Just Curious about cc you were at for green zone.

[tootyoyo 8]

Thanks for taking the time to reply professor. I think I might be at green too then. I think I'm waiting for a hard stop every time whereas I don't think that is the idea really. I do get the hiccups and then stop eating so I think that might be it. good luck with the rest of your weight loss x

[KATHAT 0]

I habe 7 cc in 10 band and dont have any restriction yet

so its been almost a year and your not in the green yet??? yikes! have you lost any weight?

I feel like I'm going down this same road!

My doctor (through Kaiser) will not give more than .5cc per fill and will not do a fill more than once a month. I have a 10cc band too. I have ZERO restriction :-( and am 1 year post op and weigh exactly the same. I saw another doctor in November because mine wasn't available and he gave me 1cc fill which created an overfill and I couldn't even swallow my own saliva so they did a complete unfill the next day and made me wait another month to get a .5cc fill. So I was back at zero restriction and got depressed and didn't go back for 6 months. I have just today had my 4th .5cc fill since my unfill in November, so my calculation is that I should have 2cc in my band. Even after today's .5cc fill, I feel zero restriction. It is so frustrating. I am considering revision surgery to a sleeve or gastric bypass but am terrified of doing that. I am going to keep getting my monthly .5cc fills and if by the end of the year I still have no restriction then I am going to strongly consider a revision. I know people whom the band worked perfectly for and they hit "green" almost immediately. I have had no such luck. Sigh.

[KATHAT 0]

My surgeon believes in "creeping towards the green". Tiny fills, nicely spaced apart (4-6 weeks)... Now that I'm in the green zone I cannot help but agree.

I had surgery on December 18th, 2014 (7 months ago), and started out with 4.1 ccs of Fluid in my 10 cc band. Here's my fill history:

5 weeks later: Fill #1 was .5ccs

2 months later: Fill #2 was .3ccs

1 month later: Fill #3 was .3ccs

1 month later: Fill #4 was .2ccs

1 month later: Fill #5 was .1ccs

2 months later: Fill #6 was .2ccs

I am now in the green zone with 5.7 ccs of Fluid in my band. Hooray!

I was reminded by very experienced, professional and compassionate nurses at each fill to be PATIENT, and trust in the process. At the time, it made no sense to me why the fills had to be so small. I was like, "Fill me up! Let's get this show on the road!"

I was told that I needed to go slow and approach the green zone, as an overfill would result in vomiting, food sticking, etc., and would require a de-fill that would be GREATER than what I had been overfilled. In other words, one large mistake forward, 2 enormous steps backwards.

In my experience fills can take up to two weeks to 'settle' in. (This delay is, apparently, a mystery to bariatric surgeons). This has been true of 4 of my fills. My last 2 fills took effect almost immediately, and this one in particular I have struggled to eat even 1000 calories each day since being filled as the feeling of satiety was so strong. (Yay!)

Not one fill has resulted in heartburn, night cough, vomiting or discomfort.

It's been a 7-month test of my patience to get here. Now I'm here it feels SO GOOD. I am immensely grateful to my surgeon and his team for their wisdom around fills. Had it been up to me, I would have way overdone it.

Every BODY is different. I'm in the green zone at 5.7ccs. Some people finally get that elusive sense of satiety after 1 fill, some after 8 or 9.

All I know is my surgeons were right. "Creeping towards the green" has been a terrific way to get there.

I am so glad I just read this. I have been soooooo frustrated. I have zero restriction but keep being told to take it slow. I did have one fill that caused an overfill (which was the very first time I ever even felt any type of restriction at all) and had to be completely emptied and re-start over. It was very depressing. So my doctor now only does .5cc each time or less. It is just hard because I feel as if I went through this surgery for nothing. I am going to keep plugging away and getting my fills and will pray I reach restriction/green zone... You gave me some hope though.

[hmj2015 13]

Thanks for these posts!!

I had my 2nd fill appt earlier this week. I was at 6 cc's (in a 10 cc band) before this appt and my doc didn't give me any more of a fill. I lost 10 lbs since my last appt (1 month & 1 week prior) and she said that is on track and where I should be. I told her I feel like I can eat so much and she said that is normal sometimes and we should wait to see where I am in a month. I am down 33 lbs total since my pre-surgery liquid diet started on July 21. Lost 16 lbs on the liquid diet until my surgery on August 6 and lost the rest since then.

