Never Stuck / First Fill Question

[AllieB2011 0]

I have been banded since December 28, 2011. I had my first fill last week Thursday and definitely feel a difference (no longer hungry after eating 1/2 cup of solid food.) My question is this: Is it possible to never have a stuck episode? So far I have never had one. I chew VERY carefully and take between 20-30 minutes to eat. I do however sometimes take larger bites than I should. Has anyone ever NOT been stuck or do even the best chewers in the world have it at least one or two episodes a year?

Also, I was reading here that most people do not feel restriction until after several fills. Why is this? After my first fill my surgeon said to come back immediately if I am not satisfied with 1/2 cup of solid food or hungry before 4 hours have passed since I ate. He must have done a good job because I do not feel tight but do feel satisfied after eating like I said.

P.S- Which types of foods would most likely cause a stuck episode? Veggies (like the skin on a Tomato or the rough texture of lettuce) or meats?

[elcee 3,340]

I am sure that it is possible but it is also fairly unlikely.

If I was you I would focus on eating correctly and not on the fear of getting stuck.

Different foods cause stuck episodes for different people.Most Dr's give you a list of foods that may cause problems but you should not eliminate them.That would be like never eating certain foods because they might make you choke or never eating something because you might develop an allergy to it.To do that is to over react and can cause your diet to be very restricted which is not the aim. Just because a food is fine one day does not mean it will be the next and vice versa.

So pay attention to how you eat and relax. And if you do get stuck then yes it will hurt (for a while) but you will get over it. In fact in time the memory will probably fade and you may repeat the experience. In that way it's probably a bit like giving birth - after the first time most people swear it will never happen again but there are not too many that stick to that.

[vlp1968 83]

It is possible never to get stuck, not getting stuck is a good thing. That is great your first fill put you in a good place. Skin on fruit can cause problems, I don't know about tomatoes. Dry meat can also cause issues. Big culprits of getting stuck are bread, rice, Pasta. Until I had a large unfill I couldn't eat them. I was fine with that while I was loosing but when I got into maintaince mode I wanted to be able to eat them in moderation. Keep up the good work!

[JerseyGirl80 12]

I didn't have a "stuck" episode for a quite a while after surgery, probably not until I had 2 or 3 small fills. I suppose it's possible to never have one, but as you get more fills and the novelty of being newly banded wears off a bit (sometimes I forget I have a band because I'm so used to it now), you may forget or not pay attention or be in a rush and you too will probably have that stuck feeling eventually, and if not, more power to you, you'll be one of the lucky ones.

When it's happened to me it's been my own fault, each and every time from me eating too fast or not chewing enough or just being distracted while eating has caused episodes. But these episodes are very rare for me at this point (I was 1 yr post-op this past December), as I have learned what I should and shouldn't do at certain times of the day (from morning til dinner, lately, I'm pretty tight and eat very little and mostly mushier things or Protein shakes). Around dinner time is usually when I am able to eat a small meal (probably the size of a lean cuisine) and I'm satified, but I still have to be very careful.

I'm not perfect all the time, which is why I am a slow loser, I do indulge on occasion but it works for me and my lifestyle.

It's really all been trial and error so far in discovering foods I should try to avoid and things that usually give me no trouble. The only thing I can't do is eat fried or crispy (from being baked in the oven) chicken skin, which I shouldn't be having anyway lol, but this is a big NO for me, the few times I've tried it I've gotten stuck, even just one bite has gotten stuck no matter how much I chewed it. I also can't sit and eat a big burger with the bun or eat a big sub sandwich with the bun (shouldn't be doing that either, but I can't even if I wanted to). Also, if I have steak and it's too chewy, fatty, well done, or rubbery I have to spit it out because I know it'll get stuck.

But for the most part I can have every type of food as long as it's cooked right, Pasta, rice, breads, all meats, although sometimes veggies give me trouble unless they are really over cooked, salads are sometimes hard, I have to eat them extra slowly. If my food is dry, that means trouble, so I try to moisten it a little with fat free dressings or fat free sour cream fat free sauces or gravys, I eat alot of avacoado too in place of mayo to add some moisture.

So I basically can eat anything, just in very small amounts now, I have to be very careful though at all times when I'm eating. This wasn't so until my last fill (about a month ago). I'm now at 7ccs in an 11cc band and this is definitely as tight as I feel I should be without starving to death lol. I felt a little restriction since the beinging, and then little by little I felt a little more with each small fill, but comparing that to how I feel right now, I'd say that was nothing compared to this! So it took me over a year to get where I needed to be with restriction, my "green zone", but that's mainly because my doctors believe in filling slowly and also because I'm self pay since my insurance changed. I have to pay out of pocket for each fill so I didn't fill up as often as I would have liked to.

Like I mentioned before, the amount of food I eat for dinner is about the size of a small lean cuisine, sometimes I can eat more, sometimes less, it depends on the day or the types of food I'm eating. I do not measure my food, to me that whole 1 cup, half cup of food thing is for the birds.. I eat what I'm eating and I count my Protein and calories, that's it. I am not telling anyone to not measure their food, always follow your doctors orders, I'm just stating that this is what works for me, my doctor feels this is fine for me to do it as long as I'm still losing.

To answer your question as to why some don't feel restriction until after several fills, keep in mind that every BODY is different, what works for you might not work for someone else, it's not an exact science. Some people have bigger bands that need more Fluid to constrict, some people have larger stomachs and need more saline injected in their bands for the proper amount of restriction. Some doctors do small fills, some do bigger. Sometimes just the band alone is enough for some patients and some need to be super tight. We are all different, but in time we can find our perfect balance.

Good luck to you, I've babbled enough.. I hope some of what I've said helps!

[NWgirl 574]

lapbandgal (http://lapbandgalsjourney.blogspot.com/) has a blog and didn't have her first stuck episode until recently- I believe she has had her band for over two years now. It is possible if you are super careful and mindful.