Jennaband

Donali, Oh, wise one! How smart to have the Dr. close the stoma off and then work backword. Brilliant! I will make my appointment for next week. Thanks so much for taking the time to clear things up. I can't wait for my next fill.

So it sounds like you have found your sweet spot. How did you know you were there? Are you having to "diet" or are you just satisfied with less? Can anyone explain to me exactly what the band is doing to keep us from eating too much. Is it supposed to slow down the food so that it stays in the upper pouch longer? Even if I get the PB's if a few moments I am able and wanting to finish eating. I am just so disappointed that it is all coming back down to dieting and will power for me. I was never able to do that before and I know it won't work now.

I can so totally relate to your fear of failure. I was counting on having this be a sure thing. I lost 20 lbs in the first 3 weeks after banding and now nothing for the last 5. I had my first fill 4 weeks ago and although I feel some restriction every once in a while when I eat something sticky. It has not slowed me down much. I left a post on the fill forum. How do you know when you have hit the sweet spot? I am beginning to think it is a fantasy.

Okay, It has been 4 weeks since my first fill and I have lost no more weight. I really cannot tell the band is there except for occasionally when I do not chew something well. So my question is How do you know when you hit your "sweet spot," what changes? I am disappointed that my appetite seems exactly the same. I thought I would be getting a sensation of being fuller sooner. I don't want to be so tight that I have to drink liquids forever, but right now I am just back to the same old diets that didn't work in the past. Help!

I have the 11cm band too. I got 6cc on my first fill and I am not convinced it will be enough. They filled mine with a mix of saline and iodine so they could see it on the laproscopy. The directions were in the packaging they gave me after surgery.

did anyone attend the bandster retreat in Tijuana? Was it mostly Dr. Sanchez people? It sound like fun.

Desiree, I am praying all will go well for you. Be sure to let us know how you are doing when you can get back to your computer. I suspect you will be psoting soon with all sorts of questions about your new band life.

Hey Cindy, Please send theinformation on your fill Dr. in Puyallup. Do you live in the Seattle area? Maybe we can get together next time you come around?

Jennifer, I would be interested to know why you picked Dr. DeLa Garza? In whatching all the chat from the other members I am impressed with what I hear about the care that Dr. Sanchez's group gives. It sometimes makes me wish I had waited to get in to him. My surgery was technically fine and I had no trouble with infection. I struggled with the accomodations at Judy's and wondered what I had gotten myself into when I arrived. Are you still in contact with them? I have pretty much gotten all my follow up information from the people here on this site.

So what did the flouro look like if you had just been eating? Next time you come uplet me know and maybe we can get together for coffee after the fill. I did not end up going back for any more fill. It is funny. I can eat a normal portion of food before feeling restricted, but sometimes I take one or two bites and I PB. I figure if I am PBing at all I do not need any more fill. I need to get away from the junk and eat healthier so I can lose faster. We have had 3 birthday parties this week and it has not been good for me to be around so much pizza and ice cream. They slide down so easy!

I got my fill at Tacoma Radiology. They have several offices but the one where they do the fills is very close to me. It is just off Hwy 16 in Tacoma. They were great. I posted a detailed description of my experience in the "fill" forum.

Hi Laurel, I live a long way from Alabama. Tacoma Washington, I use Tacoma Radiology Associates. They gave me no hassels about having the surgery in Mexico. All they asked was that I have the name of a local doctor where they could send their report.

Hi Guys, I just returned from the fill Doctor and learned a few new things. I have the Sweedish band which my Dr called the "Big Daddy". My band hold 9cc's instead of the bands that hold 4cc's. Anyway, they started me off lying on the table and took a picture of my port. It kind of freaked me out because you could not see the tubing that goes from the port to the band, but the nurse assured me that was normal for my band. This is why my fill solution has some iodine in it. After numming me up with lidocane, the doctor inserted this big needle into the port, using the x-ray to guide. He pinned it right in the middle. He had to push pretty hard to get it all the way in the port. Apparently there is some barrier they have to push through, but not to worry it won't go through the back of the port. The doc then started inserting the iodine/saline solution. He pushed some in then backed it off to remove any air that was in the band and in the port. It felt cold going in but no pain. He inserted a total of 4cc's which is what the company recommends for the first fill, then left the room. The nurse sat me up. The needle is still sticking out of me but it does not hurt just looks weird. She had me try some Water and some apple juice - no resistance. She then added a little bit of saline at a time until she had gotten to 1.5 additional cc's. At this point I thought I could feel a little resistance but nothing uncomfortable and nothing compared to the resistance those first 2 weeks post-op. Anyway, she went to consult the Dr. and he suggested we do the barrium swallow x-ray to see what exactly was going on. So they stood me up and put the table on end. The first picture showed my band which was kind of crinkled looking. I estimate the stoma to be about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Much bigger than I thought it would be. I drank a swallow of the barium which was not all that bad. We watched the Fluid slide right through the stoma. So he gave me another 1.5 cc's of fluid. this time when I swallowed the liquid kind of backed up at the stoma so he said that was too much. He took out about 1/2cc and we swallowed once more. The trail of liquid was definintely smaller. I would say 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter. And that was that. Now I have 48 hours to decide if it is right. I am feeling no resistance to Clear liquids but I took a few bites of soft pretzel and I do feel more than I did before the fill. So how does this compare to other stories out there?