I had my first fill on September 18th.... I wrote about it on lapbanktalk.com, but I'll share my experience here:
I went and got my first fill today!
I'm jealous that some of you guys get a fill with an x-ray and barium swallow. But, my doctor does so many of these, that his nurse must do 10-20 fills/day, so I must say, she knows what she's doing!
I got a numbing shot (which, IMO, wasn't necessary... my threshold for pain is very high, and I've given myself a million shots in the abdomen when I was taking fertility meds!) and then she put 4cc's in band. I was STUNNED. I totally felt the band squeeze up on my stomach to the point of discomfort! I told her so when it happened, and she backed out 2cc's, and then slowly put in 1.5cc, and then I felt that choking feeling again.... so I ended up only getting 3cc's.
I do have an appointment in 2 weeks for another fill, this time, it will be 2cc's. The doctor said I could come back in yet another 2 week's time, and get another 1-2 cc's if I wanted to.
I asked how much fit in the band, and the nurse said 14cc's, but that about 4 of their patients actually have 16cc's in the band. I cannot fathom having 16cc's when I felt that 4cc's closed my stomach completely!
They gave me one of those little chubby bottles of water (perhaps 8-10 oz) and asked me to drink at least 1/2. If I didn't throw it up, I would be fine with the 3cc's. I drank 3/4 of the bottle, and felt totally FULL. I was just amazed!
Although I haven't been put on any type of food restriction, I've decided to put myself back on liquids for 2 days, and then mushies for 2-3 more before going back to regular foods.
Doctor says I'm exactly 40 pounds down from when I first met him in June. (my number on here reflects my weight lost from my highest weight this year: 265) He told me to say goodbye to them, because I'll never see those 40 pounds again I did tell him that I gained back 5 pounds from my low of 305 (the day I started eating regular food) and he said it was completely normal, and that some people gain a lot more than that.
I'm just thrilled again....... I hope the 3cc's gives me good restriction until my next fill on October 2nd. The doctor said that the 4cc's might not give me good restriction yet.... but then again, I couldn't handle the 4cc's either!
I'm still amazed at all of this, and feel blessed that I was able to have this surgery!
I'm jealous that some of you guys get a fill with an x-ray and barium swallow. But, my doctor does so many of these, that his nurse must do 10-20 fills/day, so I must say, she knows what she's doing!
I got a numbing shot (which, IMO, wasn't necessary... my threshold for pain is very high, and I've given myself a million shots in the abdomen when I was taking fertility meds!) and then she put 4cc's in band. I was STUNNED. I totally felt the band squeeze up on my stomach to the point of discomfort! I told her so when it happened, and she backed out 2cc's, and then slowly put in 1.5cc, and then I felt that choking feeling again.... so I ended up only getting 3cc's.
I do have an appointment in 2 weeks for another fill, this time, it will be 2cc's. The doctor said I could come back in yet another 2 week's time, and get another 1-2 cc's if I wanted to.
I asked how much fit in the band, and the nurse said 14cc's, but that about 4 of their patients actually have 16cc's in the band. I cannot fathom having 16cc's when I felt that 4cc's closed my stomach completely!
They gave me one of those little chubby bottles of water (perhaps 8-10 oz) and asked me to drink at least 1/2. If I didn't throw it up, I would be fine with the 3cc's. I drank 3/4 of the bottle, and felt totally FULL. I was just amazed!
Although I haven't been put on any type of food restriction, I've decided to put myself back on liquids for 2 days, and then mushies for 2-3 more before going back to regular foods.
Doctor says I'm exactly 40 pounds down from when I first met him in June. (my number on here reflects my weight lost from my highest weight this year: 265) He told me to say goodbye to them, because I'll never see those 40 pounds again I did tell him that I gained back 5 pounds from my low of 305 (the day I started eating regular food) and he said it was completely normal, and that some people gain a lot more than that.
I'm just thrilled again....... I hope the 3cc's gives me good restriction until my next fill on October 2nd. The doctor said that the 4cc's might not give me good restriction yet.... but then again, I couldn't handle the 4cc's either!
I'm still amazed at all of this, and feel blessed that I was able to have this surgery!