By: Sandi Henderson

When I go to support group meetings, or "talk" with other members of our Banded Living community, on line in forums or by email, I often am asked, "How much fluid is in your band?" My answer is usually something on the order of "I don't really know, and I'm not sure it really matters to me".  I am not trying to be flip here, I just learned that there is no point comparing how much fluid I have in my band to how much is in somebody else's lap band.  I went my entire first year without adding ANY fluid to my band and I lost over 100 pounds.  For me that meant that I was in a place that kept my hunger sufficiently at bay between meals, and gave me a feeling of a "soft stop", a reminder that I had had enough to eat at a meal. When other people with lap bands ask me about tracking their fill volumes, or comparing their fill volumes to others, I often wonder why.  I find it is more helpful to track protein and calories than fill volume.  Once again, I am reminded that we are all different and there are different brands and models of lap bands.  Even when two of us have the same brand of lap band, like Gloria and I do, our "sweet spot" may be at very different fill levels.  It took Gloria 5 or 6 fills to get to the same level of portion control, lack of hunger between meals and satiety, while I was there with no fill for over a year!

I do want to know approximately how much fluid I have in my band so that if I suddenly become hungry, and my doctor checks my fluid level and it has dropped significantly we can investigate the possibility of some type of system failure.

When I first began investigating lap band surgery, back in early 2004 I went on line and tried to follow some of the conversations on the forums.  Since lap bands had only been FDA approved since 2001 there was not much information to be found.  At that time, I was frightened off the message boards by two things:

1. People concerned about not being able to eat and throwing up all the time. 
2. People who wanted to know exactly how much fluid they should have put in their bands so that "it" worked right. 

These conversations actually left me confused and concerned and I decided that I would pursue my investigation of the lap band by talking face to face with people who had the band and asking my prospective surgeon all of the questions.  What I learned over and over again is that there is just no magic fill level.  The most successful patients seemed to be those who really listen to their bodies and those who really learn to work their tool.  Unfortunately, it is just not as easy as a magic fill volume.

Now that I have six years of experience (and 250 lbs gone forever) I know that if I am having problems keeping my food down it's usually because I am taking bites that are too big, eating too fast, choosing the wrong foods (bread just will never be comfortable for me).  I personally have not experienced being adjusted too tight, but I have met people who have had fills that kept them from eating any solid foods.  As much as I would love to find the magic bullet, or magic fill, that would make all of my decisions, I have learned that I am responsible for my choices and there really is no magic fill level; for me there is a fill level that gives me a soft stop and keeps my hunger under control the majority of the time.

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