My Lap Band Port Leak – Complications Can Happen!

If you are a regular follower of my blog, you know that I’m in my 4^th year of Banded Living and maintaining a normal healthy weight.  It’s important that you know my journey, just like life has come with its ups and downs.

I write many of my retrospective blog posts by referring to a copy of my doctor’s chart.  Dr. Billy has a comprehensive form that I complete at each visit so that the medical staff knows about any changes in my medical status, how I’m working my tool, and how I’m feeling about my journey.  In January of 2008, right after the holiday season, I reported my overall feeling as a “10 out of 10.”  I commented that:

• “I was getting used to stabilizing”
• “I was having good days and bad days, but my life was no longer ruled by “feeling fat”
• I was feeling a little tight, was not eating as much fresh fruit and vegetables as I would like; I was starting to resort to “soft foods” so I wanted to try taking some fluid out of my band”

So, I had a slight “un-fill.”

I had forgotten how much my band helped with satiety.  After 1 ½ years I began to take a normal appetite for granted… then I had a lesson in what life was like before my band. 

The next day after having a tiny bit of fluid removed, I was ravenous.  With my lap band I finally felt like a normal person, with a normal appetite.  Suddenly those old horrible feelings of being hungry all the time came rushing back; it felt like my worst nightmare.  I called my doctor in a panic; he saw me right away.  He said the fear I exhibited was palpable. 

Dr. Billy tried to remove the fluid from my band, but only a small amount came out.  He gave me more fluid and repeated the process a few times over the course of a week, then concluded that my port might have a leak.  In addition, my port site was very “prominent” and was becoming quite painful.

My doctor always puts my health first, so he scheduled me for an endoscopy (this is a procedure done under anesthesia, where they put a tiny camera down your throat to see the esophagus and stomach from the inside out; you’ve heard of a colonoscopy – think of looking inside from the other end of your digestive system).  The purpose is to rule out any serious band complications.  If the results of the endoscopy were fine, he would go ahead and replace my port with a low-profile port.

My band appeared fine; there was no sign of serious complications, thank goodness.  My port was replaced with a new low-profile port that was less prominent.  Replacing a port is a relatively simple procedure.  In my case it was done in the OR because it was important to rule out more serious complications.

Lap band port problems can happen. You can read about them on pubmed (also known as medline which is an online US Government index of abstracts of medical papers) or on the manufacturer’s websites.  I’ve read a lot of variability about how often this actually occurs, and I suspect that’s because of all the factors involved; one factor that I know is critically important is using the correct needle. 

 Soon after, I had a fill using my new port.  No problems.  The feeling of satiety returned immediately; the difference I felt was quick and dramatic.  For me, this turned out to be not much more than a bump in the road on my journey.

I really believe that things in life happen for a reason.  If I was becoming complacent; if working my tool was becoming easy, I learned an important lesson.  I think I may have forgotten just how much my properly adjusted band helps with satiety and portion control.  I’ll never take my lap band for granted!