Hi!

First let me say I am SOOO happy to have found this forum. It was a comfort to find other people who know what I'm going through. I read through a whole thread about food getting stuck, and now I can't find it to post my question as a reply... so new topic.

I had my surgery almost 8 years ago. And at first everything went great. I couldn't eat breads anymore for the most part, but it was all good. I lost about 50 pounds the first year and was happy. Then after a few years I started to get this "stuck" feeling... I honestly never connected it with this procedure, which seems crazy now, but I just didn't. It was years after the surgery, and it felt like it came out of nowhere. I started "sliming" and "PB" and all the things Iearned have actual names when I just read through this thread this morning. Things progressed to the point where last year I ended up in the hospital (here in Korea, which is where I'm living now) because I couldn't swallow Water. The doctor here took out all the liquid from my band and everything went back to normal. I was happy.

But it has started again. I have no liquid in my band anymore and once again I am starting to not be able to eat much at all. Even Soups. In that thread that I read I saw mention of papaya extract, and one of the questions I wanted to ask was how you take that? Do you take it before every meal? Or just when things get stuck? Like, when the food gets stuck, you chew a tablet? Any other suggestions for things that work?

And any thoughts on what is going on? I have no liquid in my band and it is happening again. I am thinking of fasting for a few days or so because the doctor told me that the reason the problem happened in the first place was because I was overeating and it stretched out my esophagus (I could see that things were mishapen when I looked at my barium swallow extract), so would that help? If I just don't eat at all for a while? It's kind of hard to go to the doctor here because of the language barrier (the doctor I did eventually see last year spoke very little English))

Thanks!

the papaya extract is chewable. it aids in digestion. my parents used it and took one every morning. if you have no liquid in your band and still are not able to drink or eat there is a problem. eating smaller, chewing thoroughly and eating small bites help if everything is working right. you need to call the doctor again and let him know you are still having problems. going on a liquid diet isn't a bad idea. if your stoma is swollen for some reason it can cause your problems. so giving it a rest would be helpful. but you should be able to drink liquids. don't get dehydrated.

Awesome, thanks!

So the papaya is a daily thing...okay. So that will help overall? And then,do you carry it around and then take it at a meal if food gets stuck?