I was banded on 2/20. I went in for my post op appt. but my doctor had been called away & had to reschedule me for a date in April. I had lots of questions so I talked to the nurse. She told me there was nothing in my band yet... She said when the doctor puts it in He doesn't add any liquid at all for the first 4-6 wks. She said it is in me but is not constricting me in anyway & won't be until I get my first fill - which will probably be on my April appointment. Is this normal??? I sorta feel like I am losing valuable

time I could be losing weight. I had just assumed that when the doctor placed the band during my surgery that he would put in the first fill.

I would love to hear back on this. It has kinda of thrown me off and affected my willpower & discipline.

thanks fellow banders :hat:

loube910

Dont Fret!!!!!

This is the way the procedure goes. The first 4-6 weeks is for you stomach to heal and for your stomach to have the time to let the swelling go down. Your stomach has been through alot and is swollen and has stitches in it and is sore. There is no room for a fill right now.

I too felt like I was losing time. But hang in there and let your stomach get used to having a band around it. Most docs do this I'm assuming because of the swelling. If you had anything in your band right away, I guess it would be hard to tell if it was a proper fill until you are healed.

Take your time, heal yourself, and just think to yourself, it took you how many years to put the weight on, a few more weeks will be ok. Stay focused and you'll be ok!

Thank You! You relieved my anxiety. You are so right - what's a few more weeks

loube910

She said when the doctor puts it in He doesn't add any liquid at all for the first 4-6 wks. She said it is in me but is not constricting me in anyway & won't be until I get my first fill - which will probably be on my April appointment. Is this normal???

This will probably vary person to person, but IME - not quite accurate. Trust me, it's possible to have some restriction. I PBed just a few days post-op, so I know I had restriction... though I did not have any fill.

I will get my first fill a total of 5 weeks post-op. Some docs to put in a small fill at the time of surgery, but this does seem (just from my own research) to be a small percentage.

Also IME, I do, or at least did, have restriction, even without a fill. I think there are at least two factors here, one being that your tissues and organs will undergo trauma during the surgery, and it's very common for them to swell some while you are healing. This swelling, in a confined area (e.g. band), can leave you with some restriction of the upper stomach, much like a fill will later on. The second factor is the band itself. If you look at the internal diameter of a band, and you look at the external diameter of the area of our stomachs where the band is placed, there's a difference. I haven't seen a VG band so it may not be the case with that particular band, but I have seen the smaller ones and their empty size is still smaller than where they are placed... so, in short, just having the band in place, even empty, creates a somewhat smaller opening than what is normally there.

Plus just for me, it seems like something about surgery took away my appetite. 2 weeks and a day post-op, and I'm eating more than I was right after (maybe 2 oz food a day), but I'm maxing out around 4 oz food a day. I don't believe this is due to restriction, because I can tell the food is hitting my stomach, so maybe it's just part of my healing.

I think I also had some restriction before getting my first fill. I also had to wait 6 weeks before he'd consider a fill. I was probably eating about 1/3 of what I had been eating pre-band. I went in on March 7 for my first fill and got 1cc in a 4cc band. I haven't felt a bit of difference from before the fill to now. Go back for a second fill April 4, and I'm hoping that I get more restriction with that one. He seemed surprised that my food volume was at only 1/3 of before and almost didn't fill me, but since I hadn't PBd or gotten anything stuck, he did go ahead and fill.

Emily

There are lots of people who go months and months before having their first fill. I've read about them here on LBT and my doctor told me the same thing. The band itself is restriction and if you don't believe it, try swallowing a capsule without letting it soften up first! I did it by accident and man oh man could I tell I had restriction! LOL (Don't really try it - it HURTS!)