. . .well, not where no one has gone before, but *I've* never gone. I'm off for my first fill at 2 pm with Dr. Horgan, right next to Bloomingdale's, so I'd better behave myself and come straight back to the office instead of shopping like a madwoman.

I'm taking a camera with me and, if the doc has no problem with it, I'll take a few pictures & post them so other newbies can see what the experience is like. No fair laughing at my scars, though!

Great idea about posting the procedure. Just clarify if he used fluoro or not for the newbies.

According to the guy's receptionist, he uses fluoro. If I can get a picture of my barium plumbing, I'll post it! Now I'm off . . . will report back, filled.

Good Luck! Hoping to see your pictures.

Let me second what everyone else has said about each person having different fill requirements. I blithely thought I'd get 1.5 cc, since that seems to be average, and so far I'm your average bandster. Nope! First I was injected with 1.4 cc, then as the doc and the technician watched the fluoro (which I couldn't see because my back was to the machine at that point), Dr. Horgan said, "Oh, that's too much. Let's take out .2." So he did. And here I am with 1.2 cc of saline in my Inamed band, which Dr. H said should give me good restriction.

Even though they sprayed a "freezing agent" near my port -- I forgot to ask what it was -- I did feel the needle go in. It wasn't bad, though. The freezing agent really did feel cold, and it looked as if my belly had been in the back of a refrigerator that needed defrosting, little ice crystals and all!

I'm on liquids for 48 hours, then onto the real bandster routine. I've moved the detailed description of the fill to a "Beginner's Guide to Fills" thread.