UpperWestSide

First of all, you should know that many of us have been through this so what you are experiencing is not all that unusual. Sometimes you can have swelling that is caused by the vomiting and it can feel like you are still stuck when in fact you are just swollen. If you are still stuck, chewing a few papaya tablets can help. If you are worried, call your Dr. because they can talk you through this first time experience. When it does finally pass you will probably be swollen so plan on drinking liquids tomorrow and then mushies the next day. Also, breathe. We all panic during this first experience and taking a few deep breaths will help you through this. Let us know what happens.

I was banded nearly a year ago and have felt wonderful with all of the changes that have happened. I am down about 73 pounds and have adopted many of the lifestyle changes I needed to to make this work. One of the things I had to think about before I got the band was my love of fine New York restaurants. How did I feel about never having one of those spectacular meals that lasts 3 hours, costs way too much money and made you feel like you would never eat again? Sad, i thought. This was the way we always marked our anniversary or my birthday. But I was determined to make a change and giving up these kinds of meals would just be part of the bargain. Just before starting the liquid diet last year we went to our favorite place in NY called Bouley. It was spectacular and overwhelming. I said bye bye to that kind of eating and moved on. Last night, nearly one year out, we returned to Bouley. It is our 15th anniversary and we wanted to see how it would go. Everyone at the table ordered the tasting menu except me. I chose 3 appetizers knowing I would also have a taste of the food my friends were enjoying. What can I say but that I am very proud of myself. I chose small portions of food that I knew I would not have to worry would cause a problem in the band. Sea Urchin, foie gras and a poached egg dish were my 3 courses and each one was better than the previous one. But more importantly it showed that I did not have to give everything up in order to live with the band successfully. Let me tell you, i did not get so overweight by eating at fancy New York restaurants 3 times a year. It was all the junk I ate each and every day. Well that stuff is gone and I now know that I can enjoy myself like this a few times a year without fear that I will over do it it. The scale says I am up a half a pound this morning. So what! I gained the knowledge that my life can have these special moments, just like everyone else, if I am careful during those not so special days. This dinner was a gift I can give myself twice a year without fear.

Thanks for all of your responses. Let me just say that I waited a year to do this partly out of fear that I would get sick at the meal and partly because I didn't know if I could have the control to choose the right things and then not to try to have the same meal the next day. No problems on both accounts. Best of luck with your eating.

Hi there: I had my surgery done a year ago at the same practice but with Dr. Kurian. I have always found that practice to be highly professional and completely responsive to any concerns I had. That being said, you need to make a decision based on what you are comfortable with. You should not go into any surgery if you are questioning the quality of the surgeon. But I fully would recommend this practice. They are very busy and you may have to wait in the office for a visit. But I have never felt that the care was substandard. You need to figure out if you still feel comfortable with them but I trust them. Besides, the NY post is not a very reputable paper. They tend to overblow many things. But again, you will need to weigh all the factors and decide for yourself.

I have used my magic bullet almost everyday for the last year and it has never messed up. In fact, I just bought a 2nd one for my office. I drink shakes for breakfast everyday and this is the easiest way too make one and not make too much of a mess. I tried using my standrd blender when I first started this journey but I put it away nearly a year ago and have not taken it out of the closet.

I have moved to using Almond Milk. It has a very creamy consistency and I don't think it has a strong flavor. Now, it does not give you the protein or calcium of regular milk, but if you are getting this elsewhere then this is a good choice. I use it as the base of my morning shakes and my partner, a real milk-aholic, uses it in her cereal. We tried rice milk and soy but this tastes the best. And at 60 calories a cup, it is very low in that area.

I was banded last June and have been thrilled with the results. I am down about 63 pounds and feel terrific. But there was a continuing frustration about having people notice my weight loss. Sure, my family that knew about the surgery have been very complementary about the changes. But those that I work with barely seemed to notice. Now I know that they are the people who see me regularly so changes were less likely to seem dramatic. But along with the weight loss I seem to have gained a healthy bit of vanity. And I wanted people to see what I have accomplished. Well tonight things suddenly changed. I was at a Board function (I run a non-profit) when someone reached out and grabbed my arm as I was walking by and said "You look fantastic". I could barely contain my enthusiasm. As the evening progressed, people came over to me and mentioned that I looked great and had i lost weight. One even called me the incredible disapearing Executive Director. It almost felt like someone had taken out an ad that encouraged people to compliment me. 10 people did. I can't say this is why I did this because it is not. But it felt so good to have people notice and say something. Many asked how I did it and while my reply was simply "Eat Less, Move more", I did not feel like I was lying. The band has given me the ability to both of those things. And I feel like I will never be the same.

It has been many months since I checked in here but since we are doing roll call I wanted to jump back in. I was banded on June 30, 2009 and am down about 63 pounds now. I am both thrilled and excited with this. Sure I wanted it to be more. But I am feeling so good about my progress and just physically feeling so so strong that I won't complain. Life is good.

