ParrotheadCathy

It is NOT "all vomit". A stuck bite never makes it to your stomach. It is stuck in the esophagus and cannot transit (at least easily) into the pouch created by your band. Slime is generated to make it easier for the stuck bite to move...one way or the other. When you truly have a PB, it may seem like a cough and out comes the bite. It may come out forcefully even. But it is NOT accompanied by stomach acids and the entire contents of your stomach. That is vomiting. It requires muscle spasms/contractions to vomit. Regurgitation is much less complicated and uses only the mildest reversal of peristalsis. Personally, I don't want to PB and I try to avoid it at all costs. And I usually do. Vomit? My gawd, I would lay on the bed and pray for deliverance from the possibility of vomiting. I can't even stand to hear someone else vomit. All that stomach acid and bile coming back up is just about the worst thing I can imagine in life.

Purple, there really shouldn't be anything you can't eat. There will be a few limitations. meat, if cooked too dry, will be a problem. But that's a cooking problem, not a food problem, per se. Bread, that is SOFT bread, can be a problem for some of us. I don't eat soft bread but toasted is not a problem at all. Think about when you were a kid. Did you ever take a slice of white bread and pull the center out of the crust and sort of squish it into doughy balls? Well, when you chew it, it can form those same sorts of balls and be a little hard to swallow. If you're a bread addict, you're going to have to cut it WAY back because your capacity for food will be dramatically decreased and you will be told to eat at least 20 grams of Protein protein first, veggies second and then only if you are honestly still hungry you can eat a single serving of a whole grain carb. Vegetables .... most of us were warned about "stringy" vegetables...that would be asparagus and celery. Like pineapple, they are fibrous. I put fresh asparagus in a salad and I cut it up into 1/2" bits and have no problem with asaparagus at all. Celery is not something I pick up and eat but I do cook with it and it has not posed any problems for me that way. VERY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: The band is not a method of punishment. You may have to experience with cooking techniques and such but you should be able to eat pretty much anything you want. Having said that, of course you will have to exercise some common sense. For example, yeah, you COULD eat ice cream but you really shouldn't because (1) it's a slider food (easy to swallow) and (2) too high a calorie content in exchange for nutritional value. Most of us take some sort of a Vitamin every day. I take a performance vitamin because it makes me feel good.

Strangely, I've not had any pain. There's just this bulge. Thankful, of course, that I haven't been through what you went though! That had to suck. But your story is certainly motivational as far as pushing forward to having the surgery. Thanks for sharing!

- My Type II Diabetes - My high cholesterol - My aching back

It probably isn't the fish. Here's my questions 1. Have you had a fill in the last week or so? 2. Have you had any little symptoms of a cold or allergies ... specifically, a little bit of a runny nose, hoarseness, post nasal drip that you are aware of? 3. Are you 100% sure you aren't eating too fast? 4. Are you 100% sure you aren't taking bites that are too big? 1. Sometimes, a fill doesn't register as making a change in restriction for a few days. 2. Mucus can drain down your throat and into your pouch, where it can effectively make the opening smaller than it actually is. 3. Too fast sticks 4. Big bites stick. Any bite bigger than a nickel is too big. And if the only thing that seems to apply is that you've had a fill recently, are you 100% sure that it was stuck? Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna get stuck but if I just sit up straight or stand up, the feeling goes away.

Lori, I suggest that if at all possible have your surgeon supervise your diet period. They can help you to act appropriately. And go ahead and eat now .....a few extra pounds never hurt in this situation. I know, who thought a fat person would be in the position of NOT wanting to lose any weight??

Dophin, just a couple of observations. You said: WHOLE BOWL :scared2:of salad with all kinds of veggies, cheese, bacon bits etc. I should NOT be able to eat a whole damn bowl of salad. What the hell is wrong with me??? I dont have any diet plan laid out, I just try to watch what I eat and nothing seems to work. Lettuce has almost no nutritional value at all, is mostly Water and when you chew it up it can pass through the stoma very quickly. So you can easily eat more volume of lettuce than other things. As for the cheese and bacon bits, that's a deep pit. You can be piling on calories when you start putting stuff like that one a salad. That was always the problem with salad bars. I read many articles about how people thought they were eating so well only to discover that "healthy" salad had over 1000 calories because of the stuff they put on top of the lettuce. This can happen with almost anything. You say you don't have a diet plan laid out. That needs to change NOW. 1. Journal every bite you put in your mouth. Nobody is going to see it but you so please be honest with yourself. 1 M&M? put it on there. There are several options for journaling online (free) that will help you track your calories. Aim for 1,000- 1,200 per day. I believe that at www.livestrong.com there is a good option for journaling. 2. Make SURE you eat at least 60 grams of Protein per day. My doc's eating plan says 3 oz of lean protein per meal, vegetable, whole grain carb (about 15 grams of carbs is a serving). 3. If you get hungry in less than 3 hours, you may need another fill, but if you snack, choose PROTEIN. An ounce of low fat cheese or a boiled egg because they are about 7 grams of protein and less than 100 calories for either one. Hope this helps.

