Sebastia40

I swear no one seems to post anything and no one replys to anyone's questions. As a community I thought we were more supportive than that. But when I come in here and see nothing has been posted since May and not a single reply from anyone. Its a bit disheartening.

I have had bouts with severe port pain since I got the band 4 months ago. At times the pain has been so severe that the doctor has prescribed pain killers for me. I have tried sleeping with heating pads and whatever else they sugguested and nothing has helped. It will hurt badly for about 2 weeks then go away only to come back in another two week or so. At this point The Chief NP is saying they are going to have to reposition the port because it is causing ulcerations on the muscle wall it is supposed to be attached to. I am very concerned by this because I cant really afford to shell out more money for them to reposition the port when they should have either attached it better or put it in a place that wouldn't hurt. I put in the call today to see how much this was going to cost. So we will see soon. Craig

I wish you the best of luck and let me know what the outcome is. OK? Sincerely Craig

Andrea It sounds like ulcerations for you as well. There are times when I am driving home and I have to untuck my shirt from my pants because just the pressure of the shirt touching my port causes pain. My NP told me that insurance should cover it as well but I have a crappy PPO so 20% will be my portion. I guess I will call them today. If your surgeon doesn't know what he is doing go seek a second opinion elsewhere. My Nurse Practitioner said moving the port was going to be the only way to relieve the pain again due to the ulcerations caused by the port placement. I wish you the best of luck! Craig

Andrea, I am going through the same thing you are I believe. This has been going on with me practically since I had the surgery which by the way was 3/4/10. Tell me are you experiencing just burning agonizing pain in the port area like your port has some how come undone from the muscle wall? Yeah, me too. At first I thought it was something I did. Bent over and pulled the port, or bent over the wrong way. Talked to my doctor and my Nurse Practitioner about this. Each time I have had the severe pain they prescribed hydrocodone for the pain and had me put a heating pad on the port when I went to bed. Over time this has helped---somewhat---. I still have the pain flare up every month or so. So it never truely goes away. The last time I had this happen she (my nurse Practitioner) gave me a prescription for hydrocodone and told me that they were going to have to move my port because it was obviously causing ulcerations where the port had been sutured. I told her ok but haven't called back yet to get the operation done as she couldnt tell me what kind of new expense we were looking at. But pretty soon I will have to look at doing this. I am sorry that you too are going through this. However, I am glad I am not the only one. For a while I thought I was some nut job because no one else seemed to be having this problem. Sorry for the book but I hope this helps. Sincerely Craig

Hey Lindy Just wanted to check in with you to see how the surgery went/how your doing? Hope everything went well with no complications. Don't know if you have had a chance to get online lately but I just wanted you to know I have been thinking good thoughts about you and hope your healing well! Write me back when you feel up to it. Sincerely Craig

Sure wish the gay men were as sociable and supportive!! Way to go ladies! Craig

Hi I was banded 3/4/2010 and have been doing really well since my second fill. I finally have restriction. I would love to have a buddy/Mentor to discuss issues that come up as we go through this journey. I am a male and I have already lost 40 lbs as of today. Thanks in advance Sebastian

Sounds great Bob! Let me know when you hear anything. Its nice to meet you Janet! Welcome! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns or if you just want to chat. I have had my lapband since 3/4/2010 so almost four months now. I would love to share ideas and concerns along this wonderful journey we call the lap band!! Sincerely Craig:thumbup:

Hi Btrieger I would love to get together as a group once a month. I have been trying to find a decent group here in the Fort Worth area since I got my band and dinner and conversation sound awesome. Let me know if you get it together! Craig

Hey Lindy, Well what do you know my hopeful lap band buddy is family too! Well how awesome is that! Craig

