susieshowme

Hello All, My mom had lap band surgery on July 19th and has not had a good recovery at all. I'm getting more and more concerned. She has a lot of swelling where the device was implanted. The swollen area is hard and her surgeon told her to put heat pads on it and palpatate it so the fluid (probably blood) doesn't coagulate. That's impossible, because it's too painful to press on. We have an appointment tomorrow to see her surgeon, he plans on draining the fluid. My mom was at the very top of the age range for the surgery. She is not up walking around, she says the swollen area tugs, pulls, and radiates to her back. Has anyone heard of this before? Please respond.

Thank you for the responses. I thought I'd stop in and give you an update. Her doctor did drain the area (he got 9 or tem huge syringes full of yellow fluid out). There was another area that was not liquified, he is planning on trying again next week. She did seem to brighten up after and was moving around a lot better after that. Mom slept in her bed for the first time a few days later, and the pressure of laying on her side made the area start leaking- ALL OVER THE PLACE! It was really disgusting and she, we both, freaked out. We called the doctor and went back in to see him the next day. He's concerned. He said if it doesn't stop leaking and look much better next week, he'll need to remove the port. He'd leave the band and tubing in- remove the port for a few months then reinsert it. The thought of more surgery scares me, but mom says shes in... She's invested this much this far... I like mom's surgeon very much. He's thoughtful and checks in on her often by phone. He's was the only surgeon willing to take on mom. She 60 years old and a revision from the intestinal bypass days of the 70's. We knew she was high risk, and she is having the complications that come along with that. I'm not however impressed with the facility he practices at. She had surgery the day of that awful storm here in St. Louis, the hospital's electricity went out for 10 hours AND the generator failed for about 15 minutes. Rain poured in around the window in her room, we had to move in the dark. It was bedlam, and our nurse did not handle it well. Very stressful. The thought of another stay there is an unpleasant one. I hesitate to name mom's surgeon, mom and I both feel he's very competent. I would hate for anyone to associate her condition with his skills in the OR or otherwise. This forum, I'm sure, is frequented by his patients and colleagues. Thanks again for your replies. Rebekah

no, she hasn't run a fever. She was, at first, very nauseated and had a lot of intermitten pain which she associated with gas. That has passed. She is on full liquids and has no pain after eating soups... It's just this swollen area... It affects her mobility and she can't get around or even lay down in bed. She's been in this recliner chair since I bought her home. She tried to get outside last weekend and fell, totally messed up her face, poor thing looks terrible. This area is right under an incision. It's not warm to the touch or looking inflamed- just raised and hard. We will see her surgeon tomorrow... I'm hoping, praying, he drains this things and she feels much better. Thanks for the response, but I must admit, I'm more concerned than ever now. Susie