Infected Band?

[Girlmoose 0]

Hi Firebolt! I thought they may have stitched your Mom up without the equator that is left in your stomach and that was why she was seeping. :smile2: It had no where else to go... :confused: I guess I should watch out for this too. I have no idea about the scar size either... Right now I don't even care as long as the darn thing closes up quickly and heals. I just want to feel normal again and healthy...

Is your Mom on a liquid/soft diet still for 2 weeks after surgery? They have me on one. The Doctor did said the xrays they took the day after surgery in the hospital to make sure everything was sealed and nothing leaking out from the stomach, that you can tell exactly where the band was and my stomach is still holding that shape. He said it can stretch back out but try and keep it small and not overeat I can't really eat more then about 5 bites and things don't taste good to me except for grape juice. I only drink a very small amount of that but I figure the antioxidants will be good for me and hopefully heal as quick as possible.

I can tell each day is getting a little easier. I'll just be happy to get the first 10 days behind me. I'm suppose to see the Doctor again 2 weeks out of surgery so I'm hoping by then things look really good and healed... How is your Mom's recovery going and how was her visit with her Doctor? Is she in pain or fairly comfortable now? She's lucky to have you! GOOD LUCK to both of you! :ohmy:

Edited July 25, 2008 by Girlmoose

[Firebolt 3]

Hi Girlmoose! I'm glad to hear you're feeling better every day. Keep up the healing & following Dr.'s orders!

As for my Mom, she has developed new pain on the left side & went to her Dr. again today. I'm still waiting to hear. I am fearful that she had a bad infection & perhaps her Dr. isn't experienced enough with this procedure & potential complications. I am half tempted to have her come down here & see my Dr. He has ton's of experience in the procedure & has done over 1000 procedures. He specializes in WLS exclusively. Her Dr. on the other hand is a general surgeon & does Tonsilectomies & Appendectomies as well as the Lap Band. Grrrr....

Unfortunately, she lives 4 hours away & it would be a difficult journey for her in the amt of pain she's in. She's 63 yrs old. I don't consider her a frail woman at all...she's the most athletic & outgoing person in our family!

Please keep me up to date on your progress & how that hole is healing. It's good to hear from someone who's walked the same road.

Take Care,

Judy

[Girlmoose 0]

Firebolt, The Doctor that did my lapband surgery in Dec. was an "Internist" all he does now is bariatric surgery but he is well trained for any surgery from his past experience. He's probably 55 - 58 yrs old. After my second surgery he did to flip the port and see why I was having pain in my upper left rib cage, which was from tons of scar tissue and the cord being caught up in it, I felt great. No pain in the left side. I was concerned if we were making the right decisions before the 3rd surgery to just put in another port on the left side and clean up everything inside again. The surgeries are so expensive and they take so much out of you.

The new Doctor I am going to (there are two of them together) are "surgeons". I wasn't sure how they would be compared to an "Internist" and fixing the problem. I have to say they were more thorough then the Internist. It's probably has a lot to do with their attitudes and interest in cases like mine that has helped me. They have a great bedside manner and spending all the time I want from them... I just started looking up other Bariatric Doctors in my area. I live in Denver CO and had a reasonable amount of Doctors around that to this surgery to pick from. I searched the internet to find them. They were like 25 miles from me and the hospital they work out of it but it was so worth it for a 2nd opinion. I didn't think they would be able to tell me much more then my "Internist" but I was so WRONG! If your Mom is in a small town, I know she probably wouldn't have enough to pick from. If things don't feel right with her Doctor, it is just to drawn out and painful sometimes to not get that second opinion. My Internist wasn't threatened at all by it and encouraged me to go... Good luck with whatever you and your Mom decides to do. Sorry that is so long...

After this current surgery Monday. I have pain in my upper left rib cage again, where they pulled out the drain tubes when I left the hospital on Wed. It feels like someone took a hammer and beat around up there... I'm pretty sure it's from them cleaning out the scar tissue in that area where the cord was bound up. Sometimes that area bothers me more then the huge hole area... :w00t:

Is your Mom still packing the hole? I don't know how my husband does it. I'm not sure I could do it to him! :w00t: We are wondering how long this last and closes up. My Doctor said 1 - 2 weeks... I hate to thing about doing this for 2 weeks! Is her drainage from that area too? Is your Mom on antibiotics??? They kept me on Cipro 500 mg twice a day, for 10 days and Levitan (which is almost 6.00 a pill) once a day for 5 days. Does your Mom have a low or high grade fever? That can be a clue too if she has an infection. You usually run a temp. when you are fighting something off...

