Possible leakage? Would love some advice on this...

[stinaNYC 0]

I'm wondering if anyone can give me some insight as to what might be going on. Here's what's happened to date:

At the end of June, I asked the RN at my surgeon's office to loosen me up for vacation...I was going away from pretty much the whole month and wanted to enjoy myself without worrying about the band. He was happy to do it: he told me that he left in about 2.0 ccs.

Fast forward to the beginning of August, the first visit after vacation. Same RN goes in with the needle and tells me that there's onlt ONE cc in my band. He figured that he may have made a mistake and taken out 2 ccs, not *left in* 2. I thought nothing of it. He filled me to 2.2 cc.

I go back in on August 30th and the same RN sees me. No loss of saline...I still had 2.2 ccs in there. I had lost 12 lbs that month, so he took me down to 1.9 ccs. However, I notice that I have very little restriction.

I went in last week and my RN discovers that I have virtually nothing left in my band...I had about 0.1 cc in my band! He tells me that I may have a leak, but to be certain, he's going to fill me up to 2.4 cc and I am to go back this Thursday to see how much is left. If I've lost volume, he'll bring the doctor in and we'll discuss what may have happened and what to do next.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm trying to remain optomistic, but I can tell that, even with 2.4 cc in, my restriction is sorta...meh. If it is a leak, why would it leak one month, not leak the next, but then leak the month after that?

Are there questions I should ask, or things I should know about leaky bands or tubing from the port to the band before I go in?

ANy insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[DrewsLou 3]

I don't know that I have any advice but can certainly sympathize. I was diagnosed today with a leak in my tubing. I am probably going in soon to have the tubing and port replaced.

My only advice would be to get a fill done under flouro with contrast so they can see if you are in fact leaking and where from.

Feel free to PM me if I can do anything for you!

Peace.

[Vera 7]

Most leaks are in the port or tubing.

I agree with DrewsLou

My only advice would be to get a fill done under flouro with contrast so they can see if you are in fact leaking and where from.

The contrast is called Omniplaque to be used during a flouroscopy/live X-ray.

Here's a bit of my story...

My old band was an AMI-swedish band that was installed 8/14/03 by Dr. Sanchez. After about 6 months and 4 fills I had a flouro/X-ray check which revealed a kink in the tubing. Well I suspected a leak, then confirmed it over 4 months later in mex, cause Dr. Sanchez recomended I go see him. At that visit the tubing was repaired and I was given a 7cc fill (big band), a month later my doctor (McKeen) here in Calif. did a flouro fill and that's when we saw that the repair didn't work. Back to mex I went and Dr. Sanchez decided to reband me, free (the makers of the AMI band is paying for it). I was rebanded with the 9.75 (smaller) Inamed band, big difference. I felt restriction right away. I couldn't gulp anymore either.

I'm very happy with my new band. I've only had one fill in 8/05 of 1.3cc's and to this day I can barely eat more than a cup of anything, if that.

It is RARE to be rebanded due to a leak!

I also want to suggest that some saline can come out of the port when they pull out the needle while doing a fill.

Good luck to you and you too DrewsLou

[niche 0]

this very same thing happened to me. i went in in august to be raised from 3.4 to 3.6. after the fill i didn't feel any different, but i was on liquids, so i didn't really pay attention until i started solids and ANY and EVERY thing would go through. so i went back and there wasn't 3.6ccs in but .2! so they put me up to 3ccs and the restriction was somewhat there. then i went back and they took out 2.4ccs. so .6 had disappeared. then they took me up to 3.4. i went back and there was 3.4 in and then they took me up to 3.8 where (i hope!) i am now. so apparently they said my issue was a 'fluke'. and the saline prob went into my skin as opposed to my port. and it just looked like a leak. i hope that is the case. so, definitely keep going to the doc to see where you are. but they told me that if the fill keeps leaking, the port would have to be replaced. so that seems to be the standard treatment. best of luck to you!

[stinaNYC 0]

Niche: I think that you and I have our fills done by the same person. I was banded by Dr. Fielding. Gasbar does my fills and told me the same thing you're telling me, too...that it could be that the saline went into my tissue rather than the port.

I'm REALLY hoping that's what this is.

Everyone: thanks for your stories and insight.! I go in day after tomorrow, so I'll be sure to let you know what happens.

