My mom had lap-band surgery in January of 2005. I know she has had her port filled several times. She has lost a little bit of weight. My concern is that she feels the need to vomit everytime she eats. She says it's not everytime, but I spend alot of time with her and it seems that she always needs to run to the bathroom, sometimes twice. What is she doing wrong? I'm really worried about the situation. She doesn't think it's a big deal. I've told her I want to go to the doctor with her and find out why this is happening and she just brushes me off. I've urged her to go to a support group, but my mom is very stubborn. Can someone give me advice on how she can successfully eat without vomiting? Thank you.

hi, your mom may be over-filled. that happens to people sometimes. if she is seeing results (losing lots) from the overfill, i can see her wanting to keep that restriction. does your mom know about this forum? maybe tell her that you visited and know that throwing up is not 'part of the deal'. best of luck to you and your mom.

thanks. i am going to try to get her interested in this forum. just found it tonight. i'm way more worried about her than she is about herself.

Also, your mother may be eating too fast or taking too big of bites. This will also cause the food to get stuck and the need to PB (productive burp) or some do refer to it as "vomit".

I wish her all the best. She really needs to see a dietician with her surgeon. They can help her with this problem. Too much of vomiting can cause damage to her band. Please let her know this. She is risking her band.

You Mom would benefit from any type of support. It kinda lonely out there without someone to bounce info. off of or vent when frustrated.

Hopefully, you can point her here to read some of the threads or "lurk." Once she feels ready and wants to post, she will feel better with support.

It's hard to tell if she eating too fast or too big of bites or just needs a slight unfill.

So wonderful that you are taking care of your Mom.

Shawn

Are you sure she is vomitting. I find that often I just need to stand up and walk around and the bathroom is the most inconspicous place to go.

I do the same thing as Malice X Girl sometimes, but not every time I eat. If I have to go to the bathroom more than once during a meal, my family knows I'm having trouble.

She could be too tight, she could be eating too fast, she could be taking too big of bites, or she could be eating things that just aren't going to agree with her band.

If she wont come here, and wont get help anywhere else, maybe you could try and coach her a little if you see any of the eating behaviors... "Mom, I just wanted to mention, you might not have quite so much trouble if you took smaller bites"... you know?

Yep yep, big difference between "vomitting" (puking) and what we bandsters might have to do after we eat, which is just bringing up food. We call it "PB" or "productive burp".

For now I'm going to assume she's PBing. In which case, any of these things may help:

Slight unfill. It would help to know how much fill she has and what size her band is. Also her eating habits - what kinds of food is she eating, how much, how quickly, how well is she chewing, etc. What about liquids? Can she drink them without having to run to the bathroom?

If you see that maybe the problem is eating too big of bites, suggest that she try using baby/small child flatware. It will prevent her from eating too much per bite. Break out your old ones from you were a child!

I still have problems occasionally myself and keep a set of the plastic disposable ones in my purse just in case I need a "slap on the wrist"

Good luck!