I just got my first fill. The Dr. wasn't sure he'd "hit the port"(after jabbing me 5 times with the long needle) He told me I should go home and "test" it by eating some white bread, or pasta. I came home and ate half an almond butter and honey sandwich on white bread, it went right down. This can't be right!! I am soooo frustrated!! I should feel quite a bit of restriction now with the 2cc's he "might" have gotten in there - shouldn't I??

Please, has this happened to anyone else? I could just ball my head off right now:(

Did the doctor really say that he wasn't sure he'd hit the port?!? Blech, what a message to send to a patient! How about: "I'm having a bit of trouble finding what I'm certain is the right spot; how about you come back when we can take a look under fluoro so I know I'm not wasting everyone's time?" If he's an experienced band doctor and can't be sure of getting the right spot for a fill, I'd think he'd be worried about the positioning of your port!

Anyway, I don't think it's necessarily proof of no fill that you were able to eat half a sandwich. The question is: Do you feel any difference in restriction from where you were before? If he was only trying to put in a tiny bit, as some docs do, perhaps you aren't intended to feel very restricted at this point.

However, if I were you, I'd want to have the doctor take a real look and be everything is OK and that he didn't do any damage! Phooey. Talk about a "blind" fill!

Thank you, Alexandra for your reply. Yes he really did say he wasn't sure he'd hit the port. He is an experienced Dr, he told me he'd filled ports thousands of times. He was not my surgery doc, I am self pay so I went to Dr Rumbaut in Mexico. The Dr here is to be my follow-up Dr (or then again maybe not!)

I asked him what he does if he can't find the port, he said then he would send me to x-ray - of course for an additional charge. I am already thousands upon thousands of dollars into this, and sure didn't anticipate having this trouble with the fills.

I don't feel any more restriction than I did before this so called fill. I haven't eaten much other than soft foods and found that only if I ate too fast would it come back up, I just hoarked down some baked tofu real fast as a test, and it was no problem. With a supposed 2 cc fill I would think I wouldn't be able to do that. CRAP he did miss it didn't he?? Or do you think if I really did get 2 cc's I wouldn't feel real restricted?

Here's what I would do if I were in your shoes. I'd give the fill three or four weeks to see if it changes. People often report that a fill doesn't immediately become obvious but a couple of weeks later it suddenly will. Especially with your first fill, you don't want to take any chances of going too tight.

If several weeks go by and you don't feel anything, definitely shell out for the x-ray. Particularly since you're dealing with a different doctor than your surgeon, you want him to know as much about your band as possible. It's an investment in your future, and the fills are as important as the initial placement if you want this to work.

Maybe one x-ray will be all it takes for the doctor to see what's what and fill you right from here on out. What would be worse is trying again and again and never getting the restriction you need to make the band work for you at all. THAT would be a lot of wasted money.

Good luck, and don't be discouraged! People have come through way worse stuff than this to be very successful bandsters.

Hi,

I agree with Alexandra. Wait a week or two. After almost all my fills, I went home and ate regular food and was convinced that it wasn't working. Within a week, the restriction kicked in for me. It was very surprising to say the least. My big question is if you wait, is the doc prepared to do the fill again since he is not sure if he hit it?

Unfortunately, you may be one of the unlucky ones that has a tilted port and will have to have your fills done with flouro until you drop some pounds and the port is closer to the skin.

My first three fills were done with flouro. Doc could not access the port manually. My last fill was done in his office with no troubles whatsover. I would be concerned with a doc who is not sure whether he accessed the port or not. If he didn't where did the Fluid go? To me this does not make sense. Either he got it in, or he didn't.

Babs in TX

334/229/180

-105

6/23/03

I agree !

That sounds like a great idea to me !

Aud x

My doctor always does the fill, he does not take the needle out, then asks for the patient to sit up drink a small bottle of water and then he pulls the saline back into the surenge to make sure that there is no leak and that he did for sure get the saline into the port, and then refills the port. Next time if this happens you might want to ask him to do that. I hope that was not too confusing!?

Sounds like you went to Dr. Ross Fox.

Yes! I did go to Dr Fox! Did you, or someone you know, have the same experience with him?? I have an appointment next Tuesday with his son, (Earl) who is now in practice with him. I have seen Dr Earl before, and am hoping he will be able to do my fill.

Yikes....you've "red flagged" Dr Fox for me now! How worried do you think I should be about his office??

Originally posted by zadyzu

Yes! I did go to Dr Fox! Did you, or someone you know, have the same experience with him?? I have an appointment next Tuesday with his son, (Earl) who is now in practice with him. I have seen Dr Earl before, and am hoping he will be able to do my fill.

Yikes....you've "red flagged" Dr Fox for me now! How worried do you think I should be about his office??

Well, If it was me (and it will be soon) I would go to tacoma radialogy and have the fill done (florascopic (bad spelling) ).

they did 5 fills on my wife and didnt notice a LEAK for the last 4 fills.

and when it was discovered that that the tube was BROKEN from the port and could be an extreme health risk. they wouldnt touch it untill we gave them the 5,000 dollars to fix it.

My wife likes Dr. Shriekanth (spelling) compared to Fox Jr. However I dont trust them at all.

Oh and Since you went to Fox,, In that Very first meeting You paid 25 dollars to go to where he laid out his "sales pitch". He said "we're like a family" When something happens, we're there for you".

I still have never seen Fox again and the only one who even cared about what happened was the nurse Karen.

:think When going to Dr. Fox I might be a little worried, I have been there myself. But if this is your first fill then you may want to wait a few week, or until your next adjustment. But do not see Dr. Fox, it will be his son who does not do any of the banding surgeries. Dr. Sri Kantz is the only one who does them and he punctured my band first fill. When he does a fill and jabs you more than once then he isn't positive he got the port. That is what happened to me. Now $5000.00 more I had to have the tube and port replaced. Please go to Tacoma Radiology they pull the Fluid out so they know how much is there and then fill. They also check to make sure there is good pressure in the band. If not you may have to have a CT Scan to see if there is a problem.

this is big-dogs wife.

the other possibility is you may have a "larger" band.

In a larger band 2cc wont do squat. Call Dr Rumbaut's office and verify what size band was put in. Talk to Doralisa. Or email them.

Fox's office has been telling us that they cant get a response from Rumbaut but when I talk to Doralise yesterday she didnt even know anything about my wifes band having a problem.

Thank you - Mr & Mrs Big Dog! I will go to Tacoma Radiology and have a flouro and fill. I just called them and I can schedule my own appointment. I have the Inamed 9.75cm band (5cc ballon).

I Loved Dr Rumbaut, he did my surgery, I wish I were closer to him and I would have him do fills, but since I'm here (Kitsap Peninsula) I'm stuck with having fills in this area. I think Dr Oh in Auburn will also do fills for Dr Rumbaut's patients. I will check into him as well. I sure don't want the band damaged! Fox poked me 5 times without knowing if he'd hit or not, damage certainly could have been done then, I think a flouro is in order.

Thanks for the wake up about Fox's office!

No Problem.

If you Pm me your name I'll tell Dr. Rumbaut you said Hi !

He's putting my band in on the 4th of may. (and doing a fill for my wife).

Just a quick ? is a 4cc a big, little or normal size band as thats what i have.

Depending on YOUR band the amount I've been told ranges from 6cc up to 9.7cc.