How Can This Be?? My Fill only holds 2cc?

FutureSlimMe · March 23, 2005

Hi Gang,

I got my 2nd fill of 1.8cc a few days ago under floro. The doctor actually filled me with 2cc and I drank the barium and it showed the barium would not go through the band. She took out .1 and I was still blocked. After another decrease of .1 the barium flowed through.

The band holds 4 cc's so how can 2 ccs fill up an 4cc band? I don't understand that. Can someone give me their opinion on this? Cound this mean the band was put on tight to begin with?(even though it was empty?)

Thanks!

the best me · March 23, 2005

Okay, not banded yet but I'll give it my best shot and anyone who dissagrees...well, listen to them. When you first get your band your stomach is swollen from the surgery and the tissue shrinks as it heals. Then you start losing weight, and all the surrounding tissue in your body, including your stomach tissue, starts shrinking due to less fat, and you need another fill. The more weight you lose, the "tighter" the band will have to be in order to get restricted. Make sense?

This is the benfit of losing weight...apparently you lose from the inside out. All those squished up internal organs become free of fat and you body just works better. I think this is also why the external fat comes off last, you know, the butt and thighs, etc. Especially in women.

One more thing...your 4cc band is either at 9.75cm or 10cm band. The centimeters measures the circumference of the band, or how big around it is, similar to your ring size. (right folks?) The 4cc is, what you said, the amount of Fluid the band will hold.

Okay you Bandsters...check my answers and expound on them with your expertise...

FutureSlimMe · March 23, 2005

Kathy,

Thanks for your input. I'm hopeing to hear from others to get their opinion of this. Good Luck on your future banding. It's great. You will love it!, But not until some healing takes place. Follow your doctor's instructions and you will be just fine. Let us all know how things work out for you!

Alexandra · March 23, 2005

Kathy, you get three stars!! That's an excellent answer.

Phyllis, restriction is a function of both the amount of saline in the band and the thickness of your stomach tissue. That's why even an empty band can exert substantial restriction on some people and none at all on others. And why some people are good at 3.7 and others are fine at 1.5 cc. There's just no uniformity to it. Your 2ccs didn't fill your band, what it did was close your stoma.

As you lose weight you will lose internal fat as well, and the internal dynamics will change. That's why you may need more fill as time goes on. For the time being, you've found a good level of restriction and that's all that really matters!

HarleyNana · March 23, 2005

I often wondered what happened to the inside as we lost weight.

FutureSlimMe · March 24, 2005

Thanks Alex...It makes more sense now!

leatha_g · March 24, 2005

Besides, this is for life. If you had filled it the WHOLE 4cc's, you'd have no more room to fill later.:eek

Check this link out.. there is a photo of different sized bands. You can see the bladder and visualize it better, maybe. http://www.gisurgery.net/OverviewObesityBariatricSurgery.pdf

I'llsucceed · March 24, 2005

Besides, this is for life. If you had filled it the WHOLE 4cc's, you'd have no more room to fill later.:eek
Check this link out.. there is a photo of different sized bands. You can see the bladder and visualize it better, maybe. http://www.gisurgery.net/OverviewObesityBariatricSurgery.pdf

Leatha I am very interested in seeing this but I can't seem to open the link -even when I paste it it say my server can't find it. any thoughts?

leatha_g · March 24, 2005

It works for me. Do you have Adobe Acrobat reader installed? It is an Adobe file. Hmm.. otherwise, I'm not sure why it wouldn't open. Let me know..

HarleyNana · March 24, 2005

It worked for me, ya definately gotta have Adobe.

FutureSlimMe · April 5, 2005

Besides, this is for life. If you had filled it the WHOLE 4cc's, you'd have no more room to fill later.:eek
Check this link out.. there is a photo of different sized bands. You can see the bladder and visualize it better, maybe. http://www.gisurgery.net/OverviewObesityBariatricSurgery.pdf

Letha.....Great article and picture. I printed it out to share with others. Thanks so much!!

shamrock · April 5, 2005

Yes thank-you for the article I like the fact that they showed the vanguard. Thats what our surgeon said he uses.

Madeline's mom · April 7, 2005

Leatha,

That is a great article I really enjoyed reading it especiallly the part where it states that obese patients are one of the few populations that are descriminated by the healthcare system-- so true!