First Fill

[lindata 1]

I had my first fill on Monday and so far I feel soooo much better. I've actually started losing weight again! =) I was spoiled by being able to eat at a faster pace before the fill and now I'm trying to retrain myself to eat slowly. I notice that I get that stuck feeling a lot more when I'm eating around other people so I have to really watch myself. I have trouble knowing when I'm full but just now when I was eating lunch I realized I get the hiccups and I think that's my signal to stop. I hope this level of restriction doesn't go away before my next fill. I feel like the band is actually helping me out now!

I'm so glad for you, Lizzie. I know how hard of a time you've been having. I'm at my mom's and not weighing on their scale, and I've been eating waaay too much baking, so we'll see what happens when I get home.

[KRISTA 0]

I HAD MY FIRST FILL TODAY I WAS BANDED ON NOVEMBER 30TH AND I FEEL KINDA WEIRD SCARED TO EAT OR DRINK ANY WORDS OF WISDOM??:help:

[Momto1plus1 0]

I HAD MY FIRST FILL TODAY I WAS BANDED ON NOVEMBER 30TH AND I FEEL KINDA WEIRD SCARED TO EAT OR DRINK ANY WORDS OF WISDOM??:help:

Take it slow. Small bites. Remember that there will be things that you were able to eat before that won't work now.

[Skinny_Jill 36]

I got my 1st fill on Thursday. I've been on mushies since. Today I had a 2 egg omlette and I ate it slow taking small bites and it went down fine. Eat slowly and listen to your body.

[lizzie_07 0]

Well, it looks like I won't be reaching restriction for a long time. I had my surgery done in Toronto and the fills there are covered in the cost of the surgery. Unfortunately, I live in Halifax (2 1/2 hour flight away). I found a fill doctor here who could do them for me (for $30); however, she informed me yesterday that she cannot do them for me because she wants to get approval from the College of Physicians. The clinic knows of no other fill doctors anywhere in driving distance.

I literally have NO money left on my student loans or visa to pay for multiple flights to Toronto. No more fills for me for awhile =(. This is so upsetting, grr.

[RxTracy 0]

I had my first fill on Friday. I had 3cc in from surgery and I got a 3.25cc fill for a total of 6.25 in a large AP band (I was told this is a 14cc band but have see other volumes posted here). My post fill directions were 48 hrs of warm clears. The fill wasn't bad at all. I declined the lidocaine because I think the shot to inject the topical anesthetic hurts as bad as the shot sometimes. I have found this to be true when I have had IVs so I stuck with it and it was not painful. She had me take a huge breath, hold it and push (like giving birth) to elevate the port and she was right in, no problem. She filled it slowly and I sat up and drank a small cup of Water each time. I didn't feel any restriction with Water, but she was feeling like 3.25cc was a good place to stop and I did too. I told her I was fine to come back for more if it wasn't enough. The office is just a 10 minute drive from where I live. She gave me a prescription for a months supply of Phentermine (Adipex). She says she uses it a lot so people don't starve until they get their restriction right. I told her I felt like I was white knuckling it like the "old days" of dieting and that was uncomfortable. I have taken the Adipex (aka Fastin) before and I didn't like the way it made me feel (like I am having a panic attack and buzzy) but I got the 37.5mg and that strength can be split and I will try taking 1/2 the dose. I was worried, because the fluids went down so well, that I was still unrestricted but I ate mushies this morning and I'm feeling a bit full. Time will tell. Hope this isn't too detailed, but I am always curious about details when I read posts so I am over-sharing : )

I feel like we sould take up a Frequent Flyer Miles donation or something for Lizzie. It is horrible to come this far and have to wait.

[lightenup! 0]

Tracy,

I too have the 14cc large AP Lapband. Sounds like a lot of people on here have the 10cc one or the 4 cc one. I need to ask my Dr. the details of mine, how much was in after surgery and will want to keep track of how much is in now. I got about 3 good weeks of restriction and weight loss, but have plateaued now. I am looking forward to my 1st fill on 1/3, but after reading this whole strand it sounds like it can be difficult to achieve the "sweet spot" with the 1st fills. I'm going to ask for a bigger fill and ask if I can return before 4 weeks if I need it, I just want to keep the weight loss moving rather than doing it in fits and starts.

