I think we need our own "First Fill Experience " Thread so we can compare notes on the experience and how we are eating after our first fill.

Good luck to everyone getting their first fill...:party: I'm anxious to hear from the group as the fills progress.

Hello Everyone,

GREAT Thread! I was banded May 21,09. I had my first fill today not much pain at all. My Dr. asked that I lie on my back and left both legs a bit as if I was doing crunches for my lower body, I did and she felt with her hands for the pot. She swabbed me with alcohol to clean the area. I closed my eyes because I am very afraid of needles. Small prick. Dr. says she put 5cc in I had my eyes shut the whole time. Not much restriction at first. My stomach growls a bit. I had Water and a yogurt, some Peanut Butter, I was hungry.

Hi everyone,

I have my first fill scheduled for July 20th thats almost 2 months after I was banded. Isn't this too long? Im not loosing much and i'm hungry all the time. I'm kinda disappointed that they are making me wait so long. Any suggestions?

thanks

My 1st fill will be 7 weeks out from my surgery as well. Not looking forward to the fill part being I have to fly (40 mins) to my doc. each time. I have still been loosing about a pound every two days and not sure what restriction feels like,but i'm full for about 3 to 4 hours after a 1/2 cup meal...

AlaskaGirl, sounds like you have good restriction if you are full for that long on just 1/2 cup of food! Count your blessings! :bored:

I was banded on may 29th and I have my first fill July 11. Im a little nervous about needles and the fact that a couple days later my husband and I are driving to las vegas for out 8 yr anniversary!!!! I dont feel any restriction lately but I hardly eat due to being afraid of getting sick. I take in about 350 to 500 calories a day and the scale has not moved in over a week. Im trying not to get too frustrated...especially because I was getting obsesive about the scale so my husband hid all the scales in the house last week. In a way I guess it is good that way my daily attitude won't be dictated by what the scale says! have a great day banditos!!:wink:

I'm reporting back after 3 days. I must say, just getting 1 cc has actually made a difference!, much to my surprise!:wink: I do feel more restriction and cannot eat as much. And I suddenly dropped 4 lbs. :eek: I think that was just a freaky Water weight coincidence, but hey, I'll take it however I can get it! So, don't worry if the doctor only puts in a small amount. It really does make a difference. :smile:

Ann - I'm glad I'm not the only one that had no restriction after the first fill on 6/11/09. I called the Dr yesterday and he took me this morning and put another 2.5 cc's. Drank some water and OH NO! :eek: it started to come back up so he pulled .75cc out and the water immediately went down. I now know what being too tight really feels like. I don't like it the feeling at all !!. So in total he put in 5.75cc's ad finally I feel good restriction. Having a Protein drink as I post. So far, so good.

Less, I think you might need to up your caloric intake in order to start losing some weight. Your body is probably holding on b/c it thinks you are starving it. I was doing the same thing, and once I added some real foods and more calories, the weight started coming off! And don't worry about going to Vegas after a fill. You'll be fine. Just make sure you follow the rules -- small bites and chew, chew, chew! :wink:

Hey, John, glad to hear that you got back in to see the doc! Isn't it freaky to feel Water get stuck in your throat? Yeah, same thing happened to me. They had to back me down 1 cc. I'm now at 6 cc. Sometimes I'm feel hungry, other times I can go for hours. Odd. Do you go back in another 2 weeks?

Hi Ann,

Yea - It's wierd feeling the Water back up. Had a Protein drink for lunch and I'm really full. I do go back to see the Doc on 6/25/09.

Ann,

Thank you for the suggestion. I will try to up my calories to see if that helps (at least it might give me more energy to go through the day with 3 young kid). I talked with my husband a bit ago and he agrees to...he says he think subconsously I am trying to starve myself to lose weight. I dont mean to but I will make an effort to be more aware of what my body does need! I guess this a total learning experience and I do appriciate the wonderful support I get from the Mayo Banditos!

I think we're all experiencing new things, and that's why it's so great that we can share them here on our forum. The Mayo Banditos are an awesome group! :wink:

I've been super busy with work related stuff and haven't had the time to poke my head in and see how y'all are doing. This thread is *awesome!* I'm so glad to be able to read everyone's experience.

I had my first fill today, it was 1.5cc and I feel absolutely nothing. Except sore in my port area. I just had some Soup for dinner, and still feel no restriction. If I don't notice any changes in the next week or so, I'm going to see if I can get in again. I've actually gained a few pounds over the last few weeks. But like the Dr said, "This doesn't really start until today. Up till now, you were just healing." So we'll see!

