I was only banded 9 days ago so it will be a while before my first fill , but I have been reliving the two conversations I have had with my doctor about it and I need some advice.

I am totally needle-phobic. Tiny needles don't bug me at all, but big needles do, and especially needles that have to stay inside you for more than a second. My biggest fear when I had my son last year via C-Section was not the C-Section, but the IV and epidural. The epidural turned out to be fine (awesome, in fact because I had already been in labor for 10 hours) because the doctor gave me 3 or 4 little lidocaine shots first and never let me see the epidural needle. The IV, on the other hand, only exacerbated my phobia because I had toxemia and was so bloated with Fluid that they had difficulty finding my vein. They stabbed me 4 times before they hit the spot. I forgot all about my contractions during this!

Fast forward to my LapBand surgery. I had let them know at my preadmission about my needle trauma, and my nurse was an angel that gave me Lidocaine before inserting the IV needle. It was not bad at all. And the surgery went well and did not scare me at all.

The problem. My doctor refuses to numb me before my fill!! He seems determined to prove to me that it won't hurt, and he is really arguing with me about it. I am a self-pay and have paid for my surgery PLUS 1 year of fills in advance, so I am a little hesitant to just find someone else to do the fills. But I am starting to obsess over it, and I almost feel at this point that if I were to finally talk him into numbing me, he might really jab me with the Lidocaine just to win the argument :-(

Can someone give me some advice about this?? Sorry to be such a wuss!!

Hopefully Karen (Giveyouthemoon) will hop on this thread so she can tell me how her fills have gone. She was banded by LAPSF as well. Different surgeon, but I imagine they do their fills the same way.

I will bring my husband with me, Theresa, when I get my fill, so I have someone to hold my hand. I am also pretty sold on the Valium idea so he will need to drive.

Bensmum, I'm SO SORRY I missed this thread earlier!!! WOW, so very sorry. I am pretty *shocked* that one of the doctors argued with you about getting numbed! Yuck! (heh...maybe you can PM me which one...lol!!)

My first fill was tough only because my port is so deep and I've got some scar tissue above it so I had to get stuck seven times before he had a needle long enough to hit home. Needless to say, that was pretty traumatic!

Today I got my second fill and it was easy peasy! Dr. Cirangle did it for me and since I've lost 24 lbs since my last fill, my tummy is smaller and he got there in one try. It was the easiest thing ever!! Just a little pinch.

I don't have a big needle issue but heck, if you TELL YOUR DOCTOR that you do....they should accomodate that. Glad you found a LapSF doc that understood!!!

Hang tough friend! We'll get through this together!!

Hey Karen!!

I had Dr. Cirangle do my fill because my surgeon (Feng) rescheduled on me several times. I talked Dr. Cirangle into the Lidocaine shot, AND had put an Emla patch on earlier so I didnt even feel the Lido!

I got 1CC and I am just starting to feel the restriction. I am no longer worried about my fills- I'll save the worry for the days I jump on the scale :-)

Bensmum, I have to say, I was a little skeptical about Dr. C at first. His initial bedside manner left a lot to be desired. However, through the course of post surgery follow up, he's proven to be an all right guy.

Glad he took care of you!!

I got my first fill today 4wks after my surgery and It was no problem at all for him to find the port, but them i got up and took a sip of Water and it didn't go down so i stuck around because my doc is going out of town tommorrow.,

I ended up having to get a little unfilled. It was a horrible feeling when water got stuck in my throat. but then he took a little out and I was wonderful. at least he had no problem with the needle, which i didn't even look at, I couldn't tell you what it looked like even.

I got through my first fill on November 10th. I had to go to x-ray for my first. It's been 3 1/2 months since my surgery. Dr. Morand gave me a 4cc fill and I find that I don't have anymore restriction than before my fill. I contacted him and I have to wait another 6 weeks to get more fill. I'm still losing but it's taking a lot of struggle to not eat too much.