My first fill

I had my first fill today and now feel like a proper bandit! It went really well, didn't hurt a bit and was all over in 10 minutes! I arrived and only waited 10 minutes in the waiting room before being called through. First I was weighed, and Dr Ashton was very encouraging about my weight loss to date. He said that studies show weight loss during the first eight weeks after surgery is an excellent indicator of total long term weight loss. If this is true for me, I am looking forward to long term success - which is really good news.

In the x-ray suite I had to lie down on a horizontal bed with my feet resting on a metal base plate at the bottom. Then the bed was tilted upwards so that it was almost vertical. To my right was a 'TV' screen on which I could see my insides via the x-ray. I could clearly see the outline of my stomach, the band and the tube going from the port to the band. While in this position, Dr Ashton asked me if there had been any foods I had struggled to eat. As he asked I thought that the question seemed a bit out of the blue and wondered if he was using it as a distraction technique. Just as I started to answer him he stuck the needle in my port! It honestly did not hurt at all. In fact it was considerably less painful (if 'pain' really is the right word) than getting a blood test done. Dr Ashton then removed 1.5ml from my band. He said that during the initial surgery they usually ensure there is no fill or very little left in the band, but sometimes a little solution stays behind - 1.5ml in my case.

I then had to take a mouthful of barium which is a very thick (yoghurt consistency), white, chalky mixture (pretty tasteless). When he said 'go' I had to swallow it, and as I did so, I could see on the screen a black liquid slowly coming down my oesophagus. As it got close to the band it just went straight through and spread out like the branches of a tree on the other side (into my 'main' stomach). This was a good indication that there was now no restriction from my band at all. I then had 5ml put into the band and went through the barium swallowing procedure again. This time, I could clearly see on the screen that the liquid was slowing down as it approached the band. I could see a small pouch expand as the liquid slowly passed through into my main stomach. Dr Ashton tried adding a further 1ml, bringing the total to 6ml. This time, the liquid did not pass through the band but actually started going back up the oesophagus. It tried to go down and through the band a second time, then went up again (although I could see this, I couldn't feel it coming up). This was an indication that the band was too tight. With that extra 1ml then removed, Dr Ashton felt that I had a really good amount of restriction without the band being too tight.

That was really the end of that. I did up my buttons and put on my coat while the doctor was filling in my record card. I was asked to sit in the waiting room and drink a cup of water. If that went down OK I could go home. It did, so I went. So, I have 5ml fill in a 10ml band.

I now have to drink only fluids for three days, then eat mush for three days, and then go back onto solids. I have to wait for a minimum of 2 weeks until I can have another fill - if I think that I need one. I've been drinking fine since the fill and have had two lots of smooth soup without any problem.

Overall, it was a very interesting and reassuring experience. I have read some horror stories on other forums and had visions of the doctor taking ages to find the port and prodding me around painfully until he found it, or the port perhaps lying on its side or something. But no, he just put his hand lightly on my tummy and said 'a little scratch', and in it went, very easily like a hot needle into butter. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed now that once I start on solid foods again in six days time, I will start to feel some restriction. This might enable me to ease up a little on the food weighing and calorie counting which is a bit of a pain!