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Hypothetical question - what would happen if...?



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I was discussing my band with a friend a little while ago and a question came up. What would happen if someone who was freshly banded (such as myself) were to eat something solid before the appropriate time? Taking into consideration that said person chewed the food completely, that it wasn't something that is known to cause blockages, and that it wasn't something large that they ate.

What kind of issues could this cause?

I am DEFINITELY NOT doing anything stupid like this - I've dropped too much already to throw it out the window in the first week - just curious!

Thanks!

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So many people say Well, I ate solid food early but it went down OK. That is not the point. It is not for weight loss, it is not to avoid getting sick and it is not just to torture us. :wink2:

To answer your question, anything not liquid during healing will cause your stomach to churn in order to digest it. Your band has sutures holding it in place, until you form scar tissue and those sutures heal you do not want that kind of motion. Doing so would risk breaking the sutures and band slippage or it could cause the band to shift and heal out of place. The people who chose to break the rules could have done damage and not even know it.

Edited by Jodi_620

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Fair enough :-) Thanks for the excellent answer!

I knew there was a good reason to not touch any of the holiday goodies everyone brought in today LOL!

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Not worth the risk. I roomed with a (wonderful) woman who had her's done in July. It slipped and during her surgery hr internal organ was nicked and she bled out 6 pints of blood and almost died. She was in good spirits this morning when she was released when I was. Also she kept her band, said even with that scare or complication it was worth it. She looked *great*

I'm babbling prollly cuz I'm on happy drugs lol

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No matter how good those goodies look, I can't justify spending the money on medical bills that I would have to pay just to get a mouthful of yummies LOL!

Several thousand dollars for a cookie? Doesn't seem worth it to me :-)

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Whatever goodie that person wants to eat is not worth the risk so tell that person to save that treat (a small protion of it) for when they are allowed to eat solids. I have the biggest sweet tooth. I looooovvveee ice cream. My son grab some vanilla ice cream at the store this past Monday and I didn't make him put it back neither. He also asked could he get some pre-cut cookie dough and I said yes. Needless to say I had a small cup of vanilla ice cream with two small just out of the oven chocolate chip Cookies. Did I need to eat that? No. :wink2: Do I care that I did? No. :crying: Do I feel bad that I did? No. :sleep: Because back before I was banded 8/4/08 I would have eaten 4 or 6 just out of the oven chocolate chip cookies and a very big bowl of ice cream. :mad2: So just know when you heal you can have those sinful things... In small portions... But please don't do it until you get the big OK! :angry:

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Oh it's not that I would even consider it ! Just curiosity has me asking the questions, ya know?

I've actually not been hungry at all - but don't tell my stomach that! It's been snarling at me like a circus tiger for days, but I don't feel that hungry feeling I used to.

No temptation will get me until I get the thumbs-up from the doc!

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I understand your curiosity completely. When you have the band or are in the process of getting the band, a lot of the times I was given a do and don't kind of list. But seldom was it explained why. And some of us are just the kind of person that wants to know the in's and out's, the why's and where's, etc. At least I am. I drove my doctor nuts at times I am sure, but that is my personality. It also drives home the rules a little more if you know exactly what the ramifications of not following them are. I hate to be told "eat Protein first". In addition, I want to be told why. That is one of the great things about this board. Knowledgeable that are willing to share info. I love it.

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I understand your curiosity completely. When you have the band or are in the process of getting the band, a lot of the times I was given a do and don't kind of list. But seldom was it explained why. And some of us are just the kind of person that wants to know the in's and out's, the why's and where's, etc. At least I am. I drove my doctor nuts at times I am sure, but that is my personality. It also drives home the rules a little more if you know exactly what the ramifications of not following them are. I hate to be told "eat Protein first". In addition, I want to be told why. That is one of the great things about this board. Knowledgeable that are willing to share info. I love it.

I agree with you Jetsy. I am a details kind of girl. I need to know everything about what is happening to me. I watched the band surgery being done on someone on vidoe, because I just want to know.

I think the more we know the better our informed decisions will be. I want the good and bad news. :rolleyes2:

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I would not eat large chunks of solid food without chewing well, but remember, ANYTHING can be a mushie once you get to that stage. You can have all the foods you used to, just in a modified form and smaller quantities. A cookie won't kill you, smush it up and chew it until there's nothing left, then its a mushie. Your meat, cook it in a slow cooker with liquid, till it's really tender, smush it up with a fork and eat it. Chew until there's nothing left, and it's a mushie. I don't understand why people are limiting themselves to mashed potatoes, pudding and yogurt when almost anything can be transformed into mushie food. You'd be surprised that the more you chew, the quicker you are satisfied, especially when your jaws are tired!!

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That is so true. The other night I chewed a piece of shrimp the size of a pencil eraser, so much that I was exhausted halfway through the meal!

Chew, chew, chew!

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this is so true, i was banded on nov.28/08, and i am eating almost anything just making sure i chew ,chew, chew, and what ever i am eating pretty much turns to mush,LOL.:tongue2:

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Wife and I decided to go for the gusto - we started our Protein shakes 1 meal early - actually not supposed to start until tomorrow morning.

OMG - I am SOOOOO FULL! I feel like I am going to pop! But OMG it tasted SOOOO GOOD!

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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