So, I just got back from the hospital: A Lesson

[AZChick289 1]

This has been a wonderful post and one of the exact reasons we need to all vent and tell .. 80's girl you are awesome to share and learn .. I was getting to aggressive in my eating and not chewing as well and too big of bites .. Haven't had my second fill yet.. I am slowing down now and going back to the basics .. Thank-you so much for you honesty and all the posters for the tips... I am starting a brand new day and we all can do that ..

[kjhack 3]

Wow! Bless your heart. I am glad to know you are doing better now. Spme of the others are showing you some tough love. Know that you can do this and that we all make mistakes. good luck!

[Lisa B 0]

80s Chick, thanks for giving us a good cautionary tale. Chewing, chewing, chewing and stopping when I'm full, not when the plate is clean, is really hard, but I'm trying to train myself pre-band so post-band I've got some practice under my belt (er, band).

I hope you're feeling better now and can hold on to this memory in a good way.

Cheers,

Lisa

[HeatherO 7]

I think we all have been there, done that in one form or another. The day before my second fill, I knew I was relatively "open" and was dying for a little french fries with melted cheese, chives and sour cream. I thought, I'll splurge this once but take it easy and tomorrow is a new day. I was so horrifically sick it wasnt even funny.

So we all know the rules, but some of this is trial and error as well. A bad experience makes us avoid certain foods in the future. So all we can do is chalk these up to experience, put it behind us and make different choices going forward.

[Northwest_Nance 0]

Thank you so much for sharing this. It is a good reminder to those of us who haven't yet had any problems, that we DO need to remember we have the band and we need to go slow, and listen to what our bodies are telling us, because things like that can happen to any of us if we don't follow the rules. I'm sorry you had to go through that and I hope you're feeling better soon.

[80s_chick 2]

Thank you all for your support! I am still having problems today. I ate a banana this morning. It was soft and I chewed it to nothing, but I was in pain all day long. This evening I ate a couple of bites of a peeled, soft plum and a couple of bites of mashed potatoes. The pain is a little less so I am going to stick with the soft stuff here for a few days until I get back to feeling a little better. Now I know what it is like to have food problems, I will not have to go back to the hospital...although I am really going to try to prevent this from happening again!

[Insky67 2]

My doc always recommends going back to liquids for a few days after an episode like you just had and in your case I would say your stomach really needs the break from food. Liquids for at least a day or two would probably do you a world of good.

[Harkingluv 0]

I am a new bander also. I was banded May 22. I have gotten a couple of things stuck, one happened to be yesterday. I was eating a corn taco shell (broken up in a salad) and I think I didn't chew it well enough and I felt it get stuck. That was the closest I have come to vomitting/PB-ing. I actually walked to my bathroom. But, I just tried to relax and I took a couple of sips of Water and it went down. I am really scared to throw up with the band because I am scared to death of having a slippage and having to have another surgery. I have had something get stuck about 3-4 times and each time, I waited it out (it usually takes about 5 minutes for me) and then it goes down.

I think I read somewhere on the forum or talked about it at a meeting, but if I am out at a restaurant, I have the waitress bring a to-go box with my food, and put between half-3/4's of my meal in the box. That way it is out-of-sight and out-of-mind, and you don't feel like you are depriving yourself as much. It really works for me.

I am however, having a harder time when I eat at home. I have a tendency to want to snack. I have tried to do it with healthier choices, like sugar free Jello pudding or 100 cal. snack packs tho. What's funny is that i was never this much of a snacker, so I don't know what happened. Maybe i just didn't realize it as much before.

However, with my main meals at home, I look at how much I am giving my 2 year old and I give myself roughly the same. I haven't been weighing my food although I probably should start. Plus I don't know if my band is tight enough yet. According to the diet plan my doc gave me, I should only eat one egg in the mornings, but I am able to eat two. So I don't know if my portions are quite right yet.

Sorry if I got a little off topic.

[80s_chick 2]

I don't weigh or measure my food either. I am taking a hard look at how I have been eating. I am just going to start over...LOL.

[cherb101 0]

I too have had frequent gas build up problems, I drink way too much and often have Coke Zero with is a no no! I have found that when I am feeling really blocked up I take some Gas-X thin strips and it will disssapate that gas right away and give some much needed relief. My situation is wierd. I have not had a fill yet but have some Fluid in the band which was actually left during surgery. So I do have some restriction and gas has certainly been a problem for me.

[Boo Boo Kitty 3]

80's chick I am so sorry you had to go through this, but chalk it up to a very hard lesson to learn! It could have been SOOOO much worse! You could have damaged your band or your body. It sucks you had to go through this, but maybe it is what your body needed before you really caused problems. Your pride will heal hunny! Good luck! And BIG hugs!

[80s_chick 2]

I didn't know that I would still be hurting two days later. :scared2:

I guess I probably have some inflammation or something. I am just trying to take it easy...

[Sue Magoo 71]

80's Chick:

You probably irritated your pouch big time. Please just have liquids for a couple of days and then you can try mushies for a day or two and then solids. You need to rest your pouch and the best way is to have the liquids.

One of the tricks that I've learned is that I put the food that I intend to eat into a 1 cup container, then put it on my plate. That way I'm not tempted to eat more than a cup, and most of the time I cannot eat what is on my plate.

Take care and I hope all of your lessons aren't learned the hard way.

Sue

[SuzieQ240 0]

OMG - your story made me laugh out loud....I am sure it wasn't funny as you were going thru it but a good lesson to us all.

[aubrie 6]

For me, being stuck and GAS are two entirely different types of pain. Being stuck is like a flaming golf ball sitting right behind my sternum. It's intense and I slime. the pain I have from gas is different. It's a progessively dull ache. It builds. I burp a little and my stomach gets bloated. My doctor told me that some people are more prone to swallow air while eating and even talking. That seems to be me. Excess air in the pouch hurts. sometimes I can force burps to get some relief, but if it's a gassy food that I've eaten, it just keeps coming. That's when I turn to my new miracle drug. chewable GAS-EX. It's saved my butt 5 or 6 times now. won't go anywhere without it. I even keep it in my desk at work. TOTAL relief in less than 10 minutes. Ahhhhhhhhhhh........