I had my first fill last week (4/2) and I'm so excited with the results thus far.

I thought I'd share the experience so that others who have no idea what happens in a fill will not be so worried.

My doctor had me lay on the table. He looked at my incisions, talked to me for a minute about what he was going to do, then got right to work. He first felt where the port is supposed to be. Mine tended to move around a bit the first few weeks, and that created a bit of a problem for him hitting it (took him 4 sticks). He prepped my skin with a cleanser and offered to use Lidocaine, but I declined. The needle is attached to a syringe holding the saline. I wasn't really worried about the needle, so I didn't notice how long it was.

He had me raise my legs while laying on my back. Apparently that does something with the abdomen that allows him to feel the port better.

Once he got in with the needle, he had me sit up. He put in like 9 ccs at first so that I would know what it feels like to be "stuck." Not a pleasant feeling, but he then took some of that saline out to relieve the pressure. It didn't really hurt, just pressure that made me feel like burping and I felt it in my chest and back a bit. So once I understood what it feels like to be stuck, he then took some of the saline out, and experimented with the correct amount to put in at this point. I ended up with 6.5cc for my FIRST fill. I am excited that I have more than 1-2 as I have read from some of you.. He had me drink a bottle of Water and tell him how I felt with each adjustment of the saline. When I felt like I could feel the pressure but it wasn't painful to drink, he stopped and said we'll make another adjustment in 5 weeks.

At this point it is definitely working to keep me from eating a bunch of food. I had to go on a 4 day post-fill diet, which wasn't real hard because it is basically what we did post-op, just one day at each phase. Now I am able to eat all textures and types of food (as long as they are healthy). I can only eat a few bites at this point, but the swelling will go down and that will change. I do get hungry within 2 hours of eating, but I've been drinking lots of water and that helps.

So, that basically tells the story of my first fill. I am so excited that I have this tool. It was a bit frustrating to have had the surgery and wait for 7 weeks before getting any help from the tool. Right now though, I'm a happy woman! 6.5ccs in the first fill and it is working to keep me from eating much at a time.

Thank you for the details of the full. I get my first fill April 16 so I've been wondering what it's like. How much weight have you lost since then?

Thank you for this thorough description of what we can expect. What size lapband do you have?

I had my first fill last week (4/2) and I'm so excited with the results thus far.

I thought I'd share the experience so that others who have no idea what happens in a fill will not be so worried.

My doctor had me lay on the table. He looked at my incisions' date=' talked to me for a minute about what he was going to do, then got right to work. He first felt where the port is supposed to be. Mine tended to move around a bit the first few weeks, and that created a bit of a problem for him hitting it (took him 4 sticks). He prepped my skin with a cleanser and offered to use Lidocaine, but I declined. The needle is attached to a syringe holding the saline. I wasn't really worried about the needle, so I didn't notice how long it was.

He had me raise my legs while laying on my back. Apparently that does something with the abdomen that allows him to feel the port better.

Once he got in with the needle, he had me sit up. He put in like 9 ccs at first so that I would know what it feels like to be "stuck." Not a pleasant feeling, but he then took some of that saline out to relieve the pressure. It didn't really hurt, just pressure that made me feel like burping and I felt it in my chest and back a bit. So once I understood what it feels like to be stuck, he then took some of the saline out, and experimented with the correct amount to put in at this point. I ended up with 6.5cc for my FIRST fill. I am excited that I have more than 1-2 as I have read from some of you.. He had me drink a bottle of Water and tell him how I felt with each adjustment of the saline. When I felt like I could feel the pressure but it wasn't painful to drink, he stopped and said we'll make another adjustment in 5 weeks.

At this point it is definitely working to keep me from eating a bunch of food. I had to go on a 4 day post-fill diet, which wasn't real hard because it is basically what we did post-op, just one day at each phase. Now I am able to eat all textures and types of food (as long as they are healthy). I can only eat a few bites at this point, but the swelling will go down and that will change. I do get hungry within 2 hours of eating, but I've been drinking lots of water and that helps.

So, that basically tells the story of my first fill. I am so excited that I have this tool. It was a bit frustrating to have had the surgery and wait for 7 weeks before getting any help from the tool. Right now though, I'm a happy woman! 6.5ccs in the first fill and it is working to keep me from eating much at a time.[/quote']

Thanks for sharing, I get my first fill on the 25th and had no idea what to expect.

To answer the questions:

I have a 14cc band. He didn't put any in at surgery, so the 6.5 is all I have in it at this point. This amount is enough to tell me that I need to stop eating after only about 3/4 cup. I get hungry within a couple of hours though, so I have to work hard at not eating again.

How much weight have I lost? I just had this fill on the 2nd, and I won't weigh again until tomorrow. I do feel like I have lost some though, because I put on a pair of pants that didn't fit the week before. Yay!

I tend to get a lot of leg swelling so the weight is hard to tell from the Water gain in the leg. From the time I began the pre-op diet, I have only lost about 18 pounds, and not really anything post op except for this week's weight loss. But my issue was complicated with a 2nd surgery after the lapband (unrelated) so this set me back quite a bit. It was NOT wise to do the 2 surgeries so close together because I am just now getting to where I feel like I can make it through a few hours without having to go to bed. But the good news is that I know I've lost this week from the way my clothes are fitting. Weigh in is tomorrow. Soon I'll get my sewing machine out to take in some jeans, and that is so exciting.

I had no idea what would happen during a fill, which is why I posted the details. Perhaps other doctors do it differently, but I thought I'd share my experience. It wasn't painful, the needle stick wasn't bad, and the post fill diet wasn't hard because it moves so quickly to the next phase (at least with my doctor).

Good luck to you ladies about to do your first fill. Add me as your friend, and message me how it went. I need some lapband buddies to keep me motivated, and I'll try to motivate others as well.

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