Bad...bad fill today

vkcse03 · August 21, 2008

Okay where do I start...l got my 2nd fill today and it was one of my worst experience. I have a 14cc band and for my first fill my doc did 6cc which was good. Got good restriction for 2 week but I started to slowly eat more so I went in again today for a 2nd fill. After talking to my doctor, we both decided to first put in 1cc, he left the needle in my tummy and had me drink Water. It went down fine so then he injected another .5cc (for a total of 7.5cc). He left the room and had me wait for 10mins to see how I felt. Only after 5 mins, I had to leave the room to tell him that the band was too tight. My chest hurt so bad (pain scale of 9). Doc came back in, poke me again and took out .5cc. Drank water, felt fine. Left the office but once I got to my car, I started sliming and felt very nauseous. I sat in my car for 15 mins and as the time goes by I felt worst. I was going to leave and chuck it up and hope that the feeling would pass. I figured I was probaby swollen and that it would go down. But then I recalled reading some posts on here about people going into the ER afterwards and I did NOT want that to happen, plus I was going to be extremly busy this weekend and could not afford to feel sick. So I walked back to the dr's office. Waited again for 20 mins. He then came back and said that I may have just swallowed some air and had an air pocket. So I waited again, for 30 mins. It was the longest 30mins of my life. I was so nauseous and my chest felt like I swallowed a golf ball. Doc came back and poke me again, took out .5cc, waited...not better. At this point I just wanted to feel better so doc said that because I did not feel better after taking out 1cc that I may just be swollen/inflamed from the pressure of the initial 1.5cc fill. We agreed to take out all but 4cc (I started out w/ 6cc) until I heal. So next week I have to go back and I feel like I'm starting all over again. I was hoping to only have 3 fills before reaching my 'sweet spot' but I guess that's not going to happen now. I was so upset today that my stomach could not tolerate the increased in saline. I dread having to start over again next week. Doc said he will try to increase me from 4cc (current) to 6.5cc but what if it happens again? That's a 2.5cc increase! I'm self pay and cannot afford to get 2-3 fills a month! As anyone who have been too tight knows....it's the worst feeling ever!

Has anyone else have this problem? And if you did leave the office and came home...did you feel better after a certain amount of time? Wondering what to do next week if this happens again.

bonnieb · August 21, 2008

Hi,

I had my third fill yesterday. The first was 3.2 cc, the second 1.5. When the doctor withdrew before the fill, I was at 4.0. She said that was not unusual to lose some in the tubing etc. Anyway, she tried putting 1 cc in and I almost threw up. She kept backing off and finally we ended up with only adding .2 cc. I was a little upset because I thought I would need more and now I am less than I was before (4.7) but it seemed that was all I could tolerate. Afterwards, I felt nauseated and bloated. I was wondering if I would have to have more taken out. By last night, after drinking Water slowly all day, I was a little hungry and the nausea was gone. I did have some Tomato Soup with no problems. We will see how today goes. I have had two cups of coffee this morning with no problems although I feel full. I am going to try some Jello this morning and Soup for lunch. Even though my doctor said I only have to be on liquids for 24 hours, I am going to wait until tomorrow to have any solids. I do not want to feel like I did yesterday!

Bonnie

lessme · August 21, 2008

Hi vk, I hope you are feeling better today. I too went for a fill yesterday. My2nd fill. First fill of 3.4 , she put in 2.2 and I tried to drink Water. I stood in the waiting room trying to drink water. I kept sliming and burping and not feeling good. I told the receptionist I needed some out and she told the fill nurse. The nurse was really nice and took out .6 which put me at 5.0cc in a 10 band. I instantly felt better. My doctor will only fill you once a month. I asked why and the nurse said because of inflamation a irritation. Since you are self pay could you just wait 3 to 4 weeks before your next fill so any irritation can subide. I know you are anxious to lose weight. I have not lost a single pound since the surgery including the pre-op fast (I gained that weight back). I, of course, spoke to the nurse about this lack of weight lose and she said "don't worry" it will happen but you need to be patient. I hope you feel better that is the worst feeling, but you did the right thing by having some of it taken out. Like Fanny said "When in doubt, take it out". Read that thread, it is very similar to you experience.

Sula · August 21, 2008

It seems like your initial and second fill are so huge! My fills have been slow and gradual. And increasingly smaller. And I'm pretty sure I'm not at my sweet spot, after 19 months of this...but I have pretty good restriction and things are going well.

jbperry21 · August 21, 2008

I had a very similar experience with my first fill. I have a 14cc band as well and my first fill was 6cc, which my doctor said is the typical amount for the first fill. I made it back to work and about 10 minutes after I got there I started feeling a little pain in my chest. So, I went to the bathroom to walk around for a few minutes and hope it would go away. It only got worse. Pain scale was probably about a 9 too, put it on the same level as a gall stone attack and I felt like I was having a heart attack. My mother had to come get me to drive me back to the doctor and they ended up taking all of it out after about 30 minutes of waiting. My doctor won't even approach 6cc in my band now because of that experience. I've gotten 3 fills, have some restriction, but not at my 'sweet spot' for sure.

Great2BThin · August 21, 2008

I have a 14cc band too. When he initially placed the band he prefilled me with 4cc. He said I really needed a 10cc band but it just wouldn't fit right, so he made it that way. My first fill was 3cc's, 2nd was .5 cc's and yesterday I got my 3rd and it was 1cc so I have a total of 8.5 cc in there. Though it could be 9.5cc's as I'm not sure about the .5 if it was .5 or 1.5. I had liquids until evening and then had a pudding so far so good. I can have solids today but so far have only had eggs. I am really hoping this is my sweet spot as well. I am self pay too. Though with the self pay I get free fills for the first 3 mos which are up in 2 weeks.

Hopefully you are just irritated or swollen and soon can get refilled.

vkcse03 · August 21, 2008

Thanks all. I'm feeling so much better today. I'm working my butt (5 days a wk at the gym) off to try to lose some weight and even though I have no restriction now it's better than how I was feeling yesterday. I am going back next week for another fill, I'm hoping he could put back my initial fill of 6cc.