Are you exploring gastric band surgery? Have you recently had gastric band surgery and are recovering and concerned that you feel “no band”? Wondering what your first baby girl will be like?

I am a successful gastric band patient. I had surgery in 2006 and have maintained a normal, healthy weight for two and a half years. I am a mentor to many gastric band patients. I get frequently asked questions about girls. One of the questions I hear a lot is “What should I expect at my first filling appointment.” This was my experience.

It is September 28, 2006. This is the day of my second post op appointment and I am awaiting my first gastric band filler.

I just got back from my first road trip since being bandaged up. I’m already 6 weeks post-op and I’m HUNGRY! I’m learning what they mean by feeling “band-free!” I am fully healed and I am HUNGRY. I listened intently as other people talked about this feeling with frustration at a lap band only support group meeting. I knew I was expecting this, but now it’s happening to ME! This is starting to feel more like a diet and I’m scared.

I found myself counting down the minutes to the end of my last meeting before I could leave my office for a short drive to my doctor’s office. I am putting a lot of hope in the possibilities of this first filling. The day is beautiful; I have the music at full volume. I’m also hoping for a filler that will give me the edge I need to make this unlike all the other diets I’ve done.

At my last appointment, we decided to postpone a fill because my weight loss was good, I was still adjusting to my band, and probably not fully healed. I stuck to a finely chopped tuna salad (no vegetables) for traveling out of the country. So here I am very excited in anticipation of my first daughter.

As I sit in the waiting room and check out the other patients, I keep wondering about skinny people: are they really weight-loss surgery patients?

I hear my name called. First stop the scale. OK, does holding my breath make me weigh more or less? Here it goes. Goodbye 200 forever! I had lost 4 1/2 pounds in the last 2 weeks and did so while traveling.

My surgeon is happy with my progress (and I think my enthusiasm). We reviewed my food journal and choices. He tells me that there is really very little to change and that it is time for my first fill.

Upstairs on the exam table, my doctor checks my incisions, everything has healed well. This is an office setting. My doctor does not usually do fillers under fluoroscopy. He locates my port easily, by touch. I’m not really afraid of needles, so I decide to look. Actually, everything is quite simple. Clean the skin, insert the needle (yes, a refill really is just a needle stick), pull the syringe out to flush the system, unscrew the syringe, add saline to the syringe, reattach it to the needle, and add fluid . That’s right, my first daughter. I am amazed at how simple this is and how that small amount of liquid can make a difference.

My doctor warns me about going back to old eating habits. “The band is just a tool, he says, YOU have to work it.” He then places a Band-Aid over the needle stick area and instructs me to drink fluids for the rest of the day. I also need to drink 3 glasses of water in the waiting room before I am returned to my new life in gangs.

I’m really on my way and I can’t help but sing my lungs out as I head back to my car because I’m off the 200 for good! I call my mentor to share the good news. I also hope to get a good restriction with this stuffing, that as I progress back to solids I’ll be satisfied with small portions and not hungry between meals. We’ll see (and hope).