You sound like where I was after my last fill (6.0 in a 10cc band). I kept thinking it would loosen up but it just didn't. I finally told the doc I thought I was too tight. He removed just .2cc and now I'm fine. No problems at all.

Low fat cottage cheese .... 1/2 cup has 12-13 grams. That's a lot of protein in a small serving. Protein shakes can add the protein BUT they are liquid and liquid goes right through your pouch so even though you got the protein, you get no satiety from drinking the shake. Much better to EAT protein. There are protein powders meant to be added to drinks and foods.

That just makes me count my blessings. My doctor has 2 offices and surgeries so he's not there a ton of time in any week BUT he has a partner who is not a surgeon and a physician's assistant that are always there. I don't even really care if I see the surgeon because I don't have any problems AND I can see the PA or the "office doc" whenever I need to. Lucky me. I'm really sorry you're having these problems. When you do go in, I suggest that you express your dissatisfaction with your surgeon....after all, it's a problem with the way he's running his practice. See what his reaction is. Then, if you aren't satisfied, start seriously shopping for another doctor. Good luck.

Snereb, I really think you missed my point! I was not making fun of the jerks, nor was I suggesting that the OP do so either. I was trying to couch the experience in a way that made it better for the OP...a reason, if you will, to feel a little better about it. Push come to shove, every one of us has experienced some version of that, be it a funny look, sometimes rude comments, or whatever else. And a lot of the time, we aren't even aware of it because it is done behind our backs. Unfortunately for the OP it was in her face, even if the perpetrators didn't know it was. So I tried ito lighten it up and put it behind the OP. The best revenge REALLY IS living well -- and if making light of it helps it recede into yesterday quickly, well, that's a good thing.

Sue....I didn't even think of that!?!?!! I'm starting to have skin issues related to the flap of skin which creates skin touching skin. I guess if I create a track record of complaining about that too, it might help cover the whole thing or even more of it? If it's not one thing it's another, I guess. But I'm getting kind of tired of medical surprises, LOL. But if anybody has had surgery for a hernia like this, I'd love to hear about it.

There are a lot of doctors out there who are very cautious with fills, waiting 8 weeks or even more to give the first fill, and giving small amounts at fills. Luckily, my doctor did the first fill at 4 weeks and took me to 3.6 on the first fill and did another one 4 weeks later. At 3.6 I wasn't really feeling any restriction but I was working very hard at following my eating plan and basically "white knuckling" it until I got restriction. No, it's not easy. If it were, none of us here would have gotten the band in the first place. Just stick to the eating plan and if you get hungry in less than 4 hours eat PROTEIN. Protein takes longer to digest and that way keeps you feeling satisfied longer than a bit of fruit or a cracker or whatever else you might be snacking on right now.

Tantus, go get another fill. One fill probably hasn't got you to your sweet spot. And, like I already suggested in my post above, journal. You might just have a surprise waiting for you. It's easy to get complacent and eat too many calories because you aren't really keeping track anymore. My breakfast went from 190 EVERY MORNING to more than 200, more than 250. Once I saw that and changed that and added the little bit of cheese when I first get home, things started in the right direction again instead of just barely moving along.

Jen, call your insurance company and find out what testing they will require the surgeon has done prior to approval. Then you will have a bit of an idea. Not sure how quickly any specific insurance company approves, but some are rather quick.

Thank goodness it was "mild"...as mild as a stroke can be? I didn't do this for my looks. I did it to get rid of all the health issues I had and stop taking all the pills and to be healthy. If any good can come from a stroke (however mild or not), perhaps it will serve as a wake-up call? Keep us posted on her progress, okay?

I had all 4 taken out at once (about 30 years ago). When I woke up, I had a tube shaped icepak full of shaved ice that could be sort or wrapped around my jaw. I used the icepak that night at home. No swelling, no pain. My wisdom teeth were impacted AND malposed.

