I am so FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bawilliams1 · January 29, 2007

Well, I just got my 7th fill on Friday and I can't tell any difference! I am on my second band. The first one slipped. I got a new band in June and last Friday I had my 7th fill in an attempt to get back to having some good restriction. Each time I go to get a fill it just ends in disappointment two days later when I get back on solid foods and realize that I don't have the restriction that I was hoping for. I have a 9.75 cm band with 4.0 cc capacity. I am up to 3.5 cc's! With my first band 3.0 cc's was too tight! I am thinking that what could be making a difference this time is that the surgeon who rebanded me seems to have left a bit more tubing inside of me than the first surgeon did. The tubing holds saline. I am thinking that the fill has to completely fill up the tubing before the saline goes into the band, so if I have more tubing it will take more saline to fill the band because of the extra tubing. Does this make sense? I had a leak scare a month ago when I went in for a fill. I was supposed to have 3.4 cc's and the doctor only drew out 1.2 cc's! So, he filled me with an IV contrast Fluid called omnipague that he can see on the flouro if it is leaking out. He did a flouro and then did another flouro an hour later and no leak was detected. I went through a month until my next fill and I didn't have good restriction, but I didn't feel like what little restriction I did have had lessened which would indicate a loss of fluid. That was my main concern. So, when I went in Friday I was confident that this would be the day that I finally got good restriction. He did not pull out what fluid was already in the band before he added to it. I was confused by that, because he always draws the previous fill out before he adds to it. He was doing the fill with regular saline instead of omnipague this time, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I did not question him because he is a great doctor and very experienced and knowlegeable. He added .3 cc's to bring my fill level up to 3.5 cc's. Everything seemed great on the flouro. It took a few minutes for the liquid to start passing through the band, but it was slowly going down. Now, I am back on solid foods and I can't tell any difference from before my fill! I think that if he had added more omnipague instead of regular saline, then I would have a little more restriction. It makes sense to me because that omnipague is a thicker liquid. I am trying to be patient. I know that a lot of people don't feel the fill for up to 10 days afterwards. I don't understand that at all, but I would love for that to be the case right now! I start eating and I can feel the food and sometimes hear the food just gurgling down through my band. Does anyone have any opinions about my situation? It makes me feel better to talk with others who know what I am experiencing!

kbattal · January 29, 2007

I am thinking that what could be making a difference this time is that the surgeon who rebanded me seems to have left a bit more tubing inside of me than the first surgeon did. The tubing holds saline. I am thinking that the fill has to completely fill up the tubing before the saline goes into the band, so if I have more tubing it will take more saline to fill the band because of the extra tubing. Does this make sense? !

I am pretty much sure the tube sizes are standard, only there are different sort of ports. This would not make any difference. I do not think any doctor would use a nonstandard tube.

As far as I know, omnipaque is not like fix tire thing. It is thicker than saline, it is usually used when there is a leak, and also used as a contrast agent, otherwise its use is not recommended. Since there was no leak, he did the right thing, used saline.

Sounds like you do not have a leak, if there were, he would see it under fluro. You need to be patient, and go for another fill, I read some doctors fill upto 5cc for good restriction (nominal 4cc band).

In your next adjustement, you need to ask the doctor to unfill the band to see what is left before, then you might feel better. It is really frustrating. Good luck.

Bawilliams1 · January 31, 2007

What I meant regarding the tubing is that the length of the tubing that is on my band is longer than with the first band, therefore, the longer the tubing, the more saline it will hold. As far as I know, the tubing can be as long or as short as the surgeon needs depending on the patient. Maybe I am wrong. I will ask at my next fill. I guess maybe I should quit trying to rationalize everything, get over it, and just do the best I can until my next fill. It will be 7th fill! I never thought it would take so long.

NJloser143 · February 28, 2007

I just went today for my fourth fill....i am finally feeling full on jello...keep going back the the Dr...it might take a few tries to get to ur sweet spot as they say....dont give up I felt the same way u do....hang in there....i hope this doesnt sound stupid but what does BP stand for? good luck NJ

Bawilliams1 · February 28, 2007

Do you mean PB? That stands for "productive burp". Like when you burp and food comes up. Well, I just went for my 7th fill on Monday. I was not missing any of my saline. I was so happy! He filled me from 3.5 cc's up to 4.0 cc's! I had a feeling on my drive home that something was wrong because I was getting hungry and I never feel hungry. Now I have no restriction at all and I am burping up air like crazy which is what happened the last time I went in and I was missing fluid! I think what happened is my band will hold the omnipague because it is thicker, but since he has added saline to it twice now, it thinned out the omnipague and the fill did not hold! I am going back on Friday. I am sure he will do another leak test. I am so upset! I am going to ask him to fill me up to 4.0 cc's with straight omnipague and see if it holds.

ReneBean · February 28, 2007

Brandy

When you got your second band, did he put in the one that holds 4cc's (the smallest one) or did he use a different size?

A bigger band holds a lot of saline - so maybe THAT is the problem.

It's worth asking, anyway. If you really have the smallest band - and you have a full 4cc's, I would think you would feel SOME restriction...

Good luck!!

Bawilliams1 · February 28, 2007

I have double checked and I do have the smallest band. I am going back to my fill doctor on Friday to get checked out. I think my port is leaking!

enterprise01 · March 1, 2007

What I meant regarding the tubing is that the length of the tubing that is on my band is longer than with the first band, therefore, the longer the tubing, the more saline it will hold. As far as I know, the tubing can be as long or as short as the surgeon needs depending on the patient. Maybe I am wrong. I will ask at my next fill....

I'm very curious about that, too. Please let us know the answer when you find out. I've also wondered how much saline the tubing actually holds. I would think it would be at least a couple ccs.

Kbattal, you're good with this technical stuff. Any idea how much saline the tubing holds?

kbattal · March 1, 2007

Dear Bawillims1,

It souds like

1- you have a larger band, or

2- your port or tube is leaking,

3- I also read in the past threads that rebanded bandsters need more saline to fill good restriction. Maybe you need to max it out.

I have a very agressive and good fill doctor now. The last time I asked him to draw all the saline to see how much was in there. There was about 6cc saline, then he put back in there. The needle back in the place, he max out my band, I asked him to do this, he could only fill in an extra 6cc. No more. I think I had total 12cc in that time. I was out the same day for about 4 hours, to feel how it felt like. I felt miserable, I could not even drink Water, so the same day he took 4cc out, I could hardly drink Water, but no Soups. The next day My swelling went away, and I could only drink Soup. The third day I could eat mushy stuff, and after two weeks, now, I feel quite restricted. As long as I chew well, I can tolerate most solid foods.

So in your case, I would ask him to draw the saline first to see how much was there, and then try with a larger dose, like an extra 4cc to fill in, maybe you have a larger band. This way you could be sure, if there were any leaks or you have a larger or smaller band.

4cc bands are high pressure bands, once the needle is in, some saline comes up to syringe, you could see it. 10cc bands are low pressure, usually no saline comes up at 4cc. I bet you did not look at the syringe anyway.

kbattal · March 1, 2007

Kbattal, you're good with this technical stuff. Any idea how much saline the tubing holds?

As far as I remember, I never saw any referencess to different tube sizes, and how much a tube holds. There are two different ports, one for the vanguard, and the other for the 4ccs.