I am healing wonderful with my new AP band and I have noticed the following:

1. I can now drink Crystal lite without heartburn, I never could drink Cyrtal lite without burning afterwards with my old band.

2. Week two and no PPI required. I had to be on a PPi from day one of my first band surgery.

3. I was able to get on my treadmill this morning for 30 minutes and I feel awesome.

4. Chest pains and painful eating gone.

5. My incisions have scabbed over and tiny.

6. My surgeon filled my band to the sweet spot right out of surgery.

7. I have lost 9 pounds in two weeks.

8. Regardless if I drink a protein drink or eat some grits I get full for hours at time.

But what I do noticed is that when I try to over do it like yesterday at our Thanksgiving buffet dinner, every time I eat a cup soupy or mushier foods like mashed potatoes and gravy, I get extremely full and pain in my left should immediately, this has happened several times, so I am wondering if this is the new torture mechanism built in?

I never had this with my old band, with my old band I would just get food stuck in my chest...I have absolutely NO STUCK feeling or feelings like I want to slime like the first band. But I have to say as soon as that shoulder pain hit me from my pouch and radiate to my left shoulder ...I put the spoon down very quick......so if this continues to happen throughout my journey I can see me getting to goal very quick...by means of pain and torture....but the good news is it goes away about 5 minutes after I stop...

God knows I wanted to eat more of that Turkey casserole juice....I was too scared to try the turkey...but I got plenty of juice with small bits of shredded turkey and poured it on my mashed potatoes and cranberry moist sauce and it was so good.....

So...I think I may love my AP band...

Hope everyone have a great Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend! Now I am out to shop.

I had that left shoulder pain every single minute of the day when I had my band. Every minute from morning until night. I'd wake up with the pain, I would go to sleep crying because of the pain.  Had the band removed and had my first minute without pain and then realized how much nerve damage the band was causing. I should have had it removed immediately, but was told that it was "normal" and it would go away. 

I believed it. And now, over 7 years after band removal, I still get the left shoulder pain. And for me, it doesn't go away after 5 minutes, that's for sure. I still get the sharp, stabbing left shoulder pain at least once a week. It's nothing like when I had the band, but it's still a reminder of how much damage it did to me. I went through a year of chronic hiccuping and sneezing to the point of passing out, too... all from the damage to the Vagus nerve.  (Can you see why I hate bands so much?!)

If you're having that pain when you eat, you can be assured that it's nerve damage. And you're trading your health for a smaller clothing size, I'm sorry to say. I know you just had surgery, so we'll hope that it's just from swelling and it will go away after you're healed.  I know you're excited about the possibility of having a nice, new band and being successful, but I will also warn you that this is a dangerous thing. If, after you heal up completely, you're still having the left shoulder pain, don't make the mistake I did and keep the band. It was the worst mistake I ever made in my life.

Nic,

I am so sorry about your continued shoulder pain, if I had this pain every second of the day, I would not be able to function at all, so I can image how miserable that is for you if you have that constantly. I have only gotten it when I sort of "over do it" and eat too much, like yesterday, and I researched it and remember it comes from eating TOO MUCH....and it depends on how the surgeon place the band.

My new surgeon told me that he would place my band in a way that it would stimulate my vegas nerve...AND HE DID,...my old band did not do this...so it could be a good thing to ALARM me if I have eaten too much...and a warning to keep my meals small to keep from stretching my pouch. Who knows, it could be just diaphragm pain from the surgery itself, my surgeon mentioned that he had blow up the area, to see to dissect and repair my hernia and remove  the old band and putting in a new one.

But you know after ALL that I had done IN ONE SURGERY....I feel extremely good, considering how I felt with my old band and hernia problem. If this shoulder pain...was a lingering problem, trust me, I would be the first to complain...

I thank Dr Ku with his awesome skills....if I have to live with left shoulder pain for 5 minutes every time I overeat....that's a small price to pay to get my life back.

Considering what others with other types of wls go through post op with their surgeries...my revision surgery was a piece of cake...no nauseous, vomiting weakness....food interancless..nothing...I am blessed and grateful.

