My first "fill"

10/17, 4pm, I had my first "fill." I'm not going to go into the specifics of what a fill is. That can be looked up via a Google search--and apparently the doctor left "3cc of primer" in it, which means I've been working with a slight fill since being banded. I knew that. I've had cold salmon and noodles get "stuck."

The nurse had me lay down on a table top and lift my legs with knees straight after asking me numerous "banding" questions.

She scolded me for not getting in enough "chewy" protein (like chicken) and for not drinking milk. I'm also supposed to add a high fiber cereal to my yogurt. I am "off" smooth things and need to eat solids that will "stop at the band." I thought I was doing that, but apparently not!

As I lifted my legs she poked around to find my port, than jabbed me with a needle and withdrew the 3cc of saline already in my band. She then added 2cc more. I sat up and drank some water. The water got "stuck." My band, filled to 5cc was too tight. I had to endure another poke so that the nurse could remove 1.5 cc, leaving me with 4.5 in my band.

I got the water down, went home and ate dinner, did fine with breakfast and then had my "snack" at 10:30 a.m. I couldn't eat my 10 grapes. I made it through 7 of them (chew chew chew) and was "finished." I waited awhile, then ate the last three. I was ravenous at 11:40, so I ate my handful of spinach leaves, salsa and garden burger. Everything went down OK. I made it through the day, cooked dinner and didn't run into a problem until I popped some Ibuprofen to get rid of a headache and STUCK! I think I need to get smaller pills!

It took awhile, but the pill went down and my evening snack of a handful of blueberries has been fine.

My fill hurt. It bled and I had an allergic reaction to the adhesive on the bandaid and have a rash. I suppose it will get easier and easier to be filled--but hopefully my sweet spot will be found right away and I won't have to be poked once a month for the next year!

I weighted 324 fully clothed with clogs at 4:00 p.m. at the "fill" clinic. I weighed 333 fully clothed the day of my banding. That's 9lbs lost or 3lbs a week, which is exactly what I'm suppose to be doing. My starting weight was 347 on August 1st. Last time I weighed myself without clogs, in the morning wearing lighter clothing, I was 320.

I'm on my way!

My next fill is 11/7. I'm going to increase my walking from 10-20 minutes per day to 30, too.