Ugh, slipped bad or bad choices?

Hi there,
So studying for an exam, I lost my mind for a moment and shoved 4 or 5 very burnt old cold French fries (my boyfriend left them out) in my face without a 2nd thought. 

I got immediately very stuck (of course) and began to pace. After about 10 minutes with no resolution and the pain worsening, I decided it was time to get of it. One whole French coughed up and tons of slime. Then for 30 more minutes I had probably 20 trips back and forth to the restroom, sometimes with success, sometimes with just slime. After 45 minutes of the pain and predominately unsuccessful restroom visits, I decided to take a big gulp of water and try to push everything down (a bad idea, but I needed the pain gone). I immediately got physically nauseous and ran to the bathroom. I vomited so hard that my bladder (even though it was mostly empty thankfully) couldn’t be controlled.

This is the first time I've ever had this kind of vomiting and this lengthy of a stuck process. After my exorcist like experience, I feel better but I can tell a lot of gastric acid came up because my throat burns and even though I'm not in pain anymore, I still feel really tight (which I guess could be inflammation) but I can't even keep water down.

Does this sound like I slipped my band? Or that I'm just inflamed?

(btw, I'm never eating fries again - and I'm never eating while not paying attention again)

 

What you've experienced is a good ole fashion band whipping, I think everyone will get one of those very bad repeated vomiting episodes at some point, french fries, thick bread, rice, Chinese food and grilled dry chicken, will send most bandsters with restriction to the hospital if not carefully eaten or praying for relief.

It is not a nice experience to get food stuck with the band as you can see, I don't think you have a slipped band, but if this is done repeatedly, which I doubt you will try to do on purpose, this can cause issues since you are newly banded so you may want to stay with safe mushy foods and chew your food well before swallowing especially in your first year to make sure your band heals firmly and forms scar tissue A few vomiting episodes usually don't cause slippage, some people vomit several times a day, so you are probably safe, it takes a lot of forceful vomiting daily for the band to slip.

You may want to do liquids and soft foods for a day or two to reduce swelling and take it easy.

I don't mean to hi-jack this post, but Nana I have to tell you something.  I had chinese today, I have had it before, but for whatever reason today, Chinese, hasn't sat well with me at all..Man I kinda feel like a truck hit me.  No vomiting or anything, but belly gurgling and hurts.  I am drinking a cup of hot coffee to try to settle or "open" up the band alittle bit.  It seems to be helping a little but it will be a VERY long time before I eat chinese food again. 

Thanks for reading my mind and letting me know I'm not crazy!!! 

Take care and thanks again!

NanaB nailed it for you I think. Your bands giving you a wakeup call. Stick with liquids for about 24 hrs to give it a rest. Call you doc if you arenot able to ease back into solids after that.

I agree with Nana too....liquids for a day ..maybe more depending...small sips help ..dont chug or gulp down water...peas got me last night...i figured ..theyre small and will go right through...not! i forget that upper pouch is like a trafiic jam down there ! i sometimes get stuck on mushies if my bite is too big ...good luck ..most of us have been there and yes IT IS NOT FUN ...

I sure found out french fries are not my friend. But just to be sure I had to try waffle fries and as a result I had a blockage that was slow in clearing. No more fries for me.

I've had this happen to me and sometimes I'll go even a week staying on mostly liquids such as soup (it is the soup season) and shakes.  It seems to work for me and helps get all that swelling down.

It is most definitely inflammation, and as previously suggested you will need to do a liquid diet until the inflammation subsides. Once that happens and you move onto mushies, try eating like this (look below****il you feel you can move on.

How to eat with a LAP BAND.

• A “half a cup" of food should be placed on a small plate.
• Take a small bite and chew well.
•  Use a small fork or a small spoon to eat.(an oyster fork or baby spoon)
  
• A single bite of food should be chewed carefully for 20 seconds. This provides the opportunity to reduce that bite of food to mush.
  
•  After chewing the food until it is mush, the patient should swallow that bite. 
• Swallow, then wait a minute. The patient must wait for that bite to go completely across the band before swallowing another bite. Normally, it will take between two and six peristaltic waves passing down the esophagus, which can take up to one minute.
• A meal should not go on for more than 20 minutes. At one bite per minute, that is just 20 small bites. The patient probably will not finish the “half a cup" of food in this time. The patient should throw away the rest of the food.
  
• It takes between two and six squeezes to get a single bite of food across the band
  
• The patient should not be hungry after 20 bites or less.
  
• After undergoing LAGB, the patient should never expect to feel full. Feeling full means stasis of food above the band and distension of that important part of the LECS above the band. This destroys the LECS, the mechanism that enables optimal eating behavior and appetite control. A patient should always keep this process in mind.
  
• If the patient finds that after eating the “half a cup" of food he or she is still hungry, he or she should review his or her eating practices, correct the errors, and consider the need for further adjustment of the band. If this is occurring, it is usually an indication that the patient is not in the green zone. 

There are three common eating errors:

1.The patient is not chewing the food adequately. Food must be reduced to mush before swallowing. If it cannot be reduced to mu**** is better for the patient to spit it out (discreetly) than to swallow it.

2. The patient is eating too quickly. Each bite of food should be completely squeezed across the band before the second bite arrives.

3.  The patient is taking bites that are too big to pass through the band.

Each of these errors leads to a build up of food above the band where there is no existing space to accommodate it.  Space is then created by enlargement of the small section of stomach or by enlargement of the distal esophagus, both of which can compromise the elegant structure of the LECS. If the LECS is stretched, it cannot squeeze. Without the squeezing, satiation is not  induced. When satiation is not induced, hunger persists, more eating occurs, and stretching continues. If our patient continues this each day for a year, it is inevitable that chronic enlargement will occur, the physiological basis for satiety and satiation is harmed, and stasis, reflux, heartburn, and vomiting supervene.

Esophagus

After food is chewed into a bolus, it is swallowed and moved through the esophagus. Smooth muscles contract behind the bolus to prevent it from being squeezed back into the mouth. Then rhythmic, unidirectional waves of contractions will work to rapidly force the food into the stomach. This process works in one direction only and its sole purpose is to move food from the mouth into the stomach.^[2]

In the esophagus, two types of peristalsis occur.

AA simcplified image showing peristalsis

• First, there is a primary peristaltic wave which occurs when the bolus enters the esophagus during swallowing. The primary peristaltic wave forces the bolus down the esophagus and into the stomach in a wave lasting about 8–9 seconds. The wave travels down to the stomach even if the bolus of food descends at a greater rate than the wave itself, and will continue even if for some reason the bolus gets stuck further up the esophagus.
• In the event that the bolus gets stuck or moves slower than the primary peristaltic wave (as can happen when it is poorly lubricated), stretch receptors in the esophageal lining are stimulated and a local reflex response causes a secondary peristaltic wave around the bolus, forcing it further down the esophagus, and these secondary waves will continue indefinitely until the bolus enters the stomach.

Esophageal peristalsis is typically assessed by performing an esophageal motility study.

I never heard of the "meal not taking more then 20 min".  I thought we were to eat slowly that we shouldn't "finish" the meal in 20 min?  I mean it makes sense but I just never heard of that.  This is why I love this board, you get so much wonderful information. 

Thanks Pumpkin!!!

I think every surgeon has different rules, but I like these rules because it explains why the timing is
so important between bites in regards to the peristaltic waves passing down the esophagus.