Where do you feel food fitting?

Thank you both and yes I have asked the husband to rub my back or I normally will walk around. Doesn't look odd at all while out lol.

If I eat too much or get food stuck, it absolutely is felt behind the breastbone and sometimes even up through my throat.  It surprised me that my stomach was not where it always felt it was pre-surgery - and I studied pre-med anatomy and physiology lol!

Hi - I understand.  My friend has the lap band and suffers with every meal. Its hard to watch but she is terrified of surgery to have it revised.  She eats soft food like carbs so it isn't as painful and has gained back a lot of her weight. She leaves the table and throws up all the time. I had the RNY and the only time I feel my stomach is with meat and it is in the upper part of my stomach.  Personally, I try to eat and chew at least 30 times but I like the feeling of the dense food in my stomach.  My full is way too much food for me to eat.  Its mental that I have to eat past food every time.  I think its part of the obsession or compulsion.  Over full equals safe which is not safe at all and ends up in mental and physical torture.  So, no pain at all just certain non slippery foods are apparent in your stomach.  

Thanks for sharing this has been a very important issue for my revision decision.  I am sure I need to change this band out, it and I developed eating issues like your friend where mushy soft foods are my best friends and those do not tend be to the best options.  

I revised from band to bypass 6 months ago and I PROMISE it is a completely different experience. I feel about a million times better than I ever did with the band. It no longer hurts to eat so I am able to eat dense protein and the other healthy things that make weight loss a reality. The band made it so uncomfortable that I often chose slider foods to avoid throwing up. But with the bypass, I no longer feel pain unless I've really eaten too, much too fast, but even that feeling barely compares to the band.

Good luck! You'll be so much happier when that thing is out of you!

thanks for the encouraging words.  I'm really looking forward to talking with my doctor Monday, he'll have my endoscope and barium x-ray results and we should be able to make a decision on the sleeve or bypass.  If you have a little time do you mind telling me about your personal choice for bypass?  I'm putting together a few questions for my doctor that should help me narrow which one might be best for me.  

When I had my lab band put in I could only choose between lapland and bypass, I wanted the sleeve but the insurance company would only do those two.  Eight years later here I am again but I'm not bitter about it because I am more ready for this, this time around because I know what went wrong for me.  At the time I wanted the sleeve because I was afraid of the malabsorption issues causing issues down the road.  However after looking at the research now days I don't really think that's nearly as much of a fear as it was for me in 2008.  

Great question regarding where food is felt. It sounds like I might experience something slightly different than some of the other RNYers who have posted.  I am 10 months out and only have pain/pressure if I eat too fast or way too much and either get something stuck or get the foamies.  However, I feel it a little higher than the breast bone.  The sensation is more at the bottom of my throat where I picture my esophagus and pouch probably meet up.  This may be because I had a hiatal hernia repair with my RNY (which is common).  My anatomy might just be extra tight there now.

Regarding why I chose RNY.... I started out on a mission to get the band, then met with a surgeon *****commended the "new" (at the time) sleeve as being a better alternative. I waited a year and then met with a second surgeon *****commended RNY for two reasons 1) I have had issues with acid reflux.  The sleeve can make it worse and RNY has the potential to cure it. 2) My BMI was hedging toward 50 and he thought I would likely lose more weight with the RNY and have a better chance at reaching goal.  I was freaked out for a while about the malabsorption component, but eventually decided on RNY because I couldn't imagine living with acid reflux that was WORSE.  I am really happy with my decision.  I no longer have reflux and that has improved my quality of life just as much as the weight loss.

On a side note, I think the malabsorption has been important to my success. I will fully admit that I have had difficulty consistently staying on plan.  The fact that the malabsorption has made up for some of my shortcomings and allowed me to lose weight even during times when I was over my calorie goal has kept me motivated and given me time to get my head in the right place for long term success, without getting derailed by frustration over the number on the scale. I know that calorie malabsorption decreases over time, but for about the first 8 months, it clearly helped quite a bit.  The last two months, not as much.

I do agree about the malabsorption being helpful at the start and it is a nice selling point to me as well.  I am glad it peters off because a big concern is what about long term right?  When your older and need to absorb more of the calories you eat or if you get sick having an absorption issues might not be helpful.  So the not everlasting effect is nice.

I too worry about GERD, I've not have any reflux issues which are noteworthy with my band however I don't want any either LOL.  I am still weighing my options and both the sleeve and band seem like good choices with pluses and negatives to consider. 

Thanks again for sharing.

I chose the bypass for three important reasons:

1.) I had scarring from the band and was told that the part of the stomach they needed to use to make the sleeve was damaged, so it would require 2 surgeries. One to remove the band, then I would have to wait 6 months to let it heal before I had the sleeve surgery.

2.) My second important reason is GERD. I never had it prior to the band but I was miserable and choking on acid for years. Bypass tends to "cure" GERD and the sleeve tends to make it worse. My GERD is gone, btw!

3.) And last (and I know this might sound ridic), the band was a newish surgery when I chose it, and it turned out there were a lot of problems. The sleeve is the newer one now, and I just don't want to find out in 10 years that there is something bad we didn't know about it. Bypass has been around for 80 years. No surprises!