Here is more on this...

http://drsimpson.net/fills/lap-band-problems/food-stuck-pain/food-stuck-pain-after-eating.html

Lap-band weight loss surgery support: Food stuck - pain after eating

There are several reasons to have pain after eating:

(a) Eating too much. When you stretch the pouch you may experience pain. This is your body warning you that you have eaten too much, especially if you have pain in the left shoulder. This means the pouch is stretched. Remember, the volumes we express are not the minimum to eat but the maximum. Successful patients eat a portion and walk away. Do not eat until you "feel full." Your band will slip if you chronically overeat your pouch.

(b) Eating too fast. When you eat too fast you can cause pain in the pouch. This also leads to eating too much. Successful patients eat slowly over 15 to 20 minutes. Unsuccessful patients tell us that they don't have time to eat -- and yet manage to get more calories in than they need. Eat slowly. Slips happen when patients eat too fast.

(c) Eating too large a bite. Slow down. Take your time. Put nothing in your mouth larger than the fingernail of your smallest finger. If you eat too large a bite things can become stuck. If you eat too large a bite it can become lodged into the pouch and cause discomfort and lead to a slip.

Eating with Lap-band weight loss surgery: When food becomes stuck

It will feel like a golf ball underneath your breast bone. You may be in pain. You may not be. You may "slime" and produce a lot of saliva in your body's attempt to dislodge this.

Things that become stuck:

Chicken is the worst offender, especially chicken that has been microwaved. Re-heating chicken tends to make it so that it will be too tough. This means microwave dinners, like Lean Cuisine, are not a good idea.

Chicken with other things that get stuck are also a culprit -- chicken and rice, chicken and noodles, or chicken and tortillas or other bread type of products.

• To make chicken so it won't get stuck: get a meat hammer and pound it.
• DO not overcook it so it is dry.
• Marinate the chicken.
• Slow roast.
• For a simple dish -- take a chicken and place into a crock pot. Cover it with Salsa -- put on slow cook -- when you come home you should have a moist bit of chicken.

Breads, pasta, rice -- all can become stuck.

Vegetables that are fibrous -- humans do not digest the methyl cellulose in vegetables. So, cut the vegetables so that the fibrous material does not sit in your pouch obstructing things periodically.

Best way to not get things stuck:

Avoid the problem. Chew well. Eat slowly. Do not overeat. Avoid dry chicken or re-heated chicken -- or avoid chicken.

If something gets stuck: Stop eating. If it burps or vomits up -- good. IF it is stuck for more than 20 minutes then do not eat for 24 hours. Instead go on liquids. Once something is stuck for a while it will cause the stomach lining to thicken, so you will be prone to have things stuck.

To help get things unstuck -- stand up, walk, jump. It will pass. If it does not -- we may need to take fluid out of the band. It will pass.

Awesome!  I am really enjoying my new band too!

Weight is coming off slowly and that is ok by me.

Great! Cool...Glad to hear you are progressing along fine, I think some of my weight loss was from me going on liquids periodically before I got my old band removed.....Also my surgeon filled my band during installation, you probably have not gotten to your sweet spot yet.

What's PPI?

Proton pump inhibitor.  It allegedly prevents GERD and other reflux buy inhibiting the development of the acid.  I want to say Nexium and Prevacid are in the PPI family but don't quote me on it.

Nana,

A cup of mashed potatoes and juices may be way too much at this point. I could never have eaten that many mashed potatoes even with a loose band. The shoulder pain may be your hard stop. Weigh and measure but look for that quiet little warning that if you don't stop right now I am going to get pissed and BAM!  It is possible that with your old band having been tight enough to make you stop eating that you never really learned to look for a soft stop. This time you will, obviously. This time it is a whole new experience.

Hi Sue,

Yes, this band is a little bit different, I don't feel the tightness like I did with the older band and I had more of a "warning" with my older band, but this new band SLAMS SHUT after eating about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mushy foods accompanied by slight pain and shoulder pain, I am learning with it.

Wow you could never eat a cup of mashed potatoes with a loose band? Heck with my older band, when it was loose, I could easily eat a freaking hamburger WITH FRIES....lol....but when it was tight...I could barely swallow my spit...lol....

No one should ever hate someone b/c they are doing well with any WLS! It has been a misconception with some bandsters that those of us with band issues are jeleous of them. That is so not the case. We wish EVERYONE could do well with the band! We hoped that for ourselves, but we weren't that lucky, but we would never want another bandster to not succede with their band just b/c we had issues with it. :-)