Newbie

Ok, well technically I'm not a newbie because I had my band surgery in march, but 4 weeks after having the surgery I had scare tissue squeezing an artery and was rushed for emergency surgery (not fun). Then at my 6 week check up I had the go ahead to get a fill. Well, the tubing disconnected from my port so I never felt the fill. Instead I was in constant pain from the tubing floating in my body for weeks before I convinced them there was really a problem. I had a 3rd surgery to fix that and never went back to my surgeon, at this point I was over drs and anything to do with them. I finally decided to get a fill and yesterday was the day. I had 3ccs put into my 10cc band. I definitely feel restriction. I think I must be doing something wrong because I eat about a cup to a cup and half of food and I'm feeling OK, then boom I hit a wall and I am too full and in pain and have to walk around a little to get the food to settle. Can some of you old pros tell me, do I have too much fill, am I not chewing properly, and I just eating to fast, or am I eating too much?

I'm excited to finally get back with this (well actually to start this finally), but it's been so long since all of my seminars and research, that I feel like I am starting out blind again. And I didn't go to my surgeons office to have the fill, I just had my gen prac do it at my last office visit.

Any help or ideas would be much appreciated :)

ALthough it's possible that your fill was a bit too much, I suggest that you work on your eating skills before deciding you need some saline removed. Also, your upper GI tract may be irritated from the new pressure of your band against your stomach from the fill, and that'll take a week or so to calm down, after which you may feel as if your band is empty again.

The eating skills to work on include: take tiny bites, chew very well, eat slowly, pay close attention to how you feel while you eat so that you can learn your new "stop eating" signals, and pay attention to possible problem foods (dry meat, fibrous veggies, sticky starches like bread, rice, pasta).

You've been eating until you get what I call hard stops - that feeling of hitting a wall. It's better to eat until you get soft stops. Common soft stops include fullness or pressure at the back of the throat; burping (or the urge to burp); hiccups; the urge to take a deep breath, cough, or clear the throat; a sigh; watering eyes; a runny nose; a sneeze; excess saliva in your mouth. Don't worry if you can't identify some soft stops right away. It can take a while to notice them or identify a pattern.

Also, in my opinion, eating 1 to 1-1/2 cup of food at a time is a mistake, depending on what the food is. I can eat a lot more of soft foods like oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, mashed potatoes, beans, etc. but not much of solid foods (animal protein, fish, seafood, veggies, fruits). So I suggest that you measure 1/2 cup of food, put it on your plate, carefully eat that, and when it's gone, take a moment to decide if you're still physically hungry (empty, grumbling stomach). if you're still hungry, put another 1/2 cup of food on your plate and carefully eat that. If you just want to eat more (because it tastes good or you're afraid that the 1/2 cup wasn't enough to keep you going until the next meal or snack), put the rest of the food away for now. If you're genuinely physically hungry later, eat again. It's better and safer to eat small amounts frequently than to eat greater amounts and risk dilation of your stomach and/or esophagus.

Jean

Jean thanks for your very detailed eating tips.....I'm having my first fill next week and I am sure your details will help me tremendously since I'm new at this!

Jean said it all! Lol!

I would like to add, I was always told no solids after a FILL for 24-48 hours. We are suppose to do liquids following FILLS and STUCK episodes.

You should be getting into your local support group from doctors office. So that you will know why to do and know what is normal or not.

But ya got great information from Jean!
Good luck,
Prek3

Thank you so much for your replies. Those are great ideas and tips. I will definiately impliment those into my eating habits.