May be a dumb question but....

Kat225 · September 4, 2007

I hear people talking about fills with fluro and without...what is fluro?:notagree

Betsyjane · September 4, 2007

I have a fluoro with every fill. After the fill, I drink a tiny amount of barium and we watch it on the fluoroscope as if travels to the band and then trickles on through to the stomach. It's a way to tell if your fill is giving you restriction but with enough space to be able to eat. It also give a view of the band to make sure it's in the right place and that the stoma isn't stretched.

Kat225 · September 4, 2007

So fluro is a machine? or something?

Betsyjane · September 4, 2007

A fluoroscope is an x-ray machine that takes moving pictures.

SimplyMe · September 4, 2007

Plus its a great distraction with they're poking you with a needle!!!!

Betsyjane · September 4, 2007

Weird. I get mine after the fill is completed!

Wendell Edwards · September 4, 2007

May be a dumb question but....
I hear people talking about fills with fluro and without...what is fluro?:notagree

A fluoroscope, fluoro for short, is an X-Ray device with a TV set.

Instead of taking a still picture like an X-Ray, the fluoroscope displays a real-time X-Ray image on a monitor while the fluoro is on. ("Hot" in X-Ray terminology)

How it works for a Lap-Band fill is like this:

You go into the room where the fluoroscope is.

You get draped with lead barriers, just like for an X-Ray.

You either sit down in a fluoroscope chair, or lay down on an X-Ray table.

The thing that emits the X-Ray is positioned over your stomach.

The fluoroscope is turned on to locate the port.

The Huber needle is inserted through the skin, into the port. (It's a LOT easier to hit the port on the first try when the doc or tech can actually SEE the needle going in)

You will be asked to swallow a small amount of Barium, a radio-opaque substance that they can see on the fluoro as it goes down your neck and into the pouch.

If the stoma is open, the Barium will be seen as it trickles (For a tight stoma) or flows (For a loose stoma) past the band into the lower stomach, which is situated below the Lap-Band.

If the stoma is loose, saline will be added to the Lap-Band. That is what everyone calls a "Fill".

If the stoma is tight, either no saline will be added or, in the case of a much too tight stoma, some saline will be removed from the Lap-band. That is what is called an "Unfill".

If the upper stomach, (The pouch) is DILATED (Stretched out) it is immediately apparent when the patient swallows Barium.

If the Lap-band is "Slipped" (Band Prolapse) that will also usually show on a fluoroscope.

I hope that fully explains what a fluoroscope is, and how it is used for a Lap-Band.

Kat225 · September 4, 2007

Thanks for all the feedback. That helped a lot! The only thing is the doc that is closest to me that I'm probably going to have to go to doesn't do it with Fluoro machine. Is that bad? How will she know if I'm tight enough or if my pouch is stretched?

Wendell Edwards · September 4, 2007

Thanks for all the feedback. That helped a lot! The only thing is the doc that is closest to me that I'm probably going to have to go to doesn't do it with Fluoro machine. Is that bad? How will she know if I'm tight enough or if my pouch is stretched?

I have always wondered how doctors who do not use a fluoroscope can tell those things.