I have been a member here since last March but have not participated. I got an email and thought I would look to you all for some guidance.
I have a 10cc band that was put in 10 years ago - I don't remeber the exact date. I did pretty well with it at first although did have problems eating many foods. I lost about 50 pounds. But after about two years things started to go downhill. I continued to try to work with the band. I went to support group meeitngs (they are no longer available). I tried to eat the foods I was supposed to eat. But I was having issues keeping food down. I had fills backed out. I had a fluoroscope a couple of years ago and the band hadn't slipped. Everything looked okay.
I am now at no fill and have been for about 3 years. I still vomit several times a week. I have horrible reflux. I take Nexium to help but it doens't take care of it all. I gained all my weight and then some. My teeth and throat are starting to show damage from the reflux and vomiting. While there are foods that almost always give me problems, even the foods that I generally can eat will bother me from time to time. I am usually afraid to eat as I don't know if I will keep it down or not. I do try to focus on eating and take small bites and chew chew chew. I find I drink with my meals because it helps flush the food through. If I don't I generally have problems. Sometimes I eat and I think I am okay only to have to vomit an hour or more later. I generally feel like there is a ball stuck in my throat. Sometimes my stomach growls because I am so hungry but nothing will go though.
Here are my food issues:
I can't eat rice of any kind. No quinua, no brown rice.
I can eat some Pasta but never spaghetti or angel hair. I often have issues with elbow macaroni. I avoid pasta generally.
I have a tough time eating raw fruit especially apples, oranges.
I have a hard time with potato in any form. Though had some potato and gravy at the holidays (about 1/4 cup)
I generally can't eat meat. Red meat in particular. chicken has to be a thin breast and very moist or a finely ground chicken salad. I can eat deli meat in a sandwich depending the type of bread. I can't eat ground beef but can ususally eat ground turkey.
I can't eat scrambled egss. I can eat fried eggs on an English Muffin (Egg McMuffin) provided I chew it to close to a liquid.
I can however generally eat Cookies, pies, cakes, chips, ice cream, crackers. But even those get stuck.
I can usually eat salad.
I drink diet soda occassionally but shake out the carbonation. I usually drink lite green tea or Water. coffee in the morning.
I am trying to eat well but find I can't get in the foods that I need to eat. I am in a program at work that helps with healthy eating but I have a hard time following it because I can't keep down the foods they want us to eat. I know I don't get my Protein in nor my fruits and vegatables. I tried drinking my fruits and veggies by drinking a can of V8 fusion daily. I don't want to live on Protein shakes and liquids. I want to eat healthy foods and have a balanced diet. I don't want to be afraid to eat. I want to eat normally.
Does anyone else have these kinds of issues? Will having the band removed resolve these issues? I chose the band because I felt it gave me the best shot at eating normally while helping me control the portions. Now I regret having it done. Maybe I should have gone with a bypass.
I welcome your comments/suggestions. Maybe this group will help me restart my band efforts or help me determine what my next steps should be.
Thanks!
Karen in Maine