Big hugs to all my Bandito buddies! :wink:

Hi all! I had my first fill today. It went pretty well considering I'm a big BABY when it comes to needles. I had the technician laughing so hard at me as I tried to brace myself for the needle. To my surprise, it wasn't very painful at all. A quick prick. (I was standing up with my arms over my head) Apparently I wasn't breathing because the nurse is like uh.. you probably want to start breathing now. Too funny.

They did it under x-ray so I was able to see my band and my little pouch. Also was able to see the barium? pass through as I swallowed it. Afterwards, I was told to sip about 4 oz of apple juice. Needless to say, a sip to me isn't a sip to them. I drank it in paces, but too quick for them. I was fine though! They think I'm nuts. Some days I am. :wink:

I found out TODAY that my doctor had put in 4cc's on surgery day. To be quite honest, I hadn't felt that at all. She took it all out just to be sure and then put in 6cc's. So I actually got 2cc's today. I hadn't eaten since 8:30 am this morning and had to jet from the hospital to train a class, so by this evening I was famished!!! I had about half of a Campbells cup of soup and viola...I'm satisfied. Just waiting to see how long it lasts. I have to go back in 30 days for an assessment to determine if I need more. Stay tuned...

Good luck to everybody who has their first fill coming up...it's a breeze!!:smile:

Hey Bem don't get too discouraged if you only stay full for like half an hour on soup, it's thin and it'll just go straight thur but you probably already know that.

Anyway I had surgery May 12th and had my first fill about 3 hours ago and yeah I cried lol. Todd my nurse told me to lie down. The needle wasn't painful but I kept hearing a clicking and then it hurt a little and I ended up crying like a big baby lol. Oh and I had absolutely no restriction previously but turns out the surgeon put in 4cc/mls during surgery and then today he put in another 4 which I'm a bit peeved about because they said they where going to do this all slow so I was expecting about 1-1.5cc and now I feel like my throat is tight but I have no problem getting Water or juice down soooo we'll see what happens when I wake up in the morning and attempt to drink something. Apparently I'm on liquids for 24 hours and then I just have to chew chew chew which is a bit annoying. I don't think I'm going to follow his advice, instead I'm gonna do 24 hours of liquids, then some mushies for a day and then eventually get back to the solid food. I just think that 24 hours and then going straight back to normal food is too soon.

Anyway lol I had to go see my dietician afterwards and Todd the nurse came down and was saying he felt bad about it but the guy he did after me he got it first go lol. So I go for my next one in 5 weeks and hopefully I won't look like a wuss when I get that one lol.

I have my first fill this afternoon! Im excited!!! I have been stuck in bandster hell for about 2 weeks...I lost a total of 24#s (Pre/Post op...15 Post op the first 2 weeks) and then 2 weeks ago it just stopped. I feel like I have NO restriction..and have been trying to be so careful about eating, and portion control. I havent had anything get stuck, havent gotten sick...etc. The weight loss just STOPPED! GRRR! I hope i get enough to make a difference on this trip! I think I am a monthly filler as well. So I dont expect much. Im crossing my fingers and will update Post-Fill!

My best friend and I both were banded on 5/19. We both had our first fills Monday (6/15). I went first. Our doctor's Nurse Practitioner handled our fills. I didn't even feel the needle stick. She injected 4cc's, then I had to slowly drink an 8oz glass of water. Well, I wasn't expecting much or any restriction with my first fill based on what I have read by others on this site. I was wrong! It took me 20 minutes to drink my water - very small, very slow sips. With each sip I would gurgle and burp and feel some tightness in my chest. I thought I had too much fill, but I just needed to get used to the sensation and sipping small amounts slowly. By the evening I was able to slowly sip a protein shake. She recommends 2 days of liquid diet, and then slowly adding solids. I'm thrilled feeling the restriction, but it does take some getting used to! It's now Wednesday, and I am eating solids - very slowly, very small bites, chewing to pulp, and very small portions. I know to stop when I hiccup or gurgle, or it just feels like I can't get anything else down. My eyes are still hungry, but my stomach isn't. My stomach makes some very embarassing noises after each meal! :blushing:

IMPORTANT INFO...

I just wanted you all to be aware if you have sinus congestion/drainage when you get a fill, you may feel additional restriction and have a hard time getting down water or anything. My best friend had the same fill amount as I did (4 cc's) but she could barely get 3/4 of the water down, thought it would get better, and had a rough time the rest of the day and night 'sliming' and was unable to get anything else down. She was better in the morning, and able to tolerate soup and a protein shake. If you're going in for a fill and have congestion, you may want to postpone it, or at least mention your congestion to your doctor before they give you the fill. Here is a thread on congestion and fills:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/colds-sinus-infections-cause-changes-your-band-47756/

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