FILLS BY RN'S??

[Allcdngirl]

I was at my dr's office today, and found out the receptionist's sister just had LB in Monterray, CA. She was telling me that if you know an RN, they can do your fills for you. It's just saline. Anybody know anything about this??

[nebsmom]

I'm a RN and I access ports on a daily basis. My friend is getting banded on the same day as I am and is also an RN. We are going to TRY to get educated on fills. Since there is not a local fill center in our area it would save us a ton of money. It doesnt seem like that big of a deal when youre doing something like this everday. With that being said................. I have been reading the forum for quit a while and almost everyone says to go to a professional fill center. I suppose it depends on how comfortable you are with your skills or the skills of a another RN. I figure if I can work at a level 1 trauma ER then doing a fill seems rather simple??!!!???

[mlgpdx]

I'm a RN and I access ports on a daily basis. My friend is getting banded on the same day as I am and is also an RN. We are going to TRY to get educated on fills. Since there is not a local fill center in our area it would save us a ton of money. It doesnt seem like that big of a deal when youre doing something like this everday. With that being said................. I have been reading the forum for quit a while and almost everyone says to go to a professional fill center. I suppose it depends on how comfortable you are with your skills or the skills of a another RN. I figure if I can work at a level 1 trauma ER then doing a fill seems rather simple??!!!???

\\\

Hey "nebsmom" where in WA/OR are you? I'm in Portland... You can practice on me! :yes3:

[sunnee01]

I was at my dr's office today, and found out the receptionist's sister just had LB in Monterray, CA. She was telling me that if you know an RN, they can do your fills for you. It's just saline. Anybody know anything about this??

:-?I am also an RN, and feel there is more to this than just accessing a port. If you fill too much you can obstruct, if you fill too little, it won't do any good. For me, I would rather spend the time/money to have people take care of me that are properly trained. This isn't the same as flushing a central line or drawing blood. We are taking shortcuts by going to Mexico, and not having the follow-up care readily available unless we to return . I don't think it's wise to take any more shortcuts.

Please be careful!

Audrey

[Blazn]

I, too, am a RN (and will graduate from nurse practitioner school in a few months) and when I went to TJ I asked Dr. Martinez about teaching me about the fills so I could do my on fills. He never said no but he said "well really you should only need 1 or 2 fills and it won't cost that much to do that".....now I know plenty of people that have had way more than 1 or 2 fills but I guess he did not want the liability of teaching me and me messing it up. I also access a lot of ports at work but have you guys felt this port. It is tiny. They are using low profile ports and the actual port is only like 1cm in diameter. I am afraid if I access my port on my own I might puncture the tubing attached that fills my band and then what....the saline will just go into my abdominal wall. I have not had my first fill yet and it may be simpler than I am imagining and for that reason I am taking a fellow RN with me to my first fill so she can watch. If and I mean if it looks simple enough I may try my second fill but I seriously doubt it. If I mess up my band or tube I am responsible, if someone else does - they are. For those of you who are thinking about "practicing" on someone - keep that in mind. You have a license to protect! Nursing school is too hard to jeopardize your career to save a little money. And ladies who are thinking about letting a RN do your fills....make sure they have been properly trained - you have an investment to protect. I don't mean to sound harsh. If you receive the proper training and feel very competent...then by all means do it. But these ports are not like the ones in the chest wall. Most of those you are able to feel very well and can feel a well defined port site. The lap band ports are not like that. Keep us posted if anyone does decide to access their own or receives training.

[Paula Bee]

My understanding is that it also requires a special needle.

[The Redhead]

I was at my dr's office today, and found out the receptionist's sister just had LB in Monterray, CA. She was telling me that if you know an RN, they can do your fills for you. It's just saline. Anybody know anything about this??

Hey Allcdngirl,

I know we've chatted before and live quite near each other. ...just in case you might be interested... There is a local doctor here (Ladner) who will do your fills.. He charges $400 for the first time and $75 each time after. I contacted his office before I had my surgery and they said that he was only taking new patients for a short time because he was going to start doing lap band surgery himself. If you are interested in having your fills down locally you'd have to contact him soon.

[sparetire]

Hey Allcdngirl,

I know we've chatted before and live quite near each other. ...just in case you might be interested... There is a local doctor here (Ladner) who will do your fills.. He charges $400 for the first time and $75 each time after. I contacted his office before I had my surgery and they said that he was only taking new patients for a short time because he was going to start doing lap band surgery himself. If you are interested in having your fills down locally you'd have to contact him soon.

Hey Redhead

does that include fluoro? seems like a good deal...

[The Redhead]

Hey Redhead

does that include fluoro? seems like a good deal...

No, no fluoro. When I called this doctors office prior to having band surgery, the MOA told me that no doctors locally use fluoro. I thought she meant in the Lower Mainland but I believe it was Kittycat who said that no doctors in Canada use fluoro.

[Allcdngirl]

I did talk to the MOA there all ready, Redhead. She told me the same thing. The girl that told me about an RN doing it, also told me, that there it takes about one month to get in and see him, so she recommended that I get my paperwork done and my money in as soon as possible. I am hoping too that it is only 2 or 3 fills that we need. I'm being banded on May 15th, so I figure I'll get my paperwork and everything done before my banding, that way when I need my first fill (hopefully 6 wks later) I can make the appt and won't have to wait so long. Let me know if this is where you're going to go as well.

[The Redhead]

I'm actually booked to go back to the OCC for my first fill. Dr. Ortiz said I'd probably only need 1 or 2 fills. I'm not sure what I'll do for my 2nd one yet, but I'm sure that's a ways off and I won't worry about that for a while.