Questions from Julie's post

[cckcsharp]

Okay I am asking this to everyone, instead of just Julie in hopes that someone can help answer a few questions.

Julie's visit to the fill centers proved to be very imformative to me as well as to her, but I still have some questions???

First: Julie mentioned that eating more than 1/3 -1/2 cup of food at a time can cause esphogus errosion. Why is this? I intend to follow the rule, I would just like to understand why it causes this. And did I understand correctly that you should only eat the 1/3 -1/2 NO MATTER what restriction you have? Or in other words, the errosion can occur to any patient who eats too much?

Second: Julie mentioned things like brocoli, cauliflower and asparagus need "special attention." And also stated that this is something that we already know about. Well....I had never heard this before and feel a little disappointed that the OCC did not cover these topics in more detail or at least give us some literature to review. I searched all over the internet researching the band and NEVER came across this rule about these vegetables. I felt sick when I read Julie's post because I just ate a BUNCH of brocoli in the past few days. So as a new bandster freaking out that I will do something to screw up the band, this only made my anxiety worse.

So what is the deal with these particular vegetables? What causes them to need that special attention?

Hearing about these things for the first time after being banded 33 days ago, has really frustrated me. I just feel like this is very vital information that should be shared with a patient from the beginning. And after reading Julie's post, I again went to the internet in search of lapband info that I had not previoulsy heard of, and found basically nothing new. And you can ask my husband, I am a freak about researching things.

[julieburns]

I only have a little time but I'll try to clarify

First of all stop freaking out. It was explained to me that no matter if you have restriction or not the pouch is only 1/2 cup size. When you eat more than that the food backs up in the esophagus. Stomach acids are produced to start digesting these foods and it's that acid in the esophagus before the food gets passed through that causes the trouble. The acid "burns" (for lack of a better term) the esophagus and then it scars and the scar tissue builds up and the live tissue gets less and less and then there's trouble. So it was very clear to me from this provider to never eat more than 1/2 cup. My plan is to wait at least an hour and then have more if I feel hungry. She emphasized more frequent small meals throughout the day. This makes way more sense to me than only 3 meals a day and no snacks.

Re:vegetables. There are certain foods that are known to be ones that are tricky for bandsters. I think this is when you have restriction though and not from the get go that you need to be very careful with these foods so they don't get stuck. This becomes more important after you get restriction though so no need to think you've blown it by eating broccoli. Any food that slide down easy for example ice cream do no harm to the band. It's the caloric content that isn't good.

I will write more tomorrow if you need more clarification. I sure didn't want people to get panicky about what I said. You should always listen to your care provider and follow their guidelines but I was just wanting to share my "new" guidelines. There are many schools of thought on "the rules" so we each must pick and choose what its best for us.

Now relax Jessica, all will be fine.

[nothereanymore]

Jessica,

On other note I'll add, at this time the lap band is very new - I don't know a lot of studies out there that have long term research behind it to show us what is actually correct. There are many “beliefs” however whenever I’ve asked for the studies no one seems to have them. Its based on their experience with their group of people – to be honest Dr. Ortiz has one of the largest groups and I do trust his findings. (He also works with doctors worldwide)

I eat all veggies, including what are considered the problematic ones (meats, fruits - whatever) I chop them up into small bites and steam them - then chew 30 times per our guidelines. If you chew something 30 times - its going to be water and most likely not problematic. And I was told to keep my potions small.

That's the trick, you do that you'll be succesful.

Best,

Lisa

[marek]

Hey Jessica I foun some info few days ago idk.if it gona help you but may as well check it out. Obeseinfo.com try that. Marek

[cckcsharp]

I only have a little time but I'll try to clarify

First of all stop freaking out. It was explained to me that no matter if you have restriction or not the pouch is only 1/2 cup size. When you eat more than that the food backs up in the esophagus. Stomach acids are produced to start digesting these foods and it's that acid in the esophagus before the food gets passed through that causes the trouble. The acid "burns" (for lack of a better term) the esophagus and then it scars and the scar tissue builds up and the live tissue gets less and less and then there's trouble. So it was very clear to me from this provider to never eat more than 1/2 cup. My plan is to wait at least an hour and then have more if I feel hungry. She emphasized more frequent small meals throughout the day. This makes way more sense to me than only 3 meals a day and no snacks.