[RxTracy 0]

LightenUp-Yes. I would make frequent trips to try to get to the Sweet Spot. My doc has an ARNP who does the fills and she said don't wait a month if you know it isn't right. I found out my initial fill volume from my surgery report. My ARNP keeps a running log of the total fill volume. She said she used to pull out all the saline on a fill and then refill it and add...but she said she found it inconsistent. She would have 3 pull out 2...add 2 and the next time pull out 6...she said she found it caused a lot of unnecessary worry on the patient's part thinking they had a leak when really different factors cause you not to be able to pull out the entire volume. I am making an appointment to bump up my fill.

[TxArcher 2]

Got my first fill today... OUCH. Doc had a hard time finding the port. He gave me the numbing shot and then started to palpate to locate the port. OUCH. He ended up giving me a second shot of pain killer.

Good news is... I lost a pound of fat over the Christmas and New Years holiday's.

[cindyg1212 0]

Cagstorm, sorry your fill hurt so much. I had a fill done by a new nurse practioner and she hurt a lot and over filled me. Went back a couple of days later and had it unfilled by another nurse who barely hurt. I'm getting a fill tomorrow with the more experienced nurse and hope it won't hurt too much.

By the way, what is that a picture of?

[hollyberries 2]

I finally had my first fill today. It went very well. I found out that I lost 60lbs since I started this whole process. I am very elated right now and the my doctor was happy. He asked me how things were going and I told him that I was kind of hungry in the last few weeks that I was noticing that I was hungry between meals. So he said hop on the table and lets get you some fill. He was awesome. I only felt a prick of both needles. I really do not think that he had to numb first because he was so quick.

He did indicate that since I had some restriction after surgery that this 1cc might be a little aggressive so if I was getting anything stuck to call him right away. I am not expecting that but nice to know. Had to drink a glass of Water but did fine and on liquids for 2 days and mushies for 2 days and back to real food. My next fill was scheduled for 1/30/08; which stupid me forgot that I will be in PA on a buying trip for my store.

Anyhoo! Overall a great experience. Did I happen to mention that I love my band!

[Skinny_Jill 36]

Hollyberries,

60lbs! That is fantastic! Congratulations! I am really loving my first fill. I have really learned to eat slower and chew my food. Before my first fill I could eat whatever I wanted and as fast as I did before but now I can't. I eat less than half of what I used to and it takes me 3 times as long to eat it. It doesn't bother me at all though. I thought I would hate that but it hasn't been bad. I can really taste my food now. It is very hard to not drink while I eat but I will learn. I take a few small sips but I don't think it is enough to wash the food through the pouch or I would be hungry sooner.

I love my band too. My life is really changing.:biggrin1:

[crispy98a 0]

I had my fill 2 days ago (1-2) and I don't know what to think yet. I was on Clear Liquids the first 2 days and full liquids today. Tomorrow I get to move to soft foods, and then on to the "modified regular" diet that I've been doing for the last 4 weeks (pretty much everything but bread, rice, red meat or pasta). The 2 days of Clear Liquids sucked. I hate to have to do this every time I get a fill. I am anxious to be able to really eat again to see how much restriction I have.

My surgeon ended up having to do the fill under fluoro. It scared me when he couldn't get it in his office b/c of course, I thought the port had flipped. But, everything looked great and he actually just went in a little too low. He apologized over and over, saying that he must have been feeling extra scar tissue and not the port. I could feel and hear him hitting the port w/ the needle in his office, so it was a strange experience. Once he saw it under fluoro, it took about 1 minute to do the fill. I appreciate that he only stuck me twice in the office and wouldn't "dig around" for it. All in all, it was not too painful, and hopefully I will feel some restriction from it. If not, there's always the next fill!

Sorry for the novella, but I love reading all of the different experiences!

[JanaMGB 0]

I just had my first fill on 1/2/o8. I was banded 11/30/07. I really have VERY minimal restriction and I am not scheduled to return until Marrch, two months.

Jana

banded 11/30/07 - 286 lbs.

326/276/150

02.07/now/goal