Boy do I love getting a fill under fluoroscope! :banana

I was so nervous this morning cause I thought the doc was going to find a leak..What other explanation for the complete loss of restriction. I even had 2 pork chops last night, the last time I had 3 bites of a pork chop, I PBed!!

So off to radiology I went with my head full of questions for the doc. I landed up waiting 2 hours to get in with only water I was pretty hungry.

Dr McKeen struts in looking quite thin...I remark on how good he looks with his weight loss and his remark was "I did it the hard way" Then quickly apologizes and reams "I hope it stays off," we laughed as he pulls out a bag of goodies, syringes and bottles. The radiologist is starting to put 2 and 2 together cause we purposely wrote up the orders for hard to swallow, barium swallow test so my insurance will cover most of the procedure.

We start talking about where my fill could have gone and why he couldn't get any fill out the previous time. Then I asked him about contrast and he remarks that he just read that the makers of the Swedish band were suggesting contrast fills because the band's not holding saline for a long time, Why...they don't really know, but he remarks that all bands have a tendency especially over time to loose some fill solution.

The fluoroscopy machine is on and the port is accessed the first time, we follow the tubing and indeed a possible kink is reveled, more like a sharp curve, about 2 inches from the port. He tries to pull some saline out but nothing comes out. He has me drink some yummy chocolate barium and we watch it go right through, a good 1/2 inch opening. He puts in 1cc of contrast as we see the stoma opening get smaller, then adds another cc and that's when it got real cool. As I drink small sips of barium you can see it sit right above the band for a second or so then with a couple of spasms in the esophagus, which is like a muscle, the barium slowly goes down about a 1/6th of an inch stoma opening.

The band is in the perfect place, no visible leaks, everything looks great besides the sharp curve in the tubing, which at this time were not too concerned about. I even have a picture the radiologist gave me.

I'm so relieved! :banana

Great News Vera !!!

So happy for you that everything went so well. It is a relief..Fluoro is the only way to go. I know how you feel. I'm scheduled for a fill on Monday but am not getting it, Im just going to have him check my band under fluoro and make sure everything is in place where it should be. I hope this fill works out for you. ....especially so I can get all of your 14's when you hit the 12's

How's Carol doing? I have not seen her here for awhile.

Great news Vera! I'm happy you didn't have any leaks.

That's great news, Vera!! I'm so happy everything is okay!

Glad to hear everything is OK. So, did you leave with a nice fill?

Great news, Vera!

I know you must be relieved. I'm happy for you.

Nancy

That's great, Vera! A little kinky is all right if you can still get your fill.

I have 2 hats made and working on a third. I'll send you a picture so you can choose within the next couple days. My son borrowed my digital camera, so I'll have to wait until he brings it back.

Glad to hear all is well Vera. Continued success with your journey

What a relief!! I'm so glad to hear you don't have any problems. And now that you've experienced the wonders of fluoro you won't ever want to go back!

Hi Vera,

Glad everything is well for you. Having the flouro fills makes me feel a lot better and I think that everyone should have a fill with flouro or at least a checkup once a year. Anway, I hope you see a difference with this most recent fill.

Babs in TX

334/191/170

-143

That must be such a relief! Congrats on your good experience, Here's hoping it's your sweet spot.

Flouro sounds very reassuring. I'm looking forward to needing a fill so that I can have a look at how my band and port are.

Part of the reason doc's are using contrast in the fills, is that contrast does not cause osmosis. Having just saline in the bands could, it used to for the midband anyway.

Before contrast medium was added, the Midband would cause Fluid to come into the band via osmosis, causing super restriction, so they reformulated the band, making it less permeable, and added contrast for filling to prevent osmosis.

Maybe in the swedish band saline somehow seeps out? Saline is a salt Water.

One very basic example of osmosis is the body's use for fluid balance, including balance in it's salt levels. If an area of the body is "hyper" or 'high' salt, your body draws fluid in to dilute it, or create balance, which is why eating a lot of salt causes high blood pressure, or "hypertension".

The salt draws extra fluid into the venous system to dilute the salt, causing the veins to expand to accomodate the extra fluid, thus making the heart work harder to keep up.

It's like pushing fluid coming in to the heart from a garden hose back out through a straw. The straw end is getting a pretty high pressure flow. Sometimes high enough to knock loose a piece of plaque build up which could then be pushed into ever smaller arteries, until it blocks one, and causes a stroke.

Your body also holds on to any extra fluids to keep from increasing the salt level by letting fluid out, so if the body is too salty, you get swelling, legs and feet, hands, etc...

Thanks for that information, Pam. Very enlightening. I've had some severe problems with swelling of the lower extremities in the past. I'm so much better now, with my band!

I wonder why we all worry so much something is wrong with our band? Ya think because we've failed so much in the past with this weight battle that we're just looking for something to fail? Last Friday, I got a fill under fluoro, and I asked my doctor does everything look okay, no slips, no leaks or flipped ports or anything? He kind of gave me this half crazy smile. I mean, I literally have had no problems, and a good weight loss. It just that my head tells me something just has to be wrong. Strange, huh? Anyway, glad to hear the news Vera. We all know a good fill is really make a difference.

Michelle, I’m in 12’s….Stretch Cords are great, you’ll be the first in line if I’m out of theses, and thanks, I know how much you understand.

Betty, Marie, Becky, Nancy, Alexandra, Babs, Greg, Pam, Cindy and everyone else thanks for your well wishes and concerns :banana

Leatha, you ROCK! Your knowledge is out of here! If it wasn’t about your information…this fill wouldn’t have gone this smooth! THANKS (keep it coming)

Rebecca-lee, If kinky was ever a problem?? (hope NOT) LOVE your posing pup pic, YES your dog was posing, and you look GREAT. I read that you’ve been to Monterey, than you’ve drove right by my place. You better stop in if you even think of going this way and posting about it!

Marie, When are we ever going to see your sweet face…post baby, POST

Leatha and Anne we were all filled this week, so lets compare in a few weeks if our fills get "tighter" That's what I'm hoping for! I hate being on mushies; I love Soup but want some real food! This morning I could gulp Water.

I did want a bit more of a fill but my Doc convinced me, he was actually boasting "look at the screen that's a perfect text-book fill" besides I don't want to be tooo-tight.

Cindy, I agree, we hear more about the band problems on these boards and we're aware that these problems can happen to any of us. That's why I feel these flouro fill are so important, even if its just a check-up.

Hey, Vera! That's great that you got your fill and all is well. Thanks so much for talking to your dr and passing on the info. I had an upper GI the day after surgery, is that the same as a flouro?