First Fill experiance with

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

With so much talk of fills at Pac Surgical lately I thought I should

share my first fill experience.

I am 11 weeks post op. I lost 21 pounds in the first 4 weeks and have

been at a stand still for the last 6-7 weeks. At this point, my ability

to eat and the amount I could eat was about the same as a normal adult

serving (but still less than I could pre banded). I haven't been giving

as much thought to eating with my band as I should because everything

has been going through so easily.

I was a bit leery of Pac Surgical with recent discussions of waiting

time and difficulties with fills, but I decided I was just going to go

with the flow. I wasn't nervous about the fill...which oddly enough

worried me (if that makes any sense). I thought that all of the

nervousness would hit me on the table and I would freak out seeing a big

horse needle coming at my stomach.

My appointment was at 3:30. I arrived at 3:20 with my mother as support

(she was determined that I would somehow be unable to drive after such

an experience). I checked in, signed the New Patient form and HIPPA

form, and paid. I sat down and picked a magazine but was called back

after about 2 minutes. I hopped on the table and exposed my belly. The

technician immediately located my port with the flouro machine and but a

mark on the spot. then came in and introduced herself. After a

few questions about my current eating abilities and weight loss she

double checked the location of the port and commented on how Dr Kuri is

using the new compact ports. I was determined to not be nervous (but I

was...I just pretended I wasn't). approached me with a tiny itty

bitty little IV sized needle (not the horse needle I was imagining) with

a long IV type tube attached to it. She quickly and PAINLESSLY put the

needle in. She asked me to tighten my stomach muscles and then pushed

the needle into the port. EASY EASY!! She put in 1 cc and I sipped the

barium and watched it go through my band. It went through well so she

put in .5-.6 cc more. It went through fine but backed up a little so

she took out just a bit of that leaving me with about 1.3 cc. I drank

some more barium, and some water. All was well.

I walked out of the office at 3:45!! All I can say is WOW! I had to

find my mom as she thought it would take much longer. I found her at

the café stand eating a smores!

I drank some water and was surprised that I had to SIP the walk, not

chug the entire bottle like I normally do. I would sip and it would sit

in my pouch and slowly drain (but not too slow). This is actually were

I got nervous. I had just taken away my ability to each whatever I

wanted...what if something got stuck....what if I can't eat enough food

to function... I was freaking out about having to worry about taking a

1/2 tylenol because it may be too big. After about 1 1/2 hours my

nervousness turned into excitement that I am back in the game...I'm

going to lose weight again.

I'm very surprised by the psychological impact the fill had, which I had

not expected or prepared for. It was interesting and actually fun.

This morning I stepped on the scale and I dropped 2 pounds from

yesterday. I'm floored my the immediately results of this experience.

In summary...I highly recommend from Pac Surgical.

June 17, 2004

258.5 / 235 / 190 mini goal

Dr. Kuri

[Guest guest]

Glad your experience was so easy - almost all are!

Just to answer other's questions (I've received a few already) :

There are several types of Huber needles that csn be used. most fill

people use the straight 1.5 inch Huber without any IV tubing

attached. Others can use, with a very shallow port, the 1-inch

straight or right-angle Hubers that DO have IV tubing attached. All

these needles are the same diameter, and the length does not matter,

since either will only be pushed in to the depth your port requires.

One may LOOK bigger than another, but they are not.

With a good fill, the stoma is about the size of a #2 pencil's pink

eraser. Guage your pills by this. And it NEVER hurts to cut up solid

pills - pieces will always go through easier. A whole tylenol will be

too big for a few people. The larger 500-mg antibiotic caps and the

huge vits, calcium, or E capsules are often too big - so request

smaller sizes of what you need, or use the chewable calcium like

Viactiv or it's generics. Always wash ALL meds completely through

with a full glass of water. ANY med can damage the stoma if it sits

against it. Mucous membranes are very fragile.

The hydration level fluctuates in our bodies every day, as much

as 1-4 #. That's why weighing daily can drive you crazy - it measures

mostly the water loss and the ups and downs from it. Weighing WEEKLY

will give you a better idea of true FAT loss.

You haven't " taken away your ability to eat! " The band will just

remind you that you must make better choices about foods and

quantities. You can also drink as much as you want, sipping instead

of gulping. The band will just refine your eating habits!

Fills under flouoscopy can sometimes give an additional clue about

what a good level *might* be, but it is still a VERY inexact science.

Barium acts entirely different than water or food, and any stoma

swelling will occur *after* the barium swallow.

Good luck with this fill, - hope it ends up the " perfect " one!

Sandy RN

approached me with a tiny itty

> bitty little IV sized needle (not the horse needle I was imagining)

with

> a long IV type tube attached to it. She quickly and PAINLESSLY put

the

> needle in. She asked me to tighten my stomach muscles and then

pushed

> the needle into the port. EASY EASY!! She put in 1 cc and I

sipped the

> barium and watched it go through my band. It went through well so

she

> put in .5-.6 cc more. It went through fine but backed up a little

so

> she took out just a bit of that leaving me with about 1.3 cc. I

drank

> some more barium, and some water. All was well.

>

> I drank some water and was surprised that I had to SIP the walk, not

> chug the entire bottle like I normally do. I would sip and it

would sit

> in my pouch and slowly drain (but not too slow). This is actually

were

> I got nervous. I had just taken away my ability to each whatever I

> wanted...I was freaking out about having to worry about taking a

> 1/2 tylenol because it may be too big. > This morning I stepped on

the scale and I dropped 2 pounds from

> yesterday. I'm floored my the immediately results of this

experience.

>

> In summary...I highly recommend from Pac Surgical.

