Hey bandsisters, i looked for info on mistakes made at fill time. I could only find one so i thought i'd better post this since this site is now my number one read for any lapband questions. I had band sugery 8/13/08, first fill by my doctor 9/11/08 with no problem. I went for my second fill 10/2/08 and was told the doctor's nurse would do it. She had alot of problems accessing my port but finally said she got it. Turns out she hadn't. She had injected me with 2cc's of saline not my port. I went back to the doctor 10/7/08 because i thought maybe she had punctured my tube. He drew out all the fluid to check & said she hadn't punctured it (thank god) but she had not but in any. I still had the same 4cc's he had put in. He put in 2 more but had to take 1/2 out. Sometimes when you have no restricton after your fill it's because it wasn't put in your band.

Goodbody out!

I have my doctor do it only, tell him you only want him to do it

When I get a fill, the doctor draws out all the fluid to make sure there is no leakage then puts it all back in plus the fill amount. This gives me peace of mind that there are no leaks and they got the port.

I'm not sure that I understand why they aren't able to hit your port. I'm almost 300# and can find my port easily. I'm getting a fill today, so I'm going to ask the surgeon. Maybe it is a difference in where he puts the port, or how he attaches it?

my sil had this problem, the fill nurse said there was hard scar tissue right beside the port and she had to inject them both to see which one was the port. she got the post the second time.

I had originally thought I could feel my port too - then realized after my first fill that it was actually scar tissue I was feeling. The port was actually just below the scar tissue and I can't feel it - except when the doc injects the needle!

I got my third fill today. I asked and the doc said my band will only hold between 4 and 5cc's... Does anyone else have band this small?

At any rate, on my first fill I got 1cc ; on the second fill .70cc and today another .30cc for a total of 2cc in my band.

Brad

I have the band that only holds 4 cc's. I had my first fill on September 30th with fluoro. I had zero restriction, they put in 1.6 cc's and I still had no restriction so she bumped me up to a solid 2 cc's. I have much better restriction now but I am not there yet. I could go for a fill anytime now, but I am a little bit afraid to. I only have problems when I am over hungery and forget the rules.

Thanks for sharing Beth! My experience has been very similar to yours. It took a full 2cc's to get any meaningful restriction. I too only have a problem when I forget to eat very small bites and chew very well.

Brad

I asked my surgeon yesterday, while I was getting filled, why some people are having trouble finding ports. He said that he didn't know, but that maybe it was a difference in where the port was placed. Mine is in the "crease" between my fat rolls. He said that this is the place where the fat layer isn't as thick up against the abdominal muscle that the port is stitched to, and that it is easier to feel that way. Sounds reasonable, whether it is true or not. At least his explanation made me feel better. :sad_smile:

When I went for my fill it was a bad experiance. My doctor poked me 15 times kept moving the needle around inside me. He said it's better to find it this way cause it cost less money.Then finnaly he said he felt bad for poking me so many times. He was going to stop. So, then they scheulde me for an ultra sound to see if they could see the port. Of course it dont work with an ultrasound pic. They were just expermenting to try to save money. So, then they got me in to take an X-ray. They found it. But it's really deep so they had to use a longer needle. They said it would have to be x-rayed every time. Until I lose weight. So, now I'am nervous about going back for another one.

Jenita~ Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience! Ouch!

My fills have been easy, the dr has done 1 of them and the PA has done the other three. In fact the PA did my first one and the dr was intimidated because she found my port and had such an easy time - LOL!

As basic procedure, they numb the area first, I am thankful for that. They then pull out the current fill to make sure that the level is what it should be, and then they add the new amount. They have never had to poke around for the port - thank goodness!

They never numb me either. Glad yours was easy. Wish mine could have been

My doc doesn't numb anything either. My first three fills were simple. The fourth one was not quite as easy. It seems the port shifted and is now on a bit of an angle. Took doc a bit of prodding around to find it - which hurt like hell! In fact, it's been close to 3 weeks since then and I still have a bit of bruising. I look at it this way - there's going to be some bumps and bruises along the way - but I wouldn't give my band up even if they had to do that everytime. A few minutes of pain is better than the rest of your life with discomfort and health issues.

Brad

The second doc I had (Dr. Billy) told me that another reason they have hard time finding ports has to do with the type of port they put in you. He said as he was looking that my doctor was typical in choosing the smallest of ports which makes them difficult to find. So that is a factor.

And I also have a 4cc max fill band...though it says 10cc all they can fill is 4cc.

I had never heard of a puncture looking for a port...wow that is scarey I am glad that didn't happen!

I always get a quick stick to numb the area first, then the fill. I had the surgeon do my fill once and now I make sure to make my appointments with the Nurse Practitioner. He stuck me over and over. You can tell he doesn't normally do the fills. No thanks, I'll stick to the NP who does fills all day long and gets it on the first try just by feel. :wink_smile: I'll be going for my 5th fill at the end of the month. I have a 10cc band with 6.4 in it. They put me up to 7 last time but it was too tight and I had to have .6 taken back out the next day. I was gurguling my own spit!

Hi Goodbody,

I had Surgery 8/13 too. My first fill I was losing at a good rate so we decided not to do a fill. In Oct. when I went for my fill they had a hard time accessing my port they had to try several times and thought they finally got it in. When I want for my next appt. Nov. my Dr. went to draw out the Fluid and there was none there. They had missed the first time, so they put 4 cc's in. In Dec. when I went for my fill he thought I was losing at a really good rate so we decided to hold off on a fill again. Now I am anxiously waiting for my fill Jan 16th.