What food do you eat.

[bill millikan 5]

Hello everyone. My father had lap band surgery in July of 2013. He has lost 55 pounds. He has been having trouble finding foods to eat. He is getting choked and throwing up alot. He just doesn't know what to eat and he is about to give up. I cant let him do that because he has come so far. Can anyone please help me find foods he can eat. Any help would be much appreciated.

[2muchfun 8,928]

If his doctor knows his band is not too tight, he's not chewing enough and/or he's taking too big of a bite and eating too fast.

Most of us can eat most anything. Each of us have that one or two foods that we find hard to get through the band, but even if we take fingernail sized bites and chew a lot usually we can get them through.

Specifically what is he choking on? And is he choking or is the food just getting stuck in his pouch or esophagus?

Here are 4 videos that all bandster's or support for bandster's should acquaint themselves with:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa3Lwt6ElIs&list=UL Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4jYJipQ7vc part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbdhf44ZweI&feature=relmfu Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF3TCKUn3YI Part 4

[bill millikan 5]

Thank you so much for the information. Im so desperate to find out all the information I can to help him. He gets choked on things such as skinless roasted chicken breast, lettuce, chilli, oatmeal, and bolonga. He said it feels like it gets stuck in his esophagus.

[2muchfun 8,928]

Re-educating ourselves how slow to eat and how small to eat is one of the most difficult things we have to do. I'm serious, it must be very very slow and very small bites. Roasted chicken breast can be one of the hardest to get down, but oatmeal and bologna should be what we call a slider food. He sounds like he needs some saline removed. Maybe just .25 CCs.

[jennybean 175]

I agree with 2muchfun, Make sure he is chewing ALOT and eating slowly. It will become a habit after awhile.

[bill millikan 5]

Thank you guys so much. This really helps!

[terrydumont46 1,954]

make a appointment with the dietician. your dad needs the help that one will provide. so many ppl that have lapbands start eating food that goes down easily only. these foods like Soups, ice cream, puddings etc. are easy and become all they eat. they also have a lot of calories. your dad needs the lesson of how much to eat at a meal, what to eat and how to eat. watch those videos that 2 much listed. it's nice you are there for your dad. please come back and talk with us whenever you and your dad need support.

[bill millikan 5]

Thank you very much. I just dont want him to give up.

[Bandista 7,466]

Thanks, 2muchfun, for posting these video links -- I got so much out of those when you out them up a few months ago when I was just post-op and still struggling to figure it all out. Also this helped so much: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html -- many good points on how to work optimally with the lap band.

Bill, you are wonderful to be helping your father get this together. It will all click into place but this is a critical juncture. I was surprised not to have more education through the hospital -- it's really this forum that gave me what I needed to know about the right fill for me and how to get there, plus all the behavior modification. Does your father have a small spoon with a long handle -- that may help him slow down. And I use a shrimp fork, small bowls/plates, too. It's become second nature now but I had to really practice at first as my instinct was to shovel my food in at a pretty fast clip.

The tiny unfill suggestion sounds very valid. Important to be able to eat real food chewed well. Maybe your father needs some one to go to the surgeon and nutritionist with him and insure there is good communication, that the medical team is aware of what's happening and that your father is understanding the protocol. They want him to succeed but they may not be connecting enough. The whole fill thing can be so subtle.

Best wishes to both of you -- let us know how it's going!

[bill millikan 5]

Thanks for posting. Im planning on going with him tomorrow to the doctor and the nutritional doctor. So I hope we have good luck.