Hi All! Well after much fear and worry, I had my first fill of 1.3cc's with no problem at all. Dory Ferraro (the fill NP in NYC) was GREAT. She found it on the very first try which was awesome. Unfortunately, when I weighed in I was up 5 pounds from a few weeks ago so I'll have to update my signature. I'm so happy to finally be on the road to weight loss -- have an unfilled band is so incredibly frustrating! Plus it doesn't help that my annoying mother says to me today, "oh good, I'm glad you finally got the adjustment because I was so depressed when I saw you last weekend and you hadn't lost anything." :angry

She knocked the wind right out of me with that one but I'm not going to let her bring me down if it kills me!!!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for answering all my questions and please send good vibes my way. Thanks!!!

suzanne

Glad your fill went well!!

Don't let your mom get to you, try to ignore her(like we all ignored our moms when were teenagers!!!! LOL)

Thanks! Wow you lost so much weight! Congrats to you! I'll try not to let my mom bug me but god is it hard! Have a great weekend!

Hi,

Thanks for posting this! I'm terrified of my first fill and am going to ask the doctor to put in the absolute minimim amount (.5 cc?) to start with. I don't want to not be able to swallow! I've read so many horror stories on here it makes me very nervous to get a fill! As for your mom, I have to laugh, because my mom comes out with some real gems too. Not about my weight, but about everything else in my life ("your house is so small it's claustrohphobic!" "How are you going to entertain in that postage-stamp you have for a yard?" "Your cat has a dirty nose" "Tell your cleaning lady she missed the faucet in your bathroom" etc.) Moms, gotta love em, but thank God I don't have to live mine!!!

Xann, tell your mom that its very normal to gain a few pounds prior to your first fill. You body has been in shock from surgery, you had a wide open band (no fill, no restriction once the tummy swelling goes down), and you had been on liquids for crying out loud. When you return to more solid foods, its only natural to expect some weight fluctuation. Besides, your body weight can fluctuate by 5 pounds on a daily basis, depending on Water retention, pms, what you ate the day before, etc. This is why I only weight once a week - rather, I try to, Im such a scale addict! but it can get depressing to watch it daily.

You are doing just fine. And now that you have your fill, you shouldn't be so hungry and will begin to see that steady drop in weight.

Suzanne:

Glad you're fill went so well! I think we're all sort of shocked at how easy it is (usually) and painless. My first fill, way back in 2001 (9-11 actually!), the radiologist first numbed me with lidocaine... then did the fill. The lidocaine shot was more painful than the fills I've had since with no numbing! Most times, I don't even feel them going in.

Sunta:

Usually being too tight comes in later fills, not the first. Most docs are very cautious when they start out your fills... and I doubt you'll have any problems. Every fill I've ever had has included the "drink test"... where they give you some Water post-fill to make sure you can get it down. If you're fill is done under fluoroscopy, they'll also watch you drink barium (just a few sips... consistency of a smoothie, sort of).... both to adjust the fill as well as to make sure you can still get stuff down.