Thanks, BDBMaw! I always was the class clown. It wasn't really because I was fat; just because I can be pretty funny on occasion, LOL. Yeah, the OP could have said something that let them know she understood them, but it wouldn't have mattered to them. They would have laughed. How much better to take personal satisfaction in knowing that even though they saw fit to make fun of her, she knows she's come a long way in life, is changing what they criticized but they will no doubt continue DOING DRIVEWAYS, LOL.

The pictures are a good idea. Here's another one. I kept one outfit that fit me well at 284 pounds. Now, at 206, I sometimes find I don't see the thinner me in the mirror. I take out that outfit which now leaves me swimming in fabric and it reminds me just how far I've come. We, as humans, tend to be more critical of ourselves than others. You look at your reflection and you see the things you don't like and that keeps you from seeing the improvements you are making daily. Cut yourself a little slack. Buy yourself a small treat as a reward for starting the journey. I suggest jewelry but, of course, that's my new weakness, LOL. Set another goal, you pick, at which time you will reward yourself again. The jewelry depends on your budget, but the fact that it's something you wanted makes it special. Soon, it will be hard not to see the new you coming out of the pounds you're carrying now. Keep the faith!

Hey, think of it this way .... the creeps made fun of you but who's doing driveways for a living? The best revenge is living well.

I don't think that everybody who says they "vomit" actually vomits. Some of your descriptions are specificallly "productive burping" rather than vomiting. Vomiting involved severe contractions of your stomach muscles and bringing up the entire contents of your stomach, including stomach acids. Productive burp is what often happens when you get stuck. The stuck bite and any other food you swallow after that bite gets stuck can and often does come back up. Productive burps are pretty much entirely in your scope of control. A well done steak? I wouldn't even attempt to eat it because I KNOW that would get stuck and then PB. The biscuit? I know I have a problem with soft bread items (including pasta) so I don't eat them ... again, because 9 times out of 10, they stick and then PB. Like DantheMan, my doc anchors the band in place so slipping is pretty unlikely. If you have food come back up in the middle of a meal, you are (1) eating too fast, (2) taking bites that are too big, or (3) not chewing well enough -- or a combination of all three. I know; I've been there. And I saw Trinity's comment ... After I had a really bad cold, I had a lot of stuck episodes. I talked to my doc and found out that post nasal drip mucous can accumulate in your pouch and actually kind of block the stoma (the opening the band creates) and cause you to get stuck. I was told that as long as I had a sinus infection/cold/leftover PND, to drink a hot beverage before I ate my meal. Hope some of this helps! It all sounded so easy when we were researching the band, but so many "little" details come into play once it's you and your band. We have to keep asking our questions and hoping that another poster has an experience to share. And never, ever, hesitate to call your doc's office to ask questions!

You know, I was told that I should not even consider plastic surgery until ONE YEAR AFTER MAKING GOAL WEIGHT because your skin does still do some catching up. So cut yourself some slack, girl! Just keep doing what you need to do and see how it works out. And, as for me, I'd rather have some loose skin that diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and depression.....

When was your last fill? I know that I have been told that I should come in every 6 months once I reach goal weight. They will draw all the Fluid out and then re-fill to amount it should be. Apparently, over time, small amounts can "evaporate" (for lack of a better word). So if you haven't had a fill, GO. The Lap Band isn't that good? Your band hasn't failed you. I hate to be blunt, but it sounds like you've failed your band. It's only a tool, not a magic potion. Start journaling every bite of anything you put in your mouth. Use one of the free online journals. You'll find you are eating way too many calories. I find it helpful to make notes of what time of day I eat (meals, Snacks, random bites, whatever). You may see a pattern of "falling off the wagon" at a certain time of day (for me, it was consistently once I got home but before I could get dinner prepared and on the table. I learned to have one ounce of low fat cheese as soon as I walked in the door and then I was good. It made a difference. You need to work on your foods. Go back to the basics. And even if I sounded a little blunt, I and everybody else is here to help. We all have to help each other.

Wow, a few days short of a month and you're still on liquids? At 10 days, I was advanced to mushy food and 10 days after that to solids. I think a conversation with your doc is in order. You need to at least be moved to mushy food NOW and find out when solids come in. And, BTW, mushy food is a huge step because you can puree almost anything, LOL, so even if it isn't really mushy to start with you can make it be.

Suzanne, I have heard that some bandsters just have issues with heartburn or reflux, though I'm not sure why.