Hi all -

I've posted very seldom, but was banded on 2/29 at Magee Hospital in Pittsburgh. I'm down 45 pounds from my highest ever weight and 35 since surgery. I was feeling pretty good about that. Magee's program is very conservative so with my first fill I got 1 cc. I feel like my success so far has been driven by will power. After the first fill I got an occasional slight stuck feeling so I was hoping that an additional fill would begin to make a difference and give me that feeling of fullness that I keep hearing about.

So on 5/20 I went back for my second fill and according to their protocol they only gave me 1/2 cc this time so I'm now at 1.5 cc in a 10 cc band. Since that second fill I have felt absolutely no restriction, no stuck feeling, nothing. I haven't lost an additional ounce since that fill, and over the weekend did my first "cheating" including a hot dog in a bun (yep, it went down with no problem) and a piece of birthday cake. No ill affects except guilt and I've gained back 2 pounds.

I called the docs office and they said that since they withdrew the Fluid and then refilled they are certain the fluid went into the band and to "be patient." They won't give me any more until my 4 weeks are up.

Has anybody else experienced a "disappearing band?" Any suggestions?

Thanks much -

Lisa D

Pittsburgh, PA

278/268/235/175

I was banded by Dr. Eid at Magee on May 16th. When I met with Deb, the nurse, she said that Bill, the NA that does the fills for Dr. Eid will do fills every two weeks after the first fill. You might want to call and ask to speak to another person. I'm not sure if she was just telling me what she thought I wanted to hear or not, but I think it would be work the phone call. I'm not scheduled to get my first fill for another two weeks.

Did Bill do your fill and did it hurt?

Hm, interesting. I know I didn't know what any restriction felt like until this last fill, it was my third. I go every four weeks. My doc doesn't do them any more often than that either, but I don't mind because it has given me time to adjust my eating habits. I don't think I could go from eating everything to nothing in a day.

Of course, when I go in, they give me more than .5 cc.... Have you talked to other people in the office that are patients to determine their experience. I know everyone I talk to is different, I like being filled up slowly because I have time to mentally adjust, but others I've met wanted to be filled up right away with full restriction from day one.

Do you have to pay for your fills? I would be upset if I had to pay for them and they are being that conservative. I have the same size band as you and it took me a while to get good restriction too.

I was thinking just the last couple of days that I have been eating like an unbanded person. Not like someone who has an eating disorder that is unbanded, just a healthy completely unbanded humanoid, which would be fine if I was maintaining but I am trying to lose it so its frustrating. But for now I am inpatiently waiting my fill.

I've lost 35 since being banded too. I wish it was more...a lot more.

My doc likes us to go in every 3 weeks until we reach that proper restriction. I go in on June 3rd for my 5th fill. My first four were decent fills 1-2 cc's each time, but this last one was only like .2cc's and it really didn't do much. I dont' want to be super tight, but I would like it to be tighter than what it is right now. Last night I was able to eat an entire can of organic chili.. not good. when I have proper restriction I can only eat half. but... it just kept going down and of course, I didn't even try to stop. ha ha. FILL TIME!!

I think your doc should have at least filled you up 1cc for sure. I can't stand some of these doctors that are so slow...

Sounds like part of what you're going through was the same thing that happened to me and probably most of us. I have a 14cc band and have no idea how much he put in at surgery time or the first fill. The second fill I got 1.5ccs and it could have been more cause it didn't feel that tight. After my first fill it seemed to last about a week and then it felt like it got very loose and I could swallow anything. I asked my surgeon if it was because you lose fat off of your stomach so it gets loose - answer was yep, that's exactly what happens. So some of that 45 pounds you lost was from your stomach itself and the band is just loose like a belt would be when you lose weight.

Sounds like your doctor is very conservative. I'm sorry. Mine is kind of medium and I wish he was more aggressive. Oh well, I deal with what I have. Hope you can get yours to fill you faster and a bit larger fill.

Thanks for the feedback. To answer a few questions...

No - I'm not paying for these tiny little fills. Insurance, thank goodness.

There are 3 P.A.s/nurses at Magee who do fills. Rachel and Kelly take care of Dr. McCloskey's patients. They have both very clearly told me that it is Magee protocol to not fill more frequently than every 4 weeks, but perhaps there is some variation there with the other docs.

I guess I can buy the "smaller belly" theory somewhat. Even though I've only lost 35 pounds and I hope to lose nearly 100, I've already gone from a size 22-24 in pants to a size 18 so maybe the inside is getting smaller, too.

