For those of you that may be concerned about how the fills feel, I had my first fill today. I opted to NOT be anesthetized -- they use a needle to anesthetize you to the needle! So I chose to do it without, and I barely felt it at all. I now have 1 cc in my 10 cc band. :clap2:

One? One CC? In a 10CC band? That's what I call being cautious. Joy's first fill was 6cc. Are these fills included in the cost of your surgery, Elisa? Or do you have to pay for EACH fill?

Yes, only 1 cc in a 10cc band. I'm actually quite restricted. I LOVE IT!!!!!

Fills (and unfills) are included for life :-)

Are you sure it's not a 10cm band? I thought the 11cm banc held 12cc and the 10cm band held 4cc?

Oh -- that's entirely possible! I never asked until yesterday what size it was. He said, or I thought he did, "10cc, standard size". Maybe he said "10cm, standard size" and I just misheard. In either case, I'm happy :-)

That's a relief to hear. I am getting my first fill on 4/11 and am a bit nervous.

Congrats on your first fill! I had my first done today...1cc in a 4cc band, like you.

I'm curious: Why would they have to anesthetize us for the fill? I've never heard of that...it was so painless that I wasn't even aware that my doc had stuck me with a needle when he declared me to be "done".

DO other people get anesthetized for it?

I had my first fill on 3/21/06 also. I got 1.7 and so far so good. I've eaten a little less today and mostly did liquid and mushies since I don't want to push it. I feel a touch of restriction but not much but I'm sure I'll know better when I get back on full solids.

I'm curious: Why would they have to anesthetize us for the fill? I've never heard of that...it was so painless that I wasn't even aware that my doc had stuck me with a needle when he declared me to be "done".

DO other people get anesthetized for it?

They sure do! My dr said I was only the 2nd patient to opt out of it. I think it may have a bit to do with expertise. I talked to someone who had a new dr do her fill and she said he poked her 10 times before he got it right and she was totally sore. I was poked twice (my fault; I didn't clench my stomach muscles like he told me to) but didn't feel it either time. I did have a very experienced surgeon do it, though. Don't know if that makes a difference.

Up until I went in and he told me he thought it was more painless to do it without the numbing, I had only ever heard of people doing it WITH the numbing.

For those of you who are nervous, don't be. The worst part was waiting 45 minutes for the dr to come into the room :phanvan