I will be the first to admit that I was an idiot & I did push it more than I ever should have. Hopefully someone can learn from my stupidity!

The scene: A Renaissance Festival

The food: A sandwich with sausage & peppers

What happened: I had not really had trouble with bread before, although I had been careful & thought that this would be OK as well. Apparently I took too big of a bite & OMG the pain!!! I took 2 very small sips of Water hoping that would help but it did nothing. I didn't want to slime in public or in front of my kids so I told them to tell DH I'd gone to the bathroom & I made a beeline for the 'privies'. I hit the handicapped stall & started massaging my breastbone & pacing. Thankfully, in a minute or two, it seemed to 'plop' into my stomach.

I have now sworn off bread unless its a multigrain (per drs suggestion) & I'm working hard to remember to take very small bites.

You can discuss it with your doctor, but my doc said bacon and sausage were completely off limits. I work in a hospital, and did some reading and not only the fat content is a problem, but sausage has "bits" of unchopped gristle/fat that have difficulty making it throught the stoma.

I know the exact pain you are speaking of though! I had some roast beef my mother made for a family dinner, and I chewed, and chewed, and chewed til I thought I had chewed enough, and when I swallowed, it felt like someone had stabbed me right below the sternum. I kept swallowing trying to make it go down, and the more I swallowed the worse it got. I had to excuse myself, and as soon as I got to the bathroom I gently began to, excuse me, regurgitate the few bites I had taken. I've learned to avoid roast beef (even Arbys or deli roast beef) as for some reason, it just not go down well.

Everyone is different, and it may depend on the size of our bands, the size of the stoma, and the size of our pouch. You will find in time what you can and cannot eat, and unfortunately we have to learn it during lessons such as yours and mine.

I hope you are feeling better!

Jason