I was about six months post op and visiting friends. We all sat down for dinner (grilled pork chops, broccoli, and mashed potatoes) I found the smallest pork chop got some broccoli and a little mashed potatoes on my plate and thought "OH" this is going to be so good.

We were just having general chit-chat over dinner and I was not paying attention to my chewing. I guess it was about 3 bites into my meal and I knew I was in trouble. I didn’t have time to excuse myself; I knew I had to leave the table and I had to leave now. I either ate too fast or didn’t chew well enough and bam I could feel the tightness in my chest. I knew I had an elephant on my chest and he wasn’t moving. Earl scooched down and made himself very comfortable, no matter what I did to move him, he wasn’t budging.

I was in the restroom for over an hour; I had all sorts of visions running through my head about how to make this tightness in my chest stop. I thought of the car thief who uses a coat hanger to break in, I thought maybe I could perform surgery on myself and remove the band, the longer the episode lasted the more crazy my thought process became.

My friend came and knocked on the door and said my plate was still on the table (Are you kidding me I have been in here over an hour and the last thing I want to think about is eating again) no I’m good go ahead and remove my plate.

After an hour and half my PB from H E double hockey stick came to an end. My poor friends kept coming and checking on me to make sure I was ok; talk about being embarrassed and humiliated at the same time. I was exhausted by the time the whole experience was over. I came out of the restroom to a standing ovation (yeah really). Of course I was asked if I was still happy with my decision to have the band and I answered with a “You better believe it”.

So if you can learn anything from my experience I would hope it would be one of three things.

A.Don’t eat and carry on a conversation at the same time.

B.Don’t experience a PB (Productive Burp)for over an half hour without contacting your surgeon.

C.Avoid Elephants named Earl they are not nice elephants.

I have not had a pork chop to this day.

Edited June 10, 200818 yr by CoachCher

Did you actually have a PB, or were you just stuck? You describe being stuck (had the same experience in a restaurant with a black bean burger), but I thought a PB was when you actually bring the food back up. In my case I decided to break the no drinking rule, and I took some sips of water which helped to flush down what was stuck. I agree that the feeling is not one I want to repeat. I had met a friend for dinner, and she is deaf. She had already ordered, and I was trying to scan the menu to see what I could eat, and look at her signing. We hadn't seen each other in a while so she had a lot to tell me, and it was hard to focus on the menu. First it came on a bun (bread doesn't seem to agree with me; I tried once and it got stuck, so I haven't had bread since 3/25/08). Ditched the bun. The bean burger was so dry I put ketchup on it, and that wasn't even enough. If you go to Chili's, don't order it.

This past weekend I went to a family party. I had a large alcholic drink, and drank it rather quickly, and not follwoing my usual procedure of waiting to eat after 5 or 10 minutes I saw some food. DId Ichew carefully

heck no - and all of sudden all hockey sticks froze over - they say I was green or gray around the gills.

I felt terrible kept burping up stuff - moral of the story keep with the program......:sad_smile:

though I am no longer a fan of the Dixie Chicks, I could not resist . . .

. . . . Earl's gotta die . . . .

thanks for your story.

Love It!! I probably named him Earl subconsciously.

Wow Coach Cher, you look fantastic. I haven't been on here for a few weeks, or maybe I have and just haven't come across your posts. What a great pic. You are quite the motivator. That's for sure.

This is all news to me and I'm getting worried. My surgery date is Aug 20th. And during our meeting I've been told about maybe coughing up food if you ate too quickly. But not getting stuck? What exactly happens and how did it get resolved? Do you make yourself throw up?

Thanks for the sweet compliment. I am working my program hard right now. With the conference fast approaching I have to look my best )

Hey Frazzled,

You are going to do fine, don't let this scare you. Let this be a lesson to you.

If you eat too fast or don't chew well enough the food can get stuck, you will get this extremely tightness feeling in your chest. The great thing about the human anatomy is your body will take over to help you out. You will start getting a lot of saliva or foaming, this is your body helping out.

As I stated I should have never let my episode go on as long as it did. I was finally able to cough up (for lack of a better description) the pork chop. I have only had one other experience that sort of compared to this episode. I have been banded for four years now so you can see it’s not the norm. PB’ing can be avoided if you chew, chew and chew some more.

Again please don’t let this scare you; we all go through it or have experienced it one time or another. Consider it your right of passage J

I guess there is good and bad things about reading posts. You hear all the positve and also the negatives. But i'm focusing on the positves because I will be no better off staying the way things are in the present. But just curious as to how it can get stuck? Do you mean close to the opening of your new stomach, once your food has traveled down your esophagus? Thanks for your speedy responds. This site is fantastic!

Yes it got stuck in the new opening, it had traveled down my esophagus and got lodged. If I had chewed it well enough it probably would not have happened. Who knows the band can be fickle at times.

Gotcha....I understand what can happen if you don't chew properly. I'm trying to chew my foods slower to get some practice but find certain foods are harder to chew like macaroni pasta.....Would some people agree that some foods post more of a risk than others? Would anyone suggest to stay away from certain foods that have posed problems for them?

So, how do you handle eating with friends?

Havn't had procedure yet. I'm absorbing as much information from others who have been living it personally. My fear is adjusting to a life with a band. Your accustomed your whole life eating a certain way and even when you diet you don't worry about chewing or bite sizes. So this will be a whole new way of life. I'm not that great with change so that's why I'm gathering as much real life experiences as possible. But I appreciate everyones support so far.:thumbs_up:

You do adjust I promise. When I go out to eat with friends or family I try to eat softer foods. As I have stated in other post softer foods tend to have more calories. If I know I'm going out to eat I make sure to adjust my eating through out the day so I can afford to eat some higher calorie food. Granted I don't finish a meal ever so it's not going to wreck my week or anything like that.

Trust me you will "Thank" yourself if you learn how to chew your food prior to the procedure. It takes practice and it's best to learn before you have the band than when you have it and you are forced to chew to liquid. Keep up the good work you are going to do great!!