Hi all - I'm new. Just had the band surgery 10/6/10. I'm still recovering, but looking forward to eating a new way. But its so confusing... I wish someone would create either a really good animation of how the band and stomach work with different foods and/or someone could invent a working, life size version to show exactly what is going on in there.

For instance, when you eat solid food (either pureed or chewed well), doesn't it sit in the pouch for a while before going through the opening? Or does each bite go through rather quickly? Why do certain things that don't seem to make sense get stuck - like eggs? Why do people have problem with eggs? I mean, scrambled or soft-boiled can be mushed up pretty small, so what's the problem? What about Pasta? Is that a problem - why? What about small pasta (there is a kind called acrini de pepe - they're little balls that you usually see in Italian Soups - they're smaller than a pencil eraser)? What about stringy cheese? I understand from some people that cheese was a good option for them to get their Protein in...but then I think of melty cheese from pizza or pasta and just imagine a glob of it sticking in the hole. I'm so confused...I wish I understood better the mechanisms...

Any help is appreciated - I need to get to my pureed food stage starting tomorow and I'm a little scared. But I need to get there because I'm not getting enough nutrients now - not enough protein, calories or water.....

Thanks.:laugh:

I strongly suggest you contact your doctor's office to get the answers you are looking for. My doctor and one of his physician's assistants did complete explainations of how the band works. My doctor also has a nutritionist who went into great detail about what foods to start with and which to incorporate at a later time. She also went into great detail about how many calories, grams of protein, sugars, fats, etc., I should be aiming for. You can get a lot of information at www.lapband.com as well as watch educational videos at www.my-emmi.com.