some people that can tell a difference if a change in atmospheric pressure happens even. If I've learned anything from my journey thus far it's that everyone is different and so is their band and how it works WITH them. Good luck on your journey and I hope that this helps.

I'm so sorry to hear that you're having issues. My Surg always pulls all of the Fluid out when I get my fills. He will prefill the syringe with how much fluid he and I think should be added, finds my port, pulls all of the fluid out, flushes the line a few times, and finally puts all of the fluid in. Then we're done! I asked him last time why he did the put fluid in/ pull fluid out thing. He said it was to flush the line of any air pockets so that the fluid amount in there is a true amount. But I've never had it hurt. It was uncomfortable when he was doing it but not bad.

I'm right there with you! I didn't realize it until I looked down and was able to eat ANY BREAD. Toasted, in biscuits and gravy, or a tuna sandwich. I know these are foods that I was really quite (sadly) happy I couldn't tolerate. I found out by accident one day when my hubby's biscuits and gravy smelled too good not to try just a tiny very well chewed bite. And another, and another... STOP! Yes, it's time for a tiny fill I think. I still find that if I eat more than 5 or 6 bites I end up stuck and usually sliming. So fun. I get to go in for my year check up next month. It's just so strange in June to be completely happy with my restriction and tell my Dr that I really don't want a fill and two months later it's changed a bit.

Count me in on this one. I was banded 9/30/2010 and had to have the port replaced in January so I'm just now getting to my sweet spot. My site address is in my signature. V

Ok so I've been having headaches that actually kept me from work two days this week. New med side effects are fun that way. I get back today and find out that some of the very caring friends I have here are concerned that I'm getting headaches because I'm malnourished. They actually said that. I know they're really just concerned for my health but really?! After this last fill I've had some trouble with pb'ing but nothing that hasn't taught me what my band doesn't want in it. Lessons learned and I've gone on. But I'm far from malnourished. No real question here today guys just needed to vent a bit to folks who understand.

Thank you to every one on the input. To answer a few questions. Yes, I'm taking all of the vitamins that my surgeon suggests (most of the time any way), and the headaches went away after I stopped the med. Switched to a different one today so we'll see how that goes. So far it's good. I did start protein shakes again after not seeing the scale budge and surprise surprise I'm melting again. Thanks again everyone!

I actually had some of the chocolate Fudge pudding flavor mixed with skim and a few frozen strawberries for Breakfast today and it was de-vine! I have the fuzzy navel flavor of the nectar which is good but I have a hard time mixing it with anything but oj. Mixing it in Water makes it taste like tang. Oj + nectar + frozen strawberries = nummy but easily tiresome (at least for me). Hope this helps!

Yesterday was DH and my movie/date night. We always rent the new movies and get something fast to eat. DH requested his usual sandwich from Mr Goodcents (sub shop). I walked in (alone mind you) and ordered his giant sandwich... foot long turkey on white with three cheeses. God did it smell good in there! I was really REALLY tempted to try to eat something there. Except bread and I don't seem to get along lately. And of course they just pulled a fresh batch of hot bread out of the oven. ugh. oh well... taco bell sounded good so I figured that I could get the ameri-mex I was craving that way. DH got his huge sandwich and I got pintos w/pico and a small order of nachos. Poured the cheese on the beans and ate it with the chips. It was good... now to check the numbers. 460 cal and 11 grams protien... not bad for fast food I guess.

I got another fill last week and since then I've been having some real troubles keeping food down. Let me clarify... I've been having trouble keeping carbs down. The things that didn't bother me before this fill (I have 4cc in a 10cc band) are making me pb like crazy. Tortillas, well chewed chips (I know, bad), and even the courser breading on meat. I've never had a problem with this before but let me tell you after three days in a row and every meal with any breadish type item causes me issues. I've read all over about people choosing to be low carb. I'm just not happy that this is being a forced issue. Any tips to try and keep even just a few bites down? Or should I just accept what my band is telling me and morn the loss?

Well then my friends it looks like I will be in carb morning. Oh well this is why diets never stuck so well. Bring on the negative reinforcement! :thumbup:

