When fills go bad.

[CALF]

well..it's been 48 hours since I had my 3rd fill (not at OCC) and it's been an experience that I hope NO ONE ever has to endure. Long story short...I had a blind fill here in my hometown by a very reputable bariatric surgeon who does not use a fluoroscope. This was a decision made by myself and I have only myself to blame.

My first two fills were done by Dr. So at OCC and both times they went smoothly without any complications.

I don't seem to handle large fills very well and both my fills at OCC have been in the range of 2.6 - 2.4cc's. At the time of my 3rd fill I was at 5cc's in an 11 cc band

I had been feeling a lack of restriction over the past month and I decided to contact the local bariatric specialist to see if his office would provide a fill to a 'Mexican' lapband.

After much consultation the local doctor agreed to provide me with a 2cc fill. I received the fill at 4:00 on March 31. Now I had a total of 7cc's in my 11cc band.

I went out to his waiting room after the fill and drank a medium sized cup of water as advised. I experienced no problems getting it down.

I went grocery shopping after leaving the office...walked the dogs and upon arriving home had a medium glass of water with my Benefibre. Approx. 10 minutes later I started hiccupping..and then the P.B started followed by pain spasms & more hiccupping. I called the doctors office but by now it was 6:40 p.m and the office was closed with a message advising that patients go to the hospital if it was an emergency.

By 7:30 I was feeling better so I decided to tough it out and see how I felt in the morning. I had a few sips of water but the burbing and P.B's prevented me from keeping it down.

That night was the worst of my life. I was P.B'ing my own saliva..the pain in my chest was so bad I couldn't lay down. I finally dozed off sometime around 5:00 a.m

When I awakened around 8:00 I felt somewhat better and tried a spoonful of warm water. It went down so I had a few more over the course of the next hour. I decided to wait before calling the doctor to see if this thing had finally resolved. I continued to sip warm water for the next few hours...and by noon I decided to try a small cup of chicken broth.

The P.B came on before I had gotten half a dozen of small sips down. The spasm was so intense in my chest I thought that maybe I was going into cardiac arrest. I called the Dr.s office only to find that they had gone home at noon in preparation for the long Easter weekend.

For the next few hours I periodically P.B'd on my own saliva..that finally stopped around 5:00 p.m.

(I later found out why it ceased...I was so dehydrated at this point I no longer had enough saliva to bring the spasms forward)

My husband came home at 5:30..took one look at me and packed us off to the emergency room.

While waiting at emergency I received 2 litre's of electrolytes and saline, had extensive blood work done and an EKG. At 1:45 a.m they advised us that they could not locate a Huber needle nor was a specialist on the premises to remove my restrictive fill. We were advised to return at 11:00 that morning and they would have a bariatric specialist on the premises to remove the fill.

We went home..got 4 hours of sleep..and back to the emergency room I went. After a 2.5 hour wait I did get to see the bariatric doctor who skillfully removed the 2cc's of offending saline.

It was 45.5 hours of hell! My personal belief is that I should have had the fill done by fluoroscope. If this had been the case the fill doctor would have seen that 2cc's was too much restriction.

This might be a good time to add that I had done my preparaton for receiving this fill to the "T". I had been consuming plenty of water days previously..had a light dinner the night before 'fill-day' and for breakfast on the day of the fill I only had a yogurt with a large cup of Crystal Light, several more glasses of water during the morning and early afternoon and fasted for lunch.

From this day forward I will only have my fills done at OCC. And as a further bit of insurance I will schedule my return flight home to leave as late as possible on the following day just in case an un-fill is necessary.

So that's my story..and I hope none of you have to experience it for yourselves.

Phew..I'm getting too old for this kind of drama!!!!

[Apprehensive]

Thanks for sharing your information about fills. I have not had my first fill and now after reading what you have posted, I am so glad I decided to go back to OCC. It is something that everyone should consider. If one stops to think about the process, how will anyone know without the fluoroscope? Sounds like you really dehydrated quickly. Many people don't realize how fast a person can become dehydrated and then the real problem begins. So...thanks again for your post. Maybe this will prevent others from taking the wrong method for their fills.

Thank You

Apprehensive

[ValleyGirl]

I'm sorry you had to go through this. Unfortunately, if you are this sensitive to fills (I know I am) you may even have trouble with fills under fluoro in future. In December I went to OCC for a fill and it all looked fine but two weeks later I couldn't swallow my spit. A fill that is okay one day can still turn on you and tighten all of a sudden for no good reason. Just make sure you get very small fills, whether under fluoro or not. I'm just saying that there is no guarantee with fluoro- trust me.

