My 1st Fill

[MyNext30Years]

I thought I would share my experience with my first fill. Ultimately due to $$ and time, I decided to go to an internal medicine Dr. about 2.5 hours away in Frederick, MD. Overall my experience was a good one.

Dr.’s Background – Dr. Susan Brinkley banded in Mexico by Dr. Sanchez (has passed away) 7 years ago and has been doing fills since that time as well. She has lost 85 lbs. due to the band. She was very down to earth and had a great personality and I didn’t feel rushed. She probably spent close to 30 minutes with me (and my dad who had ?s since he is considering the band as well) even though my fill probably only took 5-7 minutes. She says she does fills for a lot of Dr. Ortiz’s patients.

She charges $200 for a fill and $150 for an unfill. It is a blind fill, but she said in 7 years she’s only poked 2 tubes – once was an emergency and once there was a pocket of fluid around the port.

The Fill – She puts in 4cc on the first fill with my size band and from there on, the fills decrease by ½. So, 1^st fill = 4ccs, 2^nd fill = 2ccs, 3^rd = 1cc… She also judges the fills by the way the saline pushes/bounces back in the syringe. So, I got 4cc and she removed about 1cc of air. I’ve already set up my next appt. She also said that she likes the 4cc bands because they keep their fills and need little adjustments later on; whereas, the larger bands (mine) tend to lose about ¼ cc/yr.

A couple of things that she told me were to not go by weight – to pick a size I want to be and aim for that. She said that when she was gaining weight that 180lbs. was a size 18 and on her way back down, 180 lbs. was a 14 – due to all the extra muscle mass and bone built up to carry an overweight body! She said she says that being overweight was her way of fighting against osteoporosis! lol Also, she wants me on 2,000 mg of Vit D a day (reduces risk of colon cancer by 66% and breast cancer 50%), 1,000 – 2,000 mg of Vit C a day, and Vit B Complex 1-2 times daily along w/ a multi-vitamin.

Anyway, just thought I’d share!

[pinkfordyone]

It sounds like you found a great after care doctor. I'm glad to see your doing well. Thanks for sharing the vitamin info., always wondering what others may be doing. Did she mention calcium? You are on your way...Congrats!

Tell Dad to take the plunge...hehehe!

[MyNext30Years]

It sounds like you found a great after care doctor. I'm glad to see your doing well. Thanks for sharing the vitamin info., always wondering what others may be doing. Did she mention calcium? You are on your way...Congrats!

Tell Dad to take the plunge...hehehe!

She said she really didn't care if I took calcium or not - she was really into the Vit D!