I don't know what test they will run on her... My expensive CT scans never showed infection or problems... I think because I had so much scar tissue (which doesn't come up on CT scans either). The only test that were good for me was the ultra sounds, regular xrays & they did run a good series of xrays the day after surgery to make sure nothing was leaking out of the stomach and he got everything closed off... Has your Mom had the type of xray since surgery???

Sorry this is so long... I'm probably repeating myself and being too long... I've been on the pain medicine a lot today and I take this pill for nausea that really relaxes me and makes me sleep a lot... I love that pill even more then the pain pills! Keep me posted about your Mom. I hope everything goes well today! :thumbup:

[losing it in ne 0]

I have had to have my port removed because of infection but if the drainage is in the port area that doesn't mean that the band itself is infected. I had to be on about 3 weeks of IV antibiotics and just bloody Fluid is normal from a wound. Did they leave you open? I still have small wounds that drain a bloody watery fluid and will until they heal completely, its just normal. My port was removed 5/23 and the wounds are not quite healed yet. I think I'd find a good doc stateside and bite the bullet. I hope all goes well for you.

[Girlmoose 0]

Losing it, I had to have my entire band and everything removed because of erosion of the band too. I guess that is really common among infected ports because the infection goes up the cord to the band and everything gets infected then... I would have only had my port removed too if they hadn't done the camera prob test inside the stomach and found the erosion. :w00t:

When they removed everything they left a deep open wound where the port came out. The reasoning is so that the area heals from the inside out. You have to use gauze or this 1/4" gauze tape (which I like better) to fill the hole and you use this whole process to keep it moist and bandaged up. You have to redo the dressing and process twice a day. This also keeps you from having this big dent area left behind too... :thumbup: I was surprised by having the port incision area left this way but everyone I have talked to, their port is taken out this way too. I guess it is to help with liquid and infection building up in that area again...

When I was on strong antibiotics with this infection, my port area was draining until about 2 weeks after I started antibiotics. This new Doctor could tell immediately that it was a staff infection because of the dry layers of how it was closing up and that it was caused by some other type of infections. It sounds like all staff infections heal this way...

I wish you all the best and hope the IV antibiotics work wonders for you and you'll heal up great!! GOOD LUCK! :w00t:

[lindazx43 0]

Hi Leticia,

I live in Oak Park just out side Chicago. I was banded 9/07 in Mexico, Dr. Joya. About 5 weeks after banding, the port site opened and started oozing yellow liquids. I was put on antibotics it calmed down a little but kept on oozing. Went back to Mexico, site was opened and pronounced to be infected. Site was cleaned, shot full of antibotics, port cleaned and moved down just a little lower than original position. Horrible pain continued. Went to Lapband Dr in my area.. He removed port. Infection continued. Surgery again, he opened the site, left large gapping hole. This was June 2, 2008. Today, the sites still has not completely healed, it still drains green pus. However, on the good side I have very little pain, so I am waiting for my insurance plan to allow open enrollment and then I will switch to ppo and find a Dr. that specializes in slow healing wounds.

Who are your doctors in Chicago? Thanks, Linda my e-mail is linda60302@yahoo.com

[BrandiLeeHa 0]

I was banded on 6/11 with the realize band. Everything went well until a week after and I was in pain and my port site started to ooze, after a CT Scan I was told I have extra Fluid in my skin. I took 7 days of antibiotics and everything closed and cleared up. I was even able to have a fill on teh 17th of July. Everything was fine for about a week, then the port site incision started to open again and leak clear fluid. This whole time I have had a lump in the area as well. So, I was recently put on another round of antibiotics for 14 days ... Its day 10 into them, I feel good, the incision has closed and the lump is going away. My question is has anyone ever beaten an infection or does it always get worse and the port has to come out? My doctor wants to see me a few days after the antibiotics are done. If I still have an infection he is going to take out the port, he did say my infection wasn't as bad as he has seen in the past. I guess I wonder if I should just accept the fact that I am going to lose my port or maybe there is hope??? :biggrin: