WHERE does the food get "stuck"??

[illion 0]

Ok.. this has puzzled me from the very beginning, and I haven't found an answer to it.

food is supposed to stay in the smaller pouch and slowly move into our regular stomach, right? So, WHERE, along this process, does the food get stuck that makes us hurt so much? If it's supposed to stop at the pouch, then everything we eat theoretically gets stuck there. But you can actually *feel* the food pass that spot, wherever it's stuck, and the pain stops.

Any answers from either the docs or someone who knows?

<confused>!!

[rodriguezequal 3]

When food gets stuck it means that it will not pass through the stoma or your new pouch exit. You will feel it and most of the time you need to bring the food back up! It may be because you didn't chew well enough, you ate too fast, or you ate something you should avoid with the band...hope that helps.

[MistyD65 1]

I'm glad you asked this. I've been wondering about it, too. What I don't understand is, if you've already eaten most of your meal, theoretically filling up the pouch and covering the stoma, why would a last, poorly chewed bite get stuck? I wouldn't think that bite would be anywhere near the stoma yet to block it, but the effects are instant.

Any ideas?

[Wheetsin 714]

It depends. I'll try to be as non-technical as possible. If you eat too large of a bite, it can become stuck "above" the band, e.g. it is never able to leave the esophagus and enter into the "band tunnel". Sometimes a bite can be small enough to enter into the "band tunnel", but becomes stuck there (like a fat guy who can squeeze halfway through a window, but can't budge after that). Sometimes something gets stuck, but when you get sick it doesn't come up, but you still feel better. A lot of this is just guessing, but many veteran bandsters and doctors believe something can be stuck and the act of getting sick is enough contraction to push the stick through so that you can only bring up what's sitting above the actual stuck particle(s) and still get full relief. Kind of like plunging a toilet. Often the plunge clears what's stuck, even though it doesn't necessarily pull what's stuck back up into the toilet (ewww). Lots of "don't know exactly how it works, but it does" in band world. As for later bites getting stuck - lots of possibilities. One is that the earlier food has already moved through. One is that it isn't "stuck" so much as "one bite too many." (IMO this is what happens a lot of the time). Often these two happenings are referred to synonymously. But think about it this way... it doesn't take long to see a post about someone eating after their soft stop and "getting stuck" as a result, but if they've really filled their pouch to capacity and threw another bite on top of that, it's not "stuck" that's happening, it's overfilling. Both seem to feel about the same. The degree of restriction you have can also change over a very short period of time. I can't validate this idea, but IMO it's possible to be eating and have restriction that allows the food to pass, then you swell slightly and the food above it can no longer pass. So you're "stuck" in the same sense as brakes... the movement can continue until the point that the brake "clamps down" enough and eventually stops movement, at which point the rotor is "stuck".

[illion 0]

Wheetsin, Thanks for that explanation. It makes a bit more sense, except I still can't see how anything can get stuck above it, since that area is not effected by the band- it's the same size it was *before* the band was put in place.

But I've had that example happen to me.. I've gotten stuck, drank a bit of milk or Water, then PB'd and all that came up was the milk or Water, but the stuck was gone afterwards. The food causing it didn't come up. Weird!!!!! Maybe I should stop trying to figure this all out and just accept it, since it works. *lol*

Does the learning curve ever stop? I'm still learning how to eat, by trial and error!

[illion 0]

Misty, how did you guys weather the storm down in Katy? Hope everything is ok!!

[MistyD65 1]

Hey Illion. Katy fared pretty well. Lots of tree debris to clean up, a few isolated places are still without power, but I count us as very lucky. My house only lost power for 7 hours Saturday morning. We ended up with one large tree limb down in our backyard, but thankfully it didn't hit anything.

Did you have any effects from the storm?

[illion 0]

Misty- Not really except rain and some wind. The weather people had everyone in the Dallas area all hyped up, expecting the worst, but we had stronger winds here just the week before. It never hurts to be prepared, though! I was pretty nervous- and didn't even resort to nervous eating!

Glad you're ok!

[A lot less 1]

I was told to get papaya complete. It's a enzyme that helps the food that's stuck. Mine will either come back up or go down, which the latter doesn't happen very often.

[Wheetsin 714]

Wheetsin, Thanks for that explanation. It makes a bit more sense, except I still can't see how anything can get stuck above it, since that area is not effected by the band- it's the same size it was *before* the band was put in place.

It wouldn't exactly get "stuck" above it, but if that's what people experienced, they would describe it as "I got stuck." Different mechanics happening. In terms of analogy, this is the paper plate or plastic bag that covers the sink drain, blocking the sink but never actually making it into the drain. The drain (banded part) is completely clear, nothing in it at all, but directly above the drain, at the very bottom of the sink, there's a blockage. Prior to the band the body has some capacity to accomodate too large of bites (most people have done the accidental *gulp* and swallowed before they were really ready to swallow - sometimes feeling nothing, sometimes feeling a "weird" feeling down their spine, etc.). With the band, that capacity is gone because there's absolutely no stretch allowed when you're clamped to a specific size.