Hi! I'm 18 yrs. old and was banded by Dr. Viallo on 8/6/09. I haven't had any fills yet 'cause I go to college in VA and my surgeon is back in MA. I've only lost 15lbs. without a fill, but am excited to see better results with the fill. I'm excited to have found this site:)

Welcome Kelsey, your gonna absolutely love this site for support! You can gripe all you want here and the fun thing is EVERYONE understands. . . I'm just new too, haven't had the band yet though, I'm going to the seminar on the 23rd just so that hubbie can see i'm NOT going to die in surgery! Silly man. . . but I've joined the site and absolutely love it. . . welcome again and 15 lbs is a great start!

Hi Kelsey,

Welcome!!....and congratulations.. you have lost 15 lbs!! Losing 15 lbs in a little over a month is great and beyond what we are all told to expect on our weight loss journey! Keep up the good work and remember don't get discouraged if your progress isn't what you are expecting....a lb. off is far better than a lb. on !! lol

Hello and welcome to LBT Kelsey. Have you looked for a fill center or a doctor for your fills near you college? It would be scary to travel that far for a fill... if you're too tight and you have to have an emergency unfill would you be able to get back to your surgeon?

Hey everybody! Thanks for the encouragement and the warm welcomes:) I haven't looked for a doctor here to do fills because I don't know how comfortable I would be with that, but maybe I should look into it!

Yes, from what I understand if you need to be "unfilled" the sensation is very uncomfortable. . . so maybe having a doc around in case that happens would be a good idea!

Kelsey I have never had to use one but I hear about people using the fill centers of america or something like that.... Most doctors wont do fills/unfills if they didn't do the surgery. Lame as it is I think they are worried about being accused of damaging the port or tubing.