I asked her where she sees most "green zone" patients and she said 6.5-7.2 cc's. Wondering why she didn't just take me there.

It's just very frustrating because I feel like the loss has really stalled in the past 2 weeks. I feel like I am eating too much, I can gulp Water, I don't have to chew chew chew, have never had a stuck episode, can eat any type of food....I just wanted to get to that green zone! But I do trust my doctor, so trying to be patient.

[nurse_mom73 0]

I feel the same way, a year in October I have 7cc in a 10cc band had 7 fills since December 2014, sometimes 0.3cc sometime 0.2cc which makes no sense to me why very small amounts but it is what it is. I have no restrictions at all, if I want I could eat as much and anything I want like I never had a surgery. Have not lost any weight in 6 months but have not gained any either. Working out 4-5 times a week. I hope one day I will start losing weight

Just curious where you got your surgery? I am in Maple Ridge and had my surgery January 2015 at False Creek, and your experience has been the same as mine. I think I have around 6.3cc filled, and losing weight very slowly. Almost nothing in the past few months. clinic seems reluctant about fills.

[Hope41 13]

I feel the same way, a year in October I have 7cc in a 10cc band had 7 fills since December 2014, sometimes 0.3cc sometime 0.2cc which makes no sense to me why very small amounts but it is what it is. I have no restrictions at all, if I want I could eat as much and anything I want like I never had a surgery. Have not lost any weight in 6 months but have not gained any either. Working out 4-5 times a week. I hope one day I will start losing weight

Just curious where you got your surgery? I am in Maple Ridge and had my surgery January 2015 at False Creek, and your experience has been the same as mine. I think I have around 6.3cc filled, and losing weight very slowly. Almost nothing in the past few months. clinic seems reluctant about fills.

[Hope41 13]

Hi nurse_mom73

I had surgery in Calgary through SmartShape clinic

[nurse_mom73 0]

Hi Hope41

My surgery was in Vancouver but also through Smartshape back East . Everything has been done here at False Creek surgical Centre in Vancouver. Excellent. Question for you......because it was a private pay medical expense, were you able to write some of the $16000 off on your Federal taxes?

[Hope41 13]

I did, wrote off all of it and CRA accepted everything. All depends of your yearly income how much you will get back but sure helped getting back few thousands ????

[Hope41 13]

They will select you for an audit but I had nothing to hide, it is what it is. Took since April for them to process everything but got my refund last month

[nurse_mom73 0]

Wow Hope41! It took Revenue Canada from April until now to process your taxes because you claimed the surgery as a medical expense? Did you do your own taxes or have a tax preparer do them for you? I usually do my taxes online and submit electronically, however I know I won't be doing that for 2015 since I am claiming the surgery. Debating whether it is easier for someone to prepare them or for me to do prepare and send in with all the receipts.

Were you audited even thought you had sent them your receipts?

Thanks for all your info!

[Hope41 13]

I had my accountant prepare my taxes and he warned me that more likely I would get audited. I got audit info end of the April to send all of the receipts, letter from my family dr why I needed the surgery, letter from a clinic that did the surgery just the info of my weight etc sent it all in mid of May and never heard from CRA until end of September when I got my notice of assessment with the refund

[nurse_mom73 0]

wow, what a process! Did you just contact Smartshape for the letter and they had no problem preparing one for you? I just want to make sure I am prepared for tax time. I make a fairly good wage, so not sure how much it will help me, but anything is better than nothing

[Hope41 13]

Contact Kim Midwinter out East ask her for the letter/receipt and she will get it done. She will contact the clinic you had your surgery at and get it done. Don't forget your family Dr's letter, that's one important document for CRA to accept the claim

[tootyoyo 8]

Hi, I'm going to bring this back to the original topic of fills ladies. I'm sure there's a separate thread about Canadian insurance somewhere.

I had a fill yesterday, I'm now at 9.5 in a 10cc band. Once I have finished the liquid phase I'm hoping to be in the green zone - is anyone elses band this full? It's a little worrying!!!