All fluid in my lap band is gone

Question Below Submitted By:  

Karon (a patient from England)

I have had the gastric band for five years. Today I went to the hospital to have a fill done to my band and the doctor (who was also x-raying my band while doing the fill) said that all the fluid inside has gone.

He told me I need to go back to the surgeon who did the operation. He also said that he had not seen this before.

Is there anyone out there who has had this or heard of it happening? If so, what was the outcome?

Many thanks,

Karon

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Patient Responses to the Question Above

band/port disconnections

by: Fed Up with no pun indended

Hi,

I have had my band since 2009. I recently had to have a port replacement due to having no restriction and gaining weight again. I presented with ongoing and persistent pains all over the abdomen for months and unfortunately within 5 weeks it has happened again. I have had no resistance from the first fill (on the repaired port) but was told it was working under surgery.

I'm over the abdominal pain as the tube migrates into my abdominal cavity and touches organs causing pain. I have had my Xray to confirm that indeed it has disconnected once again. I am reluctant to have a replacement port again and would like to know if anyone else has had this issue.

I am considering having it all removed.

Lost 7ml but they say no leak

by: Jane M

I had five fills after having my band fitted, always increasing the restriction, up to 11ml. After the fifth, within hours I could tell there was a lotless restriction. I went back a few weeks later and two different 'nurses' tested the fluid level and only found 4 ml. After months , while I steadily gained weight again, I was sent for an X Ray. The doctor also only found 4ml , but said they could find no leak anywhere in the band.

I am really confused. Each fill involved a 200 mile round trip with a day off work, and my aftercare was dreadful. I now have a band that has gone from 11 ml to 4ml, isn't working, but apparently doesn't have a leak. I used my life savings for this procedure.

leak of fluid

by: Anonymous

I had my lap band done in 2011. I lost lbs 50 and looked great. In 2013 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and started gaining weight but I didn't take care of it cause it was the last thing on my mind.

Once I was done with my treatment I went back to my surgeon to put fluids and get going. I had three fills and didn't feel any difference. Dr did an xray with contrast fluid and found out there was a leak, Dr informed me that I need to have a surgery to repair the whole or take the whole device out. Two days after the xray I started having abdomen pain that was moving from one side to another till one morning I woke up with severe pain that I couldn't handle.

I had to go to the ER they did a CT scan and found out that the lap Band catheter got disconnected and got stuck between my uterus and bladder. I went back to my surgeon and replace the whole thing.

Has anybody heard of a similar story like mine?

Leaking Gastric Band

by: Anonymous

I have been told I have a leak so small it cannot be identified. A contrast under x-ray was completed. The consultant said sorry can't do anything, but pay £6,000 and I can replace your band. Sorry not got £6,000 the consultant then got up and left.

I have paid into the NHS all my life and feel a little let down by the attitude of the consultant and the conflict of interest this presents, this guy can't lose whatever, the outcome. I am now left with a band that doesn't work and my health declining. The cost of knee replacements, a risk of heart disease and diabetes will cost the NHS more than the £6,000.

I feel the invest and save model would be a better outcome and value for money all around.

Can anyone help me?

Update

by: Lap BAND GROUPIE

Karon, SO glad to hear there wasn't a leak (as I mentioned, this misdiagnosis has happened to others)! Thanks for posting the update, and I know you'll enjoy the holidays! When you're ready for another fill, I'd suggest that you work with your doc to do so slowly... approach the sweet spot with small tweaks (I know Banders who have felt a difference with as little as .1cc). It sounds to me that you were over-filled for a long time and not only is that no fun, but it can lead to weight gain if you're not able to eat solid proteins (Soft Food Syndrome). Bands are fickle and restriction can vary from day to day/time of day, but having any PB's (vomiting) will really effect restriction afterwards due to swelling from the trauma. I'm tighter in the mornings but can still eat my very thick oatmeal (w/protein powder) and the rest of the day I can eat ANYTHING. If you're unable to eat solid proteins, you're too tight. Have a great holiday!

Related Pages:
- Lap Band Problems & Lap Band Complications
- Lap Band Surgery Failure - 2 Types & How to Avoid Them

fluid gone now found

by: karon

Well, you'll never believe it, but they found fluid in my band. I had 6.5 ml. Now I've got 5 ml. Now that I've got 5 ml, oh boy can I eat... I think TOO much, but the nurse gave me a card to carry around with me like a doner card.

After 5 years, I'm just enjoying the freedom of being able to eat somewhat normally again.I saw a lovely nurse the other day who explained that it was not acceptable to be sick even three times a week.

I'm feeling great, and I can't believe that I put up with this for so long.I can see myself needing another fill, but it's good to know that I'm back on track. All the best to you!

fluid gone

by: karon

Hi there,Thanks for getting back to me. What I forgot to add to my post was that I still have a lot of restriction - that's why I went back as I was fed up with always being sick and not getting food down.

My band has always had a mind of its own - I've never being able to eat the same food - on one day mash potatoes goes down not a lot but enough for me to fill full, yet the next day or two days later its not possible, and that goes for most foods.

So I've never quite known what I can eat from day to day, but I was ready to except that.Now 5 years down the line I've had enough.

I was really shocked when they said all the fluid was gone, and I'm still waiting for the doctors to get back to me.

They are so slow I feel like they have done the op now and that's it, they were never any good in the first place when they were getting my fills right, but that's another story.

But a big thanks to the two of you who got back to me.

I will give an update later and also try and help those people with my experience.

