Hi everyone,

I spent Saturday from 10 am until 4:pm almost certain I would need surgery for an obstruction or a hernia.

I ate steak for dinner on Friday...no big deal, I can eat everything. No dumping, no vomiting. Or so I thought. About an hour after dinner, I started vomiting, a little at a time, over about an hour. The pain was horrible. As soon as I had brought up (I thought) everything, I felt better.

A couple of hours later, I was starving, so I ate a SF pudding. Up it came. Again, not all at once, but over about an hour.

Yesterday a.m., knowing I had to stick w/liquids, I had a protein drink...same thing but worse. I vomited for about 1.5 hours, the pain was unbearable. I called Dr. Garber, who said "it sounds like you might have a bowel obstruction, I'll call the ER & tell them you're coming."

It's a good thing it was early in the day...as it was it took about an hour to finally get in to be seen. At this point I wasn't in pain...just tired, hungry & sore.

I was able to keep down the contrast fluid before having a CT scan, a good sign. Finally, about 3:30 pm., Dr. Garber came in & said that the CT scan showed no obstruction, but a fair amount of food was still in my pouch. He asked me if I had eaten fast; guilty. Did I chew well; no. He expects that the food will pass, but to call him if I vomit again--if that happens, I'll need an endoscocpic procedure to remove it...yuk!--update, it must have passed by now, eating & bathroom matters are fine.

I have to go back to square one learning to chew slowley and take small bites. And I definately won't be eating steak any time soon!

On a side note, my son (18) was with me at the hospital, and I'm so proud of how mature and patient he was.

So, that's my (long) story, and hopefully a lesson well-learned.

Take care,

Oh Karen!

I'm so sorry you went through that, how awful.

That is a good reminder for everyone, to chew well, that is so easy to forget to do.

Don't you love it when the kids "step up"? What a proud feeling for you!

Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you're feeling better.

Karen, I am so sorry that you had to go through this but am very grateful that you gave such a detailed description. It is posts like this that help all of us to understand that there are certain things that we MUST remember. Not a great way to learn that lesson for you, but you have given the rest of us a great reminder and shame on us if we don't listen!

Wow! I am so sorry that you had to go through that! I'm glad you're ok.

Thanks for the warning. I have to admit that I have been guilty of not chewing well (especially having braces on - sometimes my bite is really off and I can't chew well at all!), and it's good to know what can happen. You can bet I'll be more careful in the future!!

So glad your okay. I constantly have to remind myself to slow down. I will take this as a warning to more careful. But I'm really glad your better.
Antoinette

Karen,
I am so sorry that you had to go through all that and am glad everything is fine now. Thanks for the post, I needed the warning. Nothing seems to bother me either and I know I do not chew things as good as I should. I will take your lesson to heart.
Thanks again for sharing.

Thanks everyone. Yup, it was quite the experience.

Jules, you're so right; I can't believe this is the same child that I have to tell 20 times to take out the garbage!

This is my #1 problem for me.

I have the hardest time remembering to chew. It makes me wonder how whole my food use to be when I was not banded!

I always try to remember my little Grandson Jonathan chewing small bites.

Thanks for taking the time to describe your experience so that all Neighbors preparing for surgery will take notes. IT IS HARD! (but worth it!)

Karen your story is soooo similar to mine that it is scary. I had my surgery last Feb 2007. At easter in April I was having my first Family outing at the relatives and ate turkey and some asparagus. Well about 15 minutes after dinner I got the foamies and had to throw up. I thought well that was gross but at least its over. HAHAHA! At 8am the next morning I went to the ER cause I had been throwing up my own saliva all night long. When I went to get my upper GI i drank the contrast and it was so thick that it finally unblocked me. I could actually feel the nausea leave my pouch and float on out! To this day still have trouble when eating poultry of any kind. I don't have to chew everything to a paste now at over a year out but believe me nothing bigger than a pea is going down unchewed!

This is a great reminder as we are heading toward barbecue season and social picnics! Sorry YOU had to go through it Karen, but thanks for the warning. I think we all forget sometimes.

I'm actually grateful to be back on the 5dpt; I didn't have to chew until today! I need to constantly remind myself to slow down & chew better. I'm glad my experience served as a reminder to you neighbors; that's what we're here for, right?

Oh my goodness! It is so easy to forget! I sometimes grab something to eat (usually in a hurry) and then also forget to chew - it then sticks right in my troat - bad!! Thanx for reminding us again!

Lizelle

Wow Karen, thanks so much for posting this. Thank heaven you're ok!
I'm willin' to bet every one of us has eaten too fast more than a few times.
Point taken. I will resolve to chew well and pay attention when I'm eating!