Rockin' Robyn

Hi Everyone- I have a question. I have had 4 fills and am at 7 cc in a VG band. I don't feel that I am at the point I need to be yet, restriction-wise, but my mind is playing games with me. The situation is that I have done well chewing and eating slow, and I am feeling a sense of 'tightness' with the first few bites at each meal, but then it seems as everything gradually opens up and I can continue eating a full meal. Am I supposed to be just stopping after the first couple of bites? Will the band eventually keep me from continuing past a certain point if I get it filled even more? Or will there always be the feeling of having restriction initially-which is the point at which I should stop and not continue eating? Also, I also am MUCH tighter in the morning, and feel like I could eat the kitchen sink in the evening. Will this also go away when I hit my sweet spot, and will I ever get restriction in the evening? I guess I'm just confused as to whether or not to continue being so agressive with my fills since I AM actually feeling restriction with the first few bites. Any advice would be much appreciated

Thank you for this post everyone! I have been quietly worried about this same thing. I just had my 4th fill with a total of 7cc's in my 10cc band, and am still not feeling much restriction. With my last fill, my doc made the comment "I have a feelling you're going to get great restriction after this one. In fact you might even have to be on clears/mushies for two weeks." Much to my disappointment, I have had little to no restriction after the fill and am eating regularly. It makes me feel better to know I'm not alone and other's have gone up to more than 10cc of a fill.

I am the one who was hospitalized for the huge hematoma after my first fill of the port. I had my second fill 2 weeks ago, and again, had a huge hard knot around the area of my port. The weird thing was this time it wasn't as painful as the first, and the knot grew more slowly and started 2 days after the fill. I think in some people, there are blood vessels that actually grow around or close to the surgical site after surgery as part of the body's healing process. I have come to the conclusion that this will be something I always have to deal with. I'm going to just plan and take it very easy after fills. As far as the hematoma's (blood clot) in the tissue resolving, my doc said there is nothing I can do except wait for the body to reabsorb the clot and take pain meds if it gets too uncomfortable. Hang in there! I know how you feel, but it will all be worth it in the end

Hello Everyone- Needing some support. I was totally excited for my first fill. There was some difficulty in trying to locate my port...but all in all I thought it went well. The next day, I started having severe abdominal pain (worse than the surgery or even childbirth!) My husband ended up taking me to the ER, where I was hospitalized for 3 days (Now I'm going to be stuck with another large hospital bill). The final verdict by my surgeon was that he had inadvertantly "nicked" (sp?) a small artery next to my port when trying to locate it during my fill. What ended up happening is that I had developed large hematomas (blood clots) in my abdomen. He said this is a very rare occurrance..of course I would be the lucky one But my problem now is that I'm having massive amounts of anxiety about the next fill! I contemplated doing the next one under fluroscopy, but that would cost me an extra $650 each time (I'm self pay). My question is has anyone had anything close to this experience before, because I had never even heard of the possibility if hitting a blood vessel during a fill causing abdominal bleeding. Also, for those of you that have had trouble with the surgeon locating your ports for fills and then opted to instead fill under fluroscopy, was it worth it? Just needing encouragement I guess, as I'm just thinking to myself...what if this happens again-because arteries typically don't just move out of the way or disappear...they will still be there the next time we try!

WOW-All of these look greeeeeat compared to mine. I won't send pictures because they are too Gross 4 of my scars look okay, but the one over the port split open when the staples were taken out, and there is still a circular area that is open, about 1/4 inch deep, and gross. Didn't have to go on antiobiotics or anything..just slow healing. It's frustrating though, because when I went in for my fill last week, he couldn't do it because the incision isn't closed yet. Has anyone else out there had problems with the port site healing? I'm going to have a very wide and horrific scar (which doesn't really bother me), but I am worried about this postponing my fills. Also, I appreciate all of the tips you guys posted for lessening the appearance. Thanks.