i HAD MY FIRST FILL ON THE 16 OF AUG. ( 4 CC) IN A 10 CC BAND. I THEN WENT BACK FOR A SECOND FILL ON SATURDAY ( SEPT. 6). mY FILL NURSE ONLY FOUND 3 CC IN MY BAND.??? SHE SAID THAT IT COULD HAVE EVAPURATED ALTHOUGH SHE WAS CONFUSSED BECAUSE HOW QUICKLY IT HAPPENED. SHE ALSO SAID SHE MAY JUST BE REACHING AIR POCKETS IN THE BAND AND UNABLE TO RETREIVE THE OTHER 1 CC? SHE WAS ONLY GOING TO GIVE ME 1 CC TO ADD TO MY 4 TOTALING 5 , BUT SHE INSTEAD ADDED 2 CC, TOTALING EITHER 5 OR 6. SHE TOLD ME TO CONTACT HER WITHIN A WEEK AND IF I HAD NO RESTRICTION SHE WOULD FILL ME AGAIN AT NO COST. i FELT LIKE SOMETHING WASN'T QUITE RIGHT WITH THE SITUATION AND LEFT ON A WEIRD NOTE. SHE HAD TROUBLE FINDING MY PORT TOO, IT TOOK 3 TRIES, IS THIS NORMAL? AS WELL SHE VERY ROUGHLY SLAMMED THE NEEDLE AGAINST SOMETHING REALLY HARD INSIDE ME, SHE SAID SORRY AND ASKED IF SHE HURT ME, SHE DIDN'T, BUT BY THE SOUNDS OF IT SHE PROBABLY COULD HAVE EASILY. SHE WAS PUSHING SO HARD ON THE NEEDLE THAT HER ARM WAS SHAKING!!!! AND NOW MY PORT AREA IS QUITE SORE. I STILL HAVE NO RESTRICTION THOUGH.

WHAT SHOULD I DO? SHOULD I GO FOR ANOTHER FILL RIGHT AWAY WHILE IT'S FREE? SHOULD I TRUST HER? SHOULD I FIND A NEW FILL NURSE?

SHOULD I TRY TO GET A FILL WITH FLURO?

ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREAT.

MY SURGEON IS IN MEXICO AND I'M IN CANADA SO A TRIP TPO SEE HIM IS NOT A OPTION UNLESS VERY SERIOUS.

THANKS EVERYONE:confused:

It took me a while before I decided not to trust my fill tech and see my surgeon instead. She under filled me twice, as she did not look at my chart to see I had the 10cc band and over filled me once because she had previously written down the wrong amount. I found out this information after seeing surgeons because of the complications these three fills caused.

I don't know anything about fills evaporating but if it's possible find someone who you can trust like one of the surgeons at the group that is doing your fills. I know you went to Mexico to have it done and appear to be self pay but from my experience if there's someone incompetent, and you seem to know in your gut that this person could be, then find someone who is competent and good luck to you, Nancy.

I dont see how it could evaporate...I would be concerned. I'm glad only my surgeon does my fills.

Muckstack not being nosy but where in Canada do you live? I had my surgery in Mexico too. I lived in Tennessee got my first awful fill there which was not even a fill the Dr. just shot saline in somewhere after jabbing around in my abdomen for over 5mins. Anyways recently moved to Pittsburgh and have found a Wonderful! surgeon in Erie PA who was able to locate my port in about 30secs aspirated to see how much was in there and then gave me .5cc and it was only 231.00 fills are only 100.00 after initial visit and Dr. Ali is awesome on al levels. So I was thinking if you live close to Erie it might be worth it to try him out might be cheaper than going back to Mexico. You can check him out on obesityhelp.com Dr. Amjad Ali. Good luck either way you go but I would definitely go to someone else.

Heather

The surgeon that put my band in is the only one who does the fills. He pulled out all but .5cc before adding to it and doing the fill. He showed me the amount he pulled back and said the .5cc is unable to get out due to the suction from the syringe and the band collapsing on itself. I am a nurse and am totally confident in the way he checks and does the fills. So if you are missing that much, I wouldn't think it would evaporate!!! Find another place to get you fills!!!

It cannot evaporate from a closed system...i am a retired nurse and we have a number of ports-catheters that work with saline fills to keep in place tubes....they do not evaporate.

HI THERE,

i'M IN LLOYDMINISTER, ALBERTA,

THE CLOSEST OTHER PLACES TO GET A FILL IS RED DEER AND CALGARY. I AM LOOKING INTO IT.

THANKS

I asked my doctor about evaporation. She said that evaporation is possible, but it is so small and so slow that the results are negligible. She said the most that she has ever seen lost is a fraction of a cc over a years time.

Hi gang,

I had the Realize band placed on 5/53/08 without a hitch, it was the easiest thing I have ever done. I do see from threads many of you are having the difficulty of little to no restriction. I have had 4 fills for a total of 5.2 cc's under fluoro. I can eat 6-8 ounces at a time. My fills are always done under fluoro and though it appears the restriction is good, it's not. I think it is different than what they see on the fluoro. My theory is that sitting down to eat opens the stoma more than they see it opening under fluoro as I am standing up. Despite the challenges I have lost 20 pounds since the overall size of my stomach us now smaller and I am eating high quality dense Protein first - up to 8 oz.

I am having hip surgery but I am not getting the band unfilled since there is little to no restriction.

Edited September 9, 200817 yr by mary1966

I have a similar problem. I had my surgery on 2/11/08 and went for my 4th fill on 8/27. The doctor was out due to ankle surgery and the nurse practitoner did the fill. She had trouble finding my port but found it the first time she inserted the needle. She pulled out the 2.5 cc and added another .5 to make it 3 cc in my 4 cc band. I have no restriction and now no will power. I wonder what went wrong???? I will have to call soon since I am developing bad habits again and am craving chocolate! I feel so confused and upset.... I really need a good kick in the butt!!!