Fill Needle

zippy wrote:

I get to do the pillow thing too... but once I had to lift my feet off the table like... not very elegant.. well I will be honest I fluffed with all the straining of holding them up... he has never asked me to do it again.. it must have made him gag

OMG I had a mouthfull of spaghetti...nearly chocked on it....hahahahaha (not funny at the time for you though) but thanx for the laugh xxxx

yarrrr I bruise too... we must be softies...

OMG I hate having a fill. Absolutely stings, usually tears and swearing, must be a real sooky, usually black and blue for a couple of weeks after. My Port is really deep, takes a little while to find.

Had a fill 2 weeks ago, bruise is just fading. Did not have much sucess from this fill, will be going back in 2 weeks.

Westy

lol Zippy!

I get to do the pillow thing too... but once I had to lift my feet off the table like... not very elegant.. well I will be honest I fluffed with all the straining of holding them up... he has never asked me to do it again.. it must have made him gag

My doctor puts a pillow under your lower back and gets you to lift your head. The hardest part is not watching. It doesn't hurt and I pass out when having blood taken.

Jo that is different. Well I think it is? I know some stand up to have a fill.
I lay flat on the bed to have a fill
.Delia

I'm one of the lucky ones and don't feel it. I have more trouble with holding my legs up (first time I had to do it I put my back out for a week) :-(

reminds me I need to go for another fill pffttt

oh noooo my fills sting like a bitch and feel ouchy for a few days after and quite often I will have a bruise... Its not scary pain though just an ouch that hurt kind of thing... I do brace myself before he stabs me though... hence after three years I can confidently say there has been no numbing of the area at all.

You're all lucky you can't feel your fills. I can always feel mine and they are very stingy. I have a lot of blood tests to check antibodies and such and these hurt much less than my fill. Actually i don't find that the blood tests hurt at all, but my fill always stings like a... bleep! LOL

The right angle one you are talking about is what they use to take fill out in a hospital. In the surgery or in hospital (if not using the right angle one) they must use a non-coring port-a-cath needle.
My port moves around quite a bit and I was told it was normal but then mine is not stitched in so it would move and it is just under the skin.
Doctors all have different ways and places where they place the port.
Delia

Zippy and Macey that is a lot of movement there, I had no idea it could do that.

Macey you poor old stick, I just had an unfill myself and it is a relief alright. I can't believe in the whole of the TGH they couldn't find a suitable needle. Maybe it is a very specialist one?

My fills change each time. Sometimes it's above my scar and sometimes it's below. I have more trouble with the poking to find the port than the needle! Feel quite bruised for a couple of days.

When I went to the Townsville public hospital with my blockage a few weeks ago they only had the right angled Huber needle and they only had the one but couldn't reach my port, even with x-ray. The doctor carried that little needle around for hours and they had about 5 goes at me! Have never had an unfill but I'm certainly looking forward to it after these last few weeks!

Tania I think my port must move a tidge because it goes up an down 2 or 3 centremetres each time I get a fill... I havent noticed any numbing or anything over the 3 years but then I said it seems to be a different spot around that area each time.

Does the needle going into the exact same place each time have any affect? Has anyone found that it got sensitive or numb over time?

Yes Delia, I agree it is painless, but it looks mad!

Lap-band placement and fill.



The link below shows an actual patient getting a fill.
This clip is pretty close to what I imagine my own Doctor is doing ( I can't say for sure because there's no way I'd look!). In my experience it doesn't sting at all - in fact it really is over before it's begun...
Warning: Needle, needle, needle!
https://youtu.be/nwBrOoqRVhg

Thank you Beth I have had the Dr use the right angler needle when I have had fill out in the hospital.
She did not say Huber needle but I am sure it is. As it is a straight needle. My port is just under the skin, below the ribs, slightly above the waist line on the left side. It is so close to the skin that you can see the outline of it. It is good for fills being so close to the surface but does face up towards the left shoulder. So it is a little tricky. It never hurts to have a fill.

The needle used is a non-coring HUBER needle. A Port-a-Cath needle is actually right-angled so that it can be left insitu for lengths of time, and is actually shorter. For accessing a band port, a straight Huber needle should be used, as often the lap-band port is much deeper than that of a Port-a-cath (it is usually on the upper chest over ribs).

I know this as I access Port-a-Caths as part of my job.

The other day we were talking about the needle the Dr uses when we have a fill.
Tanya said about one type (I can't find the post now) and I did not think that was the one they used when I had a fill. I wanted to make sure before posting here.

I asked to day and it is a non-coring port-a-cath needle. She told me that if I had to have fill out anywhere even a hospital to make sure the Doctor uses this type of needle. This is very important as the use of a normal needle may core a hole in your port. They do look just like the usual injection.

The Dr then went on to tell me that if I was going out west or overseas she would give me a needle or two to take in case I had to have fill out.

Delia