Please help me figure this out...I'm scared and mad!

[lisaky71 0]

Hi everyone...please bare with me while I give you some info first and i really need some input on this one. I have a couple of diff issues going through my head. :thumbup:

First of all, i was banded on Friday, so I'm only 5 days out. I was doing great, very minimal pain, no gas...just feeling pretty good. Well, yesterday I decided to go back to work. Well, I knew right off the bat in the first couple of days home that it really hurt to cough. I asked about it and the dr. office told me it's normal for it to hurt to cough and to try to hold a pillow against my stomach when i do..but yesterday at school (I teach) I felt a cough coming on. I tried to fight it and then had to cough...not a full out cough because that would have killed me, but a muffled cough holding my port area the whole time. It was so excruciating in my port area that I thought I was going to go down to the floor...i even had tears running down my face. I went into the hallway to gather myself and then ab out 30 minutes later, I had to cough again...I am NO wimp with pain, but im telling you, it almost had me in tears again. It was like a knife punching in my port area then followed by an intense BURN that lasted for minutes. Ever since those episodes, I have been in pain when I move...especially bend or do anything other than just sitting still. My other incisions are fine, it's just the port area and it's only when I move. I'm wondering if I've damaged it somehow...flipped it? pulled a stitch? I called my dr. after all of this yesterday and the nurse said it was normal and that the port was in muscle and that scar tissue can be very painful. I just don't know if she really "gets" how much this hurts.

I'm home today laying on my butt trying to recooperate. But of course I'm worrying a little. I'm self pay and prayed the whole time I wouldn't have any complications because it took all i had just to get the surgery. ANy thoughts at all? Thanks for being here you guys...i appreciate it in advance. :smile2:

Lisa

[ocotillo 0]

So sorry for your pain and I do understand. Yes, it is an intense burning and it does last. The port area is the absolute worst part of the physcial healing. You might have "moved" something a little, but I'm sure you didn't do any major damage. They stapled and stitched my port in so there are metal prongs and the regular stitches holding it in place and if they move, it's going to hurt.

Hold that pillow to your stomach every time you cough...if you can...it will help with the support. Do you have any pain meds left from the surgery? You might want to try a little of that just to help right now.

I had pain for 3 weeks...intense burning pain, especially if I moved wrong....I still get twinges when I strain that area, but it will go away and heal. The scar tissue will help hold the port in place.

I'm self pay too....went to Mexico for surgery.....you will be alright, just make sure you take it easy. You might take something for the cough too. Check with your doctor if you can.

[heidi05 6]

Hi everyone...please bare with me while I give you some info first and i really need some input on this one. I have a couple of diff issues going through my head. :thumbup:

First of all, i was banded on Friday, so I'm only 5 days out. I was doing great, very minimal pain, no gas...just feeling pretty good. Well, yesterday I decided to go back to work. Well, I knew right off the bat in the first couple of days home that it really hurt to cough. I asked about it and the dr. office told me it's normal for it to hurt to cough and to try to hold a pillow against my stomach when i do..but yesterday at school (I teach) I felt a cough coming on. I tried to fight it and then had to cough...not a full out cough because that would have killed me, but a muffled cough holding my port area the whole time. It was so excruciating in my port area that I thought I was going to go down to the floor...i even had tears running down my face. I went into the hallway to gather myself and then ab out 30 minutes later, I had to cough again...I am NO wimp with pain, but im telling you, it almost had me in tears again. It was like a knife punching in my port area then followed by an intense BURN that lasted for minutes. Ever since those episodes, I have been in pain when I move...especially bend or do anything other than just sitting still. My other incisions are fine, it's just the port area and it's only when I move. I'm wondering if I've damaged it somehow...flipped it? pulled a stitch? I called my dr. after all of this yesterday and the nurse said it was normal and that the port was in muscle and that scar tissue can be very painful. I just don't know if she really "gets" how much this hurts.

