Be Honest....

[Wendell Edwards 73]

Be honest....

Have you ever done your own fill/unfill? Even in a pinch?

Scenario; it's late at night, your fill is too much, you are barfing your guts out, you can't even keep saliva down. You can't reach your doc (maybe he's not returning phone calls, perhaps he's in Mexico, etc.) and you are getting dehydrated. Many ER's don't have docs working that have a clue about a band.

What do you do? Or, what have you done?

BTW, this is a private poll, nobody will be able to see your response.

IF I were trained for it, and IF I had the equipment and IF the untreated consequence could include DEATH I *MIGHT* do that.

But every second I would be wondering WHAT IF INAMED invalidates the band warrantee. WHAT IF I screw it up. WHAT IF I get an infection. WHAT IF my normal doctor refuses to treat me any more because of this.

That's a whole lot of "What ifs".

[juliegeraci 7]

I would never think of such a thing. OMG, that would be the worse!

[Marimaru 7]

I'm thinking... I find myself overfilled and I'm on one of those vacations where you are kind of in the middle of know where on your own... THEN I MIGHT have someone I trust do it (like my fiance), but I probably wouldn't try to do it myself. If one is anywhere near an ER, I don't see why they'd do it, even if they aren't familiar with a band, they can give you IV fluids and anti-inflamatories.

As for fill parties, that is just wrong in my opinion. Even if you are trained, you should probably keep it to a professional setting. I heard a story once (probably 5th hand, don't know the source, etc), about a couple who would unfill eachother before cruises n' stuff, and then refill on their return. That TOTALLY defeats the purpose in my mind. I love not gaining, or even losing during vacation!

[Kat817 19]

My Dr. I use for fills/adjustments, has had a devil of a time finding my port himself. Someone who does this many times a day!! I have a deeply placed, low profile port. The port itself is not very big, and the exact area to hit, is even smaller. He has had problems doing it without fluoro---so there is no way I could do it! Besides the fact that my port is up pretty high, and even with the weight I have lost, I don't bend that way yet!!!

Prior to surgery I went and chatted with my old oncologist, concerning a situation like you describe. I had my surgery in MX, and my fill Dr. is 5-6 hours away. I live in a rural area, and that is my closest option. So with that in mind, I set up the appointment to talk to my oncologist. I met with him, and talked to 3 of his nurses---they agreed to step in if I should have to have an emergency unfill. They got me through chemo with no infections, I would have to trust them to do it again!

So----I voted no!

Kat

[Elisabethsew 50]

I am an RN and I teach other RNs to access port-a-caths, mediports, chemoports, etc. That said, I would not self-treat myself with fills and unfills and think it's dangerous for ANYONE to endulge in this practice.

[gonnabethin 10]

Im not putting my band or port at risk!! NOT to mention my health!!!

Playin with fire baby....... you WILL get burned!!

[kebsa 1]

I am a RN have been for 27yrs, I have had a long term epidural port a cath that I self medicated 3 times a day for 2 years but only with the the permission and understadning of my treating Doctor, i now have an intrathecal pump implanted, icould refill that, i am capable but there s no need to take the risk (small though it may be) as it only requires refll every 8 weeks or so. I have also trained many others to access portacaths, use sterile techinque etc when it is part of my job. Being an RN or MD is not free reign to work out side our usual area of practice for convenience- that would be utter madness.

there is a saying that has been around for a long time- the Doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient. I think we could extend this to include RN's too. Unless it is something that is part of your regular treatment plan with your Dr. In my situation it was a long term chronic situation and would not have been practical to attend Dr's rooms or hospital 3 times per day ( 8 hrly) for an indefinite period.

Since being banded, twce I have blocked to the pont of esophageal bleeding and not being able to swallow saliva. On both occasions my surgeon was out of town and the staff at the major teaching hospital were not happy to mess with the gastric band port. I was gven Iv fluids, a bowl to spit and supportive care until they could access a baratric surgeon to do the unfill ( 24 hours and 48 hours later). Not ideal but overall low risk. Would I have let an experienced RN or surgeon access the port in the ED usng the rght equipment, yes but I respect them for not messing with somethng they did not feel qualified to do. Had things gotten worse eg supportive care not eased the situation I am sure they would have re evluated the rsk and reconsidered doing the unfll rather than waiting.

The only way you should mess with your own port is with the complete permission and co operation of you treating surgeon with the correct equipment and techinque- then only for unfill never for fill. Cost per fill should not be the deciding factor, agaiin that is an issue to dscuss wth your surgeon. ths is going to be a very long term relationship with your treatng Doctor- trust is essential part of that.

[Carlene 12]

My band surgeon (who also teaches general surgery) is banded. I asked him once if he does his own fills/unfills. He said, "No." I asked him if he would ever consider letting his wife fill/unfill him. He said, "Hell no."

I think that if my doctor won't do his own fills/unfills, I probably shouldn't either. And I'm a hard stick. My port is easy to feel, but for some reason, it isn't easy to fill/unfill. My doctor has had to stick me as many as 4 or 5 times, even under fluoro. That was not fun. I can't imagine doing that to myself.

