H i everyone - ok, so I was banded in Aug. of 2007. I lost 30 pounds, then gained back 6! Here it is Jan. and I am only getting my first fill on Feb. 6. I feel like a hungry failure, and the Doc is doing the fill with xray - anyone hear of that? So my fill is at 3:00 pm and i can't eat or drink from the night before until after the fill. How the heck am i supposed to go all day with nothing to eat or drink??!! I hope someone out there went through this, too. Any comments?

I had my band surgery at 3pm and I was not allowed to eat or day that whole day before surgery, so how do you do it? You just do!

Sucks? Yup! but we just do what we have to do, to get where we want to be.

Some doctors do fills with "fluoroscopy," which uses X-ray, and some do not. Some believe it helps the doctor locate the port and/or see exactly how much the band is inflated so as not to overfill the band. Even so, people who get fills with fluoroscopy still sometimes need an unfill. My doctor doesn't use it because he said he doesn't need it to find the port and he doesn't think the barium swallow during fluoroscopy is that reliable for determining how much saline to put in. You may have a choice in the matter or you may have to follow the protocol that your doctor uses.

I've never been told not to eat or drink before a fill. You could always discuss it with your doctor or his office. Doctors do have different ways of doing things. My opinion is that I chose my doctor knowing how he does things and I should follow his advice. However, I have also asked my doctor about certain issues and he has made modifications based on my situation.

By the way, you haven't been a failure. The band hasn't been working for you yet. I don't know why you waited so long to get fills but once you start getting restriction, you should start seeing the weight coming off. Good luck!

H i everyone - ok, so I was banded in Aug. of 2007. I lost 30 pounds, then gained back 6! Here it is Jan. and I am only getting my first fill on Feb. 6. I feel like a hungry failure, and the Doc is doing the fill with xray - anyone hear of that? So my fill is at 3:00 pm and i can't eat or drink from the night before until after the fill. How the heck am i supposed to go all day with nothing to eat or drink??!! I hope someone out there went through this, too. Any comments?

You probably miss understood your doc you probably can have Clear liquids , you might want to check with them on that. And yes you probably ARE hungry , you have no restriction ! Your band needs restriction to work .

Once you get restction its a whole different issue. !

I have all my fills done under Floruo (Xray ) I am allowed clear liquids the day of the fill. HOw do you do it ? Like someone else said you just DO IT !

I knew what my docs post op , pre op , and post fill diet was BEFORE I was banded. I can not eat solids for 12 days after each fill ! But I KNEW That going into this. You just do it and tolerate it and deal with it , its part of the process.

As for the fills under flouro , Each doc has different theories and reasons My self i like being able to SEE that my doc is hitting my port and not poking blindly . Its not so much about seeing the level of restriction .

I have had all my fills under flouro and have needed 2 unfills.

So for me its about seeing the port being stuck , espically being self pay .

hang in there you will be better after a fill. Why so long for your first fill BTW ?

HTH

Mindy