First Fill Disaster!!!

I have made changes below!

Doctors differ on how much to give for a first fill. He may want to start slow to avoid irritating your stomach at this early date.

My doctor always does fills under fluoro. I like it that way, so he can check the band position and watch the fluids going through the band.
An inconvenience, but not a disaster.

Well, we are certainly being negative this week, aren't we? You don't know you will have no restriction for the next 6 weeks; you are assuming it. Some people's reactions to fills change over the first week or so after a fill, and sometimes a fill kicks in a couple weeks later.

To quote an old celebrity, "Most people are just about as happy as they decide to be." From both your posts you have decided that this isn't working for you and you are going to have problems, even before you have any evidence whatsoever that that is the case. I thought about being sweet and supportive, but it just isn't my nature. So, stop whining!

I would stay away from the crackers. No food value, high in carbs, make you hungry.

kaninag:

I've had experience with getting fills and not feeling the complete benefit for up to ten days. So, relax and give your tummy some time to cooperate with the new fill. It may take as many as ten days to feel it.

Good luck with finding restriction.

Sue

Weird, I don't see anything you've written. I just see three smiley faces...

kaninag:
I read your posts before you deleted them. I'm sorry you felt you needed to do that. I think your concerns were legitimate! I am not yet banded and reading stuff like that helps me prepare for what could happen to me! My doctor doesn't routinely use fluoro either, but I can see the advantages. I'm glad you got more put in than you first thought you would!
I think you were resonded to unfairly. I didn't know restriction could come so long after a fill. This stuff we learn as we experience it, or learn it through the wisdom of others. I'm sorry you weren't supported in the way you needed.
~C

hi snowbird, i had my first fill today and he missed. the doc. stuck me 4 times and it hurt. so, he sched. me for a fluor in 2 days. my question is , do they put u to sleep to do this or just numb ur tummy. please answere asap since im gonna do it thursday. im worried. thank brenda in alma, arkansas, email me at 'chubgirl2003@yahoo.com

A fluoroscopy isn't an internal gastric scope; it's just an external real time x ray machine. You drink a sip of barium liquid, and the xray machine picks it up on its screen. You can see your stomach, your band, your port, and the barium liquid going through the band on the fluoro screen. You won't need any anaesthesia or sedation to undergo it. It's not any more involved than the fill without fluoro, other than the barium swallow. The barium is a bit chalky, like Mylanta or Maalox, but certainly not horrible.

I'm very glad my doctor always uses fluoro for fills, because it helps avoid your experience of being stuck four times! Hope it goes well Thursday; don't worry, it should be easier than your experience today.

There are fill "disasters" very rarely; once in a great while a doctor working without fluoro will puncture the tube so it has to be replaced, or the port flips over and has to be repositioned due to stitches coming loose or excess abdominal movement soon after surgery. And those occurrences barely qualify as disasters as they are easily and routinely fixed. Having fluoro with a fill certainly doesn't qualify as a disaster; for many doctors it is SOP. I hate to see new bandsters upset with terms like "disaster" when it was merely a delay of 24 hours in getting the fill.

Ths fluro was GREAT...1 stick and I could watch everything on the monitor. He didnt put me to sleep or anything...but I got a prescription from him the day before for numbing cream bc he spent 10 min trying to find the port the day before and my stomach was still really sore.....

sorry i didnt constitute my concerns as whining snowbrd...

* I didnt have to drink anything!

Some ppl consider being stuck a bunch of time over a 10 min timeframe a bit of a disaster...if you would have seen the bent needle when it came out of my stomach you would have been worried too.....but my story that I deleted was this ( I DELETED IT BC SNOWBRD WAS SO VERY RUDE IN RESPONSE AND I BELEIVED THAT PPL ARE ON HERE TO LEARN!!!!!!! not to be told their whining and so forth bc I was just trying to learn what to expect)

Monday I went to my doc for 6 week eval he said lets fill and he was going to put 2 cc in my 14 cc band...no LUCK I was hurting BIG time after I left bc he tried for about 10 min or more to get my port and when he pulled the needle out it was all bent...I am a nurse and have never seen a needle bend like that...he said it was bc I had a lot of scar tissue there...so imagine how painful that was....he scheduled me for fluro and since it was so difficult to get he put in 3 cc instead of just 2.....he said I could go to a reg diet and not worry about liquids etc. I didnt eat until luch....I just drank water all morning......so MY QUESTIONS WERE AS FOLLOW:

1. When I ate lunch there was NO restriction...is it going to be like this until I see him again in 6 weeks???
2. Should I call him and see him sooner if I dont notice any restriction.
3. Anyone else had this prob and have to have fluro?

I dont mind the fluro 1 bit...in fact I am glad that he used it bc it only took a couple of minutes and I got to see my actual port in my body..pretty cool.....SO I dont think I am whining when I express my concerns ABOUT MY BODY.....I am VERY happy with having the band and cant wait for pounds to shed.......SO PLEASE BE HONEST BUT KIND in your posts to ppl who have had a bad day.......you'll make them feel a lot better and thats what we're all here for is to help ppl and give them our experiences.....not piss them off so that they'll never come back here.

I do apologize. My answer was rude and judgmental. Hope the fill works and you are on your way! Keep asking questions and don't let the occasional butthead drive you away (yeah, that would be me.)

i would like to have known what KANINAG was going to say as well. we all come to these forums for help and advice because the problems we bandsters have are not exactly something you can talk about with just anyone. this place is a lifeline for me, and im sure it is for others as well. and by gosh if you need to bitch and moan then we are all here for eachother! this is a life-altering, HARD change and sometimes it sucks!! so if ya dont have anything nice to say, and ya cant be supportive, dont say anything at all! :)

Listen, thanks bunches to everyone...snowbird I appreciate your apology and I to apologize bc I was a BI***** and ***** when I snapped back at you so quickly......
And its true we cant talk to just anyone about this....I try to tell my husband about my fill and he is concerned but doesnt understand....

NOW, update.....my fill seems to be showing a little more retsriction. I had a very *mushy* dinner last night and usually I wake up in the mornings absolutely starving....this morning I wasnt hungry :)
So I think that it is going well.I dont know if I am supposed to fill any other difference or not.....even if there is no restriction for the next 6 weeks til my follow up I am def going to *diet* bc I want to continue losing weight....GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!!

My last fill took several days to kick in. I have no idea why. Asked my Dr yesterday and she said that happens to ppl a lot but no idea why. I got another fill yesterday and felt it imediately. I hope it doesn't get tighten during the next few days. Snowbird, I really admire the way you apoligized. You are a nice person! I wrote a nasty response to someone one day (so afraid of needles they didn't want surgery) and when I hit submit it dissapeared into cyber space. I'm so glad! I would have needed to write an apology!