third fill

218.8

Yes, that's 2.4 lbs up from my lowest post-fill weight, which happened after the second fill. The second fill worked perfectly for two weeks and then *POOF* I was back to the minimal amount of restriction I had after the first fill.

10/20/2007: First fill of 2.4 ccs, total 2.4 ccs
11/03/2007: Second fill of 0.8 ccs, total 3.2 ccs
12/01/2007: Third fill of 0.8 ccs, total 4.0 ccs

People, I have the Inamed 10 cm band, which has a nominal maximum capacity of 4 ccs. Darlene said not to worry, though, and that it doesn't mean there is anything wrong with my band. In fact, she pulled all the saline out twice to make sure it was all there-- and it was. She explained that everyone's stomach anatomy was different. If the surgeon puts a small band around someone whose stomach is large at the top where the band is placed, they may need very little in the way of fills to get good restriction. If, on the other hand, the patient's stomach is actually small up top, that patient will need more fills to get to a good restriction. She also said I had a small pouch top so its not like I'm really at the right restriction but just not noticing it because I have a lot of room to put food in.

I hope this is it. I will be really disappointed if it isn't. Also, 4 ccs is the nominal maximum for my band. I know that people can, and do, safely exceed the maximum but I am worried since where will I go from here? I can't go up much more. I envy those people with their 1/4 cup post-band meals.

Last night I had a dinner with friends. I had about half of what I'd normally eat-- a small piece of chicken, a few bites of a spinach salad, a few green beans, a few spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. I had no problems. I had, however, just recently finished a glass of wine when we sat down to the table so its possible that my pouch hadn't emptied the wine and that I broke the "no liquids with meals" rule inadvertently.

This morning I am being much more virtuous in that respect and I had half a water bottle on the way into work before making my pack of oatmeal, which I have only been able to eat half of. Whee!

We have free breakfast at work on Mondays and today's was Chick-fil-A. I snagged two chicken biscuits, which I plan to denude of the fatty, nutritionally devoid biscuits and eat just the chicken for lunch.