I had my first fill today and it went smooth. She numbed me and I felt her try 4 times and then hit the port on the 4th try. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. The lidocaine hurt the worst of course but it is manageable. I feel no restriction but we started small at .5cc. I guess I had some in my band from surgery but forgot to ask when she withdrew it. She went small on my first fill because I had a "sticking" episode with one of my pills.

I hope everything goes well for you, good luck!

Hi Shanna! I had my first fill yesterday too! Sounds like we had a very similar experience. My doc hit mine after a few tries too, and the lidocaine hurt more than anything else.

I had 1cc in my band and he added another cc for a total of 2. I can really feel the difference. I feel sorta like I have heartburn. I'm hoping that's just my stomach tissue reacting to being messed with again and that it will go away quickly.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi since we seem to be on the same schedule. Have a wonderful weekend.

~Amanda

I posted this in response to another bandsters question, but it may be applicable here too.

Oh how I wish every office that gave fills had a fluoroscope machine to give them with. My doctor ( whom I REALLY, REALLY like )never had a problem finding the port, but there are advantages to using one. Heres my story about fills. My Doctor's office got the machine about a year after I had been banded. Only after the first fill using flouro, did he confirm what I had been saying for about 5 months... I had NO restriction. Because my band had come undone. Yes, the band had come unsnapped. I knew when it happened. My Dr's first to have this happen with hundreds of bands placed. Dr fixed it asap! Now all his fills are done using the machine....and now, standing up. Never any trouble finding the port. Never ANY pain. He/You can see the restriction as the adjustment happens. Your Doctor can get you so much closer to restriction by looking at it instead of guessing. My insurance, Aetna, pays for my fills. If your self pay, it is more expensive. BUT SO WORTH IT

Hello! I had my first fill today. I did not have any lidocaine or anything. It was not too bad, I thought it felt really awkward. The only thing I DID NOT like is going back to a liquid diet for 48 hours. I had my fill early a m and was so hungry afterwards.

Current pre-op wt 344 down 324