Re:vegetables. There are certain foods that are known to be ones that are tricky for bandsters. I think this is when you have restriction though and not from the get go that you need to be very careful with these foods so they don't get stuck. This becomes more important after you get restriction though so no need to think you've blown it by eating broccoli. Any food that slide down easy for example ice cream do no harm to the band. It's the caloric content that isn't good.

I will write more tomorrow if you need more clarification. I sure didn't want people to get panicky about what I said. You should always listen to your care provider and follow their guidelines but I was just wanting to share my "new" guidelines. There are many schools of thought on "the rules" so we each must pick and choose what its best for us.

Now relax Jessica, all will be fine.

Thanks Julie,

I am just so nervous about screwing up my band somehow. And I am glad you shared your info about your visit even though I did get a little nervous. That's not because what you said, it's because I have an anxiety disorder.

Your clarification was perfect. It makes sense and now I get it.

I also wanted to let you know that I agree with you about flouro not being needed on the first fill. I had mine scheduled with flouro and actually called today and re-scheduled without it. That actually moved my fill up sooner so now I get my first fill in just 2 weeks. I had thought exactly the same thing that you said about flouro, but I kept hearing that flouro was so important on the first fill. It seemed to me, that flouro was more important along the way to ensure that things were still doing well. My Dr. here gives you the choice and just charges an extra $150, so I am going to wait and see if I think flouro is needed on other fills. I truly appreciate your sharing your experience, advice, and opinions. Your right, we all have to take from it what we think is best for us. But as a new bandster, I value everyone's advice and opinions. And then I will shuffle through everything I have heard and decifer it for myself as I go along the way and gain more experience with the band myself. So thanks for sharing. It's been very helpful to me. Sorry about the anxiety.

[julieburns]

Glad you feel more informed Jessica. No worries about the anxiety, I understand that. I wish you well on your first fill. Personally I think you have made a good sound choice from what I have experienced but also from what I have read.

Lisal made it even simpler than I did for sure. I do believe it's trial and error for people with all types of food. We are all different in our responses to things.

[Guest CaraMBA09]

I only have a little time but I'll try to clarify

First of all stop freaking out. It was explained to me that no matter if you have restriction or not the pouch is only 1/2 cup size. When you eat more than that the food backs up in the esophagus. Stomach acids are produced to start digesting these foods and it's that acid in the esophagus before the food gets passed through that causes the trouble. The acid "burns" (for lack of a better term) the esophagus and then it scars and the scar tissue builds up and the live tissue gets less and less and then there's trouble. So it was very clear to me from this provider to never eat more than 1/2 cup. My plan is to wait at least an hour and then have more if I feel hungry. She emphasized more frequent small meals throughout the day. This makes way more sense to me than only 3 meals a day and no snacks.

Re:vegetables. There are certain foods that are known to be ones that are tricky for bandsters. I think this is when you have restriction though and not from the get go that you need to be very careful with these foods so they don't get stuck. This becomes more important after you get restriction though so no need to think you've blown it by eating broccoli. Any food that slide down easy for example ice cream do no harm to the band. It's the caloric content that isn't good.

I will write more tomorrow if you need more clarification. I sure didn't want people to get panicky about what I said. You should always listen to your care provider and follow their guidelines but I was just wanting to share my "new" guidelines. There are many schools of thought on "the rules" so we each must pick and choose what its best for us.

Now relax Jessica, all will be fine.

WOW...Great information Julie. That is the first I have heard of esophagus erosion, that would explain the feeling of a HUMONGOUS vitamin being stuck in my throat! I am so sorry about your experience, but it is a great learning tool for the rest of us. I think it is even more important now to get established at a local doctor...although I am rethinking going to OCC for my first fill/checkup, I have not ruled it out entirely yet.

