Might upset some

just curious....is this your first fill?  the amount put in should not be excessive to begin with on a first fill....should never be an overfill....I have had 8 fills never with an exray and my dr. ha**** the port the first time....every time.

Skye,  Yes it will be my first fill..........

good luck hun!!  I love my band!! *L*

first fill I wouldnt be a slight bit uncomfortable getting it without fluoro.The tech that does mine has done hundreds and hasnt had much trouble.That said I did have surgeon do a fill at one year out  and did overfill me.                                                                                                                                          Jason

when it really comes down to it I imagine how its filled is going to be up to the surgeon. Good luck with your band adventure as I will be joining you soon!!

My first fill was under fluro, however, I've had two done in the office w/out fluro.  My doc will only do fills w/out fluro for his patients that are self pay, such as me, and he will only give up to .25 cc's at a time.  The hospital charges $500 and he tries to help the selfpay patients and charges only $100 in his office.  I respect my surgeon's decisions and trust his ability to give me a fill, however, I believe if you feel only comfortable getting a fill under fluro, then you should.  Normally, surgeons that will give fills in the office w/out fluro have strict rules, my surgeon does anyway.  He'll only try three times, and if he can't access the port, you have to make an appt for fluro.  (The port truthfully is pretty easy to feel and access.)  He also makes me drink a full glass of water prior to leaving his office and again, the fills are very conservative.  He also requires fluro fills periodically to ensure the band is securely in place. I believe we are all entitled to our opinions and have to do what we feel most comfortable with.  Don't apologize for having a strong opinion..... Best wishes - Cathy

The best article I know of about this is the INAMED/ALLERGAN instructions to bariatric surgeons.  It specifies fluoroscope for fills. The reasons that my Doctor, William Neal, M.D. quoted for using fluoroscope were these: 1. Easy to locate the port. 2. Increases likelihood of a one-stick fill. 3. Decreases the likelihood of puncturing the tubing. 4. Decreases the likelihood of tearing the septum, the thin membrane that goes across the port. 5. Verifies that the fill needle is in the port before saline injection. 6. Prevents saline injection into abdominal viscera. 7. Verifies the position of the port, and allows port flip to be seen easily. 8. Visually confirms lack of esophageal spasms. 9. Visually confirms lack of pouch enlargement. 10. Visually confirms an open stoma at the conclusion of the fill. 11. Allows tighter stoma because the tech can add saline until the stoma closes, then BARELY OPEN IT back up. 12. Allows checking for a slipped band, and verifies correct placement of the band with each fill. Dr. Neal believes in fluoroscope so strongly he bought one when he opened his new office in Olympia, WA last year. http://www.pacsurgical.com/  Quoting: "We have nutritional and psychological counseling resources, scales (2) to 1000 lbs., an IV fluid hydration suite, a fluoroscopy suite for band adjustments and a large conference room for informational forums and support groups, all under one roof."

Thanks for the back up Wendell!!!

Your position on Fluoro and mine is identical. I wouldn't let ANY doctor attempt to hit a target the size of a DIME that is buried under MY FLESH unless they knew EXACTLY where they were going!

"While doing an adjustment under fluoro you can actually see if the barium is going thru the band or if it is getting held up in the esophagus....therefore a better chance in NOT being OVER FILLED" Actually, this is not true. You're more likely to get overfilled this way because barium is liquid and not solid food and doesn't behave anything like solid food and just because barium trickles through doesn't mean food will. Over the years, I've seen more people end up too tight because of fillgivers attempting to "see" proper restriction than via conservative blind fills. I cannot begin to count the number of times I've seen people post that they tried to get an unfill because they knew they were too tight but the surgeon/fillgiver insisted they were not too tight because of what it looked like under flouro. Jessie Ahroni is possibly THE most experienced fillgiver in the USA and she doesn't automatically do them under flouro....that says a lot to me. She doesn't have much of a problem with lots of overfilled patients, either. Every one of my 6 fills was done blind and my fillgiver (my surgeon or one of her colleagues) hit my port with one try. And some people DO need more than 3.5cc in a 4cc band to get ANY restriction. It doesn't insinuate there's a leak by any means. I've known of folks who've needed over 5ccs in a 4cc band and their systems had no leaks. My suggestion was that you clarify with your insurance company that fills are not part of the original surgery but are separate procedures that should not fall within the 90 day blackout period. I've seen insurance companies make this mistake before and it usually can be cleared up. Nancy