Okay, I know I shouldn't of done it, but on vacation last week I had a toasted sub (4 inches) and have been feeling wierd since. I do not hurt when I eat but I feel kinda swollen and it is harder to breath (not bad, just different) most all the time - especially when I sit.. It has been 2 day since I ate the sub and I actually feel like I did right after having surgery. I am only 1 month post-op with no fill at all -so there is no restriction (normally). I have been wondering if maybe the bread caused my stomach to swell and maybe I need to go back on a liquid diet just to give it time to heal? Any suggestions?

With no restriction yet, I doubt the sub could have caused you much of a problem -- as long as you were already cleared for "real " food, you should be fine. Now, if you were eating ahead of your diet, maybe not such a good choice at all. Even if it got stuck 2 days ago, it would have broken down and passed through the stoma (opening created by your band) and gone on its merry way. Maybe a little guilt is involved here? If so, drop it. You cannot beat yourself up for what was probably no big deal at all. I don't eat much bread at all, as in a few crackers here and there. But that's a part of life and the band isn't designed to take your life away from you. Most of us can eat almost anything without a problem. As always, if you are in doubt, your doctor's office is the ultimate authority. If you were eating "real" food before you had been okayed for it, you might have to 'fess up to it though.

Thanks for the reply - I am cleared for real foods, but what bothers me most is that I have a restriction feeling now in my chest - making it feel different when I breathe. Since we're being honest here, I gained 3.5 pounds over vacation - could this of made the band tight enough to give me this feeling?

Check with your doc when you get back home and take it easy for the rest of your vacation. If you are only 4 weeks post op, at that point many of us are just moving from mushies to soft foods. A toasted sub doesn't fall in the "soft food" range. Don't know what your post op diet was like but you may have hurt yourself a little. (don't freak! You may just be a little swollen). Just run it by your doc.

I was cleared for mushy food on Day 10 and by 4 weeks post-op, I too was on pretty my all "regular" food. You will be aware of things post-op that never crossed your mind before. Like, many of us are very aware of liquids passing through the stoma. Never noticed that before, LOL.

Conceivable, your band could feel a bit tighter for a variety of reasons that are in all likelihood not related to the sandwich at all but it is just coincidentally. The variety of foods that tempt us on vacation may have simply irritated your pouch a bit and that is what you are feeling. As I said before, when in doubt we can relate our experiences and likely allay your concerns but your doctor's office is the ultimate authority. If you aren't feeling more "normal" tomorrow, give them a call.

Gaining 3.5 pounds would not make your band tight to the point that you can feel it when you breathe. Please just check with your surgeon if you don't feel "normal" by tomorrow. That you are cleared for regular foods already is a little aggressive. Check with him; it's why he gets the big bucks.