Question:
Lap band fill

I was banded in may of 2007. I have had 4 fills under floroscopy. I am now wanting to switch to an office closer to my house, but they do fills in office and not under floroscopy. Any comments???    — jhart (posted on July 21, 2008)

July 21, 2008
I have only had fills in the dr.'s office without anything. It doesn't hurt at all, and they have no trouble finding my port.
   — loisdierlam

July 21, 2008
Hi Heather. I had lap band last year, have had several fills and a few unfills- none were under floroscopy. I think you'll do fine. Just check out your doctor and make sure you feel comfortable with him. Mine is GREAT! Tami in So Cal
   — Tamjpjb

July 21, 2008
I have been banded for just under 2 years now, and have never had a single fill under fluoroscopy. Both surgeons and the ARNP in my office are able to access it without it in the office. I thought this was the norm and fluoro was used only in very difficult cases. They have me lay flat and hold my legs out straight while holding my arms straight over my head and kind of do a crunch which pushes the port upward as much as possible. They then feel around and access the port. I am an RN and have accessed many a port in my day in cancer patients and such and it's basically the same thing. Just the port in our case is sewn to the abdominal muscle. The more fat you have in your abdomen on top of the port, the more of a challenge it is. The thinner you are, you can almost see the port. One of my friends at goal had to have a neonatal port put in with her plastics and that will only be accessed under fluoro because it is the size of a small fingernail. Tiny. Dawn Vickers, RN, BLC, CLC
   — DawnVic

July 21, 2008
Ok...I hope I dont get attacked for this! My dr does it w/o the fluroscopy. In researching both... I am for doing it without. It is gradual and lets you get used to your fills. It seems the more experienced dr's do it this way. I go to a support group where they all go to a dr who does do it under fluroscopy. Going to the office is cheaper (for Insurance) and is quicker. They can feel your port too that isnt a problem. If you want to email me direct do so. THis is strictly my opinion
   — Linda R.

July 21, 2008
I have been banded since 4-16-08 and I have had two fills and I didn't know that doctors did this under a floroscope. I have had no trouble. The first fill I was in and out in 15 minutes and the second, the doctor, did have a little trouble but it didn't hurt. I have my fills in my doctor's office.
   — dyates2948

July 21, 2008
I was banded in May of 2008. Although I have had only one fill, the doctor did so without a floroscopy. I will be going in on Friday for my second fill. As Dawn suggested, he had me lay straight and do sort of a crunch. If he does have difficulty finding the port, they do have a back up. They use an ultrasound machine instead. Hope that helps.
   — Carrie S.

July 22, 2008
I have been banded since 1/07. All of my fills have been in the doc's office. Never had fluro.. He only useses it if there is a problem. You dont need to worry . Good Luck Diane
   — dgelrn95