Post-Op problems...HELP

[Insky67 2]

I have several problems I wanted to ask you all about. I am 3 weeks post-op and have been given the go-ahead with the mushy diet. On my list of mushy foods I am allowed to have is grilled fish...I tried it last night. Very small amount, chewed, chewed and took my time. A short time later I had pain or more like discomfort in my chest and back. It seems like when I eat I end up having a lot of upper back pain later, the chest pain only once in a while and this was mild but still bothersome. So what went wrong? Is it too soon for the fish?

I will also admit to eating 2 bites of pizza 6 days ago. Now that pain was HORRIBLE. In my chest again, back, and throwing up for over 30 mins. I felt like I couldn't breathe and like I was going to die. Nothing ever came up but spit and something looking sorta like mucous. I was sore all night and well into the next day. I had to take a pain pill to get some sleep. I know I screwed up. And believe me I won't do it again. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed...I just thought what could two bites hurt. And on top of that I was thinking I had no restriction yet so it should just slide thru.

My main question is did I do some damage that night? Any time I have anything along the mushy line I get mild chest pain and back pain. I know the chest pain is really stomach pain but it is up high like where I imagine my band to be. Since surgery I have had problems getting all my liquids down and have since gotten a urinary infection. My doc gave me medicine for it and wouldnt you know it is the size of a horse pill. I put off taking them yesterday when I got them and went to take one today...I broke it in half just to be safe. Less than 4 mins later and HORRIBLE pain again, throwing up (nothing just going thru the motions) and sweating, wishing I was dead. How am I going to take this medication now?

I called the surgeons office...got in trouble for not telling them about the pizza incident and was told the pizza might still be stuck (6 days ago? still stuck?) I have to mix meat tenderizer with Water and drink it to help get the pizza down..if it is still there. If I don't feel better they want me back in the hospital. Guys...I cannot go back in the hospital, I am so scared now I don't know what to do. My pain from the pill has subsided, just sore now.

I was so hopeful when I went in to have this done. All I wanted was a new life and now I fear I will have to live this way forever. I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I was reluctant to post this as I don't want to scare any newbies off but I am desperate for feedback.

[Sades 4]

Have you tried drinking pineapple or apple juice? Many people swear by it for getting unstuck. I didn't think someone could be stuck for 6 weeks but I guess your dr must know what he's talking about. It sounds like you might be swollen so how about going back to liquids for a few days. Good luck and keep us posted.

[gilliebean 1]

start with relaxing. Being tense makes it worse. Go back to liquids for a couple days your pouch is probably irrated and needs a break the best way to do this is to do liquids. My doc says any time i get something stuck to go back to liquids for a day then to mushies. In your case you are no were near healed from your surgery. This is a very sensitive time for you to heal and you need to try at all cost not to get sick.

[Insky67 2]

Thank you both. It has been 6 days since the pizza not 6 weeks. LOL Six weeks ago I could have swallowed the slice whole and had no problems. heh heh

Relaxing is good advice...my hubby said the same thing. I guess I just imagined my insides were healed...my incisions are healed and I guess I thought the inside is too. I keep forgetting that 3 weeks wasn't that long ago.

I will try the juice and go back on liquids. I will do whatever it takes to make sure this goes away and that I succeed. Thank you so much for your help!

[mom2twins 0]

I have not been banded yet, but I do want to know what type of problems that other are having. It makes it easier to give the "informed concent" that they ask for. If no one ever tells us of things that can go wrong than we all start feeling that we are the first ones and then get scared (sound familier). I have learned one major thing about his site, no matter what the question or problem the people at this site are more than willing to help. You will find the light at the end of the tunnel again and I hope that we can help.

[Sades 4]

LOL, 6 days... it's the middle of the night here and reading without my glasses did not help! Good luck with getting back on track.

[Tess415 1]

I have several problems I wanted to ask you all about. I am 3 weeks post-op and have been given the go-ahead with the mushy diet. On my list of mushy foods I am allowed to have is grilled fish...I tried it last night. Very small amount, chewed, chewed and took my time. A short time later I had pain or more like discomfort in my chest and back. It seems like when I eat I end up having a lot of upper back pain later, the chest pain only once in a while and this was mild but still bothersome. So what went wrong? Is it too soon for the fish?

