I have a friend of mine, i admit she is nuts, she has the craziest ideas, one of them was that she wants to do her OWN FILLS by HERSELF!!!!

She was reading through websites and how fills are done and now she is totally convinced that she should do it alone, because she is unhappy with her fills and her doctor wont give her more than 0.5 each visit and the doctor will stop giving her the fills because she is loosing 4lbs /month.

So now she wants her fills ALONE!...

I have tried convincing her that its a bad idea, if anyone of you here knows the risks, please place your message and i will let her read them!

Thank you.

Why would someone risk their band because they were impatient?

There are more serious issues underlying that problem than slow weight loss.

Honestly, I cannot believe I'm taking the time to respond to such a thread. There is actually another thread in general discussions that started enough controversy if you want to show your friend that one.

I believe you are better just googling the risks of this rather than post this question, as I believe in addition to some good info, you will read many opinions that may not really convince your friend if she is set on doing this. This is such a crazy idea I can't even imagine anyone considering doing this. Sorry, that's just my opinion....

Even though this is 100% not recommened. .Getting a huber needle, a bottle of saline, a 1cc syringe, alcohol and a pair of gloves seems way cheeper than the $175-$300.00 these people are paying... oh and don't forget the bandaid...........thats about less than $10.00,,,but going septic is about $150,000.00 per treatment.....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

She should go find a new doctor to give her fills if she's that frustrated.. maybe find one with a fluoroscope machine. That way they can give larger fills.

But #1 she should just follow the steps and the diet. The fill won't solve all your problems!

and obviously don't do it yourself, risk messing up a $15,000 surgery? No way. and sure as hell your insurance won't cover you to fix it if you do something like that.

I am also a nurse who accesses all sorts of IV and PORTS due to my work in the Trauma ER/ICU. And still, I wouldn't do it. Too risky. But the ER's are full of stupid people who do stupid things and I just say, well that's job security. Sounds like she's going to do it. What is she going to do if she punctures her line? Or gores out her port with the wrong needle or the wrong angle? Do you think the surgeon is going to appreciate that? I think he'll be mad and not want to help if something goes wrong. One thing I've learned from being a RN is that you don't mess with a Surgeon's work. It isn't pretty if you do. But again, I'm sure she's going to do it- at least once and find out that it isn't like watching ice skating on TV.

Hautemama

"Dont mess with a Surgeon's work". I love it sooo true. That reminds me of when I first had my surguery . My Dr told me he didnt want me messing with his insicions. ( We were talking about Bathing and what not). He really ment it. I love my Dr. and the fact he is very pround of the work he does. I fly to Denver for my fills. It is worth it to me just to have Dr K take care of me. I would never ever do it my self. Doin your own fills is just plain Stupid . In my oipinion LOL.

I paid $300.00 to go to a fill center, and they must of used the wrong needle and my port leaks. There is no way that i would recommend to do your own fill, not to mention Hepatitis.

I know it has to be frustrating not to lose the amount she was hoping for. But we were told with Lap that we are expected to lose 1-2 lbs a week. 4 lbs a month falls in there.

Does she follow a lap diet? Exercise? These are things that can speed up weight loss in a healthy way.

Also she should consider talking to her doctor about her concerns. Or as others have stated find another doctor that listens to her and explains why they choose to do what they do.

I hope your friend thinks of her health and not instant gratification.

Good luck1!!

Even though the process is very simple which requires a huber needle, saline, alcohol wipe, gloves and a bandaid, getting the port in the right position is the tricky part. I could save my self alot of money due to being a RN for 20 years. This isn't rocket science and if done properly you are no more prone to sepsis doing at home, then they are in the office. The difficult part is not HITTING THE TUBING AND CAUSING A LEAK....Even though it is a siimple process, I respect my band way too much to go out on a limb, but the thought is out there....My fills are cheap, costing me $40.00 and I needed very few, so i guess I got off lucky....Remember, is cutting costs worth the risk of piercing your port?

Have a fabulous day!

Crista

I have all the stuff to do my own fill and seriously want to do it! my PA will only put in 1ml at a time and the office keeps calling to change my apt to schedule it out longer.

no wonder that DR said it only helps 50% of the people, maybe it would be higher if he would keep up on his band maintenance!!

anybody else do their own fills?

quite possibly the dumbest thing I have ever read. My Dr. is very conservative with fills for a reason. More fill doesn't necessarily mean more loss. I have had 4 fills since surgery 2 1/2 years ago, each one was small. AS you lose sometimes you need a little more restriction but I would never feel qualified to do it myself. So if you do your own fills who will be at fault when you fail to lose weight or get a serious infection? I am always amazed at the things people will do to screw up something.

sharpie, do you have to be so rude in your response??

I'm sorry I came across as rude .. I just was flabbergasted by the question. I apologize for being too quick on the keyboard this morning. I am concerned when someone says things that seem dangerous . I always have a reaction when I think someone may do something hurtful to themselves.

I probably could, but for what reason?

I am prepared to do complete un-fills in an emergency...like being out of the country and getting food poisoning, etc.

My port is right at the surface...you can see every nook and cranny....a one armed blind man could do it.

The staff at my Dr.'s office loved me at my last fill.

No freaking way. You need to go to an experienced doctor or nurse practitioner to have it done.