Emergency Unfill

I went into my doctor for a fill where he put in 1cc. That day I had soup and water and was fine. About 3 am that morning I woke up choking and then everything I had that day it seemed came back up. I was then unable to keep anything down including water. I made an emergency appointment at one of my docs partner places as he went on vacation. This was the next day after the fill. Upon going to the other place they did a barium swallow only to learn I was at 100% restriction. The images I saw on the x-ray were down right scary. Im not sure if any of you have ever seen the x-ray image of a swallow but to see the barium backup and bounce up and down the esophogus was kind of creepy. So after an unfill of 4 cc's due to the swelling and a small grape slush from Sonic per the doctor for the swelling I finally can eat and keep water down. In 30 hours from the time of the fill to the time I got into see the doctor I lost 15 lbs. I was lethargic and weak and am finally getting my energy back.

Just as a warning to everyone out there dont do what I did and wait. If you feel something is wrong call your doc immediatly.

WOW!  Hang in there and get feeling better.  I can't even imagine 100% restriction.

So sorry that happened to you! It's super scary to have that happen! I had to have an emergency unfill the day after christmas. I couldn't eat, drink or swallow my own saliva for christmas eve or christmas day (my birthday, talk about a downer lol). I had to drive 4 hours to the nearest emergency room that my surgeon's assistant could see me in. i didn't have a barium swallow but it scared me to death knowing I couldn't even swallow my own saliva. I was in tears I was so scared! It was weird because it hit all of a sudden. I haven't had a fill since March of 2011 and then BAM I am way too tight! So I am currently unfilled and it is so hard to do this on an empty band. But, hopefully you are feeling better, I know I was right away. I will never take swallowing my own saliva for granted again =)

Take care!

Gee, so sorry you had to go through this.  I saw a power point about 4 months ago about what you could do to yourself if you kept your band too tight, and it scared the mess out of me.  I quit getting fills and quit losing.  Well, I am now getting fills again, because I did get this wls to lose weight.  My doc considers an agressive fill a .5, and I got that about 10 days ago.  I go back in about 10 more days and will probably get a less agressive fill.  The balance is very difficult.

 Hi guys - This is my first post on this site.  I just got my first fill ever (surgery was 6 weeks ago) and I'm frankly a little freaked out after reading what you guys have posted.  I had no idea that any of this sh__ could happen!  My first fill was 4 ccs and when the doctor handed me about a 2 oz. cup of water, it didn't feel right - it wouldn't go down easily, so he had me lay back down and he removed somewhere between a half and a full cc.  So, that means I'm at around 3 to 3.5 ccs.  Is that too much?  And what did one of you mean when you said that you hadn't had a fill for a long time and then you were suddenly too tight?  Do you mean that you just became too tight out of the blue or do you mean that you had a fill after a long time and then you became too tight?  Sorry if I'm rambling here, but pretty tired so my thoughts are somewhat sporadic.  I'm really regretting that I didn't get the gastric sleeve surgery instead at this point.  This band now sounds completely unpredictable.  If you can give me any pointers to avoid the bad things that can happen, I would really appreciate it.  And in response to the original post, I'm glad that you are okay now.  Poor baby!

 I came out of surgery with 3cc's already in my band and have done just fine. At almost 3 years out I have somewhere between 5.5 and 6.2 cc's in my band.  I've quit keeping exact track.. I just know I have good appetite control.  Everyone is different on the amount of fill they need to get good appetite suppression.  

And the band is not a static thing.. it changes on how well it suppress appetite from one day to the next.. most of the time the changes are small and barely noticeable and sometimes they're dramatic.

At 3 years out, I've yet to need an "emergency unfill".  Not to say it might not happen tomorrow.. but if it does, I'll deal with it.

It's very common to second guess yourself when you're fairly new to which ever surgery you chose.  I remember thinking early out that I really should've had the RnY after all (all that was being done in my area 3 years ago was the RnY & Band), but I decided.. you chose the band, let's give it your very best try and if it doesn't work out .. THEN let's investigate what's next.

Instead of focusing on the bad things that can happen, why not focus on the good?  Weight loss, regaining mobility, regaining health.. etc.

Hi Lisa, Thanks for your response.  I wrote my post after reading a multitude of negative things on the internet, and I overreacted.  I have been extremely positive about everything up to that point, and I'm back on track now.  I start with my personal trainer tomorrow, and I'm eating my meals very slowly, not drinking with meals, etc.  I know that I will use this tool to the best that I can, and I know that I will lose a lot of weight.

The thing is, it is very scary to a newbee, especially when you hear about erosion, revision surgeries, emergencies, etc.  I think that I reacted normally to everything that I read.  I'm reaching out for help on this forum and need reassurances, like you gave me, that these things don't happen to the majority of banders.  Also, people tend to post things when there is a negative situation easier than in a positive situation. 

I find it interesting that my surgeon chose to wait 6 weeks to give me any type of fill, and that you came out of the surgery already filled.  I have another question.  I thought that I would be full after eating a small amount of food, but I don't.  Is that normal?

Surgeons don't fill the band before you heal, sometimes there may be "priming fluid" in the band during surgery, but it is NOT the same as a fill. Fills can't be safely given until about 6 weeks post op.

That's what I thought, so I'm confused by Lisa's post above:
 
"I came out of surgery with 3cc's already in my band and have done just fine. At almost 3 years out I have somewhere between 5.5 and 6.2 cc's in my band."

Anyway, it's really inspiring to hear that you've lost 130!  Congratulations! Any pointers for me?  I'm trying to figure out why I'm not getting full after a cup of food, when I was filled for the first time last Weds.

 Oops, one more quick question.  Do any of you believe that the band is improved/safer today than it was, say, in 2007?