I know most of you have been here with the frustration, too, until you get adequate restriction. I'm just discouraged because it's going to be so far down the road for me. In addition to this, I'm scheduled to make a trip to Cambodia in July for a couple of weeks and they've told me that they'd prefer to unfill me completely before I make that trip. And then of course there "protocol" is that I'd have to build back up 1 cc at a time. Rachel did tell me today that perhaps if I don't have any restriction Dr. McCloskey would feel OK about me not getting unfilled. But at this rate, I'll be a year out from surgery before I'm up to 5 cc's!!!

At first I wasn't crazy about the stuck feeling, but now I feel like I'm missing the friend who was just starting to tell me to stop eating!!

Thanks again for the feedback -

Lisa D

Pittsburgh, PA

yes , im in the same boat as you. ive had 3 fills and i can eat a lot and anything i want. its like ive never had surgery. ive lost 30 pounds also and feel its willpower alone and following the atkins diet. i did that before. that is not why i had the surgery. im getting mad. its 2and half hours to my doc. every month and gas is not cheap

lol. plus they are expensive. im starting to wonder if its a rip off. cause like i said, anyone can loose wt. on a half cup of food a day and eat proteien for most of it. thats not what i had the surgery for. it was to eat small amts. of anything a be full. i can eat past the point of fullnesss and feel nothing. no pb'g or vomiiting or anything.

i also got banded by dr mccloskey...i've been told that i can go back every 3 weeks for a fill.

i also got banded by dr mccloskey...i've been told that i can go back every 3 weeks for a fill.

I'm glad you brought this up again. I spoke with the Dr. the other day and he reiterated that after the first fill that it was appropriate to come in between 2-3 weeks until restriction is reached. On several different occasions Rachel has given me misinformation. I have it from the Dr. himself that he will not force me to wait six weeks between fills...which I think is awesome.

Rachel gave me my first fill and didn't prime the tube...so the fill wasn't in the band it was in the tube. Kelly corrected the mistake...but I ran around for 3 weeks with no fill....really hope to have kelly do my fills from now on. The problem with fills every 3 weeks is that you can't get an appointment.

Bill is the only one that will do my fills. I don't care for Rachel at all and have decided that I dont' want her to do anything for me lol. However, I lucked out because Dr. Eid only has Bill do fills for him. My friend said the same thing about Kelly...she really likes her.

Regarding appointments, have you called your Drs. secretary? Rachel screwed up all of my appointments; she had me seeing Bill at four weeks and seeing my Dr. at six weeks. When I called to tell them that I hadn't seen my Dr. yet they pulled his electronic calendar up and plugged me in.

I wonder if it would be OK to make the next appointment on the day of your fill. Have you tried that?

yes, as soon as i had my fill i scheduled my next one....i'm going on vacation on week 3 and 4 so I had to make it for week 5....i can live with that...the doctors office made appointments for the first year..at 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 month, 6 months and a year...but this isn't enough...I think as the patient you have to be proactive and go after it.....now you have me wondering if i can call in and ask for kelly do my fills....i really don't want rachel doing them....

I would call and speak directly with Kelly. I have found that they respond well to assertive patients. Like I said, I've heard good things about Kelly. Rachel didn't make any of those appointments for me. I'm glad I know that you had them made for you. I'll call tomorrow and make sure that Robin takes care of it.

I really appreciate the insights that you have both offered me into the program at Magee. It's funny, I was in the exploratory pre-op phase for about a year and always saw Kelly in the office. Then post-op I've had Rachel. I haven't seen Dr. McClosky since surgery on 2/29. I've lost 35 pounds and I feel great, but I'm still very frustrated. So here's my question for you Magee folks for today....

In about 10 days I'll be leaving for a 10 day trip to Cambodia with some other Asia stops along the way. My kids were born there and we've gone back a couple of times now. During my last visit Rachel said that I would need to come and have my band emptied before flying that far and going to a location without easy access to healthcare. But, I only have 1.5 cc in my 10 cc band right now. I have NO restriction. She also said that when I get back I'd need to start over again at 1 cc and slowly build back up (build back up?? I'm nowhere...)

So I'm scheduled next Tuesday to have my band emptied and I'm thinking of just cancelling. I know this will probably make them mad, but is it my decision? Do you have any thoughts on this?

Thanks so much...

Lisa D

Pittsburgh, PA

Magee patient