Can you tell me your experience of having a fill without fluroscopy? How did you know how much to fill? How does the Dr. know how much to fill? What did it feel like as your band was tightened? I have had 1 fill and I know it's time for another. I can still eat any amount I want and what ever I want.

I don't want to have a 2nd fill to just have to return for another real soon because they didn't fill enough.

I live in nw Al. and looking for a good fill dr. near by, well within a few hours drive anyway.

Any suggestions?

reneej

The nurse does my fills. I have never had flouro. I only got a little each time. It didn't matter at first how much I wanted, the fills were set. I tell her what I can eat and she does the fill. The first few fills were like 1cc. then once it started getting tight they went down to .2 or less. Each time she filled, I would then drink water to make sure it went down properly.

They are usually very careful with fills because tightness is weird. On my third fill, I could eat mushies on the 2nd day. The 3rd day it shut completely, and I couldn't swallow my spit. I had to have an unfill. By my 6th fill I was past that amount.

I have had 4 fills, all without a fluoro. My surgeon is very experienced and I imagine he must be able to gauge from talking with me and his knowledge how much to give me. I have asked him to go slower with the fills as I would rather have less fill than be too tight, my weight loss is slow but consistent and I am keeping it off.

I've had 4 fills all without flouro. My doctor did a 4cc fill the first time and has gone up .5cc each time after that. I think that's his standard operating procedure. I go in once a month and tell him what I can eat, if I'm satisfied and whether or not I'm hungry between meals, etc. I told him I wanted a fill last time and he was fine with that.

I can no longer eat in the morning because I'm too tight until an hour or two after I get up, so I just have my coffee and go to the gym. I usually eat when I get back. Doc says that's normal and that most people have their protein shake in the am because they can't get food down. I hate protein shakes, and I'm just not hungry in the morning, so I just skip it.

I can still eat pretty much anything I want except I have to be really careful with bread (don't eat much of it) and I can't eat boiled eggs at all.

I do stay full between meals but I find myself snacking when I'm not hungry sometimes. When you have 2 little kids, it seems like someone is ALWAYS snacking. It's hard and I haven't been losing weight lately. I have bumped up my exercise program a lot, though so maybe that will help.

Where at in Alabama are you? I am from Huntsville. Who is your dr? Are you looking for a different dr?

My first fill was with flouro. I am happy I did it that way because I told her I wanted to be agressive and reach restriction as quickly as possible. She filled it to the exact level where fluid passed but passed slowly. It was a 6.8 fill in a Realize band which was very agressive. I had ok restriction for the first two weeks but I got to the point where I was hungry again and was not losing very much.

I transferred to a more local doctor for my next fill. My second fill was without flouro. I told her how hungry I was and my weight loss level and that I want to be agressive with fills, she decided to see how 1.5 would work. She put it in and had me drink water. The water seemed to go down but very slowly, but it went down. I was a little scared after the second fill because I have read about fills getting much too tight a couple of days later.

After I cautiously moved through liquids and mushies, I found that I had very tight restriction . . . almost to the point of wanting an unfill. I was pb'ing alot but later realized that the problem was more me than the fill. What I mean is that I was not chewing enough and eating a little too fast. It was OK before because I did not have good restriction so I could be more lax in my eating habits.

My second fill was a little over a month ago and I still have great restriction. I wanted to be agressive with my fills but I can tell you there is no way I would get another fill right now because I am still tight. I am not even ready to think about scheduling another fill and my weight is slowly but surely moving in the right direction.

I think I never would have been at my sweet spot now if I did not have the first fill agressive and without flouro. I reached my sweet spot in two fills.

thanks so much for your responses. it's so hard to tell on some of this. your answers were awesome. i think now i can comfortably schedule my fill without fluro.

i hope there will be others who will share the good and bad.

thanks,

reneej:wink_smile:

hi there gone4ever

i am in russellville. i am looking for a local dr. who will do my fills. dr. ortiz in tijuana did my surgery and they did my first fill, but i really need someone close to home. who does yours? it's hard to find a dr. who will take you as their patient if they didn't do your surgery.

tell me about your ride.

reneej