first fill questions

[cduval04 7]

hi all,

I was banded on 12/20 and had my first fill on 1/31. it was an experience...took her a good 10 min. to find the center of my port...the first needle she actually bent..so I got the pleasure of being stuck twice. She said I had something called a seroma...a little "sack" of serous Fluid that commonly develops after abdominal surgery so she was trying to get through/around that.....

she was very repetitive in saying that I would not feel the full effects of the fill for a few weeks, because the fluid had to take time to distribute evenly..at the time I am writing this, the post directly below mine is titled "delayed action" fill so I guess I am not the only one with questions about this.

I am worried though because instead of feeling more restriction, every day that passes I actually feel less. (I think I was playing it extra cautious the first couple days). She said to me that usually if patients call crying for another fill sooner than 3 weeks, they will not do it, she said she did it once and ended up over filling that person because the first fill kicked in after the second and then her band was way too tight.

but I am thinking of calling anyway, because of the fact that I am feeling less restriction as time passes. I don't know whether the lack of restriction is because I have not given it enough time, or simply because she did not fill it enough, as they tend to be conservative on fill #1 because everyone's different

Should I call, or is this normal and I should just wait a little while longer to see if I feel any "delayed" restriction?

How many of you on your first fill ended up having the delayed restriction and how many of you ended up just not having enough fluid in there.

So hard "getting to know" your new stomach! btw I have a realize-c band.

[wilson350 0]

I had my first fill today and I am happy to repeat what my Dr. and nurse both told me. Clear Liquids for 24 hours and then back to regular diet. I should pay attention to how I feel and if too tight call them and go in for readjustment. If too loose, call them and go in for a readjustment. While I was in the office being filled, she had me sit up and drink Water so that I would feel the difference of too full and too loose and it was quite an education. I believe your Dr. should be doing the same. In all I have learned I have never heard anyone say it takes time for the Fluid to evenly distribute in the band.

[B-52 7,110]

I had my first fill today and I am happy to repeat what my Dr. and nurse both told me. Clear liquids for 24 hours and then back to regular diet. I should pay attention to how I feel and if too tight call them and go in for readjustment. If too loose, call them and go in for a readjustment. While I was in the office being filled, she had me sit up and drink Water so that I would feel the difference of too full and too loose and it was quite an education. I believe your Dr. should be doing the same. In all I have learned I have never heard anyone say it takes time for the Fluid to evenly distribute in the band.

How many CC's did they inject for your first fill? The way my Dr. explained it to me, he will do it the same way you had yours done today.

[nu2ywg 4]

I've never heard of a "delayed" reaction to the fill. It can't hurt for you to call and explain your concern...you are the customer after all. I had my first fill on Feb 8. I had one day of liquids, one day of soft/mushy and later today I get to progress to regular food. I'm hoping that if there is restriction I will know as soon as I start the bulky foods. The nurse who did my fill said you can't tell about restriction unless and until you are eating those bulky foods.

[wilson350 0]

I ended up having 5cc in a 14cc band. My Dr. also told me not to get too hung up on the numbers gane as far as how much is in the band. Each person is different and some may need no fills where others may need many or a lot of Fluid.

How many CC's did they inject for your first fill? The way my Dr. explained it to me, he will do it the same way you had yours done today.

[cduval04 7]

I called the office and found out she put 3 in my band.....what is up with all these people having it done under flouro, at least the first time it makes sense (like to see if everything healed in place before they go blindly shooting saline in there, and frankly I'm a little upset that that's not the way they do it at my hospital....it would ease a lot of my nerves to know that everything healed where it was supposed to.

about the delayed action thing, I was only told it by my NP and then I saw it in the sticky at the very top (first thread first post) of this fills forum...and then a few threads below mine was one titled 'delayed action fill' here.

I dunno I guess everyone is just a little different, my worst fear of course being that I will never get true restriction or that something in my band is mechanically wrong, leak, kink etc. but it is said that 90% of what you worry about never happens, so I will keep worrying!

[wnkyates 0]

Thanks for the info... I go for my First Fill February 14th.... Good information

[oly 1]

I was banded 12/21/10 and had my first fill 1/27 (4 cc's) I still could eat anything so I went back for another fill 2/8 another 4 cc's. Guess what, I still can eat. I am very concerned because I am not losing. Anyone have the same problems?

I was banded on 12/20 and had my first fill on 1/31. it was an experience...took her a good 10 min. to find the center of my port...the first needle she actually bent..so I got the pleasure of being stuck twice. She said I had something called a seroma...a little "sack" of serous Fluid that commonly develops after abdominal surgery so she was trying to get through/around that.....

she was very repetitive in saying that I would not feel the full effects of the fill for a few weeks, because the Fluid had to take time to distribute evenly..at the time I am writing this, the post directly below mine is titled "delayed action" fill so I guess I am not the only one with questions about this.

I am worried though because instead of feeling more restriction, every day that passes I actually feel less. (I think I was playing it extra cautious the first couple days). She said to me that usually if patients call crying for another fill sooner than 3 weeks, they will not do it, she said she did it once and ended up over filling that person because the first fill kicked in after the second and then her band was way too tight.

but I am thinking of calling anyway, because of the fact that I am feeling less restriction as time passes. I don't know whether the lack of restriction is because I have not given it enough time, or simply because she did not fill it enough, as they tend to be conservative on fill #1 because everyone's different

Should I call, or is this normal and I should just wait a little while longer to see if I feel any "delayed" restriction?

How many of you on your first fill ended up having the delayed restriction and how many of you ended up just not having enough fluid in there.

So hard "getting to know" your new stomach! btw I have a realize-c band.

[oly 1]

I was banded 12/21, had first fill 1/27 (4 cc's) Nothing happened so I had another fill (4 cc's) 2/8. I still can eat. When is it going to start working, I am not losing and getting frustrarted! I was never that big of an eater to begin with., I just made bad choices. (Sweets and fast food