Are you exploring gastric band surgery? Have you recently had gastric band surgery and are recovering and concerned that you feel “off the band”? Do you wonder what your first girl will be like?
I am a successful gastric band patient. I had surgery in 2006 and have maintained a normal, healthy weight for two and a half years. I mentor many gastric band patients. They ask me frequently asked questions about girls. One of the questions I hear a lot is “What should I expect at my first filling appointment.” This was my experience.
It is September 28, 2006. This is the day of my second post-op appointment and I am awaiting my first gastric band filler.
Just got back from my first road trip since getting bandaged. I am already 6 weeks post-op and I am HUNGRY! I’m learning what they mean by feeling “unbanded!” I am completely healed and I am HUNGRY. I listened intently as other people talked about this feeling in frustration at a gastric banding only support group meeting. I knew I was expecting this, but now it’s happening to ME! This is starting to feel more like a diet and I’m scared.
I found myself counting down the minutes until the end of my last meeting before I was able to leave my office for a short trip to my doctor’s office. I’m putting a lot of hope into the chances of this first fill. The day is beautiful; I have the music at full volume. I’m also hoping for a filler that will give me the edge I need to make this different than all the other diets I’ve been on.
At my last appointment, we decided to postpone a fill because my weight loss was good, I was still adjusting to my band, and I probably wasn’t fully healed. I got stuck on a finely chopped tuna salad (no veggies) for traveling out of the country. So here I am very excited in anticipation of my first daughter.
As I sit in the waiting room checking on the other patients, I keep wondering about skinny people: are they really weight-loss surgery patients?
I hear my name called. First stop the scale. OK, does holding my breath make me weigh more or less? Here it goes. Goodbye 200 forever! I had lost 4 1/2 pounds in the last 2 weeks and did it while traveling.
My surgeon is happy with my progress (and I think my enthusiasm). We reviewed my food and choice diary. He tells me there really is very little to change and it’s time for my first fill.
Upstairs on the exam table my doctor checks my incisions, everything has healed well. This is an in-office setting. My doctor usually doesn’t do fillers under fluoroscopy. He locates my port easily, by touch. I’m not really afraid of needles, so I decide to look. Actually, everything is quite simple. Clean the skin, insert the needle (yes, a fill really is just a needle stick), pull the syringe out to clear the system, unscrew the syringe, add saline to the syringe, reattach it to the needle, and add fluid . That’s right, my first daughter. It amazes me how simple this is and how that small amount of liquid can make all the difference.
My doctor warns me about going back to old eating habits. “The band is just a tool, he says, YOU have to work it.” He then places a Band-Aid over the needle stick area and tells me to drink fluids for the rest of the day. I also need to drink 3 glasses of water in the waiting room before they return me to my new life in bands.
I’m really on my way and I can’t help but sing at the top of my lungs as I get back to my car because I left the 200 for good! I call my mentor to share the good news. I’m also hoping to get a good restriction with this filling, that as I progress back to solids, I’ll be satisfied with small portions and not be hungry between meals. We’ll see (and I hope).
