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Fill?.. Empty?... Refill?....


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Hello,

My name is Bella; I am new to the forum and the idea of getting a Lap-Band, it is scary but at the same time exciting :rolleyes: . I have a lot of questions and one of them is; what does it means when you need "fill", "empty" or "refill" the Lap-Band, and how do you know you need to fill and empty and so on…. I am concerned that I will not know the difference.. or.. will I?... :huh:

Thank you, I appreciate your time.

Bella.

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Oh yes you will know. Empty means that the saline pouches in the lap band do not have anything in them, fill is referring to the fact that you are getting saline injected into the lapband, this is what makes the lap band a tool that can be modified to fit everybody's needs, as everyone has a different amount in their band. And a refill can be either after all the saline was taken out and put back in or can be that they are just adding more to the existing amount. I may not be 100% on these so if any other bandsters want to jump in and help that would be great.

The greater amount of saline in your band the more restricted you will feel. If it is very loose you will have zero to little restriction and too much you will be PBing and/or throwing up everything from spit to food. The point of the fills is to find the sweet spot so you can reduce meal sizes but still be able to eat nutritiously. Once you begin being able to eat more or being hungry you know you need a fill. A fill is given with a needle into the port site which has a tube leading to the band and inflates the band like a balloon. I am a needle phobe and it isn't nearly as bad as I thought!! Everybody has different fill amounts and usually go through several until their weight loss journey ends. Some people have 7 I have had just 3 (and one unfill yesterday....tooo tight!!) in one year. It really depends on the person, their size, and their ability to take small bites, chew chew chew, and eat nutritiously. I hope this answered some of your question. Let us know if you have more!

Jacklyn

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