Question About Fills

[Jamie05 0]

Hello All: I got my surgery date set for April 30th! yay

I know there is a 10cc band and a 14cc band. How do you know what one you are going to get? Whats the difference?

How long does it take to get the band completley filled?

If you get the band filled to its max, does that mean that you are forever going to stay restricted? What happens if you get all the way filled and still start to lose restriction?

Im so excited and nervous at the same time. I just hope Im making the right decision with the lap band.

Thank you!

[GretaBelle 0]

Congrats on your surgery date!! :confused:

I asked my doctor today about the band size and he said that most women get the 10CC and the men get the 14CC because there are differences in the anatomy of each sex. He said 95% of women get the 10CC and 75% get the 14CC in his practice. He said it is much easier doing the surgery on women than men because women store fat differently than men do. Women mainly store it just under the skin and men store more around their organs including their stomach.

I just had my first fill today which was 6 weeks out post-op. It was not that bad. My doctor will only do 1.5CC on the first fill and .5 CC at each subsequent fill, which I will go back in four weeks for another check-up and possible fill. He said that in his experience, that it takes at least 3-5 fills before people reach their "sweet spot." With that math, it could take me about 17 months to have my band completely filled.

I am not sure what happens if you get completely filled and still can not lose weight. I would suppose that those instances would be few and far bewteen and not typical for the average Bandster. As with anything, I would ask your doctor. I can only relay what has been explained to me or what I have learned through my journey and research. I am not a healthcare provider, so I am not qualified to give you my medical opinion...LOL.

Good luck and keep us updated on your progress.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

I'm female and got the 14 cc band; the doctor decides what to "install". I'm not tall or manly; LOL; just the top of my stomach was large. (I guess). I know other women who have the 14 cc band, and men who have the 10cc band; I think it just depends on your innards and how they are configured.

Fills vary, partly according to the surgeon. You might want to ask yours what the "average" number of fills is for his patients. Mine says it often takes about 6 months (and 4 or more fills) for his patients to approach the "green zone" where they lose and are not hungry between meals. Different surgeons can be more (or less) aggressive, so it just depends.

The band is intended to stay in place forever. You can have it unfilled but most likely if you do that you'll gain weight back. Although i guess it CAN happen that you are filled with a functioning band and "lose" restriction, that isn't common. More common (but still rare) are things like leaks in the tube from the port to the band, slippage, etc. Your surgeon can answer these questions for you and he is the best source of info because it will depend on his fill style, and he should have scientific statistics about fills and restricion several years out

[Jamie05 0]

Thank you both for your great advise. It really helps.

I have had 2 conultation's with my surgeon, and I dont know why but all the questions I have come up after I leave his office!

Good luck to you and your continued weight loss.

[TQUAD64 9]

My doctor decided which size band I would get, which was a 10cc band. This is based on my inside anatomy and what my doctor deems best for me.

The 14cc band holds more Fluid.

It is really hard to know how long it takes to completely fill the band. But remember the goal is to not completely fill the band. Your doctor wants you to have restriction with the least amount of fills.

I am not sure what will happen when you reach full band fill capacity without restriction.

You can always have the doctor take out fill from the band if less restriction is needed.

Good luck!