Fluid around port????????

[Barb]

Okay my port is on my right side....all my incisions are healing nicely! But I now have a lump behind my port incision....I called the doc and the nurse told me it was the port...I said hmm...round and the size of a golf ball????I don't think so.....so she said it could be fluid buildup around my port. Okay I can by that, I know our bodies automatically try to reject foreign bodies in our body. I have no fever...so prob no infection....she told me to put hot compresses on it, I asked if the heating pad would be okay...she said yes. I put it on me every day....still swollen...and its hard....sometimes it hurts but mostly it is just annoying (near my ribs).....has this happened to anyone else??? Any advise out there??? I don't see him again for a fill until 12/1...long time to walk around with a golf ball in my belly.....please let me know!!
Thanks!

ugh and i haven't lost weight since the first week out!!! boo hoo

[Kathy]

Barb, I had a swollen knot at my port for a few weeks after banding. Seems like at about a month out, I finally felt the actual port, smooth and round and hard and flat, just above my port incision. The knot went away and left me with being able to feel my port. I'm no doc, but I'd say that

1) swollen in the port area is normal
2) pretty good discomfort (not PAIN) is normal
3) no signs of infection is a very good thing.

Keep a check on it. Sit up straight. Try not to mess with it (poking and prodding) and maybe take a little bit of liquid Tylenol or Motrin (call your doc about the Motrin, it's an anti-inflammatory) and if you take the Motrin...how restricted are you? Will you be able to wash it through really well with plenty of water? You don't want the Motrin sitting on the stoma. I guess that would be my guage for whether or not to take Motrin. If I can wash it through well, fine, and if not, don't.

What you have going on sounds pretty normal, but keep a check on it. Make sure that golf ball in your side doesn't grow. It *should* go down soon. Keep us posted!

[shackdog]

yep right below the incision is the port, mine 6months out still feels like I have a golf ball there and will always have. Have a grt day and go "golfing:

[Barb]

Hmmm after reading Kathy's response I was like okay...I can deal. Now reading Shackdog's I am a little bummed again.....ugh. 6 months!!! No way...it interfers with my ribs...esp when sitting.....esp when (sorry for this) sitting on the toilet!!! I am three weeks--almost 4 weeks out. Its gonna take time for this ball to go away. Restriction--I really don't have any-I lost (apparently) the fat around my stomach...so the band is loose...I get my first fill on 12/1.
I think I will see the doc and if nothing else see if I can get a fill sooner. The ball has not gotten bigger, but not smaller either. I totally didn't feel it before...I did gently hit my incision into a shopping cart last week and that is when I noticed it...so maybe its inflamed. I will get motrin since I don't have restriction.
Thanks for the responses!!

[chrispygal]

Barb, this could be totally of but my friend's mother had a hard, golf ball size lump near an incision she had for a different surgery. Since it could not be "pushed in" they determined it was not a hernia. After tests they found it to be Fat Necrosis. Apparently when your fat cells are cut, sometimes they can "die" and form a hard cluster. Watch and see if it gets larger. Hers did.

Best of luck, and keep us updated.

[Barb]

AAAAGGGHHHHH! OMG....ewww (sorry I just had to get that out of my system!) Okay so now that I am calm...what did they do for her? Did they cut it out??? I don't know if I can take another surgery.....just shoot me!

LOL

[barbara465]

I have lots of scar tissue inside. I have lumps and hard areas around my port. I also can feel the band/scar tissue around the band. They say you can't feel the band. Umm, I can. I know its where the stomach is and I confirmed that with my PCP. It is sensitive sometimes, but most of the time I forget it. My scars look great, but the hard areas have not gone away.

[LapBandit]

Yeah, I have a lump near my port incision too. I asked my doc if it was my port and he said no, that it was scar tissue. Mine felt like a ball too. Luckily, mine doesn't bother me but it does feel weird. Good luck!

[chrispygal]

Barb - no the haven't removed it actually. I'll have to check in on her and see what they're going to do for it. I'll let you know.

How has it been by the way?