I will also admit to eating 2 bites of pizza 6 days ago. Now that pain was HORRIBLE. In my chest again, back, and throwing up for over 30 mins. I felt like I couldn't breathe and like I was going to die. Nothing ever came up but spit and something looking sorta like mucous. I was sore all night and well into the next day. I had to take a pain pill to get some sleep. I know I screwed up. And believe me I won't do it again. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed...I just thought what could two bites hurt. And on top of that I was thinking I had no restriction yet so it should just slide thru.

My main question is did I do some damage that night? Any time I have anything along the mushy line I get mild chest pain and back pain. I know the chest pain is really stomach pain but it is up high like where I imagine my band to be. Since surgery I have had problems getting all my liquids down and have since gotten a urinary infection. My doc gave me medicine for it and wouldnt you know it is the size of a horse pill. I put off taking them yesterday when I got them and went to take one today...I broke it in half just to be safe. Less than 4 mins later and HORRIBLE pain again, throwing up (nothing just going thru the motions) and sweating, wishing I was dead. How am I going to take this medication now?

I called the surgeons office...got in trouble for not telling them about the pizza incident and was told the pizza might still be stuck (6 days ago? still stuck?) I have to mix meat tenderizer with Water and drink it to help get the pizza down..if it is still there. If I don't feel better they want me back in the hospital. Guys...I cannot go back in the hospital, I am so scared now I don't know what to do. My pain from the pill has subsided, just sore now.

I was so hopeful when I went in to have this done. All I wanted was a new life and now I fear I will have to live this way forever. I can't see any light at the end of the tunnel. I was reluctant to post this as I don't want to scare any newbies off but I am desperate for feedback.

I agree with the going back to liquids for a couple of days. My nurse specialist said that when you're tight, even after you get something unstuck you can have esophageal spasms when other food passes through from the irritation. So you need to give it some time.

As far as your antibiotic goes, they should be able to order it in a liquid form:biggrin2: for you, just ask.

Good luck, hang in there it does get better...I too had back and chest pains the first few weeks with real food. Stick to mushier stuff when its time to try again and go slow with the new foods!!

Tess

[PATCHELTON 0]

I was told for the mushy stage that anything the consistency of applesauce was okay. I could have creamy egg salad (light mayo, mustard, salt/pepper), creamy tuna salad (with same stuff as the egg salad), instant mashed potatoes, refried Beans (I pulverized some chunky salsa to make it smaller, mixed in the Beans, nuked in the microwave and put fat free Kraft shredded cheese on top to melt when it came out), oatmeal (with extra milk to make it mushier), fat/sugar free pudding (Jello makes it-mix with skim milk and bump up your Protein intake), Lipton noodle Soup (the package with chicken broth, not pieces), stuff like that.

The vomiting you describe sounds like what you will see here referred to as "sliming" which is when something gets stuck and you start producing excess saliva that has no place to go but up and out. I had one sliming experience, the day after my first fill. I was told to do liquids for 48 hours, and cut my meds in half. I was in a hurry and didn't cut my meds. One of the pills got stuck as I am running out the door to go to work. I spit up on the parking lot twice. Called the doctor as soon as I got to work, and ended up meeting him at the hospital for an unfill. He had put in 3ccs and took out about 1.5-2. I could feel the pressure in my chest going down as he did. Now on regular foods, occasionally a food will get stuck. If it is particularly bad (black bean burger at Chili's-dry as the desert) I break the no drinking rule and take a couple sips of Water. That seems to help. Also I found chewing sugarless gum (some people chew and others are told not to for fear of swallowing it) helps.