Last week I took my real first vacation since having the band put in on June 30th, 2009. We took a cruise to the Caribbean with all of the challenges that come with that kind of 24 hour food fest. But I am please to say that I only gained a few pounds while I was away and most of that came from the drinking and not the eating. In the past week I have lost that plus two more pounds so I am feeling great. Normally, I drink a shake for Breakfast because I am fairly tight in the morning and not much else will go down. But the biggest thing that changed on the cruise was that I went to the omlette station each morning and have him scramble for me some very soft eggs. I felt like I was enjoying something special but since I did not pile on bacon and potatoes it still was a reasonable choice. I did my best to manage all of the other food options during the day and pretty much succeeded. Especially if I compare it to the other cruises I was on before the band. I was not in the habit of weighing myself then but I bet I gained 10 pounds. One thing I did notice now was that I got stuck a few times on things that would not have been I problem before. I asked my Dr. about it and she said that the fact that I did not drink as much Water (What, Mojitos don't count?) led to some minor dehydration and that can cause some sticking problems. So for those of you who go on a cruise, make sure you drink your full amount of water. But the best part of the whole trip was how good I felt being active. Our last vacation was a trip to Tuscany for my 50th birthday. I struggled to get up all of those hills and felt at times like I was going to die. I was over 300 pounds and felt it every step. This past week I went walking everyday on deck. We went snorkeling, I went on a hike through the jungles of Belize and then caving where I had to crawl on my tummy to get through a crevis or climb over a 4 foot wall. I just could not have done that a year ago. I am down 62 pounds and feeling fine. It has been a bit slower that I had hoped but I am moving at a pace that works for my body. When i saw my Dr this week she said that since I had not lost anything for a month she wanted to give me a fill. But I declined since I was on this trip and want to go a month without the mojitos and see where I am. I feel like I have a good sense of what my body needs. I have already lost the weight I gained on the trip plus a little bit more. I don't post much here anymore but I wanted to share the vacation my band and I took together.

SueAZ: I agree with you that it is hard to turn down all that food. But I tried to stick to ordering 2 appetizers instead of the entree and that really helped. On this ship the appetizers were of better quality than the main courses because they were smaller and got more attention. But what was really fun was when someone we met said to my partner that I did not seem to be a big eater. Yahoo! I was certainly full and enjoyed myself hearing that.

All I had to tell myself to get through the 14 days was that there was no way I was going into an operation and coming out without the band. Everytime I thought about breaking it I would just read the stories here about people who did and woke up facing another operation and that would stop me. Having said that, the one thing I did do was have a huge and delicious Breakfast on the morning i was to start the 14 days. That way I just had to have one shake meal and one meal of veggies and did it not feel so horrible. By the 2nd day I had a sense of accomplishment (somewhat fake, I admit) from the first day but it gave me a start anyway. Having successfully done the 14 days I have been able to get through some pretty intense plataues over the last 7 months by moving back to a couple of days of shakes plus a meal. That has really helped me continue moving down.

A lot of people will tell you it is from not eating enough Protein. Others say that it is your body reacting to the anesthesia. I noticed a little bit of thining around my temples about 3 months out. But I really could not tell you if it was real or if I had just convinced myself that I was going to lose my hair because so many people talked about it here. Anyway, it never seemed to progress and I stopped worrying about it. I drink at least one shake a day because I am so tight in the morning. I think that the fact that I concentrated on protein so much helped avoid the hair loss. Reminds me: I need to have a hair cut this week.

I had my surgery on a tuesday and went back to work on Monday. But I only worked half days for the first few days and finally got myself back full time the 2nd week.

It is very important that you know that the consequences of moving to food too soon after surgery are usually things you can't see or feel but that could have long term consequences. The act of digesting the food causes your insides to move to push the food (even a little of it) through the area where you just had surgery. The area is swollen and needs sufficiant time to heal before being asked to do work. If you disturbe the healing process you can cause a slippage of the band which has not yet had time to settle into place. This could happen now or it could just be undermind so that when you are moving into the next phase, or later down the line, it could herniate or slip. Don't move past where your Dr. has told you to go with shakes or food. The problems it could cause would be terrible of it either made the band ineffective (and who wants to go through this surgery only to have a band that won't work) or even worse, requires another surgery to fix what you broke. Try to fill that hungry space with a variety of shakes or Soups and with the knowledge that you are doing something wonderful for yourself. Best of luck.

My dr. had me on 5 shakes a day plus a cup of Veggies for dinner. It lasted 2 weeks and I was quite out of it for the first 3. But after that it was not so hard. The thought of waking up and finding out I could not be banded because I had broken the diet kept me on it. I lost about 15 pounds.

