I'm an RN, can I do the fills myself?

[Miss Sue 0]

It's a two hour drive to my surgeon and he only does 0.5ml with each fill, of which I've had two. No restriction whatsoever. It's any easy procedure. My port is easily felt. Has anyone done their own fill? My band holds 14ml so I have a whopping ONE whole cc of saline in mine at two months post-op.

[CTJohn 109]

Goodness. I wouldn't think so. My doc has a band nd he doesn't do it himself.

Can't remember my first fills... But I think I got 1cc. Few times. In November I got .5 and had to get a little taken out. Since then, .25. I think I'm about there.

[alindsey 230]

I'm a nurse and I fill my moms and a fellow nurse I work with. Just use a non boring needle so you don't ruin your port. Also only put small amounts in at a time I've gotten my moms so tight she couldn't swallow her own spit. Also dont empty it completely as it could slip. Do your research fill it small amounts at a time and make sure you can tolerate it

[KateP 359]

How does insurance work? If you damaged the port and needed a replacement, would they could cover it?

[B-52 7,113]

I carry what I need to empty my band in case I should have problems when I am traveling out of the country.

My port sticks out...it's right there under the skin, a one armed blind man could do it....

[Miss Sue 0]

Thank you all for your replies. I was a self-pay so, insurance is not a worry. It really seems to be rather straight forward. I've injected and drawn from many types of ports. Right now I feel like I've never had surgery. I know I'm underfilled but my surgeon is stuck on these 0.5ml fills once a month. I don't see myself losing any weight for several months down the road. I paid a lot of money for this surgery and I would kinda like to have it work.

[CherieRyde 227]

I wouldn't take the chance. Sure, you are an RN, but he's a surgeon. He's taking his time to make sure you don't have any issues. Let him do his job, but also bring up your concerns with him when you see him again.

[Carriejess 27]

I had my band for seven years and always did my own fills and I am not medically trained my mums a nurse and she taught me. I only did it because my port was below the rib cage and very close to the surface of the skin. To be honest a monkey could do it on my port.

However it does come with a lot of temptations so If you are going to do it I would suggest that you draw up a sensible schedule and stick to it or you may find your self in trouble with filling too often or over filling or even worse keeping a too tight band to lose weight quicker which Is a sure fire way to get severe acid reflux and slips.

My band slipped due to pregnancy but I believe that the terrible acid reflux came from keeping my band over tight.

[donna528 1]

Why would you want to? The doc has to evaluate the full with an X-ray and barium swallow to be sure he's put in the right amount, and can adjust PRN. Why risk it?

[KateP 359]

@@donna528 Most doctors no longer do XRay fills unless there is a problem. Not only is it an unnecessary exposure to radiation, however small, it also only gives a snapshot of the band at that moment. As the band is over living tissue, that tissue can swell etc and so may be different just a few hours later - for example at different times of the day.