Leaky Port :(

[steveelea 61]

Well I have had it confirmed, that my port is now leaking :thumbup:

The dr has suspected it for some time and has been checking my amounts that remain in my band for the last few months. I would feel restriction on the day of my fill and a couple of days after that, but towards the end of the week I would really hungry and look for food all the time.

I was starting to think it was in my mind but when they finally tested it, It showed that I was losing about 1 ml per week. They then did a big fill and then sent me to my surgeon 2 weeks later and i had lost 3 mls in 2 weeks from my band.

So I am in on monday for my port replacement.

I was just wondering about others that have had the same or similar thing happen and how thier port replacement surgery went, if it has been successfull??

I had a lot of pain with my band (origional surgery) and they said to me it wont be as bad with just the port replacement so I hope thats right....I am a scardy cat LOL

I am upset because I have been at a standstill for some time now and weight loss has stopped, although I have gained no weight which is great, I still feel dissapointed.

I feel like I have to start all over again. I will have 5 mls inserted into the band during surgery, but that does't restrict me much, and I then have to wait another month till I can go for a fill. Oh well lets hope that it's all fixed without too much more stress and that this time it works!

[keithyedica 0]

Just wondering how everything went.

I am in the same boat as you and go in April 29 to have my port replaced because it is leaking in the port area also.

Hope everything went good for you.

Keith:unsure::thumbup:

[steveelea 61]

Hey Keith

Well I got my new port on Monday arvo so it's too early to tell just yet how its going, but I am certainly feeling restriction....not sure as to weather that is swelling or not but my surgeon gave me a 5ml in the band so I have 5mls in there now and the new port.

I am still swallen so hard to tell whats going to happen and they wont do another fill for another month till all the swelling goes down, so fingers crossed it will work this time!

How did you notice you had a leak and how long have you had your band?? Did you have trouble getting your fills??

Did they say what the leak was from??

(sorry for all the questions)

Guess the main thing to say is that the port replacement isn't near as big as the surgery you have when you get your band.....It's much quicker recovery :thumbup:

[mlillie36 1]

Hi, I was doing some searching and found your post. Yesterday I had my second fill, Just banded on Feb 18. The Dr is wondering if I have a leak. He told me that he removes all Fluid and refills with every fill and there was less in there than he put in the first time. So now I am all worried and wondering what happens. I go back in a month and we will see then. Would love for ya'll to keep me posted on what happens and this works out.

[jldchester 0]

Hi,

I am concerned that I may have a leak. Been at a standstill for a very long time. I finally got restriction 2 months ago, but then came gas and bloating issues. Doc decided to unfill me. Only got 6cc's out. According to his records I should have 7.5cc's. When I asked where the other 1.5 cc's went he told me that you can never get all the liquid out!

I have questioned the fills many times because reading on here - most people have what was put in taken out and measured.

At the end of March the doc put 5cc's back in. I have absolutely NO restriction. I can now eat bread. Which I have not been able to since surgery.

Any suggestions?

[steveelea 61]

Apparently from what I have been told there should be no more than .5ml (half a ml) difference in what they can draw out. They said to me that on occasion that half a ml can hide in the band but no more than that.

I noticed when they started to draw my Fluid out, when they got near what was in their i got big airbubbles comming out into the surringe so that told them that it was almost all drawn out.

I too noticed that I had less and less restriction after the fills as the week went on, so if your dr wont look into it properly I would suggest getting a second opinion if you can.

I was really lucky and my drs said that me feeling hungry with the amount that was supposed to be in my band wasnt right and it was a warning sign for them. They did err on the side of caution however and test it for about 4 fills before they said that their was definately a leak. Instead of waiting a month in between fills and checks I only had to wait a week or 2 at the most as they knew I was anxious and wanted it sorted out....I can't speak highly enough about my drs that have been helping me through this.

Just a question for all of you, did any of you have trouble getting your fills done at the start?? Did your dr have to try a few times to find the port or was it easy??

(sorry for all the higgledy piggledy writing but I am still feeling dopey from the anisthetic )

[keithyedica 0]

Glad to here everything went ok for you.

For me I got up one morning and had NO restriction at all.

Stayed like that for about three months then decided to get to the DR office. They check my fill and I lost 2/3's of my fill. They put back in most of what I lost and said to come back in 1 month which I did . At that time I lost more then before. so they added more that day waited about 15 min's to fiind out I lost some already so they did a altrosound on me and they could see that I was leaking by the port because it was very cloudy in that aera so that is when they said they would like to replace the port on me. I hope it is just the port but they said they will not know for sure until they get into it and check it out. If it is more then just the port they will do all at the same time. My Dr is the greatest because he help design the lapband from the beginning.

I hope to get this fixed so I am not hungery anymore .

What ever it takes to fix this I will do because I miss my band that keeps me in line all the time.

Have a great one :eek:

Thrusday is the day of replacement. Comming fast Yahoo:thumbup:

[jldchester 0]

Glad to here everything went ok for you.

For me I got up one morning and had NO restriction at all.

