JaniceBlack Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 I just scheduled my fist fill for Jan. 5th 2009 YEA!! Please tell me how this process goes................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieB Posted December 5, 2009 Report Share Posted December 5, 2009 I just scheduled my fist fill for Jan. 5th 2009 YEA!! Please tell me how this process goes................. Hey there Janice - It really depends on where you go. If you are going to a provider who utilizes floro or not. Where I go, they use floro. It's a major hospital, so for the fill, I go down to radiology. They put me on a table that can stand all the way up. They put the floro machine or the x ray part over my tummy so the surgeon can see my port. Before they do the fill, they check out my esophogus, and stoma to make sure it looks right and is not disended or stretched. I do a barium swallow so they can see my restriction level and also to check me out. ( When they have you do the swallow, the table is up right, so you are nearly standing.) Then they insert a special needle called a huber needle into my stomach. This is a tiny pinch and mostly pressure. They have to make sure the needle is in the port. This feels weird. They put some saline in the band and tip you up to a near standing position to do a barium swallow. You can see the barium going down you into stoma and flow into your stomach. This I am told should take no more than 17 seconds to flow threw. They adjust the level by the way the barium flows threw. It's cool, quick and really painless. It is weird to be upright with the needle still in, but by no means does it hurt. I will say the needle is a larger one. So if you have a fear of the needle don't watch. The stomach is a great place to get poked, it is not super sensitive. It's a pretty neat process. I like watching every step of the way. Some places will put a topical on to numb the area. They don't where I go and personally I don't see the need for it. I do not fear needles and it is pretty cool! Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaniceBlack Posted December 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Hey there Janice - It really depends on where you go. If you are going to a provider who utilizes floro or not. Where I go, they use floro. It's a major hospital, so for the fill, I go down to radiology. They put me on a table that can stand all the way up. They put the floro machine or the x ray part over my tummy so the surgeon can see my port. Before they do the fill, they check out my esophogus, and stoma to make sure it looks right and is not disended or stretched. I do a barium swallow so they can see my restriction level and also to check me out. ( When they have you do the swallow, the table is up right, so you are nearly standing.) Then they insert a special needle called a huber needle into my stomach. This is a tiny pinch and mostly pressure. They have to make sure the needle is in the port. This feels weird. They put some saline in the band and tip you up to a near standing position to do a barium swallow. You can see the barium going down you into stoma and flow into your stomach. This I am told should take no more than 17 seconds to flow threw. They adjust the level by the way the barium flows threw. It's cool, quick and really painless. It is weird to be upright with the needle still in, but by no means does it hurt. I will say the needle is a larger one. So if you have a fear of the needle don't watch. The stomach is a great place to get poked, it is not super sensitive. It's a pretty neat process. I like watching every step of the way. Some places will put a topical on to numb the area. They don't where I go and personally I don't see the need for it. I do not fear needles and it is pretty cool! Hope this helps! Thank you for all your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieB Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Thank you for all your help! Congrats on setting up your 1st fill date! Woo hoo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawkchick75 Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 Super easy process! Mine uses and Xray, but not flouro. It takes no time at all and is fairly painless. On a scale of 1-10 i'd say the pain for me is a 1 or 2. When I go for a fill i'm in there literally about 10 minutes and that is mostly taken up by me asking questions of my fill nurse. I agree the needle is big so if they freak you out don't watch. Looks bad but really doesn't hurt and is a piece of cake. Best advice I can give you is don't expect a lot of your first fill. Not to be a negative ninny, but most folks feel basically nothing. Some get great restriction from their first and that is awesome, but don't bank on it. Just remember it is another step in the process. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orockz99 Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 I just hadmy first fill on Friday the 4th. I can eat solids today. I have pretty much no restriction. It is a little bit better that with no fill, so will probably need one or two more. I have 4.8cc's in an 11cc ban, I thought that that would be more than enough, but it was not. I did it without Floro, I wouldn't recommend it,if u can get it with at least an x-ray do that. The fill doc had to poke me several times and press really hard on my stomach b/c myport was really deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieB Posted December 6, 2009 Report Share Posted December 6, 2009 I just hadmy first fill on Friday the 4th. I can eat solids today. I have pretty much no restriction. It is a little bit better that with no fill, so will probably need one or two more. I have 4.8cc's in an 11cc ban, I thought that that would be more than enough, but it was not. I did it without Floro, I wouldn't recommend it,if u can get it with at least an x-ray do that. The fill doc had to poke me several times and press really hard on my stomach b/c myport was really deep. Yeah, I had 4 fills before I had restriction that stuck. What i mean is the first 1-3 I would have restriction, for a week maybe two, then poof, it would disappear. I was always saying, I hope this is the one. LOL I am going in for another fill tomorrow, to dial in to my "sweet spot" but then again, I will have to evaluate how I am in the morning as I have recently had some stress, that may indeed tighten me up. If that is the case, then I will reschedule. What else is there to do. Odette - under the circumstances you did wonderfully! I have been fortunate in I have had floro with each of my fills, which helps dial them in to the port. I have not had any poke or proding done. I suppose I would be the best person to be used as a pin cushion cuz needles don't bother me in the least. Sorry you had to endure that. Woo hoo! Girl you are on your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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