chichi

I was wondering if anyone ever feels the need to explain they've had surgery when someone comments on their weight loss. My neighbor has commented on my weight a few times as I've been losing and, for some reason, I feel I should tell him I've had the lap band surgery. I also feel that way about a woman that works in my office building. The other morning she complemented me on how good I looked and then said, "I wish I could lose just FIVE pounds. What are you doing?" I said thank you and told her that I stepped up my workouts (which I did with Smart Curves). But feel like I should explain that I've had the surgery. Not everyone in the building (about 50 people) knows I've had the surgery, just a handful. I don't really care who knows but don't necessarily want to come out and advertise it. Does anyone else feel awkward when someone makes numerous comments about their weight loss? Chichi s:235/c:183/g:150 ht: 5'9" banded: 10/26/06 Dr. Raja, San Antonio, Tx 01/19/07: 1st fill, 2cc's 11/28/07: Complete Unfill 01/21/08: Scheduled fill

I completely understand what you're talking about. Before my surgery I very rarely ate sweets, but now I crave them like crazy! And chocolate the most. Chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup, chocolate cake, M&M's, anything chocolate. What does work and is about 100calories is hot chocolate. I just use water and it is very filling.

I had these exact same issues. I went to the doctor yesterday and he said what causes the choking and vomiting is that your stomach pouch enlarges and flops down around the band (he called it a muffin top). Instead of food going down into your stomach, it goes into the flops of the muffin top and sits there. Then, when you lie down, it comes back up, even if your last meal was 10 hours ago. I had my band completely unfilled and could immediately feel relief when drinking a glass of Water. He said that in most cases, once the band is unfilled, your stomach will fall back through the band and remedy itself. This may be immediate or take some time. In some cases surgery is required to pull the stomach back down. I had no choking at all last night so I'm hoping my unfill did the trick. I'm going to wait about a month, have an upper GI to see what the pouch looks like and then have a fill, if everything is okay. If you have choking or feel the band is too tight, SEE YOUR DOCTOR!! Don't wait, it will only make it worse!

I have been banded for just over a year and this started happening to me also about a month ago. It's terrible. I wake up choking and coughing and it comes out my nose and is terrible. I've done research and it may be a hiatal hernia and/or slippage. It's very strange because everything was going along fine and then this started out of the blue. It's very frustrating.

You will be able to eat slowly. Trust me, you will be forced to. Before my surgery I did not eat slowly or chew or any of that and I learned the hard way after surgery. It's VERY hard to change your habits, especially before surgery when you don't have to. I'm a year out it's just now becoming a habit for me to chew a lot and eat small bites. And I still sometimes forget. But the 56lbs lost and my sense of well being is so worth it!

I have the same issue, food feels like it's stuck in your throat. I was told that that is because your throat nerve endings are in your stomach.? Not sure if that is correct but it's a very uncomfortable feeling. My advice: chew, chew, chew. It will save you a lot of pain!

Why does the band seem tighter some days and not tight on others. I have had one fill and sometimes my band feels too tight and I have pressure and bp. I also burp and hic-up, A LOT. It is so frustrating. Other days I can eat a regular size meal or bread or whatever I want. I don't understand. Also at night I wake up choking on reflux. It's terrible. I could understand why it would happen soon after a fill but I had my one and only fill in January 2007. I have to admit that I had my surgery in a different city and I go to no support group of any kind. I know I need to but just haven't sought one out. Does anyone else have problems similar to these?