KateP

Do you mean they have told you you can swallow tablets but not vitamins? Or are they just too big? Cut them in half? I never got any specific instructions. But do be aware, even though I am not and never have been very tight, I do find anything other than small tablets a problem.

Not sure which surgery you have had. I am banded and find it easy to get all my protein from foods.

This is my view, there are people on here who will disagree with me! With my doctor's instructions, I keep my band tight enough to slow my eating so the oesophageal can register movement but not tight enough to stop me eating foods! In my nine years, I have never experienced real pain, I rarely bring food back and I have never had an episode which lasted a long time. There are some foods which I have found difficult because of their texture and some of these I know require ridiculous chewing if they will not go through, things like rump steak for me.

Might just be the result of the hamburger? I assume no bread with it? If you get some thing really stuck, it can cause irritation which lasts several days. Have you tried sticking to thick liquids or soft foods for a couple if days to let any inflammation down down? In your shoes, I might phone the doctor on Monday.

Sorry you have had such a difficult time. Back in 2009, you won't have had the warnings which were just starting to be talked about at around the time. Like me in 2006, things like the build up of scar tissue simply weren't know . Hope you manage to get whatever help you need.

I drink carbonated drinks. Can't remember when I started post-op, maybe a couple of months out. I always let it settle a bit begins drinking, my doctor is fine with this

@@Invictus I'm nine years down the line, not quite ten! What's my life like? Well, I am slim. Not quite as slim as I was two years post-op. I have never in all my time in this and another much busier board come across anyone who after six or seven years didn't have to work at staying slim! But I still wear US size 10 which at age 64, 5' 4" tall and a stocky build us absolutely fine. I am physically active and in good health. The majority of the time, I don't worry about what I eat. I don't eat much of it and I thoroughly enjoy what I do eat. Like all those people who appear to be "naturally" slim, food is part of my life but not all of it. My relaxed approach means the pounds do creep on and then I go on a relatively short period of very careful eating.

At one time there was "fashion" for people with bands to take papaya enzymes when something got stuck. The theory was it helps break things down. I must admit I never saw any reason why that should work! It's hardly going to work instantly, if it did it would be alarmingly strong! And if it doesn't do it instantly, things are going to work themselves out anyway!

My apologies. The dangers of cut and paste. My answer was copied from one I posted on another board and I left in a chunk which was NOT applicable to this board. The board I originally posted on is extremely anti-band; this board is not. So my apologies to those who read it and to our Admin and sponsors. I have deleted the section.

@ the 5DPT was supposedly to " test" or " shrink" your pouch. Neither of which it can do! So for that, it was pretty useless, no scientific evidence supported it. However, for some people, who struggle psychologically to get back on track, it can be helpful. For others, it takes them right back to the "diet" mentality which we had surgery to conquer. Sort of "it hurts so it must be doing good". It is basically a back to post-op eating squeezed into 5 days.

Please bear in mind that I am a very happy and very successful bandit now 9 years post-op. I do not regret my band, would do it all over again and if I ever have to have it removed, I would hope to have a replacement. You shouldn't be sick unless you eat too fast. I can feel my port if Intouch it but, being a lot older than you, I have kept some fat round my middle which means it doesn't show. It has never hurt when I lie on it, When I was banded in 2006, it was a miracle surgery. And for some people, who accept that they will still have to work hard, it is just that. It was and still is for me. But over the years it has become clear that serious complications necessitating further surgery are much more common than originally thought. Some of these are avoidable by careful eating and by not keeping the band tight; unfortunately others are beyond our control. We used to be warned about band slips, leaks and about ( very rare) erosion into the stomach tissue but it turns out that a build up of scar tissue round the band (causing it to tighten) is quite common. It can be very difficult to get the right level of restriction and some people are tempted to keep it tight enough to physically limit food, in fact it was once thought this was how it should be. But this causes food to back up into the oesophagus and that risks problems such as oesophageal dysmotility which may be irreversible. It can also damage the vagus nerve. Some doctors have stopped implanting bands as they found the removal rate was unacceptably high and it was too easy not to lose enough weight. Revision from band to sleeve is not uncommon! EDITED TO REMOVE A CHUNK. This was a copy of a post I made on another site and this section referred to the other, very anti-band site. My apologies for including it. The band makes it easier by dimming hunger, but it does nothing for head hunger and, contrary to popular opinion, it does not and should not physically stop us eating. If it does it is too tight! Having said all that, I love my band, I know many successful long term bandits in real life. My own experience has been good and so has that of almost all those I actually know and have met. I know IRL around 50 banded people; all over four years out, many over 8 years. I admit I have lost touch with some but of all those I know about only two have lost their bands. One of these admits she abused her band deliberately, the other had a no -related medical condition. My own doctor tells me he has removed a very small number of bands. He didn't specify what that meant but, unlike US doctors he is salaried and has no financial incentive to perform band as opposed to other surgeries (which he also performs). He still believes banding is a good option. No surgery is perfect. I know two sleeved people whose lives are now truly miserable because of their sleeves and one bypass patient who very nearly died because of her operation and two years later is still severely affected by it.

@@Weighting2BeFree fair enough. I should only speak for my own surgery. Banded people are told, after the first phases, to get their nutrients from food, not shakes. Never right to speak for surgeries I haven't experienced personally! I only based it on what the sleeved people on the board I usually go on say. They advise against shakes as a major food source after the first few months. But they are all many years out.

I don't know which surgery you have had, but in general drinking food isn't that helpful post-op as it doesn't make us feel full.

@ AnotherBrit!! Two (apart from me) in two days! Unheard of on here! Although NICE has listed banding as one of the wls surgeons an offer, some NHS clinics are no longer doing so. I currently am looked after by the All-Wales Bariatric Unit in Swansea. Mr Barry, the consultant and surgeon, no longer does bands as he says he was removing more bands than he was doing all new bypass and vsg operations together. The 40% band success rate is unfortunately the one found by most recent studies. Success is measured by loss of 80% excess weight, keeping that off and not requiring further operations. It is very easy not to lose enough weight once the initial motivation wears off. Over 30% of people according to some studies require a second operation ( personally I had a leak repair at for years out) and the removal rate after the first three or four years is very high. BUT I love my band. I have had it for nine years. I,lost all my excess weigh quickly and maintained with ease fir around six years. It s much harder nowM but I am still winning the battle so far. I hope my band is for life as we were once told it was! But Zinhave seen too many removals to be over-confident.

@@nickelbv it's hard! It can take a long time to really understand the feelings of having eaten enough. I got it wrong quite often at the beginning and used to eat until I felt pressure abive the band. Which is not we should feel. Until you get there, explanations don't help! The closest I can get is saying that if I eat a reasonable amount and then stop and walk away, my stomach (the intestines really but that area round the tummy button where we feel"full") feels comfortably full. Even though it can't possibly be as I haven't eaten nough to even partly fill my "real" stomach. I never physically have no choice but to stop. If we get there, we have eaten too much, too fast. If I bored and surrounded by food, I will have to fight not to eat. If I am busy, I can forget meals altogether.