I just wanted to post my experience with this since I didn't find too many posts already about it. I had my initial surgery 9/30/09 and it went really well. I was one of the lucky ones that didn't have any gass pain at all. I was back to work about two weeks later and was fine. I went in to get my first fill about 4 weeks after the surgery and my surgeon couldn't find the "bullseye" on my port. He scheduled me to get my fill under fluroscopy. A week later I went in to get that done. The radiologist found my port but it took about 45 minutes for him to access it. My surgeon saw the films and said he thought he could get the port now that he knew it was facing my head and not out toward the world. So the next fill came and he tried... no luck. So we scheduled the port replacement surgery. I was concerned b/c he said this would be done under conscious sedation (the same kind places use for colonoscopy procedures) which made me a bit nervous to think that he would be accessing my stomach muscles while I was just loopy and not totally knocked out. The day of my surgery I showed up and spoke with the anesthesiologist who told me it "would be the same sedation as my first surgery". SCORE! I checked in at 6:45 and was out by 9. I wasn't sleepy or really in pain. The surgeon opened one of the exsisting sites and just replaced the port. I was back to work after the weekend. It felt like I had done 1000 crunches. So sore but not in pain. The lortab helped me sleep through the night. I don't know why I was so scared of this surgery and not of the other. Maybe because I couldn't find too many people that had it done. I hope my experience helps someone else.

Here's the short version of my issue. I tried to get my first fill last Thursday in the office but after trying the surgeon couldn't find the bulls-eye. He said I would have to get a fill under fluro and set up the time for me to get that one. I went yesterday to the hosp for the fluro. The dr that was doing it said that instead of the port sitting flat against my muscles and facing outward it's facing my head. He said "I'm good but this was the hardest one I've done. Maybe I was just lucky today." I kid you not. Glad this guy wasn't my surg. But now I'm flustered as to what to do now. I have a med coder friend that says I need to contact the surgeon and have them look into redoing the port attachment b/c it could be considered a "surgery mishap". But then I'm also thinking that it was done successfully under fluro and I can just do that when it's needed and they can just earn their money for once. But then I'm also hormonal as well as sick so I'm not in the most understanding mood. Has this happened to anyone else and what did you do? Suggestions?

Wow. That is really awful. I can at least be thankfull that they were able (after many MANY tries) to get the needle in with the fluro. So I've got my first 4cc in my 10cc band. Good luck! :thumbup:

UPDATE!!! I called the surgeon's office and talked to their coordinator about what's been going on. She said that it's a really simple procedure. Open up one of the incision sites, reattatch the port, close up, and go. If it's done on a Friday I should be back at work on Monday. AND since the insurance paid for the surgery she said they should also pay for this as a "revision". She's checking on it and will get back to me. So I'm a bit happier about the situation. I guess. I'm going to focus on my new fill. It's a good thing. :thumbup:

I am so happy to hear that Bernard is the support you need. I know that Zippy is doing her best and after her first feeding tomorrow (4cc of "liquid love" :tongue_smilie: in a 10cc) she'll be even more happy to help. Even if she's being kind of shy for the dr and making me take her to the radiologist to feed her. I really do like the "liquid love" term. Definately going to have to adopt that into my vocab.

I got the call today. I'm going in for the fluro fill tomorrow at 9! I was telling my friend that I'm nervous and excited about it when I realized something. I say that I'm nervous and excited with just about every step of this new journey. I never realized it before today. I'm such a prepairing kind of person that when I'm going into something completely new I get nervous. But it's a good thing. I am really looking forward to seeing my insides. Afterall it wasn't until the surgeon started poking around that I reaized what I thought was my port really wasn't. I have no idea what it is but it's not the port. :tongue_smilie: I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow. Gotta love working for the government and getting random holidays off. Especially when leave time is at a premium. :smile: Happy Veterans' Day USA!

I was so excited to finally get my first fill. It was scheduled for 5 weeks after my surgery and I haven't felt any kind of restriction for the last two weeks. Preop went so well, approval was super fast, surgery and recovery were amazingly easy. I get to the surgeon's office and am not feeling well (allergies gone amok) so I'm a bit cranky in addition to being nervous. He asks his normal questions about how much I can eat and tells me that he's going to start with the standard 4cc fill and we can go from there. Here's where it gets not so fun. He inserts the needle (no issues there) and hits the side part of the port. Moving the needle around gently he tries again, and again, and again. I have no idea how long he did this b/c I was a bit upset that this wasn't going well. Finally he gives up saying that one of the scheduling girls will have to call me when she gets back into the office (she was off that day and the next) with an appointment for the hospital's xray dept to do it under fluro. I cannot tell you how hard it was for me not to drive straight to the pizza buffet and go back to my old ways. I didn't do it. It was hard but I didn't. I compromized by picking up a shake and mixing it at home with a scoop of Protein powder. This was thursday and I'm supposed to get a call from the scheduling lady tomorrow. He's concerned that the port flipped completely and he's going to have to go back in and fix it. I'm already 61 sick leave hours in the hole from having the surgery. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if they have to go back in to fix this. I'm hoping that it's the other possibility that he said... just some extra tough scar tissue shifting it in a funny angle that he can't account for. Yeah, I'm really hoping for that. Sorry this is so long. Just needed to vent to the people who really know how this all feels. DH does a good job trying but really doesn't know.