Hello,

I am scheduled for my first fill after lapband surgery in January. Could someone please tell me what this procedure involves and what to expect.

Is there any pain involve? Thanks!

My doctor uses a numbing agent. He lays you down on a table and feels for the port area. Once he finds that he injects you with the numbing agent. He waits a minute or 2 to make sure you are numb then he inserts the bigger needle into the port with saline. After that he leaves the needle in the port and sits you up to drink water. He wants to make sure you aren't too tight. Once that is done depending on whether or not he has to remove any saline he sits you back up and removes the needles. The only thing that hurts is a little bit of stinging for the numbing agent needle. Other than that, it is pain free. Good luck.

I had my first fill last Friday. My doc didn't use a numbing agent. The needle looked a little scary. He poked and poked and poked (with his fingers) feeling for my port, which wasn't entirely pleasant. The needle hurt some, but not a ton and I am a pretty big baby. The fill itself didn't hurt and the needle didn't hurt coming out. So overall I would say the nervousness was worse than the actual pain.

I had my 1st fill monday, I did not feel a thing. He did numb me 1st, however........I am not sure what was going on because I never looked at what he was doing. I never even saw the needle but I about passed out 4 or 5 times during the process. I could not see what he was doing but every time he started the fill I broke out in a huge sweat, my legs were jello so he had to keep stopping. He said that had never happened before. Leave it to me!

My doctor uses a numbing agent. He lays you down on a table and feels for the port area. Once he finds that he injects you with the numbing agent. He waits a minute or 2 to make sure you are numb then he inserts the bigger needle into the port with saline. After that he leaves the needle in the port and sits you up to drink Water. He wants to make sure you aren't too tight. Once that is done depending on whether or not he has to remove any saline he sits you back up and removes the needles. The only thing that hurts is a little bit of stinging for the numbing agent needle. Other than that, it is pain free. Good luck.

This is exactly how it is for me too, and I just had my 4th fill today. Except, I we don't stop and test it with water. The whole thing usually takes like 3-4 minutes. It's painless for me. It actually tickles me a bit because I can feel the saline travelling up the tube!

I had my first fill yesterday the 7th. It was neat. He found my port (not where I thought it was), numbed me up (that hurt a bit) and went in for the fill. That was the weirdest feeling. Not pain but lots of pressure. It was done with fluro and then I got to watch the bairum(didn't taste too bad) work on the screen. It was neat and to see how the band works. It only lets a little pass at a time.

I had my first fill today. He told me to lay on the table felt for the port wiped it with alcohol and pop he was done. The whole thing took about 40 sec. I was very nervous going into it but getting a flu shot was worse than this.

Sure wish I found this string before my first fill on Friday. I was so nervous and quite hesitant about what to expect. I was a bit of a wreck.

So here's how it went:

No numbing agent, my doc says it adds to the swelling of the area. He had a great touch. It took about 20-30 seconds to find the port. No pain, just pressure of the needle pushing onto and against the port. After he found it, another 60 seconds to unfill, check it, and fill back up. He had me drink a dixie cup of Water, after he was done, and then I was on my way. Actually, the palpating of the port area with his hands before the procedure was more difficult for me than the needle with no numbing. It hurt less than a vaccination in the arm or taking blood. I was such a wuss... and then it was over. Now I know! And I am not worried at all about my next fill in 4 weeks!

I also had little tickles as the Fluid was going back into port.

Kim :kiss2:

223/217/205/135

pre-op/surg day/today/goal

banded 1/30/07

first fill 3/9/07 1.o cc