Hi,

I was just wondering has anyone ever tried to do a self fill? I mean just take a syringe some saline and fill yourselves? What would the risks be?

this all sounds very interesting... can yall update me if yall found the needles or tried the fill? thanks

Yes I did find the needles,they are called straight deflected tip huber needles 20 gauge 1 1/2 inches long. I got them through a medical supply company and a perscription is not required . as long as your port is visable and you can hit the center of it and you know your port volume its easy.get 10 cc syringes so you can load 2 cc in it even if you only intend to fill 1 or less, then when you acess the port draw out what is in it to verify that you havent lost any, then put it back plus what you need for your fill, and you still have extra in the syringe in case you did have slight leakage. mine is almost three years old and hasnt lost a drop.

wow Im so excited.. can you tell me what you mean by highly visable? I cant see it when I look at my stomach but I can feel it.

Oh Wow, I would NEVER even attempt to do something like that, especially since it already cost a fortune to get the band!! I would not be able to get another one if i screwed it up because of my own stupidity!!! Wow, thats insane!!!

but how can giving a fill hurt the band? I dont understand? It would hurt the port if anything. I dont know seems to easy when I get mine they just stick it and go no equipment no xray nothing just stick and go why couldnt someone do it there self? I dont understand and I cant find anything other than people saying its crazy on msg boreds showing any risk. So if someone has some links or something pls post them so I can see.

Darwin award waiting to happen. Good grief people, use your heads. You are sticking a foreign object into your belly to try and access another foreign object inside your belly. Ever heard of sepsis? Why would you risk it? If you hit your tubing instead of your port, you are hosed (no pun intended) and looking at another surgery.

Leave it to the experts. Don't be foolish.

If you are not inteligent enough to use sterile proceedures and skilled enough to hit the center of your port instead of peircing your bowels, then it would be best not to try it but, again, with a clear head ,determination, and just a little skill, its VERY easy.by the way, sepsis would not result from peicing the tube,but it would ruin your lab band,resulting in an additional surgery.

This would not be an option for me I will leave it to the professionals. If anything went wrong I have someone to point the finger at instead of me.

i am self pay to the tune of 12.5k.. i am not willing to screw that kind of money up by performin surgery on myself. ( yes it is considered surgery when something enters the body) i would refuse. i would be too scared to miss my port and not get the fill, screw up my port, tubing and risk havin to pay that much money again. Yes my dr fills are expensive after the third free one but that is why i intend to go to a fill center where the fills are only 165 instead of 300.. ill leave it to the professionals.

After having my first fill yesterday, I would say it is VERY risky to do your own fill. After the doc inserted the needle he had to wiggle it around about 5-6 times before he found the appropriate place to do the injection. I can feel the port right under my skin and thought it would be easier. Then, he kept the needle in and had me drink to see how much restriction I was getting. I think that it is a pretty fine tuned process that should be messed with IMO.

Oh Wow, I would NEVER even attempt to do something like that, especially since it already cost a fortune to get the band!! I would not be able to get another one if i screwed it up because of my own stupidity!!! Wow, thats insane!!!

i agree with you its not only insane as we are not trained medical professionals its also dangerous.

I would not consider it either if the docs in this area werent pushing us into a corner. I am self pay ,no insurance due to history of cancer. and I had the proceedure done in the St. Louis area where my fills were only $100.00 ea. but I moved to south Mississippi where the local docs call it a foreign band since they didnt make all the money up front. Their charge for fill is $1,400.00 per year which would be 2 at most therefore costing $700.00 each . NOT a viable option. Greed has overtaken them to charge that kind of money for a proceedure that takes under 2 minutes and supplys cost at most $2.00.

Okay Bigjim. No sarcasm here: This is something I would not do myself, but since you are in the position you are in, I wish you the best of luck. It seems to me that you are capable of handling this and it went well. I don't think you would have attempted it if you weren't able to see the port. Again, I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

but how can giving a fill hurt the band? I dont understand? It would hurt the port if anything. I dont know seems to easy when I get mine they just stick it and go no equipment no xray nothing just stick and go why couldnt someone do it there self? I dont understand and I cant find anything other than people saying its crazy on msg boreds showing any risk. So if someone has some links or something pls post them so I can see.

If you have been following the threads on self fill, you can see that I am about the only one to attempt to do self fill. again, it is very easy if your port is visable . You must use the proper needle, straight deflected tip huber needle,20 gauge 1-1/2 " long with a 10 cc syringe.clean the area with bentadine solution and hit the center of the port if you hit the outer edge you risk hittig the tubing which is not self sealing, therefore creating a leak, and need for additional surgery. having said that, if you cant hit the center of a half dollar or quarter size port, depending on what type you have, then you shouldnt attempt it anyway.

Oh my! *faints*:grouphug:

I can see this being a downfall of people getting the Lapband....... sadly I can't see non medical people giving them selves there own fills, Theres the chance for erosions, over fill, and worst an infection that will get in to your blood...

Not a good Idea. there are reasons why something should be only done by a licensed MD