Band Fill Video

Yesterday, I drove over to Cheyenne to get my band filled again. I am getting a lot of restriction on my band and currently only have 6 cc of fluid in there. She told me it was pushing pretty hard against her when I drank the barium. I can tell you that I definitely notice more restriction this time than I did last time. You can read about what the fill process is like by clicking this link.

I wanted to be able to show people what it was like as much as possible and you could actually see how the band works. They allowed me to use my cell phone to record the video of how my body handles food and drinks after I swallow them. First, I'll start with this picture of the band and port. It will help the video make a little more sense.  You see the darker part over my spine that curves down and to the right...that is the barium inside me.  The small part is the actual opening of my stomach and then you see it spread a bit once it goes through the banded section of my stomach.  Now watch the video below and you will see how it works.  I drink the fluid, you see it stop and fill my esophagus, then travel through the limited opening and spread through the stomach.  This is just liquid, so imagine how it works with food.  I was really surprised to see how small the opening actually is.  Anyway, I posted my 50 pounds weight loss on the 5th and this morning, I dropped another 1.5 so I think going to the gym definitely has the positive impact I'm looking for.  Have a fantastic weekend.

Adjusting the Band

   I've been referring to this as filling the band, but I think a more appropriate term is adjusting the band.  This is a great advantage of having a band rather than a full bypass surgery.  They can go back in and tighten and loosen it to adjust the size of the stomach opening so you can have more control over how much you are allowing into your stomach when eating.  I went on Wednesday to have my Lap Band adjusted for the first time.  The idea of it is really more intimidating than the actual procedure.

   I was called back into the room and they have a cool x-ray machine that I have to stand in front of.  Many doctors don't use an x-ray to do the adjustments, but my doctor feels it is the best way to make sure everything is working how it is supposed to and nothing is out of place inside my body.  The doctor felt my stomach to feel where the port is since you can feel mine with even slight pressure.  After marking my stomach where she thought the port was located, she held her finger on it while they did an x-ray while I was standing sideways.  It confirmed that she had the right location so she stuck the needle into my stomach at the site of the port and then had to root around a little bit while applying pressure to actually get the needle into the port and injected 5 cc of fluid into it.  Once she confirmed it was in the right spot, I turned so they could do the x-ray video through me from the back to the front.

   While you are turning, the needle is simply hanging out of the port in your stomach.  They told me it would be lodged in pretty well so there was not much chance it would fall out.  Once they align the x-ray again to ensure they are seeing what they want, I had to take a decent swallow of barium.  It is actually a pretty cool experience.  I got to see the video of the barium passing down my esophagus and into my stomach.  They pointed out where the band and port were before so I would understand what was happening.  The barium shows up as black on the x-ray so I saw it flow down the esophagus and then stop at the stomach opening created by the band.  It is like it hits a little wall and backs up into the esophagus, then you see it slowly continue through the small stomach opening.  The main part of the esophagus is fairly large - I'd say you see about a 3/4-1" wide strip of black.  Then at the stomach opening, the fluid path is a bit smaller - I'd say about half the width of the average drinking straw.  After it passes through the opening, it spread through the entire stomach and turned it all black.  It was so cool to see and we watched the video several times.

   I am a few days after now and it is cool to really notice a difference in how much I can eat.  Today for breakfast, I made some egg beaters with a little bit of sausage and cheese.  I made how much I thought would be fine based on how I ate the past few weeks and I was able to only eat about half of it.  The thing is that even if you are eating foods that are good for you, it is easy to eat too much and still gain weight.  I like the fact that I finally feel the signals my body is giving me regarding hunger and  I know when to start and stop.  For lunch, I had a cup of soup and small salad for about 350 calories.

You can see a slight bruise where my finger is.  This is where the port is located.
 If you are not too uncomfortable with it, I'll let you feel the port through the skin.  

What is the band?

   My friend Mike asked a good question on the Weigh In #5 blog when I mentioned getting my band filled...what exactly does that mean?  I don't think I've ever actually talked about it on here. The best description of the band itself is that it is like a small blood pressure cuff.  The band itself is attached around the stomach near the top.  What this does is create a small "pouch" at the top of my stomach.  The top part is also where the receptors are located that tell you when you are full.

   The way it works is that when you eat, the food is slowed down significantly in the new pouch and then slowly makes its way into the main part of the stomach.  Since the pouch fills quickly, your body feels full faster.  The band itself has a tube with a port at the end.  The port is attached inside my stomach on the muscle just below the rib cage.  It can hold up to 14cc of fluid and every now and then, they use a special syringe and go into the port through my stomach and put fluid into it.  That does the same thing air does to a blood pressure cuff and makes the band tighter around my stomach, further limiting what I can eat.

   The fills will happen a number of times over the next couple of years.  If the band is too loose, I will eat too much and not lose weight.  If it is too tight, food won't go down.  Not only are you looking for the "sweet spot" where I don't feel too hungry and am not overeating though.  As you loose weight, the fat stores around your stomach are lost and the band also gets more loose.  I am very excited for a fill because I definitely feel I am able to eat a lot more than I want to be able to.  So there is a good description of the band and what a fill is.  Please comment and let me know if you have any other questions about the surgery, equipment, process or anything at all!!  I'd love to post an answer.