Stayed like that for about three months then decided to get to the DR office. They check my fill and I lost 2/3's of my fill. They put back in most of what I lost and said to come back in 1 month which I did . At that time I lost more then before. so they added more that day waited about 15 min's to fiind out I lost some already so they did a altrosound on me and they could see that I was leaking by the port because it was very cloudy in that aera so that is when they said they would like to replace the port on me. I hope it is just the port but they said they will not know for sure until they get into it and check it out. If it is more then just the port they will do all at the same time. My Dr is the greatest because he help design the LAP-BAND® from the beginning.

I hope to get this fixed so I am not hungery anymore .

What ever it takes to fix this I will do because I miss my band that keeps me in line all the time.

Have a great one :eek:

Thrusday is the day of replacement. Comming fast Yahoo:thumbup:

Good Luck on Thursday! Do either of you know what caused your leak?

[keithyedica 0]

I will let you all know what they find out and why if they know after my replacement.

Talk again soon

I did have a very heavy box about 100LBS fall against my port area but who knows. They think that might have done it but not sure.

:eek:

[steveelea 61]

Yay that your going in on Thursday :eek: Keep us posted I am keen to hear how it all goes and will be thinking of you!

Wow a heavy box may have done it that would have been painfull :wink:

They said that mine was either a faulty port (which apparently happens too often) or when I had my fills done they had pierced the port area/tubing that gave me a slow leak.

They did no tests to see where it was leaking other than check how much was in my band from week to week for a while then gave me a big fill so I had 7mls and then left me for 2 weeks where i had lost about 3 mls over that period.

They said if it was a band that was leaking there would be no Fluid left in there and if it was a big leak near the port the same thing....faster leaking so may just have been a pinprick from the needle in the wrong place. As I have said before I call myself their problem child as I was very difficult to fill.

I am certainly feeling more restriction now than I have in ages although I am not sure if its swelling from the op still (as I am a MAJOR sweller unfortunately) or restriction from the 5ml that they inserted during the op......I cant wait to see my surgeon on Thursday arvo and see what he found as I have't spoken to him since just before I went in on the day that I had my port replaced.

At least it's only day surgery and really easy so all the dr's say. I was out of the operating theatre in half an hour and back into recovery.

I was done at almost 4pm and discharged to go home at 6.30pm so I was so glad not to have to have another hospital stay and to be at home that night with my family.

When I got the band done I had trouble getting my oxygen stats up after so they kept me in for 3 days/ 2 nights (intensive care for the first night because I had sleep apnea) so this was easy compared, as has been the recovery :thumbup:

[june09bandit 0]

There was big recall on the huber needles in January (google huber needle recall and you'll find lots of info). They were boring out the port rather than resealing after piercing. I just had my port replaced last month. I expect there will be many more due to the boring.

Good luck!

[steveelea 61]

Oh that's very interesting info ibndoc......wonder if they use those needles here in Australia too????

Maybe I will have to ask my nurse on Thursday.

Thanks for sharing that.

[jldchester 0]

Wow great information. I have heard the only 2 ways to have a leak is a needle prick or a bad port. Since the leak is not your fault do you have to pay for any of the surgery?

That's my big question who is responsible?:thumbup:

I really want my surgeon to give me a fill under floroscopy (sp) but he is basically refusing. Made the comment that this is for his patients that fly in to see him. :smile: I guess me driving for 2 hours is no big deal. I just want restriction- and want to know why i don't. Sorry to vent..... it is frustrating. Thanks for listening.

[keithyedica 0]

My Insurance is covering the replacement for me. I turn in a request and they said they would cover it.. I am glad they are or it would come out of my pocket.

As of what I understand there is no warrenty on anyof the lapbands or ports unless they can see it was faulty then the company might pay for the replacement.

Hope this helps and you can vent anytime you want. That is what this forum is for. We all can help each other.:thumbup:

[steveelea 61]

Vent away jldchester.....I know how you feel and I was exactly the same. I was sick of the not knowing and the stress and the waiting etc etc etc :smile:

Is the fill by fluoroscopy where they inject dye into the port to see where the leak is when they x ray or ultrasound you??

I asked my Dr about that and he said that they used to do that but too many people have allergic reactions to the dye that is used and it's too high a risk.

They said its pretty easy to tell weather the leak is band or port as if it was band it would be empty not slowly losing Fluid over time.

I wondered what/how they would replace the tubing if that was what was pierced and they showed me that the band that they used for me (not sure if its the same here in Australia to the USA) had the port and a small length of tubing that was part of the way down towards the band and that's where it joined to the rest of the tube to the band. (sorry sounds all over the place I am not too good and explaining these things )

So they replace the port and part of the tubing and they can leave the band and over half the tubing in place. So if its a piercing or a slow leak at the port then it will only be a port replacement.

As for paying for my surgery, the specialists that I went with I paid for everything up front and it still cost me about 6grand in total (even though I had private cover)....that was for the consults, dietitian, psychologist and the operation itself. They guarantee the surgery for life. If there are ever any problems then they do repeat procedures free of charge and if for some reason the band doesn't work for me eg slippage, infection etc, then they will do the sleeving procedure for free also. They basically said to me that if you get this done we will help you to lose weight no matter how which is one of the reasons I went through them....the other is that they have been doing the band in Australia for over 20 years and were the first specialists to start it here so they know what they are doing and that made me feel confident that I will one day be a healthy weight :thumbup: