The First 'Fill'

"Blythe was perhaps a little melodramatic about her first fill"

Week 10
Weight: God knows, frankly am too scared to get on the scales!

So the first band adjustment was yesterday. Sorry I haven’t posted until now but I was working last night and have been walking and cooking soup (oh joy!). I thought I’d give a bit of a blow by blow account, just for prosperity :)

So I get to the x-ray department and am asked to strip to the waist and put a very attractive gown on. I see another lady coming out of the room and we exchange knowing looks. Yep, she’s just had her first fill too. She was very reassuring which was great as, by this point, I was feeling like a bag of eels.

In I go. There’s the consultant radiologist and a junior radiologist. They weighed me, warned me not to bang my head on the equipment and then onto the bed I jumped. I must say my dignity was preserved by the gown and a blanket. I had visions of having to do some major bosom juggling to keep everything clear but they had a good technique :)

The x-ray machine is over the bed and first of all they get you to lie on your right side and take a quick snap. It’s mad because the monitor is near your face so you have a better view than the radiologist. He pointed out the band and the port. Then you have a sip of the barium liquid (not too vile, a slight bouquet of strawberry to it, lol), hold it in your mouth until they tell you to swallow. Then swallow it whilst watching your whole oesophagus light up like Blackpool illuminations.

I can report that the pouch is not in any way stretched nor has it slipped. He asked me whether I’d been able to eat much and whether I’d been hungry. Oh yes I told him, I’ve been hungry for about a month. Apparently I had no restriction - no shit Sherlock!

He then used the x-ray to locate the centre of the port (isn’t that cheating? I saw Shaw Somers locate it by telepathy on the telly ;) He placed a little catheter thingy in the port. It didn’t hurt but, in true bizarre-me style, it totally gave me the heebie-jeebies. I can hardly bring myself to touch the port at the best of times – ridiculous aren’t I? Anyway, then he injected the saline into the catheter. Initially he gave me 6mls. Then I had to have another sip of barium and it was hilarious to watch on the monitor as it hit the band and shot straight back up. I couldn’t feel any of this but it was strangely exciting, almost like it was happening to someone else. So he took 1ml out and, that time, the barium trickled through.

I had to wait 20 minutes and drink a couple of glasses of water before they let me go. There were a couple of people waiting to go in for fills and the lady that had been in before me was still there. None of them had heard about the various forums which surprised me and all of them said that they didn’t feel they had anywhere near enough support. One lady said the band was fitted and then she’s been left to “get on with it” – I find that terrifying. Another lady had flown down from Aberdeen!

Anyway, I digress. They gave me my x-rays (didn’t tell me what I am supposed to do with them, mind), so I’ve done what any rational person would do and have scanned and defaced them for your viewing pleasure. I’m only posting the clearest one as I doubt you want to see an x-ray of my oesophagus.




All in all, not an unpleasant experience, certainly not in any way painful. I am on liquids for a week and I have some restriction. Mainly I’m noticing that I can only drink slowly and if I gulp it feels really odd.

Back to the bloody soup. Onwards and downwards.