My Third Lap Band Fill

Hey Everyone, 

Yesterday my sister, Gillian and I took a two hour trip to Toronto so that I could get my third lap band fill. Despite already having had two previous fills I was extremely nervous and worried that the people at the clinic were going to judge/scold me for not having lost (and possibly having gained) weight since my last fill. Before getting my surgery last year, I met with the surgeon, a nurse and the patient co-ordinator. While they were all nice, each made a few stereotypical 'fat girl' comments like "You're going to have to stop eating at McDonald's" (I actually hate McDonald's food) and "You're going to have to listen when your Mom tells you not to go back for seconds" (believe it or not, I have never been a really big eater and I rarely go back for seconds) which really bothered me. 

The first thing they did when I got to the clinic was weigh me, and while I am always somewhat annoyed that their scale says I am 3lbs heavier than the scale I use at home, I was surprised and happy to hear that, while I hadn't lost any weight since my last fill, I hadn't gained any weight either. The nurse who did my fill then asked me about what I had been eating, my portion size and whether or not I felt satisfied for at least 2-4 hours between meals. I told her that while I had been eating much healthier than in the past, I found the allotted one cup of food at meal time wasn't satisfying and that I was feeling true hunger an hour or so after some of my meals. Based on that information and the fact that my previous .4cc fill was too tight, and my .1cc fill not tight enough, we decided I should have a .2cc fill this time around. 

To fill the band, the nurse sticks a large needle into my lap band port via my stomache. While the procedure looks somewhat gruesome (according to friends and family who have seen it being done), it has never really hurt, and while yesterday's was a little more painful  (the nurse had a hard time getting the needle into my port), it's nothing worse than getting blood taken. 

After receiving my fill, I was asked to drink a small cup of water to make sure it would go down properly (when my band was too tight, it was hard to swallow the water). The water went down perfectly, and I was sent home with instructions to eat soft foods for the remainder of the day (eggs, soups, smoothies, etc). 

The best part of the appointment was finding out that the clinic has decided to send a nurse to my city every 2 weeks to do at home fills. Having to travel two hours to the clinic and two hours back has always been difficult especially considering my fibromyalgia. The fact that I can now get fills in my own city will, hopefully, aid me in my weight loss. 

While I don't feel any difference today in terms of feeling more full and/or not being able to eat certain foods, the lap band fill can take up to 2 weeks to kick in. I am really hoping this fill will help me get to the 50lbs weight loss mark. 

As always thanks for your encouragement and support. 

xx
Alicia