I was banded on 7/13/12. Had my first post-op appointment last week. My first fill is scheduled for today. I'm going alone and I'm pretty nervous. What should I expect? Does it hurt a lot? How long do I have to stay on liquids afterwards?

I was so nervous before my first fill, I almost asked him not to do it. It's actually super easy and it doesn't hurt hardly at all. Each surgeon is different I'm sure, but mine just had me lay on the table, he felt around for my port (had me do a crunch to help it stick out), swabbed the area with alcohol to clean it, drew up the saline to inject, then poked it in. It hurts way less than a tetanus shot (if you've ever had one of those). When my surgeon pushes the saline in, he puts in a small amount then draws it back out to confirm he's in the port. Once Fluid comes back out (indicating he's in), he injects the rest.

I then have to stay in the office for 5 minutes and sip Water to make sure it all goes down okay. I do 24 hours of liquids then 24 hours of mushy food, then back to normal.

Each surgeon is different, but that's the general idea.

DOn't be nervous. It doesn't hurt because you will get a small shot of lydocaine first and this helps. The fill itself will depend on you and your doctor/nurse practitioner. I have had two fills so far. Normally after the first fill, they will do a quick barium x-ray to make sure you flow well. This is what happened for me. The LAP- Band has saved my life and 79lbs later I am a much happier person. Hope all goes well for you today. No worries.... :}

Oh I forgot, you will be on liquids for the next day....

My surgeon doesn't do lidocaine. If you think you'll need it, ask for it, but to me it's just one more poke.

I had my first fill yesterday. The hardest part was trying to locate the port. Once she found it, in the saline went and I left. I was released on regular food. I had BBQ pork for dinner last night. I have to go slow and chew, chew, chew as we all do, but I had no trouble. All surgeons are different, just follow what guidelines yours gives you.

Good Luck...it was really not bad at all. I had no soreness...the worse part for me was taking the bandaid off!

Thanks everyone. My appointment was at 10:30 this morning. Just got home a few minutes ago. It was quick and relatively painless, just like ya'll said it would be. But that had a lot to do with the fact that my doctor did give me a numbing shot before the actual fill. They had me drink some water to make sure I could still get liquids down and then they gave me the boot. They told me only liquids and soups today and back to eating normally tomorrow...it really wasn't so bad after all.