Hi Lindy! I just wanted to wish the best of luck on your surgery on Jun 28th I am sure it will go off without a hitch. Thanks so much for responding to my request for a lapband buddy. Although I have 3 months on you you have the added knowledge of your mother having gone through this journey so I think that we will both be able to help and support one another. So far I have had 2 fills and got restriction after my second fill...for about a month. I go in tomorrow for another fill so hopefully I will get to my sweet spot! Keep your fingers crossed. I have lost 43 lbs so far and am ecstatic with the results thus far. Enough about me how are you doing? Are you getting nervous yet? Did your doctor put you on the Pre-surgery diet and how is that going for you? Which doc do you have? Due to my insurance I have to see a doctor in Dallas which is completely inconvenient but oh well. He is a great doctor and his staff is second to none. Anyway, again thanks for responding back to me and if I don't hear back from you before the surgery good luck! It is sooo worth it! Craig:thumbup:

Thanks Meg at least we are here even if no one else seems to care. Thanks for renewing my faith in people. Just wish this room was more active like some of the others. Thanks for listening to my venting I appreciate it!!

I have had two fills thus far and both were quick and painless. The doctor gives you a local anesthetic and you really don't feel a thing. I am no fan of needles so I usually look up at the ceiling while they are doing it and that works for me.

Thanks Betsy for your response. The thing is the incision is already healed its the stitches on the inside of me that seem to be ripping. The pain is so severe that the doc put me back on hydrocodone for the past couple of days. I just hope that as you said with time it will situate itself so I dont have to constantly worry about bending over and being out of commission for several days.

Hi everyone I had my surgury 3/4/2010 and everything has been going great until recently. Four weeks ago I bent over and apparently ripped one of the sutures attaching my port to my muscle wall. Some of the worst pain I have ever felt. It lasted about a week. I finally recovered doctor said not to worry about it. This week I was working on a project at work and bent over and ripped another suture from the port area. Again horrible pain, then yesterday reached down to pick something up and I must have done it again!!! Called my doc today because I could barely breath I was in so much pain. My question is how long does that darn suture take to heal or is this something I am going to have to deal with for a long while? Any thoughts would be appreciated Thanks!!

I was hoping someone could explain this to me. Yesterday I was perfectly fine at work I got home and started feeling sore in my port area. I have been banded since 3/4/10. It really hurt when I would move. I went to bed and had a hard time sleeping due to the pain. This morning the port area feels warm to the touch and I feel like I did a thousand sit ups. Pain in port area. What could this be? thanks for everyone's input

Went to doctor's appointment and Nurse Practitioner looked at port area and said that a stitch at the top of the port had come out and thats why it was so painful. She said it didnt look like it was infected. She gave me a 3 cc fill and sent me on my way. Port area is still tender to the touch but redness has gone away and its no longer hot to the touch. I took some bactrim which is an antibiotic I had in the cabinet just to be on the safe side and I really think that helped with the "non-infection".

Banded 3/4/10 first fill 6ccs on 3/30 and 2nd fill 3 ccs yesterday 4/30. Have a 14cc band. I have lost a total of 22 lbs so far. Hoping this second fill gives me restriction. Keeping fingers and toes crossed!! Have 95 lbs more to lose!! Sebastian40

thank you both! I called my doctor/nurse practicioner and she told me that I may have ripped the port away from muscle wall a little bit and that it should be ok. Although its warm to the touch its not red so she said just take some tylonol. I have an appointment to see my doc on friday to have my 2nd fill do you think this will preclude me having this done? thanks again Sebastian

Hi all!! This is my very first post on this site and I saw there was a GLBT area and thought wow how fantastic! I was banded 3/4/2010 and had my first fill 3/30/2010. They told me that I probably wouldn't have much restriction with the first fill and I guess they are right, or are they? The problem is there are certain foods I can't eat and I have to watch how much I chew and how quickly I eat otherwise I feel it!! So is that restriction or not?I still feel hungry all the time but I also feel full very quickly. I wanted to reach out to my fellow GLBT Texans for support. I seem to lose and then gain. The first week after my first fill I lost 7 lbs but I seem to be gaining them back and its so frustrating. I am scheduled for my next fill on 4/30/10 so hopefully that will help. Any suggestions out there?