DonnaB

(Originally posted 5-31-06 - I deleted the post from the thread but I wanted to keep the info)

Well everyone, I did it. I had my first fill today! Yay for me! I have to stay on liquids for A WEEK! OMG. Boo for me. lol

I had my fill at Dr. Jayaseelan's office - very nice people - and it didn't hurt at all. Not even the "bee sting" of the Lydocain. I felt it, but it didn't hurt. I was all in a panic for nothing. I know Janet, you told me - by now you'd think I'd listen to you more often, huh? I'm still worried about infection but it's highly unlikely so I'll just have to suck it up and stop even considering it.

My first fill is 1.4cc's in my 4cc band. I'm worried it might be a little too much, I'm very aware of my sternum area right now. I could feel my water, and now my broth going through, and I'm a little worried about when I move back to solid food. I'm even more worried about the "2 week kick in" ! I'm telling myself that between the frequent first-fill evaporation, and that because my monthly friend is visiting right NOW (of course it had to be right when I go for my first fill!) that maybe that 2 week kick in will be more like an even trade. What do you think? I know, I'm trying to bargain with science! That always works, right?. lol

Re: too tight

Quote:

Originally Posted by christa94

donna,

you mentioned that you were losing before the fill. why did you have the fill? did you feel you were losing restriction? you mentioned that the fill is too tight. what makes you say that? are you still losing?

Hi Christa,

I got the fill because I had lost and regained the same pound four times over a two week period, which my doctor said is a sign you may need a fill. Additionally, I was at twelve weeks post op, by which time most bandsters are already on their 2nd or 3rd fill. LOL, I was afraid I was going to be left behind.

Let this be a lesson, listen to what your body says, not what other people are doing or saying. What I needed to do was reexamine my caloric intake and increase my activity level.

The other thing I did wrong was to try to be accomodating. I had my surgery in Mexico so I'm using a local surgeon's facilities for fills. I had already scheduled a fill and even though I had recently had a bad PB (my first) which caused swelling, I didn't want to cancel my appointment because I didn't want them to change their mind and not accept me as a patient - so I went for the fill. Big mistake.

Having a too tight fill is miserable. After the PB swelling and the fill (1.4cc) I had constant pressure/pain at my sternum front and back. In the morning it hurt even worse and it even hurt to breathe deeply when I first got out of bed. I couldn't eat anything until 1:00 in the afternoon usually. To complicate matters, by the time I got in to the Dr.'s office for an unfill, my PB swelling was finally going away and I was almost comfortable with my fill level, so I wasn't sure if I wanted/needed an unfill. This was my first fill, I wasn't sure what it was SUPPOSED to feel like. I was already at the Dr.'s office so I decided I'd just have them check my band to be absolutely sure it was still in the right place - of course it was, but you hear so many nightmare stories here on LBT . . . . The surgeon was doing fills on that Saturday (!?!) and insisted on checking the band by removing all the fill and putting it back in - I still don't know why he didn't just look at the band on the fluoroscope. I didn't really feel like I had any choice, so I went along. He was terrible at giving fills - I've only ever had one and even I could tell he wasn't good at it! - the Lydocaine shot HURT. My first fill Lydocaine shot didn't hurt at all. He pulled the fill out, checked it, and then SLAMMED it back in! I had excruciating pain in my sternum till he pulled back on the syringe a bit. I was laying on that F'ing table gasping it hurt so bad. I don't know what he was playing at, but when he put my original fill back in - HE ADDED .5cc's! I went for a possible unfill and he added .5cc's! WTF? To make it worse, he didn't tell me he added .5cc's, in fact, he told me there was only 1cc in the band. Since we've all heard that it's very common to lose some or all of a first fill, I wasn't alarmed by that and was actually grateful because I was finally getting comfortable again. When I left his office I felt tight but was able to swallow easily - I just thought the tightness was because of disturbing the stomach area again.

That was on a Saturday and by Saturday night I could barely swallow my own spit. I could only take in water in sips amounting to the size of a pea. I tried to have LITTLE TINY slivers of sugar free, fat free, frozen yogurt which sounded soothing to my swollen, hungry belly - it caused me to slime for about 40 minutes before I was able to swallow my own spit again! Forget about eating. Not even soup! Not even clear broth!

Because that visit was on a Saturday, I had to wait until Monday when the doctor's office reopened before I could get in for an unfill - which irritated my stomach more. Fortunately, the surgeons fill nurse was there on Monday. She's awesome. When she pulled the fill out, sure enough there were 1.9cc's of fill in there. My original 1.4cc's PLUS the .5cc's that idiot of a surgeon added at the time of my SUPPOSED unfill! I was furious. I went the whole weekend in MISERY because this jerk-off thought he knew what was best for me - and didn't even inform me of what he was doing. I'm furious about it still. The fill nurse took my fill down to my current 1.2cc's and I'm beginning to feel better today but I'm still on liquids and will stay on them until this Sunday - 7 days of liquids just to be sure I don't cause another PB re-irritating my already irritated stomach!

This has been a horrible experience and I don't plan to have another fill until I can't lose another ounce no matter how much I restrict calories and increase my activity! I will never again compare my fills with anyone elses, nor will I agree to have fills on any kind of schedule. Needless to say, I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, let that surgeon touch my body ever again. If the fill nurse isn't there, I'll leave. Even if I have to pay for an office visit he'll never touch me again. I'd never use his facility again except that his fill nurse is wonderful (compassionate, careful, HONEST - pick whichever one you like, she's all of that and more), and, because I didn't have surgery in the U.S., I don't want to go around looking for another local who'll see me.