My questions are: Ever heard of a "kinked" hose? How long can food stay stuck? Do these papaya enzyme tabs really work? How long till the swelling subsides? First of all, Congrats on that fabulous weight loss. I have never heard of a kinked hose but I will try to give you my thoughts on the rest of it. You are proably really swollen. Stick to small sips of warm Water right now. The caffine could pose a problem after an episode like you had. Wait til morning to even try a shake. I have heard that liquid motrin can help the swelling but when I had an episode like yours I found that it was too thick to get down without throwing up. Just take it really easy. I have found that when my worst one of these happened it took about 24 hours to get back to drinking shakes. I then waited another day to get back to mushies. Good luck and keep us posted.

You should call your Dr's office because they should have emergency service. They can tell you where to go. There are a number of surgeons who do this in NYC and perhaps they have a relationship with one of them. But if you don't get an answer try the emergency room at NYU medical. The largest bariatric practice in the city is there and they are sure to be able to help you, I would expect. But call your Dr's office first.

I have not met Dr. Fielding but I was banded by Dr Kurian in the same practice. They are all excellent and have a very high success rate. The practice is very busy and it can be diffiicult to be seen but they certainly know what they are doing. I think that Dr. Fielding has a PA does most of his fills and people seem to like the PA whose name is Gaspar. I think you are in good hands,

It could be from the swelling but if you are totally unable to keep liquid down you should call your Dr. You can get dehydrated very quickly. Best of luck.

You should go in for an unfil. Some people are very sensitive to a fill and just a small amount can make a big difference. My second fill was an addition of 1 cc which had me throwing up all over the place. But by taking out just .3 I was fine. But a word of caution, if you have been sick since the fill you should expect that you will still be swollen even after the unfill. Go easy and do liquid for 2 days and then mushies. It will be much easier.

Once you vomit the area around the band swells. So even if the food passes it may feel and act like it is still stuck. Don't drink or eat anything until the morning when you can try some hot liquid. You should check in with your dr. in the morning even if this can pass just to be safe. I had a bad episode last week where I ended up not even being able to swallow my saliva because I threw up too many times. The next morning I could drink slowly and I only had liquid for 24 hours following this. The next day I moved on to mushies. I basically did an abbreviated version of the post op diet. Within 36 hours of the episode I was back to normal. It can be scary but you should be alright. But with all things medical, check with your dr. Let us know how you do.

The fullness I feel is almost always in my upper belly or chest. That is just the way it goes. Now we are all saying we don't mean to be rude here (and actually no one has been even close to rude-well maybe I will be). But what the heck are you thinking? As Bella said, we are all food addicts which is how we got into this situation in the first place. Don't allow that to send you down the road of totally undoing what you just went through. You put yourself on the road to good health but you are allowing yourself to sabatoge it. Did you do a pre-op liquid diet? I did 2 weeks worth followed by 2 weeks of liquid and 2 weeks of mushies. I stuck to the liquid before the surgery because I did not want the dr. to go in and find I could not have the surgery. Nor did I want to lose the band post op because I gave into those horrible cravings. If you managed to get yourself through a pre-op diet then you can follow the post op rules. Come on, we know you can do it!

Last night I went out to dinner with friends. I had a Manhattan that I sipped while we waited for our dinner. This place had a great priced Prix Fix that included a bowl of Soup or salad, an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. I asked the waitress if I could just get the soup plus two small appetizers and no entree. They said sure. I ate most of the soup and 3/4 's of both apps. I even had one bite of the dessert. Now, was I over full, no. Is this a meal that will help with my weight loss? No and yes. No because it is not low calorie to have a positive effect on the actual weight loss. But yes, becasue it allows me to go out with friends, not feel like a crazy person, enjoy good and interesting foods and not feel like I am on a diet that never ends. I have lost 57 pounds in 6 months following this kind of lifestyle. Before I could never have stayed on a diet for 6 months. Now I feel like I can eat what I need to eat to keep myself from going crazy. And I am succeeding. Is it always perfect? No. But I feel like I could eat in this way for a very long time and continue to lose. I may not be one of those people who loses 100 pounds my first year. But I am happy to be where i am.

I really liked pureed baked beans. They have lots of protein and felt comforting. I also pureed tuna with light mayo which I eat a lot of. I tried to puree some meat sauce but it ended up having a very weird consistancey and I did not like the flavor. I was allowed to have eggs if they were soft and small amounts of cheese. I ate a lot of cottage cheese though. I was on 2 weeks of liquids before the surgery and 3 weeks after so by the time I got to mushies I was like a kid in a candy store. I gained a few pounds, like everyone else, but it went away quickly.

I mananged to go to sleep soon after I posted. I had thought I might not sleep and I envisioned myself being up all night not being able to swallow. I feel better this morning and I am going to have something hot to drink. I just took a little sip of Water and it went down with a bit of a gurgle so I know I am clear but a bit swollen (probably very swollen). I will stay on liquids today and will call my Dr. if I can't drink them. I have had this problem once before but it was not as bad as last nigt. I have told myself to stick to dark meat chicken but the food arrived form the new asian place and it tasted so good that I forgot my own rule. Forward 2 steps back 1. I am learning.