I had to try pizza too. I had been on regular food for about a week. I work in a doctor's office so we have luncheons a lot, sometimes pizza. I cut the front half off a slice and ate the small triangle (this from a self confessed pizzaholic whose idea of having pizza used to be eating the entire thing). It got stuck and I got to thinking. It is really the toppings that I crave, so what about a crustless pizza? So I take a microwaveable dish, pour in some Ragu pizza sauce, top with Hormell Turkey Pepperonis, peppers and onions from Birdseye Pepper Stir Fry, and top that with Kraft Fat Free Mozzarella shredded cheese. Heat about 2 minutes in the microwave. Did the same thing with turkey meatballs. Cover them in spaghetti sauce, top with parmesan cheese and heat in microwave. It is either a meatball sub without the bread or spaghetti without the noodles. I tried bread once since surgery and it got stuck too, so I have no burning desire to eat it right now, and I look for creative ideas to work around it.

I hope some of this helps you, and if you have other questions, this is a great place to ask them.

[Insky67 2]

Thank you Patch...that helps a lot.

[HeatherO 7]

My last fill was tight and I had good restriction for the first time ever. I pb'd and then for almost a week kept pb'ing. What I learned from that experience is that I was making a mistake. My stomach was irritated but I did not take a couple of days on liquids to allow it to settle down. Once I did that, I didnt have anymore problems. A day of liquids followed by a day of light mushies will do wonders for getting you off the cycle of pb'ing, sliming or just being generally uncomfortable.

[barbara9460 1]

I had similar problems with food getting stuck, though it was from eating too fast and not chewing enough. Someone told me - and it really did work - eat popcicles. The cold shrinks the swelling you get from the food getting stuck and in a short time it will slide right through. It's a horrible, painful thing.

You need to tell the surgeon that you've been vomiting and have them check your band under floroscopy. That is a trip to a center or hospital but if all is okay back home in a couple of hours. Vomiting causes slippage. If you get past the pizza and start to have problems with mushie again, then definitely call them and demand help.

Remember too, that you are still swollen from the surgery and any food you've eaten that caused pain. If I were you, I'd go back to full liquids for a while (2 or 3 days up to a week) and start very slowly. You should get full on about 1/4 cup of anything - cottage cheese, pudding, etc. CHEW, CHEW, CHEW.

Best of luck! Please don't get too discouraged. Once you get past this time, you'll be glad you got the band. It's a learning experience - and all of us, sooner or later, have slime and pb (that's what you had happen.) Oh, if you do feel stuck again, DO NOT DRINK - And don't swallow if you can help it (unless you're eating popcicles) because all that slime is your own saliva.

Good luck! I hope you feel better really quickly!

Barbara

[StLouisGal 1]

After only three weeks you are probably still pretty swollen. It takes longer for the insides to heal than the outside incisions. Hang in there. I am 4.5 months out and still get stuck quite often. (Stuck means back and chest pain for me) I have 3 cc's in my 10 cc band and I have to be very careful what I eat, how fast I eat and how well I chew. I can eat pizza (tiny bites chewed very slowly I can eat about 1/4 of a personal sized pizza.) Yesterday I got stuck on deli ham because I ate too fast and topped it off with too much broccoli. It just takes practice to figure out what you can eat and how to eat it properly.

I agree that you should probably give your tummy pouch a rest. It is probably irritated because it was stuck. A couple of days of liquids will calm it down. If you are drinking juice, cut it with Water since it can be pretty acidic and that can irritate also.

Just remember that these first 4-6 weeks are for healing so let your body heal. You will love this band and all of the nsv's that you will have. :Angel_anim:

[juliegeraci 7]

It sounds like you are swollen. I would move back to liquids for a few days.

[msauhzha 0]

I was having the same problem with food going down. it was hurting real bad every time i ate anything. i went to have an upper gi done and i discovered i had acid reflux. your first pain was from gas so dont really worry about that. when you chew your food longer air gets in your mouth and goes down with your food. that causes the pain in your back and chest. but if you continue to have problems swallowing, ask your surgeon to schedule you a upper gi to check for any problems.

[sirvine89 0]

hey maybe you're just so nervous and stressed that maybe you "caused" the pain. i mean maybe it was just a little soar and u got nervous and thought it was more pain? i dont know. maybe even though your band isnt filled it still a lot of restriction. tey counting your chewing. (35 chews) if it doesnt get better i would say go on licquids and if that doesnt help-go to the hospital!