My First "Fill"

Today was my one-month check up appointment and I was very much hoping to get my band adjusted.  For the first month, my band was just settling in, but had not had any saline injected into it to cause restriction of food nor has it made me stay full after I eat. 

I have been eating more than I feel I should with the band, but that is normal according to some people on the Facebook Lapband Group that I have been talking to.  They said sometimes it takes a few adjustments/fills before I will feel the restriction that makes me feel full for longer and after eating less.

At my last doctor's appointment, they said I would maybe wait until May to get my first fill, and I was nervous they wouldn't do it today even though I knew I was ready.  The first thing I do when I get to my follow up appointments is fill out a bunch of paperwork. 

I answer questions related to my diet, times that I eat, how much I eat and if I get hungry soon after.  I identify if I have any questions or concerns I want to talk to them about and also include my exercise routine. 

Today will mark my 16th day in a row of exercise-- I've been walking, running intervals/hills, going to crossfit(will be starting back up tomorrow), and have played tennis a few times.  The only problem is that my left hip has really started to bother me, not allowing me to get comfortable at night when I'm trying to sleep and then today it has really prohibited me from moving around a lot.  So I have an inflamed hip, which isn't that big of a deal, but because I can't take ibuprofin due to increase risk of ulcers, I am going to have to hope I can find some chewable Tylenol that will do the trick.  My goal is to do some type of exercise 90 days in a row and I don't want my hip to get in the way of that.  

Once the paperwork was done, I went back to be weighed.  I had lost 4.6 pounds since my last visit for a total of 22.6 lbs since surgery.  They said that it was good progress-- the typical weight loss is 1-2 pounds each week-- but I guess losing that 18 lbs up front gave me high expectations because I am anxious to lose much more. 

Next, we talked to the dietician about how I've been tolerating my foods and about my protein and water intake.  Protein is going pretty well, but water is where I struggle.  I'm supposed to have 64 oz a day and I'm lucky if I get half of that in.  That is a big focus area for me over the next few weeks.

The dietician agreed it was time for a fill and let the Surgeon's assistant know, who usually performs my check ups.  She came in and explained how it would go and asked me some more questions about how much food I am able to eat compared to what I used to.  I told her I am probably eating 60% of what I'm used to, but the goal is really to eat a lot less than that.

She said sometimes it is hard to find the port on the very first fill and they have to go over and get it x-rayed to find it.  Luckily, that was not necessary for me.  The only pain I felt was the needle that numbed my stomach.  Then she got the saline shot out that was at least five inches long! When Spike saw it, he said "I don't really want to be in here for this."  But the assistant told him that it's not bloody or bad and not a big deal so he stayed.

I didn't feel a thing and all of a sudden heard Spike say "Wow, that's cool!" The way they know they have made it to the port is they put blue dye into it during surgery. That way when they stick a needle in the port, the blue dye will pop up in the syringe and you know you've made contact and can insert the saline. 

It literally took two minutes and then I was good to go.  I now have to have full liquids for the rest of the day, soft foods tomorrow and then I can go back on my regular diet.  I'm hoping this will at least get me eating a less amount of food and less often so I can meet my goal of losing 17.4 in the next five weeks.    It will be tough, but I'm ready! :-)