Friday, February 26, 2010

As Promised

I promised I would fill you in on the details of my third fill the other day. Now pay attention closely kids...there's a lesson to be learned here. And boy, did I learn. Here's what transpired.

I had an early morning appointment for my third fill and I arrived ready to do battle. As it was quickly approaching my third month anniversary and I still did not feel any restriction I was prepared this time to go head to head with my lovely, yet conservative, surgeon. I was going to let him know that the time for action was today and we'd better get a move on these fill amounts or at this pace I was going to have grandchildren driving me to my fills. So in I marched with all the strength and determination of a Spartan army. I raised my shield, wielded my spear and commanded my surgeon's attention. I talked, he listened and then...he suggested a fill of 1 cc. WHAT!!! Are you smoking crack? No, I didn't say that but my expression did. I smiled. Then I politely informed him that we needed to do at least 1.5 cc as I needed to get on with this process and start utilizing this tool to my advantage. Guess what, he relented. I did a happy dance and away we went. He did reiterate the importance of going slowly with the fills but he understood my concern. 1.5 cc went in and then I sat up to drink my trial cup of cold water. I was so pleased with myself. I was being assertive about my care. Then...as I was drinking down the water thinking I will be closer to restriction, there was a sudden tightness all along the inner wall of my esophagus followed by a rumbling of volcanic proportion and then...water spewing all over the place...my own little internal TSUNAMI had let loose. My surgeon smiled and then started to laugh. "Too tight" he said. "Ugh" I said..."now I have to concede defeat!!!" I laughed. "I guess that's why you're the surgeon and I'm the patient" I said. "Okay. I'll let you have this one but no more baby fills" I told him. He was still laughing (good naturedly) as I wallowed in my defeat. He took out 0.5 cc and yes, it left me with good restriction. Lesson learned.

He did mention something very interesting as well. He said that some people have a smaller range in their ideal restriction (fill) zone than others. So even though I am not as filled as others, it doesn't mean I won't have the same restriction.

So far so good. I am very happy to feel restriction finally. This is going to make all the difference. I can't wait to weigh in on Monday and see how much the scale has moved. The spring in my step is back and my bruised ego is healing well.

6 comments:

THE DASH! said...

And there you have it lol. I always advocate (through having slow steady fills myself) that more is not necessarily better. I read some real horror stories about girls that had aggressive fills and then had to be unfilled. Though it's annoying to have to go in more often for the top-ups - just a squidge each time is way better than getting a big whack.I will never change my mind on this xx

I'm glad it all went ok in the end though. Good luck getting some of that wanted restriction.

Barbara said...

LOL.. as I read your post I was right there with you cheering on your drive... opps I guess that happens.. but the good news is that now you know where your tight zone is.. that should help you.. from what I have read, as you continue to loose.. you may need a tweak or two to maintain the restriction.. Best wishes for a good WL drop.

Kristin said...

Oh my, Elliana. How funny. Glad you had a good sense of humor about it, and that your surgeon did too. Enjoy that restriction!

Lap Band Groupie said...

LOL, great post and a good reminder. HOORAY for restriction!

Linda said...

I'm so glad you found restriction. It's amazing how much we can all differ in how much fluid it takes. Count yourself lucky that it only took three fills to get some - it took me awhile...
No complaining since I got there.
Have a great weekend!

Girl Bandit said...

LOL...it seems the surgeon does know best. I only have 2.25 mls in my band but think I am pretty tight and might be one of the lucky ones who find restriction early on. Good luck with this one