jamigirl67

Christy & Andrea, did your wound ever close? How long did it take? I'm so upset. Try to make this short. Had Lap Band in Aug/10. Port site never closed. After 4 weeks, doc took me back to OR for port revision. Ended up removing entire band. Said that my body was "rejecting" it. Anyhow, of course I was so upset. I'm a self pay. They wouldn't give me all of my money back. Said they were working with another surgeon that is more experienced and if I was willing, I can go back to OR for new Lap Band. So it's a month after band removed and I'm going back for another one. I'm now 17 days post-op, all healed, so happy and going for my first fill in a few days, and the incision above the port OPENED! It's about a 4 inch incision, and about 3 inches are open. Draining blood tinged, doesn't look infected, not hurting, and I feel fine. I'm an RN, so I cleaned it, packed it, and covered it. I'll call my doc in the am. I figured it's Sunday and I don't want to spend the day in the ER for this. My question is: Is this thing going to heal over the port? If anyone has had the port exposed, did the wound heal? I'm completely traumatized by this. Please help Jami

Just called Strax, and they don't do the Gastric Sleeve. Only Lap Band. Now what? thanks Jami

I took out a credit line on Care Credit that Strax recommended. I'm going to give them a call to dispute. I don't think that Strax does the Gastric Sleeve and I'm not going to qualify for my insurance to cover anything due to my BMI being too low and I don't really have major problems from obesity. Plus to go through insurance would take such a long time. I went with the Lap-Band because I felt that it wasn't so invasive as a reconstructive surgery on the stomach. I also had a max loan of 10K and that was the price that Strax gave me. I should of done more investigating. I'm going to check and see if Strax also has experience with the Gastric Sleeve, and if so, if they can possibly figure a way to help me. If not, and they won't give me a full refund, I'll have no other choice but to contact an attorney. so upset. Just wanted to get my eating habits under contol. thanks Jami

I'm a self pay. BMI of 38. Cost 10K for Lap Band. Had it placed 9/10/10. Wound by port did not close. Anyhow, went back to OR 1 month later for wound debridement and moving of port and doc removed entire band. He said that my body was rejecting it and that the Omentum from my stomach was beginning to grow over the band. I was told that rejection was extemely rare. Anyhow, I'm extremely depressed. They will refund half, but I now need to make payments on 5K and I still don't have a solution to my weight problem. The surgeon say's he's done around 800 of them and has never seen this problem. What do I do? Any advice? Supposedly Allergan was contacted and the rejection was reported. I had it done by Strax. They now want me to sign a release to refund me half of what I spent for 1 month with a band. please help me! Jami jamigirl67@yahoo.com :thumbup::frown1::lol0::frown1::frown1:

Hi all, I'm not really replying. Just didn't know how to put up a general post so here goes with my very depressing news. Lap-Band Aug 19th. Lost about 15 lbs in first month. Problem was that the wound near the port was not closing. Was not infected, but had healed in an open state. I'm an RN that has specialized in the field of Wound Care. I went back to the surgeon probably 6 times in the month to discuss the wound. I insisted to him that there was a foreign body in there (some sutures or something) and he kept telling me I was crazy. Finally, I insisted on seeing a Plastic Surgeon affiliated with the practice. The next day I was back in the OR. When the Plastic examined me, he confirmed that that the foreign body was the port and that the wound was connected to the port. The surgeon agreed to move the port, clean out the wound. Explore the lap band to make sure everything was ok. Worst case scenerio was infection and he would remove entire band. So I awoke from surgery. Surgeon tells me that when he went in to move the port and explored the Lap Band itself, that the Band was covered by overgrowth of tissue that he has never seen before. He believed that it was my bodies way of rejecting the device. So he decided to remove the entire band. I am completely traumatized. Besides the trauma of the 2 surgeries in a month and the loss of what I believe was my only savior towards weight loss, I also took a loan for 10K to pay for this surgery or which they will give me back half. Has anyone ever heard of this? Allergan will refund the charge for the device itself, but they want me to sign a release? Should I be contacting an attorney? I'm so upset. I'm in South Florida. Please advise Jami jamigirl67@yahoo.com

Hi, I know it's been a while since your surgery. Just wanted to know what happened with your port site? I'm 4 weeks out and have the same issue. Open wound over port site. Not healing. I'm sure there are some sutures that won't disolve but the doc won't listen to me. Just keep on telling me to leave it alone and it will heal. He is worried to clean the wound up because it's so close to the port. So I feel like I'm just waiting for an infection. What can I do? I'm a self pay. I don't want to lose this Lap Band because my surgeon messed up and won't listen to me. Any advice? thanks Jami

Shelly, I was done on the 19th also. Feeling very bloated. I'm taking Tylenol extra strength. The narcotics make me nauseas. Also, have your doc write a script for you for Zofran SL for nausea. It is the only thing that stops it for me. Good luck