[niche 0]

yep, gaspar is a sweetheart and gave me tissues through my angry tears. i guess i realized that i may have complications at some point, but i genuinely was *not* ready to contemplate the possibility less than a year into the band journey. i hope i've cheated the complication boogie man for a while and continue with good restriction. i hope yours ends up being nothing too!

[stinaNYC 0]

Well, I thought I'd provide an update on my possible leakage issue. I went in and, to no one's suprise and everyone's dismay, I had lost 1.5 ccs out of a 2.0 fill from the week before. My surgeon came in extremely disappointed. He told me that, just yesterday, he did a revision on a patient who had the same problem I did...2-3 months with a loss of saline. They had filled him again to last until the surgery date...and when my surgeon went in, he found *all* of the saline still in the band!

He wasn't saying that the leak "corrected" itself- he still corrected the leak- but he believes there's some sort of design flaw with the type of band/port system that Inamed has designed and that he used on me and this other guy. SOmetimes the saline goes through and sometimes some leaks out when you're getting filled. Either way, the band isn't working right.

They filled me up to 2.5 cc, and I was good for about 5 days, but I can feel that the restriction has lessened significantly. I ate maki rolls today, so I'm pretty sure I have less than 2.5 in there.

I'm supposed to check in with them next Thursday, at which point we'll make a decision about repair. I'm just dreading the pricetag on this. I cleaned out my retirement savings to have this done...I'm going to have to go into even more debt to pay for this now. :angry

The PA at the office has the band as well, and she said to me that, as the band gets "older" as a method of WLS, they're discovering that there's a lot more maintenence that needs to be done than anyone had originally thought. This isn't the "until eternity" method that a lot of docs are selling at as. Caveat emptor and all that jazz.

[DrewsLou 3]

I would get a fill done under flouro with contrast before I would even begin to think about needing any kind of repairs. How will they know what to repair if they don't see where (if) you are leaking from?

Sorry.... hot issue for me as I am currently going through this. :faint:

Peace!

[Life is Now! 0]

Hello,

Thought I would tell you about my experience.

I was banded in February and all was working perfectly until I had my 2nd Fill. This was a clinical fill and he put too much in there - I couldn't drink the Water and so went back in for some to be taken out. I felt immediate relief and so went on my merry way.

Well from then on I had no restriction whatsoever - I have had two more fills in the meantime (each time there was nothing left in the band) the last under flouro to discover if I had a leak. They couldn't see where it was coming from so they determined that I had a slow leak. I am scheduled for a rebanding this Saturday 11th Nov.

I am struggling at the moment with the pre-op liquid diet, as this must be a new thing - I didn't have to do this before!

Good luck to you if you have to be re-banded - please think of me in your prayers for Saturday.

Thanks

Jen

[NewSho 20]

Sorry for your troubles.

At the end of June, I asked the RN at my surgeon's office to loosen me up for vacation. I was going away from pretty much the whole month and wanted to enjoy myself without worrying about the band.

This attitude is absolutely mind-boggling to me. :faint: It's a band you have for life. Yes, it's adjustable but you're not even halfway to your goal mark. I mean, if we get our band loosened for every month - because we want to "enjoy ourselves" then we might never get the results we aspire to have! I have heard of band patients postponing a fill until after they return from a short vacation but getting unfilled to 'enjoy yourself' for a full month? Wow.

I really think this is one of the things that made early band study results look not as good.Just because we can adjust our bands - shouldn't mean we should randomly.

I was always taught that we should consider unfilling ONLY when we are ill, when we are dangerously overfilled, in case of pregnancy, or once we get to goal - and need to maintain.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if a month on vacation translates into a month of not eating in a "band-friendly" way, I just wonder if that's counter-productive.

He was happy to do it: he told me that he left in about 2.0 ccs!

Is the RN the one who normally does your fills? Are they Inamed-trained? This situation seems really precarious. What does your surgeon say about getting under-filled just to go on vacation? Does the surgeon encourage or allow this type of protocol or did the RN take it upon himself to grant your request?

Some band surgeons say that often when one has an unfill, the patient has to work that much harder to get back to regular restriction. It's harder for an unfilled or underfilled band to be re-filled again. And the band can be unfilled (or de-filled a bit) but that too many unfills can possibly damage the integrity of the band. Apparently it's easier to fill it a bit more, than to unfill it sometimes. So I would caution us all to remember that just because we love the adjustability of the band.

