UpperWestSide

Josh: I don't know if that is unheard of but my questions to you would be: Did you also have to follow a very restrictive pre-op diet? Many of us have very dramatic weight loss during that time. (I lost 17 pound in 2 weeks of shakes). If you did not do a pre-op diet you may just be experiencing what most of us do when we suddenly change our eating dramatically. Also, it seems that you have moved to the mushie stage of eating quite quickly. My Dr. required a few days of Clear liquids followed by shakes for a total of 10 days. The I could eat things like bean soup and egg salad as long as it was blended. Did your Dr. tell you to eat those things?

So I have had a couple of instances of eating too quickly or not chewing enough and i suddenly get that stuck feeling. I have had one fill up to 5 ml. I begin to slime and spit up alot of spit. I run to the bathroom and suddenly I throw up. Not like I would do if I had a virus before the banding but it seems to be more than what I have read described as PB'ing. No burp, just a mild vomit. I am sure this is not good. It is never because I have eaten too much but it follows that stuck feeling. It seems more likely to happen as I begin to eat and not towards the end of a meal. Sometimes it seems to take 2 or 3 vomits for the food to release. I am not trying to do this it just seems to happen. I also seem to hiccup when this happens. Any thoughts out there about this. Am I having more agressive PB'ing than normal? Yesterday it happened after eating a piece of cucumber. I could just feel it sitting in there stuck.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It has been hard to think that my body is reacting so differnetly than so many. But it sounds like you and I are in the same boat. Best of luck to you.

So after the surgery I was careful and could figure out exactly how to eat without getting stuck. But I had my first fill last week and I just keep having trouble. I went through the 4 days post fill of moving from liquids and mushies to solid food. Yesterday was the first day of solid food and I made the mistake of having a bite of steak. That got throughly stuck and scared the hell out of me before it finally passed. Today, I ate a shake for Breakfast and cottage cheese for lunch. I had a sea bass filet for dinner and tired to chew carefully. But now I am sort of stuck. I already threw up once and really can't see myself eating anything for the rest of the night although I have only eaten about 2 oz. Am I too tight? Should I be able to eat something or am I expecting too much so early in the process. Did things swell because of the stuck steak yesterday and I should be eating only liquids today? I have a 10 CC band that has 5 cc's in it. When people speak of restriction does it mean getting to the edge just before the inability to eat or is restricition just feeling full. I feel so angry at myself for being sick after I eat and afraid that I will slip my band. Help please.

Thanks to everyone for their support and advice. I am constantly learning things about myself and my habits as I go through this process. One early learning was that I am compelled to finish what is on my plate. Somehow I just can't leave food that is available. So I bought small bowls that are just the right portion size and that helped there. The other learning is that I like the feeling of having a full mouth. So these little bites just don't yet provide the satisfaction I need with eating. But they will have to eventually. But I had a NSV today. A month before the surgery we went away to Italy to Celebrate my 50th birthday. I needed to buy some bigger clothes to feel comfortable on the trip. Today I tried them on and I cannot be seen in public with them or they will fall off my tuch. Yippee!

I am going to try to have some warm liquid before I eat and see if that helps. I actually have been drinking some cold Water before each meal to get in some of my water needs. I really don't want to get unfilled as I know I need to have restriction for this to work. I will try to concentrate on having smaller bites and chewing more. One problem is that if I have gotten to the point of being really hungry it is harder to do that. Perhaps i should have a small snack before I really have a meal.

I found that the ones in the can, pre-made, had a weird texture. I bought the unjury powder and found that it diluted in milk really well. They also have a chicken Soup one that has the same Protein but not all the cloying sweetness. Eventually, i really got tired of all that sweet. I also follwoed others advice and got a magic bullet blender. It made mixing the shakes much easier than pulling out the huge older blender. Much easier to clean too.

Well , of course there is always Relentless Monkey too. You can call me UWS as we do here in NY.

So right you are, Restless (if I can call you that :laugh:). I deal with a lot of people in sort of a customer service kind of way. And only those with problems will come forward for help or to complain. I had my surgery on June 30th and my first fill yesterday. It was also uneventful. There was a bit of tenderness around the port but it was not bad. The Dr. stuck me once and got the placement she wanted. No numbing it first. I had a bit over 1 cc in the band from surgery and she brought me up to 5. I am at the end of my 2nd day of liquids and will move to mushies tomorrow. Strangly, I have found this time on liquids harder than the 2 week pre-op. She also cleared me to start working out so hopefully i can get the scale to move soon.

I am having trouble getting my Water in each day. I actually really like to drink water and drank more before the band. Of course one reason was that i was drinking a bottle with each meal. But now I am just nervous about drinking too fast. I am one month post op and going for my first fill tomorrow. While I will ask my Dr. I wanted to get people opinion on how quickly you can drink water. I keep filling my bottle and drinking it slowly like I did during the early post op period. But what i really want to do is just drink a full glass of water and then later have another. Do you continue to sip or drink slowly?

