Why fill numbers are different.

coleoptera · September 26, 2006

My inquiring mind wanted to know why the same fill was different for different people. I asked my surgeon, who is just now used to my quirky, nerdy, must know disposition.) He told me that I have a 10cm inmed band. That is now filled with 2 ccs of saline. I am now 320 pounds and am 5'8". The layer around my stomach is unusually thin for a person my size.

My band and fill on a person who is shorter or taller, heavier or lighter, older or younger, or has different stomach structure than me would perform much differently. It could be a complete restriction or very little restriction at all.

The band and adjustments are regulated and numbered, but each individual stomach is not. It depennds greatly on how much stomach material the band has to go around.

This information helped me understand and eased some of my concerns. I hope this info does the same for you!:p

NewSho · September 27, 2006

Yes, exactly!

Often in support groups or online - we'll hear one patient say "Oh, I was over-filled. I had 1.5 cc's and it was just too much and too tight." And then we might hear another one saying "I have 2.9 cc's of fill, but I need at least 3.2 cc's to feel good restriction."

As you said: we are all individual, and we all have different anatomies that are individual, too.

This correlates to something I've discovered that my surgeon has validated. For many patients, the larger they are - the larger their stomach circumfrence. That's why for many new post-op patients just a little bit of fill is enough to feel restriction. On a fleshier, thicker tummy - than even 1.0 cc of fill is significant.

But as you lose weight (or if you're a lighterweight patient to start with, or as in your case, have a not-so-fleshy stomach) you might need a bit more fill to experience restriction. That's been the case with me and I realize that just like a belt, as we get smaller it we often have to closer our belts tighter. The LapBand is sort of similar to that, in a way - as we lose, we tighten that belt a little more.

In fact, when I meet people of now-normal-weight or goal weight who are banded, they often have a lot more fill than newer LapBand patients. It's not uncommon for these now-smaller folks to have fill levels of 2.8, 2.9, 3.0 or even 3.5! It sounds like a lot but on a smaller stomach, that's a decent level of restriction.

So when I hear new Bandsters 'bragging' that they only have XXX amount of fill, I realize that they might have more thickness around their stomachs. But unbeknowst to some of them, as they lose more weight - they need more fill.