How much to fill?

Hi, I'm peeking over here from the RNY crowd to seek some help for my WL Angel, who's been banded for 9 years now but just does not like to have anything to do with computers.  She had lost all her excess weight and maintained for years, then started losing again - quite a bit, so she had some of the fluid taken out.  She is not happy with her regain (way more than she wanted to see happen, she just wanted to not lose more, and maybe gain back a small amount).  She's been in to see the surgeon twice now for small fills (.25 fill each time at $500 a pop), but hasn't hit the sweet spot yet.  She doesn't want to go too high of a fill, and then be miserable until some can be taken back out, but it's big money out of pocket for each fill. 

She has an appt for a fill on 1/22 - her last one was around Thanksgiving.  So the question is, how do you judge how much to put in when you want a fill?  The doctor is extremely, extremely reluctant to fill because he really does not like the lap anymore (though he is the one who did hers years ago) so it's also hard on her that way.  I couldn't find this on a search so hope you don't mind the question.

Thank you!

Unfortunately a lot of people who have fluid taken out of their bands  (during pregnancy for example, some people even do it for holidays!) find it very hard to get back to a good level of restricition. This is really widely reported.  The amount of fill is not an exact science, far from it, and paying out for an XRay fill is not necessarily any help as it only shows how tight the band is at that moment and we all know that restriction varies from day to day as it is over living and therefore changing tissue, 

If she was banded 9 years ago, she probably has one of the old 4 cc  bands like I have. Fills of as little as 0.1 can make a big difference.

my suggestion would be to spend a couple of weeks monitoring very carefully how and what she eats. At 9 years out she knows how things should feel. Go back to basics, eating protein first, trying "difficult" foods, walking away as soon as she has eaten a sufficient amount; she may find that she has slipped out of eating band- style. I certainly have done! I no longer eat protein first, choose crunchy veggies etc.. I eat a lot more than I should but when I deliberately eat band-style, I still have excellent restriction.

What Kate said!

I was never able to get back to any kind of sweet spot after the fluid was removed.  I was filled unfilled many times.  At $500 a pop and 9 years out she may need to listen to her surgeon as he has good reason to not like the lap band anymore.  Info is coming out that is causing him concern.  The company has come out stating it isn't a one time-life time procedure.  Also if the band is too tight she will put herself at risk of erosion.  

I know this isn't what she wanted to hear.  She needs to keep it loser, watch what she eats and log her food.  Just one other question, how old is she now?  Could age be causing hormonal issues.

THANK you for your input, that is good info!  She is 53 now and is a cancer survivor (found it 6 months after being banded) so the hormones are pretty carefully regulated but you never know.  I'll copy your replies-- and thank you again!!  :)

Once I turned 50 was when nothing that I did when younger would work to lose no matter how hard I tried.  That is when I got WLS in the first place.

If she warns to get in touch with me and uses e mail just not boards, PM me and I will give you my e mail address for her.

This is an extremely individual answer.  I mean what is good for one person isn't good for another.  That said I always say error on the side on being loose.  I keep mine on the loose side.  I have room to tighten up if I wanted to and my doctor would be more than happy to do it if I wanted to.  But I don't...and because I don't keep it tight I believe that might me one reason why I haven't had any issues at almost 5 years.