Hi! I am very new to this and actually just booked my consultation for the beginning of September, so I am full of questions. One of the things I'm worried about is as I lose weight is that the port will be visable? Wandering if anyone has any issues with that? I also live in Canada and wandering if anyone else does? Because I am sure that the programs might be a little different. I'm only 22 so this is the biggest decision I've had to make so far in my life. I work at a care facility and my job is very physically demanding, a lot of people seem to go back to work pretty quickly. Anybody else in a similar line of work? I know everyone heals differently, but I am constantly doing heavy lifting and turning people from any where from 70lbs to 300+ so I'm expecting to take about 6weeks off of work. I would love to hear others thoughts and words of advice.

Thanks, Courtney

hello Courtney...

This month is a year since I went for my first appt with my nutritionast ....

All I can say is I cant believe how good I feel because of my health for one...how proud my family are for me and just how I always feel like moving now....at that first appt I was 257 and mind you Im only 5'1" soooo mighty round I was...also I was 53 and felt why even bother now...today Im 170 and smiling...walking and enjoying my children every day...and the compliments dont hurt either...

I think the time from first appts to banding to meeting goal is so differant for everyone...but I know its all so worth it...I wish you luck on your journey...

Hello Courtney,

I am also in Canada, getting mine done in Sudbury in Sept. I think it is smart to take that time off work to let yourself heal, especially with heavy lifting.

About the port visibility: At first, when I weighed 250, you couldn't see my port. I could just feel it on the left side of my stomach. As I started losing weight, however, the port stuck out more and more. Now that I weigh about 150, the port sticks out - you can even see it through clothing. It doesn't bother me a bit. My husband calls it my "contraption". Unless you're looking for it tho, you can't really notice it.

Good luck to you!

Marci

Hi Courtney! I don't think I've lost quite enough yet for my port to be visible, but I don't think it would ever stick out far enough that an on-looker would notice. I can definitely feel mine a lot more now. My surgery was on a Friday, so I only took the next week off, but I honestly could have gone right back to work Monday. I don't do heavy lifting so you are obviously going to have to take a little more time. Maybe request the 6 weeks and then if you are all healed sooner, just get a release from the doctor. I was completely healed, incisions closed and all, by my first fill at 3 weeks. Good luck!

Thank you all for sharing! I'm also kind of curious how often people generally go for fills? I've looked at a lot of different company's and sites and it' seemed to be only 4/5x a year, but now that Ive read other peoples experiences it seems to be more often? I'm kind of concerned because I will have to be traveling atleast 4 hours one way.

My fills started 3 weeks after surgery. Here is how it went...

1st fill at 3 weeks: 3.5cc

6 weeks later: 1cc

6 weeks later: 1cc

6 weeks later: 1cc

12 weeks later .5cc

I have an appt on Tuesday, but I don't need a fill. I am good now at 7cc in a 10cc band. I'm just getting weighed and getting the results of my blood work to make sure everything is good. I'm going back again in 8 weeks for my 1 year and then I'm going to see about only going every 6 months or if I feel like I need an adjustment.

That's great! Thank you for sharing.

Is that usual for people to get fills so often? Im going to be traveling atleast 4hours for all my adjustments