| Dr. Brinkley in Frederick, MD
Just got back from having my first fill (1.1 cc in a 4cc band). Dr. Susan Brinkley does them in her office (Frederick, MD) for a flat fee ($200) no fluoro. She's got a lap band herself, and does a lot of fills. (Unfortunately, only on the last Wednesday of each month.) She uses lidocaine to numb the area over the port. She says she tries to fill the band until it "bounces back" about .5 cc. when she lets up on the syringe. She then has you drink some cold water to see how the restriction feels and how many seconds before you feel it pass through the stoma (another gauge of restriction).
At any rate, for me, drinking the water created a sensation like it was about 2 weeks post surgery. I was able to drink an Atkins' Shake a few hours later and it did just fine. I can't tell yet how much restriction this will be for real (e.g., first thing in the morning).
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Kitten
Germantown,Maryland
Banded July 21,2005 by Dr. Lopez Corvala
Obesity Control Clinic/Tijuana
First fill 1.1 cc (8-31-05)
Second fill 1 cc (9-28-05)
5'4" 260=high/258=surgeryday/237 current/150goal | 
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