Sharing my experience

K@t · October 29, 2007

Hello all,

It's been awhile since I have posted. Things have been very hectic for me since our move, but I thought it was really important that I take a few minutes to share my experience.

As many of you remember, I was banded April of 2006 in Portugal. My husband is Portuguese and I lived there for 4 years. We recently moved back to the US in July of this year.

During the year or so that I was banded in Portugal I was very discouraged because I had little to no weight loss. I thought I was doing things wrong. I had to have port revision surgery in October of '06 and had other set backs. I was very discouraged, and the 25 or so lbs I lost in the first months after my surgery I gained back. I had 3 fills of 3 cc's each and was supposed to have my VG band nearly full. Yet I still felt no restriction.

As I said we recently moved back to the US and I went to a Fill Centers USA in St. Pete Florida. I discovered that my band only had 3 cc's in it. The fill specialist said that she doubted it was a leak since there was still 3 cc's in it. She thinks that my band doctor in Portugal missed my port twice and only actually managed 1 fill! So for all of this time, I hardly had a fill, and I had no restriction.

The fill specialist was great, she gave me another cc and I noticed a difference right away. I have another appointment with her on the 30th of November for another adjustment.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that with the proper restriction I will finally begin to see some weight loss, after almost 2 years of banded life with hardly any success, I hope that I will have something to report here soon.

Longhorn · October 29, 2007

So glad you got it figured out!

My doctor told me that he can tell if the syringe hits the port because of how it reacts -- something about how the plunger encounters resistance, if I remember correctly. I'm definitely not in the medical field!

I hope you get great results with your new level of restriction!

K@t · October 30, 2007

Thanks, appreciate the support!

JLB · October 30, 2007

Wow Heather, that must have been very frustrating for you but the good news is... you now have proper after care so the band can help you as it should.

I just had my 5th fill. During each of my fills the doc actually fills the syringe first with the fill amount and then once he hits the port, he draws out all the Fluid and refills for the full amount. To me that seems like a good way to make sure the band isn't leaking and it's also a good way to check and recheck the fill amounts.

I was chatting with the doc about how he knows when he's hit the port. After my fill he took out a spare port he had in a drawer and a needle and asked my to stick the port myself to see what it feels like. It's kind of a spongy feeling when you stick the needle in but also the needle only goes so far and then it hits the hard back of the port so that's how they know they've hit the port - the needle can't go any further. Plus by drawing out all the Fluid they KNOW they've hit it.

It was interesting so I thought I would share. Good luck on your (new) journey!:whoo:

juliegeraci · October 30, 2007

K@t, it is all about restriction my dear. It took me 5 fills and forever to finally hit a spot I was comfortable with. Keep going back until you feel the good restriction and you are losing 1-2 lbs per week. Good luck.