Well I saw my Dr. today and her answer to my question was somewhat helpful. She said that I can't gulp water even if I physically can. Eventually, it will lead to pouch complications so i must go on sipping (or at least not gulping). I will try to be more aware of my drinking. What is really funny is that before the band I would not have trouble getting in my water. But of course I was drinking at least 16 oz with each meal. Now I am having to not drink while eating which is really playing havoc with my game :biggrin:

My Dr discovered that I had a hernia during surgery. This was a surprise because I had an esophagram before to look for one. But it must have been hidden. She fixed it and I have not had any problems with reflux since the operation. Just make sure your Dr is willing to address it during the lapband surgery. Then you get a "two-for one" deal.:tongue2:

I was really sore for about a week but now, a month out I don't have any pain at all. Take it easy and let yourself heal. It will get better.

I alos was banded on the 30th but in NYC with Dr. Kurian. I am feeling well except I am having trouble eating really slowly. I have had 3 little "stucks" and need to learn from that. I could not believe that blended food could get stuck so I really need to be careful. It seems that I have restriction even though I have not had a fill.

I had a similar experience. I just could not get those cold shakes down the first few days. The nurse suggested that I drink something hot like tea. I had the Unjury chicken soup flavored protein and this was very soothing.

Today I saw my surgeon and had a esophogram. Everything looks good except that I still have some swelling. Also, it looks like some liquid is in the band so I have actual restriction. I have lost about 22 pounds over the course of the pre-op and post op diet. But today I had the most wonderful meal....my first mushies. I blended some tuna and low fat mayo and slowly ate that. Then I gave myself some greek yogurt. I was only able to eat about 3 spoonfulls but I ended up eating 5. That was a mistake. but it was a useful one. I felt the feeling of really being overfull and that if I had one more mouthful I would regret it. I stopped and did not think about food for about 5 more hours. Tonight I had some cottage cheese with non-fat sour cream. Again, what a great change from the liquids. This is a great change for me.

KJhack: You list on your ticker that you wanted to lose 117 pounds, right? In most of the literature and from what my dr. said, you can expect to lose about 60 to 65 percent of your excess weight the first year. Well, 60% of 117 is 70 pounds. 9 months into that 70 pounds would put you at 52 pounds down. So you are really on target. Plus, I see so many people who have hit platau's which can be so hard. Other factors to consider: what was your starting weight? Many of the people who seem to lose 100 pounds are close to 300 or more as a starting weight. If you start at the lower 200's it can just take more time.

I am just over a week out of surgery. I was feeling the same way and spoke with the Dr's office. They said to more slowly introduce the shakes again and try to sip some hot liquids. That would make me feel better. I had the Unjury chicken soup protein mix and I switched to that for a day r so. It went down much better than the shakes and I feel better each day.

Hi all: I was banded on June 30th so I am just 5 days post op. I still have some pain that I can easily attribute to the surgery. But just below my sternum feels like there is something there. Now of course, i realize that this is probably the band but the feeling is a bit weird. It sort of feels like something is pulling inside of me. If this is the band, does that feeling go away with healing? Is it the swelling? I am not too worried but it is a feeling I did not expect. Any thoughts? By the way, in addition to the band, my surgeon found a hiatel hernia and repaired it. Thanks

I have found that unjury is really good. I mix some Peanut Butter into the chocolate one and that is very tasty. I also like to add some instant coffee to change the flavor, as well. They even make a chicken Soup that has 21 grams of Protein but only 90 calories. That is a comforting switch from the shakes. One tip that I found that also helps is about the foam. When I would blend the shakes they get so foamy that the consistancy, post the surgery, made it really hard to get them down. Sipping foam was hard to do. So I let them sit for about a minute and then pour slowly using a blade of a knife to keep the foam in the cup. That way you just get mostly a smooth drink and no foam. I found that it helps.

I am set for surgery tomorrow in NYC. I thought I had this all set in my mind how it would be. I have read a ton about the surgery. I know I am good candidate for it because of the way I eat and my history. I had totally envisioned in my mind that I would be at the hospital at 6 or 8 in the morning and be in my room on the road to my new life by noon. Well, I just got a call from the hospital and I don't even have to be there until noon and the surgery won't be until probably 2. I am completly freaked out by what should be a little detail. But in my mind, i had thought that I would not have to spend half the day being both hungry and anxious and I guess, downright scared. And I probably won't get to a room until late in the afternoon or early evening. My entire thought process about this has been thrown out and my family does not understand why I am upset. Has anyone been a late patient for surgery? I am all discombobulated.

This link will take you to step by step instructions for the ticker. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/ticker-tutorial-pictures-41782/

I have been reading a great deal to get ready for the Banding on June 30th. Everyone here has been so helpful. Many of you have mentioned that Gas-x strips are helpful to get rid of the pain from the gas during surgery. I know that walking helps too. But when did you take the Gas-x? Did you bring it to the hospital and take it there. I always thought that the hospital was very strict about you taking only whet they give you. Also, for how long and how often did you have to take them? Any insight would be very helpful. liquid diet, here I come on Tuesday.

I am on day 3 and to my surprise, it has not been too bad. My Dr. has me on up to 5 shakes a day and 2 cups of Veggies. I can also have sugar free jello. I am not that hungry but the acid from the veggies is upset my stomach a bit. I have found that the unjury Chicken soup is a wonderful change from the shakes. I only wish it could be hotter before the texture changes. But it helps to shake (pardon the pun) things up.