I met a girl in one of my lapband groups. She went for a fill and they made her drink water then eat a cracker! She told the nurse it felt kind of stuck so they did not give her a fill. She really needs a fill. Any comments?

Thanks,

I would hypothesize they were seeing if the fill was too much. The "wet cracker" was to test how well the opening would deal with a specific amount of digested matter. More specifically what the physician considered to be a reasonable amount of digested matter for her/you currently. Better to remove the fill then than have to schedule you for a second visit in just a few days. Theoretically as your stomach continues to heal and adjust to the band it will eventually be able to handle the cracker easily.

I met a girl in one of my lapband groups. She went for a fill and they made her drink water then eat a cracker! She told the nurse it felt kind of stuck so they did not give her a fill. She really needs a fill. Any comments?

Thanks,

That's pretty mean that her doc's office did that. It sounds like they tricked her.

I may be going against the grain here (no pun intended hehe) but if you can't eat a cracker without feeling stuck, you're probably too tight and you don't need a fill. I can eat several crackers (as long as I chew well) and I'm still overfilled according to my last fluro.

Strange way to test it though, better to go do a fluoro and see how fast the Barium exits the pouch but...

I don't disagree, but water and cracker at same time? Also do you eat crackers right after you are filled?

Everybody's different

I guess that's kind of my point, that everyone is different! If I can't eat a cracker and drink Water at the same time without it coming back up with no fill, would that surgeon refuse to ever give me a fill based on his philosophy? I've had the band for over 6 years and have never been able to eat then drink something! If you have a philosophy or theory there should be more criteria to base it on than the cracker and water test! I guess I just find that kind of funny! I'm Not disagreeing with him, I would just have to understand his reasoning if I were to continue to see him.

We're not the surgeon so we don't know their experience or the patient history. I'm simply saying it's a reasonable and functional test it may have been designed and not ended for specific circumstances related to the patient. The best thing to do would of course be talk t the surgeon about it. In my experience part of a good Dr.'s job is explaining what they do,

Ended=intended

She told me she was given after the fill then they took the fill out. I think She registered so hopefully she will add to this post.

From the first post "She went for a fill and they made her drink Water then eat a cracker! She told the nurse it felt kind of stuck so they did not give her a fill."

This implies the cracker eating precluded the fill...at least that's how I read it

Edit: I see the clarification further down, sorry.

MsMaui, why do they want the food to move out of the stomach faster?

I'm having motility issues, slow gastric emptying. I have no fill, but I feel "stuck" often and don't keep my meals down much of the time. Terrible constipation too.

Don't go by my original post. She replied to this herself read what she said. My opinion if it's a good idea why have none of us ever had it done with our fills?

Don't go by my original post. She replied to this herself read what she said. My opinion if it's a good idea why have none of us ever had it done with our fills?

Because we're not all the same. Perhaps her surgeon is concerned about her nutrition intake, stomach muscle strength, and/or dgestive acid concentration.

We could all keep guessing! LOL... I think the only one that can give us the answer is the doctor! Please ask and let us know what he says!