HI, I am new to this group. I have been banded for 2 years and I have NEVER had a piece of food stuck for more than a few minutes. Well, last night I had a piece of steak get stuck and I still can't get it out. I am barely able to keep water down. I have tried to throw it up....I have sipped warm water...I can't get it out. It feels horrible. Oh yea....and I am in Venezuela and have no way to get the fluid removed. I'm getting worried. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance...

Ok I have a question. I was banded on 4/12, lost 18 pounds so far. Have had a few small episodes of getting stuck but nothing major until today. I have a 10 band with a 5 fill. I was on the phone & before I knew it I had eaten some chex mix & thought I had chewed it up well but became stuck. I can normally sip a little water & everything is fine but today it wouldn't budge so I felt the slime, I needed to throw up ~ when I did it had blood in it both times is that normal to have blood?

Not normal but not necessarily a reason to panic- may have made a small cut. I would check with your doc though. Eating when doing other things may be a no no. For me it's hard for me to pay attention enough to chew enough. That may be why you had the issue.

-Cordelia, banded 1/08

Ok I have a question. I was banded on 4/12, lost 18 pounds so far. Have had a few small episodes of getting stuck but nothing major until today. I have a 10 band with a 5 fill. I was on the phone & before I knew it I had eaten some chex mix & thought I had chewed it up well but became stuck. I can normally sip a little Water & everything is fine but today it wouldn't budge so I felt the slime, I needed to throw up ~ when I did it had blood in it both times is that normal to have blood?

If it were me, I'd place a call to my surgeon about it. Only 5 weeks out? I'd want to touch base.

I promise- the psychiatrist said they recommend drinking meat tenderizer. ( this came up during a what if question session)

...speaking of meat tenderizer... can you tell me what the Japanese use to tenderize their meat and chicken?/ i had about two mouthfuls of chicken that was used in stir fry, about three days ago. it had been tenderized and i coped really well with it. i was thinking of doing it for myself. Does anyone know what it is they do? or can anyone suggest a website i can look at??

Tamik-I agree you should call the doctor when you see blood. Maybe it is nothing, but 5 weeks out is still in the beginning stages of learning.

dianalyn- About the Japanese meat tenderizer...I know they use a lot of natural juices to cook with. It is possible that the meat was soaked in an acidic juice such as orange or pineapple juice. Or it could be vinigar. I'd try a japanese cooking website to search. Also, the method's they use to cook are very good. Lots of high heat and flash fry on a dry grill. This helps to sear the meat and lock in juices. I love Japanese food and have always been able to tolerate it well.

My no no's are popcorn, bread of any kind and dry, over cooked meat.....

Kimmym, how are you feeling now? Better, I hope. I seemed to be loosening up after my stuck iron tablet the other night. Ugh.

I definitely heard about the papaya enzyme, and heard that it worked, miracles for mostly everyone who needed to get unstuck. I have had good sucess with really hot beverages (to open the band), pineapple juice (sipping slowly), and if things get really bad (as they once did with a piece of roast beef) I took a gulp of a "granita" which is a blended ice drink (like a smoothie or pina colada, but not with alcohol). I was hoping it would have the opposite effect of the hot beverage, and it made me throw up everything in my stomache within about 15 seconds (along with sharp pains). I dont know if I recommend this though, because I am sure that it could do something bad to the band placement because of the wretching that I was doing. But the food came up pretty quickly, and I was stuck for about 7 hours.

Kimmym, how are you feeling now? Better, I hope. I seemed to be loosening up after my stuck Iron tablet the other night. Ugh.

Ouch...That sounds painful...but at least you got it up...

Kimmym, how are you feeling now? Better, I hope. I seemed to be loosening up after my stuck Iron tablet the other night. Ugh.

Thank you for asking. I am better today. Took it easy last night and had a Protein shake for dinner. Cheated and had some really runny oatmeal for Breakfast. No problems and no more discomfort.

I am curious....I was doing really good and losing a lot of weight in the beginning. I have only had a few fills. I am not even half way full now. I just had a fill about 6 weeks ago. I got the fill because I was gaining weight...I don't understand how I started gaining weight again. My question is this. Once you reach your goal weight, is it necessary to have fills to maintain that weight? And if so, what the heck do you do once your band is completely full? I guess I should have asked my surgeon these questions, I was just so happy to be able to get the weight off.....He says things like "We find a happy place" that doesn't really answer my question. Maybe you can as an experienced and successful bander.???

Thank you for asking. I am better today. Took it easy last night and had a Protein shake for dinner. Cheated and had some really runny oatmeal for breakfast. No problems and no more discomfort.

I am curious....I was doing really good and losing a lot of weight in the beginning. I have only had a few fills. I am not even half way full now. I just had a fill about 6 weeks ago. I got the fill because I was gaining weight...I don't understand how I started gaining weight again. My question is this. Once you reach your goal weight, is it necessary to have fills to maintain that weight? And if so, what the heck do you do once your band is completely full? I guess I should have asked my surgeon these questions, I was just so happy to be able to get the weight off.....He says things like "We find a happy place" that doesn't really answer my question. Maybe you can as an experienced and successful bander.???

I never thought to ask those questions either! Once you are at proper restriction you need fewer and fewer fills.

You may have been gaining for a couple of reasons. You started eating higher caloric foods or larger amounts of foods. The reason for larger amounts of foods with the same fill can be that as you lose weight, you lose it everywhere, including the fat around your stomach beneath your band. When that happens, your band feels looser. Like what happens to a belt as you lose weight. When your band feels looser you get hungrier. For me hungrier means I eat more, eating more means weight gain.

I seem to just get a teensie tune up fill yearly. About 0.25cc. It's good though, because I see my surgeon this way, and he checks everything out. He does an upper GI each time to check placement is still good. I had my last top-off in September. According to my surgeon the older bands seemed to have a bit of Fluid that seeps through the bladder of the bands over time. Not so much in the newer bands. He said my AP Standard 10cc band is one of the newer ones.

For me, I've reached a fill level where what I eat is appropriate to maintain my weight. At this point, I could not take any more fill in my band. I am far from the capacity of it. I have a 10cc band, I have less than 7cc in it, not sure of the total. My surgeon has the total in his notes, it doesn't really matter to me, what matters to me is that I can eat and maintain my weight.