Sabrina:)

[PAMMIE]

I'm sorry you had to go through this. Unfortunately, if you are this sensitive to fills (I know I am) you may even have trouble with fills under fluoro in future. In December I went to OCC for a fill and it all looked fine but two weeks later I couldn't swallow my spit. A fill that is okay one day can still turn on you and tighten all of a sudden for no good reason. Just make sure you get very small fills, whether under fluoro or not. I'm just saying that there is no guarantee with fluoro- trust me.

Sabrina:)

DITTO TO WHAT SABRINA SAID

YOU'VE GOT TO STILL HAVE SOMEONE LOCAL ALSO, LOCAL AFTERCARE IS REALLY IMPORTANT

[CALF]

DITTO TO WHAT SABRINA SAID

YOU'VE GOT TO STILL HAVE SOMEONE LOCAL ALSO, LOCAL AFTERCARE IS REALLY IMPORTANT

Good to know ladies...I see from reading your signature that you have much experience on this topic as regards to fills and unfills..Wow..whoever thought it would/could get so complicated!!

The situation here on the island where I live is that there are only three doctors within an 8 hour "local" area that have the expertise to deal with either a fill or unfill...and the only one that reluctantly conceeded (on a one time trial basis) to deal with a 'Mexican' band doesn't use a fluoroscope. None of the three are willing to provide aftercare on a patient that had the band inserted in Mexico. Nice thing to find out after the fact!!

Thanks again for your advice and support. It certainly has become quite the learning curve!

[RevyD]

Good to know ladies...I see from reading your signature that you have much experience on this topic as regards to fills and unfills..Wow..whoever thought it would/could get so complicated!!

The situation here on the island where I live is that there are only three doctors within an 8 hour "local" area that have the expertise to deal with either a fill or unfill...and the only one that reluctantly conceeded (on a one time trial basis) to deal with a 'Mexican' band doesn't use a fluoroscope. None of the three are willing to provide aftercare on a patient that had the band inserted in Mexico. Nice thing to find out after the fact!!

Thanks again for your advice and support. It certainly has become quite the learning curve!

Hi Calf. So sorry to hear that you had to go through this much hell. I hope it never happens again. It sounds dreadful

Deb

[EcMjawad1]

Thanks for your post..newly banded myself and my daughter in January, part of the deal was to only go back to the OCC...I guess I am funny this way since I work in healthcare, and have patients returning all the time to fix work after they start something and then go somewhere else..I figure for me the cost is about the same even if I hate flying, but it is worth my peace of mind. I also appreciate the comment about having someone local for emergancys...we too don't have anyone local for 50 miles..and the costs involved there are outragious...just to get a foot in the door..my hope is that as this procedure becomes more in demand other Doctors will become trained..in the mean time its the OCC for me and fingers crossed I don't have an emergancy...but, my MD is aware and gave me the green light so I just keep moving forward. Thanks all for your comments ..it is a learning curve..

[macleay]

How awful--I'm so sorry this happened to you!

This is the only downside of having our surgery in TJ. I was so worried about aftercare, including fills. I'm very lucky--I have an experienced fill doctor within an hour's drive, but if I didn't, I'd do the same and fly down to OCC for my fills. Hopefully, you won't have to have many more fills.

[AngieB]

Cheryl - that sounds terrible. Glad you got the much needed care local. I agree with having local aftercare. Sometimes even after a good fill with no complications, it is possible to have major swelling after getting a piece of food stuck.....also Shelby can tell you how intense stress can take it's toll.

The OCC is a great place to return too. I sought aftercare locally myself. I pre-called the local bariatric surgeons in the area. Out of everyone, only one Dr. was closed to Mexican patients. I see the bariatric team at a local hospital and they are great. I even go in and see them for monthly nurse visits. After saying all of this, if I had a MAJOR issue, I would go back to the OCC for care. The cost is to inflated in the states and with out insurance coverage, I would RUN for the boarder.

Glad you are feeling better. I agree with Pammie....slow and easy. That is how I built my restriction. It took me 5 fills to get to my happy place. None of my fills were over .7 cc's. (I have a 4cc band)

Soo soo glad you are better.

Angie

[CALF]

Thanks to you all for your support and information!

When the 'event' is happening and you find yourself without a local, willing and qualified physician, it's a very scary and stressful situation.

[EricaG]

i'm so sorry you had to go through this... i just got my 2nd fill at the OCC and i'm thankful that im at 2hrs driving distance from OCC... thanx for sharing your story. this really opened up my eyes and made me realize i shouldn't be greedy with my fills...i was actually hoping for over 7cc's (3cc's added to my 4cc's from my 1st fill) but i only got 2.6 cc's added = 6.6cc's

reading this made me think twice... im going to take it slow and be greatful i can still eat. :]