Getting My Fill: Tomorrow's My First Realize Fill

There's Restriction, Then There's Restriction

Tomorrow I go to get my first band fill. If you've done your homework, then you know that a fill is when your doctor does a little procedure to start filling the band that is lassoed just a bit under the top of your stomach. When the band is placed, it is placed empty. This provides some restriction. I haven't really been hungry much since the operation, with the exception of the first couple of days after. (My hunger was very, very stubborn.) But now I will have more restriction, which means that I probably won't be able to eat as much as I am now, and that I'm going to really have to pay attention to how big a bite I am taking.

So tomorrow I go to the office, and he will use a needle to inject saline into the port that he placed during my operation. The port is connected to the band by a little tube. The saline fills the band, and the band closes a little tighter on my stomach. I'll be able to eat even less than I have been (which ain't a whole lot!)

They recommend that you eat "band friendly" meals after this. That would be scrambled eggs, hot cereal, soup and the like. I'm wondering what the restriction is going to be like, since so far I haven't thrown up or gotten any food stuck or anything. A couple of times things have hung on the top of my stomach, and I've had to sit up straight, and crane my neck to get it to go down. But these are minor problems.

People say that after restriction you can throw up pretty easily until you get used to the tightness.This is a yucky proposition. I have been happily co-existing with the band, eating quite easily. I've been able to eat whatever I've tried to eat, no problem. So I'm not looking forward to the fill for that reason, and because I am a complete wimp.

Time to Confess

Of all the things I've obsession on over getting the operation, this is the biggest. I don't want him to put that needle in my port. I am a bit of a baby when it comes to needles. Actually, it all started because of a baby. I got gestational diabetes when I had my daughter, so from about month 5 on I had to inject insulin in just about the same place the port is sitting. Sometimes it was painless, sometimes it hurt like hell. So now I hate the thought of having another needle put there.

I'm planning to be a sport about it. I'll do my deep breathing, which has gotten me through childbirth, dental work, and every fight I've ever had with my hubby. It should work fine. I'm going to make a detailed post after the procedure, and I'm going to be honest.

You will have to have regular fills for the first three months after surgery, and then occasionally thereafter for the first three years after surgery. So get ready for a prolonged relationship with your doctor and everyone who works for him. Check in tomorrow evening to get the real nitty gritty on the fill. And take a couple of deep breaths for me, too.

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