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

I live in the 5th or 6th biggest city in the country and three times now I have been unable to find an ER that had a doc that had any idea of how to do an emergency unfill. THAT is scary.

I talked to Inamed about this and they are aware of the problem. They are supposedly sending people around the country training ER staff in lap bands. I asked why my city, a HUGE city doesn't have an ER doc trained in this. They had no explanation.

Do you live in Phoenix by any chance? I clicked on your profile and it said Arizona. The only reason I am asking is because my dad lives in Mesa and I go down there all the time. It would be nice to have someone banded to be able to talk to when I am there. My dad doesn't know I am banded. I didn't want to listen to a lecture about taking the easy way out, I could do it on my own if I just had will power and how could I spend 10,000. He has no clue how many times I've tried to do it on my own and how hard it is to want to lose weight and be such a failure. Last time I was there in Feb., he wanted to eat out every night. I had food stick a lot and it was a problem around him.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Do you live in Phoenix by any chance? I clicked on your profile and it said Arizona. The only reason I am asking is because my dad lives in Mesa and I go down there all the time. It would be nice to have someone banded to be able to talk to when I am there. My dad doesn't know I am banded. I didn't want to listen to a lecture about taking the easy way out, I could do it on my own if I just had will power and how could I spend 10,000. He has no clue how many times I've tried to do it on my own and how hard it is to want to lose weight and be such a failure. Last time I was there in Feb., he wanted to eat out every night. I had food stick a lot and it was a problem around him.

Yep, sure do. Next time you plan on being in town PM me and I'll give you my phone number.

As for your Dad... It really isn't any of his business anyway. It's personal between you and your doc. I do understand about not wanting to eat in restaurants all the time. If your Dad is that critical of you it would just cause stress and the stress is going to make it harder on you when you do eat in public.

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

Thanks. I am going back in August. I know people think I am crazy to go in August, but I think tubing down the Salt river is a blast, and I actually like going in the summer. I think August is good because it seems like it's more cloudy and the sun isn't as hot. I know, people think I am nuts.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Thanks. I am going back in August. I know people think I am crazy to go in August, but I think tubing down the Salt river is a blast, and I actually like going in the summer. I think August is good because it seems like it's more cloudy and the sun isn't as hot. I know, people think I am nuts.

August is the rough time of year regarding weather. It is just now starting to warm up but it isn't cold/hot enough to turn the furnace/AC on. I keep my windows open a lot.

In August is when the monsoon season kicks in full force. So while it isn't as hot with the clouds it is so much more humid. We fat folks tend to melt in the sun a bit more than non-banded folks.

[Oregondaisy 2,020]

Yea, I am used to the humidity from growing up in Chicago. The humidity in August in Mesa is nothing compared to Chicago. In Chicago in the summer it's like 95 outside with almost 100% humidty. My dad has a pool, and I take the kids and we go to the river or the Water parks. I was just there in Feb. and I was bored to death. That's why I like to come in the summer. There is more to do.

I sure hope I have lost weight by then, and I am not having trouble with

food sticking or pbing or any of that. It's scary to get another fill when I already have food stick. It's hard to learn to slow down and chew until it's liquid. I have never pbed but I hate it when food is stuck. It hurts until it finally passes through. It doesn't even make sense to me because I thought the food was supposed to stay in the pouch anyway.

My daughter is an RN. As for your question about filling or unfilling, she really wants to learn to do it. I wouldn't let her though. I don't know what I would do in a situation like you described. I would hate to need an unfill and have nobody to do it. Last time, when I got my first fill, I left immediately for my dad's. That's when I first started experiencing food getting stuck. I thought "what have I gotten myself into?" I only have

1 1/4 cc in my band.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

If I was in the same boat as you I would wait on a fill. If you are having problems with eating too fast, bites that are too big... this isn't going to be a great time to get a fill. What if you practice for a week and chew EVERYTHING as though you are neurotic! Seriously, chew until you can't chew anymore and then start all over again.

If you get a fill now you are just asking for problems. If you PB enough times you can end up with varicose veins in your throat. You can end up with a tear in your esophagus, you can stretch your pouch, you could end up with a slip.

It's important to follow the rules. Do whatever you have to so that you are not eating too fast. Get a baby spoon and use that. Set a timer so that you can only have a bite every 2 minutes (in the beginning). Do whatever it takes so that you can learn to work with the band.

I understand why your daughter wants to do fill but that might not be such a great idea. These ports are not like standard ports, these are different. While I completely agree with the concept of RNs doing fills, I could never support a scenario where someone who hasn't been through the class does fills/unfills.

[Jachut 487]

I checked I dont know because I guess if I was stranded on a desert island and couldnt even swallow my spit and happened to have the supplies on hand, maybe.

Its kind of an insane thing to muck around with but I guess if you have the supplies and are in trouble and are talking about un unfill if you're willing to do it yourself, good luck to you. I'd go to the emergency room personally.

I dont think there's ANY excuse for filling yourself. That's seriously a silly thing to do.