All in all, I hope you don't have a leak and that you can get your band dilemma resolved.

Good Luck.

[DrewsLou 3]

Life is now.... just curious... are they replacing your whole band? Are they charging you for this?

stinaNYC.... did you ever find out for sure if your leaking? I've been thinking about you!

[stinaNYC 0]

This attitude is absolutely mind-boggling to me. :faint: It's a band you have for life. Yes, it's adjustable but you're not even halfway to your goal mark. I mean, if we get our band loosened for every month - because we want to "enjoy ourselves" then we might never get the results we aspire to have!

I'll ignore the judgemental tone for now and address your concern. I was going to be travelling a lot the month of July, and the previous two months I had been having problems with PBing. Since I was travelling far away, I didn't want to have to deal with any problems that would make my trips unenjoyable. One of the legs of my trip involved hiking in the desert, and I didn't want to chance being both dehydrated and without enough calories to finish the hikes. That's why I asked to have a slight unfill. I didn't get unfilled completely...I can only go up to 2.5 cc before restriction is too tight, and he took me down to 2. No problem with that at all.

I have heard of band patients postponing a fill until after they return from a short vacation but getting unfilled to 'enjoy yourself' for a full month?

If you can't live and enjoy life with this band, why have it at all? The band isn't meant to be some sort of surgical punishment for our gluttony. It's a tool, and sometimes that tool makes life difficult when you really don't want it to...like on vacation.

I really think this is one of the things that made early band study results look not as good.Just because we can adjust our bands - shouldn't mean we should randomly.

ANd now here is where I get pissed off. First off? I don't live to make Lap Band studies look good. I live for myself and my family, and this notion that I should be chastized for effing up the data on Lap Bands is absurd.

Second of all? Up until this post, you didn't know anything about why I had a slight unfill, so how do you know that I had a slight unfill "randomly"

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if a month on vacation translates into a month of not eating in a "band-friendly" way, I just wonder if that's counter-productive.

Well, if you didn't mean to sound harsh, I suggest you practice your "soft voice" a bit more, because really? I'm --->this close<--- to telling you where you can stick your tone right now. And for the record? I lost 4 poundsthat month.

Also? My *surgeon* is the one who did the unfill for my vacation...he did it *happily* and then proceeded to give me a page full of restaurant suggestions in Las Vegas. My surgeon? George Fielding...perhaps you've heard of him? He's one of the top 5 Lap Band surgeons in the world.

Anyway...

DrewsLou: Yea, there's definitely a leak...they think maybe my tubing got twisted and a hole occured or something. My doc won't charge me a dime for replacement...it's the hospital that's the problem. They want $8K for the surgery! He's negotiating with them to see if they'd go down to $2-3K (I mean, it's a 20 min surgery! $8K?!?!). If they won't come down, we've discussed my going to Mexico to have it done by someone in Dr. Ortiz's practice. They are close colleagues...Dr. FIelding and Dr. Ren take overseas patients for follow ups and fills.

I told him to keep trying, but that if nothing could get resolved by New Years, that I'd want to do the Mexico option. In the meantime, I go in every two weeks and get topped off at 2.5. Thanks for asking, and I'm glad your's got fixed!!

[DrewsLou 3]

Good luck to you stina! Keep us posted with your progress girl!

[Life is Now! 0]

Life is now.... just curious... are they replacing your whole band? Are they charging you for this?

Yes - they are replacing the whole band - I have to go through the whole procedure again!. I suppose it's because under flouro they couldn't see a leak at all it was so slow so they don't know where it is leaking from. And no, I'm, not being charged for it - I am in the UK and was self pay to start off with - £7.5K - it is their mistake / fault that there's a leak and they have an obligation to me to put it right! It's amazing the difference if you go private!

Jen

[queenlulu 0]

I have had multiple prob w/ my band. Infection at the port which had to be removed for 6months, a cracked port-replaced,gastric herniation up over the band requiring repositioning of the band. Now i can't keep a fill. I had one under fluo that held 2wks (long enough to have 3 xrays with no sign of leakage). The fluo Fluid is thick and leaks out slowly. Now when i get a fill it leaks out w/in 24hrs. no weight loss in a year.

I am sched for fills q2wks, but without a viscous fluid there isn't much point.