i am reading these horrific stories about food getting stuck and just want to know how does this happen? is it getting stuck in the band area? does it feel like you swallowed something wrong? and sliming, where is it coming from?

excuse my newbie ignorance, i just want to be prepared when this happens.

Hi there!!

Stuck happens when something you swallowed blocks the stoma (the hole created by the band between your new little stomach and the larger portion of your old stomach).

This is often because we did not chew the item enough or took to big of a bite. Or perhaps it is too fibrous. It cal also happen with a soft, doughy item like bread or Pasta that I swear you can chew and chew but will reform once in the stomach.

What gets me the most are dry meats like chicken breast and soft breads.

I get a pain right beneath my sternum to let me know something is wrong. It feels like I swallowed a rock. As the stomach tries to make the offending item go down, you feel pain and pressure.

During this process, the body makes mucous to help aid the item to go down. Only problem is that the item is often too large to go down and the mucous cannot go down either as the stoma is blocked. So it has no where else to go but up, and therefore, out the mouth. This is what we call sliming.

Walking helps the pain of being stuck, and sometimes the body can grind the item enough to get it to go down. Sometimes not, and the item will come back up with the slime.

It is not really vomitting, to me, it is more of a reverse gravity thing. I lean over and up it comes.

Once the item is out, I feel MUCH better. If the episode has gone on for an extended period of time, I'll do fluids or mushies for a day or two, depending on how my stomach is feeling. This can be a pretty traumatic event, and there can be some swelling.

Over time, you'll find your best way of dealing with these episodes, and your doctor may have suggestions, too.

Now that I am two years out, I rarely get stuck these days.

Many stuck episodes are due to operator error, but not all.

Best wishes in your journey!!

Stuck is when you take to big of a bite and/or do not chew your food thoroughly. Yes the food gets stuck in the opening between your stoma and stomach (where the band is). Imagine trying to shove a doughy peice of bread or an unchewed lump of broccoli through a hole the size of the tip of your finger. The sliming is your bodies reaction to this food getting stuck. Your mouth and throat produce a thick mucas in response to the food getting stuck to try to help the food pass.

The feeling you get with food being stuck is a terrible pain between your breast that can last from a minute up to several hours. Please chew all food well, take small bites and listen to your doctor. Also do not try to drink when food is stuck. It does not help and only makes the pain worse. Good Luck.

thank you so much. i really appreciate the warning about pasta, bread and brocolli (which i love). i guess i figured that it got stuck in the stoma but i was not getting the sliming part. i hope this never happens, but at least if it does i am more prepared. thanks again.