Here is my advise for anyone wanting to know about getting fills:

1) If/when you get a fill, do it in slow increments - more is not better, or even cheaper. It will cost you in the long run to need unfills and refills when you could have got to the same place COMFORTABLY by sneaking up on your sweet spot.

2) If you think you might be too tight, GO GET AN UNFILL! It's not worth the misery or the irritation and possible damage to your stomach to try to keep your fill in an attempt to lose weight faster. That's not what I was doing, but I see that on LBT frequently.

3) Make sure YOU call the shots - not some numb-nuts doctor who thinks he knows everything. Once again I must learn to trust my own instincts (a lesson I thought I had learned long ago) and listen to what MY body is telling ME!

Sorry to go on and on, but this is the first time I've written it all down and I'm still pretty steamed about it.

LOL - Um, what makes you ask?

Good luck with your band and weight loss journey. __________________

DonnaB

Adversity introduces you to yourself. - Anonymous

Ya, that's what I thought too. Thanks.

I decided I needed to make a record of my PB incident which was closely followed by my period and my first fill - bad idea!

Quote:

Originally Posted by NurseMichelle

Donna I am so sorry to see your fill is too tight. I am going to get mine at 11 weeks. I am eating way way too much. Snacking. My compulsive nature is coming back around. I am maintaining 22 pound loss, but I have to really work at not snacking at night. tell me about your experience with this fill. :phanvan

Well . . .

I was scheduled to have my first fill on May 22nd but that morning I had a terrible scrambled egg PB incident, which was my first PB. It went on for 6 hours! After about the 2nd hour, I cancelled my fill appointment and I called Dr. Rumbaut's patient advocate (or whatever her title is! lol) Cathy. She had Dr. Horatcio call me back and we talked about what was going on and discussed my eating plan for the next few days. I went on liquids for 3 days then moved to mushies and was just getting back to solids, when my period started on the 30th! Just after my PB, I started feeling some pressure and mild pain at my sternum area, front and back. It wasn't terrible so I just figured it was irritation from the PB and possibly my period, and that it would go away in time - it really wasn't that bad, just there.

I had rescheduled my first fill for the 31st and I really didn't want to cancel it again because I didn't want them to decide they didn't want me as a patient - I didn't have surgery with them so I thought this was a very real possibility - so I went ahead and kept the appointment. I told them about the PB, the period, and the chest pressure and they told me it wasn't anything to worry about and we proceeded with the fill. I told them I was worried about being filled too tight and that I wanted this to be a conservative fill. They gave me 1.4cc's in my 4cc band. I don't think that's very conservative myself, but I wasn't having any problems so I left it. The pressure/pain that I had been feeling since the PB was a little worse the next day, a little worse that night, and has been with me ever since.

I've been in touch with with Dr. Rumbaut's new assistant (her name is Misu Sanson and she's really nice) three times since then, and we decided this afternoon that I should go in and get a complete unfill. Booo. I'm tired of this pressure/pain and at this point I'd rather get the unfill than try to wait it out. Besides, I need to be reassured that this chest pressure isn't something serious.

When I had the fill it was with fluoroscopy and they said the band was in the correct position so I don't really think there's a real problem, but after all this time and pressure, I need some relief and reassurance - not to mention some solid food! lol The doctor I'm using for fills wants his patients to be on liquids for 7 days post fill! Can you believe that? I haven't heard of anyone going on liquids for that long after fills! Anyway, today was the first day I ate real food in forever and I didn't have a problem eating but the pressure/pain at the sternum - front and back - was worse again. Damn.

Dr. Sanson wants me to do a complete unfill and give it time to completely heal up. If the pain doesn't subside in fairly short order, I'm going to go have an endoscopy.

Now that I've completely freaked you out about getting a fill . . . LOL, let me reassure you - the fill was really, really not a big deal. I BARELY felt the sting of the Lydocaine which numbs the area, and I didn't feel the fill needle at all. It was in there and filled before I realized it, and then they were asking me to sip some barium. I swallowed and it kind of stopped like when you've swallowed too fast and I said it didn't feel good, she pulled some saline back out and it immediately felt better and my fill was over. They stuck a bandaid on my injection site and I was done. All told, it took less than 5 minutes and that includes the time I took to explain to them how nervous and freaked out I was! I was worked up for absolutely no reason. Don't let yourself get worried about the fill, it's not a big deal at all.

Sorry to write a book here, this is the first time I've put it all down in writing so I thought I'd go ahead and get it right! lol

Thanks for your concern - good luck with your first fill.

I'm running out of space on my signature line but I want to keep a record of the progression of my weight loss:

DonnaB

Banded March 7, 2006

Dr. Roberto Rumbaut, Monterrey, Mexico

282/274/242/150 (-40)

5' 9"

03/07/06 274 (-8)

03/14/06 267 (-7)

03/21/06 265 (-2)

04/03/06 263 (-2)

04/08/06 261 (-2)

04/16/06 260 (-1)

04/19/06 257 (-3)

05/07/06 255 (-2)

Horrible scrambled egg PB = 6 hours!

05/24/06 252 (-3)

First Fill: 05/31/06 = 1.4cc

06/05/06 248 (-4)

06/07/06 246 (-2)

Went for an UNfill 06/10/06 and the STUPID ASS SURGEON gave me a .5 fill - miserable all weekend, went back on Monday 06-12-06 unfill down to 1.2cc - still feel a little tight.

06/13/06 (-4) probably all water weight since I couldn't drink for 36 hours!

Does the lapband work?

Is it easier to pound in a nail with a hammer or with a rock?

With a hammer of course--but you STILL have to POUND!

So it is with a band. - DevilMayKare