Ok so I had my third fill today...my doctor asked me how much I wanted (I had 4cc in a 10cc band) and I said "just a little"...he called me a chicken and so I relented and said "ok, put in however much you think I should have"...and he put in 1.5ml which brought it upto 5.5cc total. He gave me my little cup of Water and told me to hang around until I had finished it. Well I couldn't finish it. I could swallow the water but could still feel in there in my chest so I asked the receptionist/nurse etc what they thought I should do and they said maybe I should get a little taken out. So I hung around and he took me back into his office...I said I think i needed some taken out and he said to me "well, if I take any out, you won't lose weight. You know that it's just like this because it is swollen atm from jsut having it done and it should settle down within a couple of days"...anyway, I still said I would like at least .3 taken out so he took out .5 and I tried drinking the water again and this time it went down a lot easier...I can still feel the restriction - I just tried having 1cup of thin pumpkin Soup and I couldn't finish it.

Has anyone else gone against their doctors recommendation for the fill amount? I feel incredibly stupid atm because I want to know that this is going to make a difference but I just couldn't see myself losing any weight at all if I couldn't even swallow some water.

Anyone???

Edited September 17, 200916 yr by TeganRheana
added up wrong - was actually 5.5ml but then he took out the .5 making it an even 5 now.

I am sorry to be so blunt but what the hell is a Dr. calling any patient a chicken. Did he get his degree in a crackerjax box? (oh, wait...we can't eat that). No one here is chicken because we have taken the risk of having surgery to finally be able to make our health better. You are no chicken and don't you believe you are. No dr. should ever be allowed to bully a patient into a medical decision. And what is he doing asking you how much you want. He should be able to make that decision based on how you are eating and other factors. He could have said, I recommend that we go to 5. Or how do you feel if we move in a bit more agressive manner.

Oooh, this steams me. No one should be filled past the point of drinking Water. That is why it is the test for an ok fill.

If this Dr. has been more understanding and met your needs in a more compasionate way before then stay with him. But if this is a pattern....find another doc.

(Climbing down off my high horse now)

I am sorry to be so blunt but what the hell is a Dr. calling any patient a chicken. Did he get his degree in a crackerjax box? (oh, wait...we can't eat that). No one here is chicken because we have taken the risk of having surgery to finally be able to make our health better. You are no chicken and don't you believe you are. No dr. should ever be allowed to bully a patient into a medical decision. And what is he doing asking you how much you want. He should be able to make that decision based on how you are eating and other factors. He could have said, I recommend that we go to 5. Or how do you feel if we move in a bit more agressive manner.

Oooh, this steams me. No one should be filled past the point of drinking Water. That is why it is the test for an ok fill.

If this Dr. has been more understanding and met your needs in a more compasionate way before then stay with him. But if this is a pattern....find another doc.

(Climbing down off my high horse now)

Ha! you sound like me when I get going about something that ruffles my feathers! But you are sooooo very right, no physician (unless they are looking for a law suit) should be bullying a patient. . this was our decision not theirs, they are there to PROVIDE a service and not degrade us. . . I hate physicians who do that. . . I have worked with tons of physicians in every area of the medical field and the majority are good, however, there are several who can be truly considered "pumpas asses" . . . to be gentle in term. . . :sad:

you are not a chicken, you know your body and know how you feel good, keep up the good work, and together we will all succeed!

Was your doctor also your surgeon?

I'm going to make a broad generalization and say most of the surgeons I've dealt with don't have terribly good bedside manners. It's kind of understandable when you consider most of their patient interaction takes place when the patient is unconcious.

Was your doctor also your surgeon?

I'm going to make a broad generalization and say most of the surgeons I've dealt with don't have terribly good bedside manners. It's kind of understandable when you consider most of their patient interaction takes place when the patient is unconcious.

Yes, and having been a surgical RN you should hear how horrible they talk about that poor unconcious patient laying there! It would make your skin crawl to realize how mean they really are. . .

Each time I have gone for surgery, I especially request to speak to the anesthetia and the doctor just to request that they don't speak ill of me while I'm unconscious. . . isn't that sad, they usually look at me with a surprise, and when i tell i used to work in surgery, they look embarrassed. . .

Edited September 16, 200916 yr by Erykah

I'm sorry your doctor made you doubt your decision - shame on him!!!

My first fill was 3 cc. My second fill I only wanted 0.5 cc(we had a son getting married a few days later and I didn't want any issues at the wedding) and I really wasn't doing too badly. My doc was very agreeable with that and simply said if it isn't enough, come back and we'll give you more. Sure enough, 2 weeks later I was back and asked for 2 cc (to put me at 5.5). At first he seemed surprised, but said he would have typically reversed my last two fills anyway and ended up at the same point, so had no problem with it. He just told me to make sure I called if I had any problems.

