First fill & it's out of state...

[amaretto 0]

A little reassurance please!

Next week I am scheduled for my first fill… however it will be out of state. I am in Salt Lake, and my doctor is in Denver. I have found it is more cost effective to fly out to Denver to get the fill then to get one locally.

My doctor has already said that the tends to be a little aggressive on the first fills… which pleases me after reading all the stories of it taking people multitudes of fills to get restriction.

I worry that if I come home and realize that I have been overfilled, I won’t have any recourse to have any removed. Yet, if I let my nerves get the best of me, I could make the whole trip in vain.

Has anybody else been in a similar situation? How many of you had to get unfilled the first time around??

Thanks all for your sage advice!

Edited October 19, 2009 by amaretto

[RobinAnn 2]

Who is your doc? I too go to a doc in Denver (and it might as well be out of state for me as far as it is from my home).

Tell your doc of your concerns re: overfilling.

What are your plans for flying in/out etc? My first and second fills I flew in on Wednesday night, was filled on Thursday morning and flew home on Friday just to give me an extra day in case I was overfilled.

I wasn't overfilled and for my next fill, I'm flying in on Wed and home on Thursday (mostly because I have a class on Thursday night).

Dr. K. puts a bunch in, has you drink Water, puts more in, you drink more, more fill... until you feel restriction w/ Water then he backs out the fill until you are comfortable. I think if I was really worried about being overfilled I'd let him know and go from there.

[amaretto 0]

My doctor is also Dr. Kirshenbaum.

I am planning on flying out Tuesday morning and returning home later the same day. I haven’t yet figured out how I am going to get to/from the Dr.’s office and the airport.

It’s good to hear that he is meticulous with the fills. It is also encouraging to hear that you haven’t encountered a problem having your fills done in this manner.

I think I will talk to him about my concerns over being over filled. I know ultimately, I need to trust the process, but it’s still so new and I’m still caught in the learning curve.

Thanks for your thoughts!!

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Yes, I had to get 1cc of my first fill removed. BUT I knew I had a problem within the first hour.

My advice? Stick around the doctor's office area for a while. My doc requires you to drink an entire glass of Water before you can leave after a fill. I managed that fine, but on the drive to work, it hit me. I couldn't even swallow spit. So I called them on my cell, turned around and went back.

So, since you have to travel for your fill, why don't you allow yourself a couple of extra hours afterwards as a precaution?

[RobinAnn 2]

I know the Airport Super Shuttle is $44 round trip. Don't know how much a cab would be. You should be able to get a car for less than $35 (including a buck or two for gas). I'm not that familiar with buses in Denver.

You'll do fine with your fill. Dr. K does a great job with them (I think). But in a way it's kind of like going to the eye doctor .... is this better or worse.... and after a while you have no clue.

Pay attention now to how it feels when Water goes down. Concentrate. It's not something we think about and you'll be thinking about it next week.

Also, unless you are really curious, when Dr. K has you sit up, don't (I repeat DON'T) make your eyes cross-eyed and look at your belly. It's awfully disconcerting to see a syringe hanging off of your abdomen.

[amaretto 0]

I feel fortunate to have gotten such good advice from both of you.

Right now, I’m thinking I will proceed with caution… Perhaps renting a car to be sure that I can loiter around at his office plaza for a couple of hours, just to be on the safe side. My returning flight isn’t until 7pm, so hopefully by then I’ll know if all is well or not.

And concentrating on the Water as it goes down is a good call, something I wouldn’t have thought to do on my own.

Much appreciated!

[Enchanted 2]

One other thing to be aware of.....even if you feel ok when you leave the doctor, the pressure created by flying can make you temporarily tighter. So if that happens, it doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem. It should loosen back up when you land. With the swelling from the fill + flying . . . I'm not sure how those two things will work together.

[pantsgap 0]

I found a place in Salt Lake City called fillcentersusa. They want $349.00 plus $149.00 for the flouroscope for the first vist then $99.00 plus $149.00 for the flouroscope for each subsequent vist. Isn't this a bit high? I can't afford either.