Live in Portland, chose Bay Bariatrics

Hi, I am new to this board and am meeting with my chosen surgeon on April 16th with a surgery date hopefully in May. I have chosen a surgeon that is 4 hours drive time from my home. I have made this choice because... 1) I am self-pay and the surgery is $15,000 less than it is in my hometown and 2) He has a wonderful reputation and I know a couple of people that have done the procedure with him and are very satisfied. Included in the price of surgery are the first three fills. My main questions would be, how often do you need to get fills and how often do you have problems with fills and need to go back to get unfilled?? I am a mom of two young kids but have a very supportive family so I know I will be able to make the drives but just want to know how often unforseen things come up. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Chrissy

Hi Chrissy, I have also had surgery down at Bay Bariatrics. I feel every person is different on how many fills they need to have that "sweet" spot. ( where you loose two lbs. a week.) Most people say they need 3 to 5 fills before that is done. I know there are more people from your area that are going there so you might beable to carpool. I have also taken my daughters and grand kids with me one time to make a mini vacation. There is a neat beach thre for kids to play on. (Sunset Beach) I myself haven't had to get unfilled but a friend of mine has. Good Luck. Marilyn

Have you checked out the lap band forum here? How often do you need to get fills? I'm 18 months out almost and I've only had 6 fills -- and I have the larger VG band. Typically speaking, if you have the VG band you may have more fills than those with the smaller band -- but we're all different so there are no absolutes. I didn't have my first fill until almost three months out from surgery (because I was losing fine on my own). Then it was about every other month or so with my last fill being in October -- almost 13 months out. There are also local doctors available for fills if necessary. Some people are even fortunate enough to never need a fill (pretty rare but it does happen). Good luck! Lori