>

>

> June 17, 2004

> 258.5 / 235 / 190 mini goal

> Dr. Kuri

[Guest guest]

Actually, this isn't true. Time release drugs should not be cut up -- you'll

get the whole dose at once. There are lots of drugs that are time release

but don't really come right out and say it. For example, I take Paxil and

Wellbutrin. Both are time release. Please be careful with your medications,

and ask your doctor!

Sylvia F

290\220\150

2/23/4 - Dr. Watkins

_____

From: Sandy [mailto:MoonshadowRN@...]

Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2004 10:29 AM

<snip>

And it NEVER hurts to cut up solid

pills - pieces will always go through easier. A whole tylenol will be

too big for a few people. The larger 500-mg antibiotic caps and the

huge vits, calcium, or E capsules are often too big - so request

smaller sizes of what you need, or use the chewable calcium like

Viactiv or it's generics. Always wash ALL meds completely through

with a full glass of water. ANY med can damage the stoma if it sits

against it. Mucous membranes are very fragile.

<snip>

Good luck with this fill, - hope it ends up the " perfect " one!

Sandy RN

approached me with a tiny itty

> bitty little IV sized needle (not the horse needle I was imagining)

with

> a long IV type tube attached to it. She quickly and PAINLESSLY put

the

> needle in. She asked me to tighten my stomach muscles and then

pushed

> the needle into the port. EASY EASY!! She put in 1 cc and I

sipped the

> barium and watched it go through my band. It went through well so

she

> put in .5-.6 cc more. It went through fine but backed up a little

so

> she took out just a bit of that leaving me with about 1.3 cc. I

drank

> some more barium, and some water. All was well.

>

> I drank some water and was surprised that I had to SIP the walk, not

> chug the entire bottle like I normally do. I would sip and it

would sit

> in my pouch and slowly drain (but not too slow). This is actually

were

> I got nervous. I had just taken away my ability to each whatever I

> wanted...I was freaking out about having to worry about taking a

> 1/2 tylenol because it may be too big. > This morning I stepped on

the scale and I dropped 2 pounds from

> yesterday. I'm floored my the immediately results of this

experience.

>

> In summary...I highly recommend from Pac Surgical.

>

>

> June 17, 2004

> 258.5 / 235 / 190 mini goal

> Dr. Kuri

[Guest guest]

I was glad to hear of your positive experience with Pac Surgical. I

have been debating on whether or not go back to Mexico for my first

fill with Dr. Kuri or have it done in Olympia. Thanks for re-

asurrance your posting made for me.

Deb

> Hi all,

>

> With so much talk of fills at Pac Surgical lately I thought I

should

> share my first fill experience.

>

> I am 11 weeks post op. I lost 21 pounds in the first 4 weeks and

have

> been at a stand still for the last 6-7 weeks. At this point, my

ability

> to eat and the amount I could eat was about the same as a normal

adult

> serving (but still less than I could pre banded). I haven't been

giving

> as much thought to eating with my band as I should because

everything

> has been going through so easily.

>

> I was a bit leery of Pac Surgical with recent discussions of

waiting

> time and difficulties with fills, but I decided I was just going

to go

> with the flow. I wasn't nervous about the fill...which oddly

enough

> worried me (if that makes any sense). I thought that all of the

> nervousness would hit me on the table and I would freak out seeing

a big

> horse needle coming at my stomach.

>

> My appointment was at 3:30. I arrived at 3:20 with my mother as

support

> (she was determined that I would somehow be unable to drive after

such

> an experience). I checked in, signed the New Patient form and

HIPPA

> form, and paid. I sat down and picked a magazine but was called

back

> after about 2 minutes. I hopped on the table and exposed my

belly. The

> technician immediately located my port with the flouro machine and

but a

> mark on the spot. then came in and introduced herself.

After a

> few questions about my current eating abilities and weight loss she

> double checked the location of the port and commented on how Dr

Kuri is

> using the new compact ports. I was determined to not be nervous

(but I

> was...I just pretended I wasn't). approached me with a tiny

itty

> bitty little IV sized needle (not the horse needle I was

imagining) with

> a long IV type tube attached to it. She quickly and PAINLESSLY

put the

> needle in. She asked me to tighten my stomach muscles and then

pushed

> the needle into the port. EASY EASY!! She put in 1 cc and I

sipped the

> barium and watched it go through my band. It went through well so

she

> put in .5-.6 cc more. It went through fine but backed up a little

so

> she took out just a bit of that leaving me with about 1.3 cc. I

drank

> some more barium, and some water. All was well.

>

> I walked out of the office at 3:45!! All I can say is WOW! I had

to

> find my mom as she thought it would take much longer. I found her

at

> the café stand eating a smores!

>

> I drank some water and was surprised that I had to SIP the walk,

not

> chug the entire bottle like I normally do. I would sip and it

would sit

> in my pouch and slowly drain (but not too slow). This is actually

were

> I got nervous. I had just taken away my ability to each whatever I

> wanted...what if something got stuck....what if I can't eat enough

food

> to function... I was freaking out about having to worry about

taking a

> 1/2 tylenol because it may be too big. After about 1 1/2 hours my

> nervousness turned into excitement that I am back in the game...I'm

> going to lose weight again.

>

> I'm very surprised by the psychological impact the fill had, which

I had

> not expected or prepared for. It was interesting and actually fun.

>

> This morning I stepped on the scale and I dropped 2 pounds from

> yesterday. I'm floored my the immediately results of this

experience.

>

> In summary...I highly recommend from Pac Surgical.

>

>

> June 17, 2004

> 258.5 / 235 / 190 mini goal

> Dr. Kuri