I'm home today laying on my butt trying to recooperate. But of course I'm worrying a little. I'm self pay and prayed the whole time I wouldn't have any complications because it took all i had just to get the surgery. ANy thoughts at all? Thanks for being here you guys...i appreciate it in advance. :smile2:

Lisa

hi im sorry to hear of your pain, i had this issue at first, the port is actually sewn to your muscle under the skin and fat layer on you tummy, so when you cough your muscle moves and becuase it not used to having anything sewn to it the area will have quite a bit of swelling there too, take some pain meds every 4 or 6 hours depending on what they have given you even if the pain is not too bad you need to keep them in your system at a the level you doctor has prescribed at least for the first week or so, dont be worried about it flipping and stuff it is not a common feature of the band it does happen but it is sewn in very securely. i fit is really bad i got a bandage and put it round the area of my port so that when i coughed i could hold that rea a bit tighter and it diod help so much. i really hope this gets easier for you. god bless flo

[BetsyB 9]

I'm really sorry you're having so much pain. I lucked out in that department, but the port site really was the site where I felt--and continue to feel!--a good deal of pain. It's not a complication--it's an expected phenomenon. I wish you'd been told of this in advance, because knowing what to expect makes it less scary! (It wouldn't be a bad idea to let your surgeon know, when you're next in, that mention of this should be added to their preop seminar so that future patients aren't taken by surprise.)

It takes a good while for the port to get nicely established in the muscle--and it HURTS! And so many things seem to trigger it---leaning against a counter while doing dishes really jolted me just yesterday.

It's just a very tender, sore spot for a while. But unless you see worrisome signs such as increased redness, drainage, fever, and so on, it's just one of those things that relies on time to heal.

[illuminationlady 7]

Sorry about your pain. My surgeon sent me home with a very large elastic band that wrapped completely around my midsection. I think you can buy them at the drug store. I wore that thing for two weeks and had hardly any problems. Best wishes!!!

[1unknownperson 0]

I was experiencing that same pain especially when walking I felt it with every step I took, and after two weeks of it not getting better, I started wearing a girdle and it made a 100% difference. I lived in that thing for 2 or 3 weeks... I strongly recommend some kind of binding for the tummy area as it seems to hold everything together and firm...

Now, I have graduated from the girdle to pantyhose that I wear all the way up under my boobs. LOL... (However, I was doing that even before the surgery for years just to firm up my jelly belly... My Kids love to make fun of me for that! haha)

[sharonann2u 0]

Hi everyone...please bare with me while I give you some info first and i really need some input on this one. I have a couple of diff issues going through my head. :thumbup:

First of all, i was banded on Friday, so I'm only 5 days out. I was doing great, very minimal pain, no gas...just feeling pretty good. Well, yesterday I decided to go back to work. Well, I knew right off the bat in the first couple of days home that it really hurt to cough. I asked about it and the dr. office told me it's normal for it to hurt to cough and to try to hold a pillow against my stomach when i do..but yesterday at school (I teach) I felt a cough coming on. I tried to fight it and then had to cough...not a full out cough because that would have killed me, but a muffled cough holding my port area the whole time. It was so excruciating in my port area that I thought I was going to go down to the floor...i even had tears running down my face. I went into the hallway to gather myself and then ab out 30 minutes later, I had to cough again...I am NO wimp with pain, but im telling you, it almost had me in tears again. It was like a knife punching in my port area then followed by an intense BURN that lasted for minutes. Ever since those episodes, I have been in pain when I move...especially bend or do anything other than just sitting still. My other incisions are fine, it's just the port area and it's only when I move. I'm wondering if I've damaged it somehow...flipped it? pulled a stitch? I called my dr. after all of this yesterday and the nurse said it was normal and that the port was in muscle and that scar tissue can be very painful. I just don't know if she really "gets" how much this hurts.

I'm home today laying on my butt trying to recooperate. But of course I'm worrying a little. I'm self pay and prayed the whole time I wouldn't have any complications because it took all i had just to get the surgery. ANy thoughts at all? Thanks for being here you guys...i appreciate it in advance. :smile2:

Lisa

I have been banded for 28 months now and I have neer heard anyone colmplain like this. Yes scar tissue does hurt as it grows but you should not have scar tisue from the lapband not this early, unless I read your message wrong. I caugh a lot only due to a recent cold and then the darn flu and my band area never hurt. I wonder what could be the problem and it sounds like the Dr. doesn't want to listen to her patient and that is just wrong. Wish you the very best and hope things work out well for you.