You know your body and how you are doing so stick to your guns about what you want and need. Our docs have the skills and technical knowledge to get us to this point, but we are the ones living with the band.

Your doc sounds like a bit of a bully. I won't have my first fill until 10/8/09 and have already been advised that my doc will do no more than 1cc at a time. Considering that I read about people getting their 1st fills 4 weeks post-op as opposed to the 8 weeks I am waiting and then reading about people getting 3 & 4 ccs at a time, I guess you could say he is conservative. After reading about the problems some people with more aggressive doctors seem to have, I am more and more pleased with the conservative approach my doc is taking.

It's your body and your band. Do what you feel is right. I just had a fill this past Friday (got 1/2 a cc). Saturday I was fine. Sunday and Monday, I couldn't even keep Water down.

My doctor's office kept trying to put me off when I called on Monday afternoon to get an unfill, telling me that this rarely happens, blahblahblah just wait it out. Well I'd agree with waiting it out if I could get liquids down, but I couldn't!

They managed to get me in Tuesday morning first thing. My surgeon took a quarter of a cc out and I had immediate relief! I'm telling you, I'll take a month with no restriction over two days of being too tight. It's horrible. Glad you're back to being comfortable!

Thankyou all so much for making me feel like I did the right thing. Of course I want to lose weight, but I also didn't want to have to come home (I live an hour away from the office) and just have to go back again because I was having troubles with it...and the fact that I could still feel the Water there in my chest made me feel as though that was going to happen.

My doctor is my surgeon and I know that they usually have incredibly poor bedside manners,..he has always been blunt even with my pre-op appointments.Its not that that bothered me, its the fact that I walked away feeling as though I shouldn't have gone against his suggestion and now I'm just hoping beyond hope that I will lose weight with just the 5cc in (instead of the 5.5cc I would have been upto if I hadn't of had him take out the .5) to prove him wrong.

I honestly don't understand how I couldn't lose weight with a top up of a whole 1 mil when the .3 that the doc last time put in (a different and obviously more conservative doc that was filling in for mine) even made an affect.

Has anyone else found good restriction at just 5cc??

Thanks again for all of your comments - it really has helped!!

Edited September 17, 200916 yr by TeganRheana

You know your body and you did the right thing. Don't ever let him try to convince you to get a larger fill than you think you need. My surgeon is aggressive with fills. My friend was banded by him 2 weeks before me and she received 4ccs at the first fill. I knew I didn't need that much, so I asked the PA to do half. She did and when the water stayed in my chest, like it did you, so she immediately removed 1 of the ccs she had just put in. Both of my 2 fills were only for 1cc each. That is all I need. If you stick to your guns, you may escape ever being too tight...My friend experienced that, and it isn't pretty.:tt1:

the point of sitting in the doc's office and drinking that liquid is to see if you're too tight. And if so, to have some taken out. My doc does that. I had a complete unfillin January due to reflux issues and two weeks later, he was willing to put all 8 back in...we settled for 7 and let me tell you, you can feel it, like someone standing on your chest. Went back in two weeks for the other cc. You're the boss. You get to decide.

Has anyone else found good restriction at just 5cc??

Hello TeganRheana,

I have a 10cc band with either 4.5cc or 5cc (I can't remember exactly now for some reason). I am now back to the level I was when my band got too tight and I had to have some taken out.

I have good restriction. Although I am losing at a snail's pace right now. But I am happy with my health and body at this size and am not highly motivated to work harder at losing.

When I had my last fill, the first few days were wonderful. I was not hungry, could make excellent choices, and was full for quite a while on one small meal. Then my appetite seemed to return to the same level as the previous fill. I don't know what happened with that. I know the band can be volatile, but dang! And I have had three stuck episodes over the last week, so I really do not want to go tighter.

My doc is very conservative on fills and we speak a lot before deciding on how much to put in. And he listens to what I have to say. He says he'd rather we sneak up on the sweet spot than go over then under then over....chasing it like crazy.

I hope your relationship with your doc improves.

Denise

Thanks again everyone for all your support. I honestly feel as though I did do the right thing, especially after hearing what you all had to say!! :biggrin: I will definately be sticking to my guns again next time too!! Thankyou!!

My first fill I had 1 cc added, then the second fill had 2 cc's added which brought it up to 4 cc's. A few days after the fill I got stuck, and felt very tight several days after that. I decided to have some taken out, my Dr got me in right away. They took out .5 cc's and I felt much better. I am not as tight as some people would prefer I guess, but I don't get hungry between meals, and am still loosing weight. I am loosing slower, but for me that is ok. I think you did the right thing. My Dr is 2.5 hrs away, and it really sucked to have drive back just 5 days apart, so I will do fills .5 cc's at a time, just so I don't have to do that again. I guess some people would like to have more restriction that I do at this time, because I can still eat just about anything, but I prefer not to feel stuck. Your Dr doesn't have to live with it, so he should do as you want.