chodapp

Banded May 6th, and I'm down 67 pounds total. Losing about 2 pounds a week without trying. I've had no adjustments yet, no panic "stuck" situations, and even lost two pounds last week after spending four days in New Orleans! I am on the road constantly, and am a frequent speaker at luncheons and banquets. Dry chicken and overcooked beef is tough to choke down, but nothing else has ever been a problem. The most decadent thing I grab in a bag through the car window is the occasional taco. I miss the convenience of sandwiches, but cutting out bread and spuds has killed the cravings of constantly wanting to eat. I am just not hungry anymore. And I am sleeping on my stomach again, something I haven't done in 15 years. I was shooting myself 5 times day with insulin, and taking 7 heart/bp pills. No insulin since may, and I am down to just one bp pill. That alone is saving me almost $900 a month in meds, along with the dramatically slashed food budget. So, yeah, this is a big success so far.

I am three days post-op, and have no real pain anywhere. The liquid diet is working and not bothering me at all. And I'm already down 27 pounds from when I started. But I have a big problem with taking pills. I take them one at a time (I have to get six down in the morning and two at night) with as small a sip of water as I can. But no matter what, it always starts a reaction of violent hiccups, sometimes followed by vomiting them right back up. And it feels like my throat is constricted as well, as pills have started to get stuck there. Is this a holdover from surgery, from the tube they stick down the throat, and it's just swollen, or am I missing some trick that everyone else has figured out?

Try not taking them as soon as you get up. I have been told the esophagus is swollen when you first wake up. Try a swig of warm tea first. Try tilting your head back and straightening your throat when you swallow. These combinations seemed to solve the problem.

My first follow-up office visit was today, and even though I'm down 33 pounds since embarking on this hootenanny, I received a stern talking to today that I am eating too much. Life from now on will be a little food no closer than two hours apart, and no greater than 4 ounces in size. Anything larger stretches the pouch above the band, eventually rendering it worthless. And any bites larger than a pencil eraser will get stuck in the band once the doctor starts filling it with saline. I carefully explained that my life currently consists of driving for days on end and speaking at beef and chicken banquets. It was carefully explained right back to me that, while the surgeon said I should be able to eventually eat steak again, he is not the person who gets the crying 3 AM phone calls that a piece of steak was stuck in the band, unable to go down or come up for four days. The big lessons today were: don't get cocky that I have been able to swallow things easily this week, because that will soon come to an end when the fills start; chew everything until it is pulverized before swallowing; and that a four ounce plate of roast beef hash should take 25 minutes to eat.

Hormel Roast Beef Hash is the find of the week. And 21 grams of protein in 1 cup.

Hi, gang. Banded May 6th by Keith McEwan in Noblesville, Indiana. Pre-liquid diet weight was 275, pre-op was 254. 9 days in I'm at 243. Once I got home, the worst pain I had was from a reaction in two spots to the gauze adhesive. I have hardly felt the incisions themselves. Frankly, I haven't had any desire to eat in almost three weeks. Cheating is down to a spoon of peanut butter, and it's all I can do to gag down the protein shakes - I can see that's going to be an ongoing problem. Taking pills is an ongoing challenge as well. I have to take several blood pressure meds, and swallowing the pills almost always causes a painful hiccup episode. I've tried morning, evening, tilting my head to straighten the esophagus, taking a sip of soda water—nothing seems to solve it, and I'm concerned that this will get worse after the fills start. Started pureed food yesterday with a Dinty Moore Beef Stew run through the blender. Sort of like a pot roast milk shake. Yeah, it was great.

Dinty Moore Beef Stew run through a blender was my first mushy repast. 200 calories, 10g of protein. After almost 4 weeks of liquids, it was like a steak dinner.

Now that the weekend is over and I've had a chance to talk to the surgeon's office, the problem was just as I suspected. It's all my fault. Why didn't I see that coming? Powerade? Too early in the game. The stoma is swollen around the band, and anything acidic makes it unhappy, makes it cranky, and makes it swell up like an angry puff adder so nothing easily gets around it. Stick to water. Ditto too much liquid in the first few days. 1-2 oz. of water or clear broth at a time, wait 15 minutes, then have another 1-2 ounces. Repeat for three days. And of course, the office blames my single Ritz cracker/no hiccup experiment for three days of setback. My dietician sounded entirely too much like the Keeper in Star Trek's pilot episode, telling Captain Pike after making him writhe in pain, "Wrong thinking is punishable; right thinking will be as quickly rewarded!"

Here is an encouraging result. I know my doctor says no carbonation, but if I take the pills with a swig of club soda or seltzer water, the hiccups don't happen. Or they haven't happened today.

Chewables are fine. It's the coated time release pills (which are no larger than an aspirin) that I can't get down without the hiccups, and I'm not underselling how intense they get. Out of curiosity, I did an experimental cheat with a cracker, and it went down fine, with or without water. But the pills set them off every time. :confused:

I'm at Day 3 post-op, and I get pretty drastic hiccups every time I have to swallow a pill (I take 6 in the morning and 2 at night, related to blood pressure). I'm sipping the bare minimum of water every time, and the pills aren't big. Please say this goes away, or there's a solution. I can't swallow a sugar pack anymore to get rid of them anymore, and can't take 10 gulps of water. Pretty painful, too.

End of Day 1 of Post Op. I feel like I've cheated the fates. Almost zero pain at all, except when I lie down on my side. I have both anti-inflammatory as well as straight codeine, but haven't touched the codeine. Zero pain at the port site. Taking my regular stack of pills caused a 10 minute hiccup fest, but if that's the worst side effect I get, I'll be thrilled. I've had a quart of Powerade Zero, Water, and chicken broth, with no sign of the puke factor. Still, I want a Ritz cracker so badly right now.