First attempted fill

[shrinkingV 0]

I was so excited to finally get my first fill. It was scheduled for 5 weeks after my surgery and I haven't felt any kind of restriction for the last two weeks. Preop went so well, approval was super fast, surgery and recovery were amazingly easy. I get to the surgeon's office and am not feeling well (allergies gone amok) so I'm a bit cranky in addition to being nervous. He asks his normal questions about how much I can eat and tells me that he's going to start with the standard 4cc fill and we can go from there.

Here's where it gets not so fun. He inserts the needle (no issues there) and hits the side part of the port. Moving the needle around gently he tries again, and again, and again. I have no idea how long he did this b/c I was a bit upset that this wasn't going well. Finally he gives up saying that one of the scheduling girls will have to call me when she gets back into the office (she was off that day and the next) with an appointment for the hospital's xray dept to do it under fluro.

I cannot tell you how hard it was for me not to drive straight to the pizza buffet and go back to my old ways. I didn't do it. It was hard but I didn't. I compromized by picking up a shake and mixing it at home with a scoop of Protein Powder.

This was thursday and I'm supposed to get a call from the scheduling lady tomorrow. He's concerned that the port flipped completely and he's going to have to go back in and fix it. I'm already 61 sick leave hours in the hole from having the surgery. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if they have to go back in to fix this. I'm hoping that it's the other possibility that he said... just some extra tough scar tissue shifting it in a funny angle that he can't account for. Yeah, I'm really hoping for that.

Sorry this is so long. Just needed to vent to the people who really know how this all feels. DH does a good job trying but really doesn't know.

[DianaG 0]

Hey, I have had 3 fills so far and am scheduled for the 4th on Wednesday. My surgeon has tried to find the port without using the flouriscope, but hasn't been able to do it. Which is frustrating him no end! After all, he is a trauma surgeon and does a lot more difficult and challenging things each day!! My port is under a lot of fat and stitched to a muscle, so he has to use the "long" needle to reach it. He always deadens the area before inserting the needle. As I lose more fat, it will be easier to reach the port and give me a fill. Anyway, sure enough, with the flouriscope he has no problem finding the port and filling the band, so don't worry too much. Just remind them before each fill, that they had to use the flouriscope/x-ray with your previous fill. That way they can go ahead and schedule it and won't have to reschedule like for your first one.

[shrinkingV 0]

Diana,

Thank you for your optimism. It really helps. I'm still waiting to hear about the appointment for the xray fill. They were supposed to call yesterday. Looks like I'll be calling them again today about it. I'm anxious to find out what the issue is or if it is just an aiming thing. Like my best friend said "leave it to a man to have a hard time finding a button in the dark". :tongue2:

[shrinkingV 0]

I got the call today. I'm going in for the fluro fill tomorrow at 9! I was telling my friend that I'm nervous and excited about it when I realized something. I say that I'm nervous and excited with just about every step of this new journey. I never realized it before today. I'm such a prepairing kind of person that when I'm going into something completely new I get nervous. But it's a good thing. I am really looking forward to seeing my insides. Afterall it wasn't until the surgeon started poking around that I reaized what I thought was my port really wasn't. I have no idea what it is but it's not the port. :tongue_smilie:

I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow. Gotta love working for the government and getting random holidays off. Especially when leave time is at a premium. :smile:

Happy Veterans' Day USA!