Leak Causes and Finding the Leak

by: Lap BAND GROUPIE, The Sweet Spot

Yes, go to your surgeon. Just to add, so you're prepared to ask the right questions... I'm not clear if your surgeon is affiliated with whoever was giving you your fills, or if you have a new Doc now, but as Lonicera said, the most likely cause for this is happened at a fill (usually the needle punctures the tubing or makes a larger hole in the membrane of the port).

So there are those two most likely places: tubing & port, but there are also much less common places that can leak: the connection points (a disconnection), and the LB balloon/manufacturing flaw.

Since you're five years out it's not likely that anything happened/was wrong at surgery, unless you've never had good restriction.

Since it sounds like you were having the fill under fluoro, they can sometimes see if the port is disconnected from the tubing, but it's not always apparent (and I'm sure they would have told you then).

Here's what I would expect: - Questions about changes in your restriction, how fast, when, etc.- Have them recheck that their actually is a leak, take it all out, put a certain amount in and come back in a week to check it (I've heard of errors in diagnosing a leak with fill Tech's).- A detailed x-ray of the port area to check for disconnections/fractures.- If that shows nothing, then a fill with contrast solution and under the fluoroscopy they can see exactly where the leak is as they put the contrast in (they're looking for where the contrast starts to spill out of the system).

Very rarely the leak is so small they have to do surgery to find it (they can add a dye/think food coloring, then to find it).- From there they'll replace/fix the part with the flaw, perhaps the whole thing. Hope all goes well!

Go straight back to your surgeon

by: Lonicera The Bandit

It's certainly possible that there's a leak somewhere along the line, particularly if the person doing the fills punctures it in the wrong place by mistake.

I know it happens, even in the most professional of outfits, it's just one of those things.

The surgeon will know what to do, so you need to get back there as soon as possible - the sooner they sort you out the better.

They can be reluctant to admit it's leaking, but I have a friend to whom it took a year to persuade them to repair it under anesthetic, so the sooner you get going the better.

Let us know how you get on?Lonicera The Bandit, Bristol

Broken band- salmonella

by: Allison Smith

Hello! I'm writing to see if anyone else out there has has the same problem that I have had. My band broke (away from the port) and they found salmonella all inside my abdominal cavity. Needless to say, that was not fun. Ive looked around and haven't found anyone else with this problem. Can anyone help me with this research? I need some facts on to way this happened. Thanks!

Port tube!!

by: Hello

I had my band fitted in 2011 under The Hospital Group (Awful aftercare). I could never reach a satisfied restriction level, getting FML after full.

In 2013 the tube snapped away from the port during a gym session. I was left with abdominal pain for months until I went to Accident & Emergency and had it reattached through the NHS. I had a small fill after this as I wanted my body to rest. I have since put on 7KG and went into Ketosis to help with weight management.

Today I went to get my first fill in 2 years. I was shocked to discover that my 14ml band was 10ml FULL! I had very little restriction and was able to eat almost everything. I've had another 2 ml inserted today. Will see how I get on. Fingers crossed there is restriction now and I can start to lose weight!

Band leakage

by: K80

Hi, I had my band fitted in 2012. 2 years later I noticed that I was losing restriction.

Upon having my band checked under x-ray I only had 6ml not 10.5ml. I had surgery in 2014 to repair the port. They don't know how or why this happened.

Leaking band

by: Debbie roach

After having no restriction and slowly gaining weight, I was told my band could be leaking. I paid to get X-ray but no leak could be found. Have now been told that it could be so small only surgery will find it and will cost another 2,500 operation but also have to sign a disclaimer stating that I would be willing to pay 4,500 If it's not the port, but the actual band that needs replacing (money I have not got).

NHS not willing to help. Unable to find figures of what the % is of people having this op and having to pay for band replacement and not just replacement port. Can anyone help advise?

Band leak

by: Xs4mm1X

I'm currently going through a similar thing I had a replacement band last year on the 8th May and was working fine after gaining weight after my 1st 1 stopped working due to the joint fracture. After Christmas I noticed a change in my eating habits and weight gain so the hospital group who I'm under did a fluid check and I only had 3.5 when there should have been 6.25, but they informed me there would not be an x-ray done until there was 3 consecutive losses they put me up to 4ml and I was checked 3wks later no loss put me to 5ml nxt there was a loss of 2ml after kicking off they got me an x-ray, but apart from more fluid missing no leak could be found the Dr put me more fluid in up to 5.5ml.

And said she would send a report to my surgeon and his reply was he'd done 3 replacements where no leak was found and won't do anymore....so I have demanded an appointment with him but I've also just had another fluid check and there was only 3.8ml and they have said it's hospital group protocol if there's 3 or more consecutive losses they have to replace but I'm not holding my breath they've had my money.

Sam xx

Band dissconnecting

by: Vicky

Iv had my band 2 years.. and I went to a&e with Pain in my side! After a ct scan Doctors told me my band has dissconnected itself! Doctors told me they could remove it or I could ring my provider I rang my provider to be told it would be £4000 to fix it! I’m now having my band out through nhs.. the pains awful and I can’t cope going through this again!

To be fair I think I wasted a lot of money I’m 1 stone down can hardly eat and basically miserable as hell I thought I researched so much getting it done but obviously you don’t google things until they have started going wrong! I got told by my provider 1 things and 4 different nurses of that company another each time I went for a fill!

I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing weight they told me different things every time I have only seen my surgeon twice. Once at a consultation, and on procedure day! Haven’t seen him since.. absolute joke and waste of my money!

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