All the Best to you!

C

[snowbird]

Okay I am asking this to everyone, instead of just Julie in hopes that someone can help answer a few questions.

Julie's visit to the fill centers proved to be very imformative to me as well as to her, but I still have some questions???

First: Julie mentioned that eating more than 1/3 -1/2 cup of food at a time can cause esphogus errosion. Why is this? I intend to follow the rule, I would just like to understand why it causes this. And did I understand correctly that you should only eat the 1/3 -1/2 NO MATTER what restriction you have? Or in other words, the errosion can occur to any patient who eats too much?

Second: Julie mentioned things like brocoli, cauliflower and asparagus need "special attention." And also stated that this is something that we already know about. Well....I had never heard this before and feel a little disappointed that the OCC did not cover these topics in more detail or at least give us some literature to review. I searched all over the internet researching the band and NEVER came across this rule about these vegetables. I felt sick when I read Julie's post because I just ate a BUNCH of brocoli in the past few days. So as a new bandster freaking out that I will do something to screw up the band, this only made my anxiety worse.

So what is the deal with these particular vegetables? What causes them to need that special attention?

Hearing about these things for the first time after being banded 33 days ago, has really frustrated me. I just feel like this is very vital information that should be shared with a patient from the beginning. And after reading Julie's post, I again went to the internet in search of lapband info that I had not previoulsy heard of, and found basically nothing new. And you can ask my husband, I am a freak about researching things.

jessica,

I have several things in writing from Dr Ortiz saying to avoid fibrous foods, and broccoli is specifically mentioned. Have you looked through the literature they have given you? I also have a refrigerator magnet with all the rules that OCC gave me. Don't they do that anymore????

[mona-camille]

jessica,

I have several things in writing from Dr Ortiz saying to avoid fibrous foods, and broccoli is specifically mentioned. Have you looked through the literature they have given you? I also have a refrigerator magnet with all the rules that OCC gave me. Don't they do that anymore????

No, I have nothing from them except the food plate from Dr. Miranda. I wanted things in writing but I have nothing and wish I did. I only ever heard that pineapple and asparagus were bad.

[snowbird]

No, I have nothing from them except the food plate from Dr. Miranda. I wanted things in writing but I have nothing and wish I did. I only ever heard that pineapple and asparagus were bad.

Hmm . . . that's a shame. It's always good to have stuff in writing, because it's hard to remember after talking to someone exactly what they said. I was given a folder at the time of surgery with Dr Miranda's instructions and a few other things.

You might also check out lapbandtalk.com which is a large, well attended forum. It gets crazy there sometimes, but there is a lot of information too.

[cckcsharp]

jessica,

I have several things in writing from Dr Ortiz saying to avoid fibrous foods, and broccoli is specifically mentioned. Have you looked through the literature they have given you? I also have a refrigerator magnet with all the rules that OCC gave me. Don't they do that anymore????

I just looked through EVERY single paper that I have EVER received from the OCC either before or after surgery, and NOT ONE says anything about fibrous foods and broccoli. In fact, if you look at the post op diet they sent me home with, there is a picture of the plate and what you should eat. In the vegetable section, the pictures appear to be carrots and either broccoli or cauliflower. They actually chose those vegetables to display what you should eat!!! So no, I have never received any literature from the OCC on this subject and no, I did not get a refrigerator magnet either. I am a total freak about details and I had already read line by line every piece of paper that I received from them. I doubled check just to make sure that what I am posting is correct. Also, no info about the esphogus either and I consider that to be very vital info that I should have received as well.

[cckcsharp]

No, I have nothing from them except the food plate from Dr. Miranda. I wanted things in writing but I have nothing and wish I did. I only ever heard that pineapple and asparagus were bad.

Same here. And the food plate the I received actually pictures carrots and either BROCCOLI or CAULIFLOWER. And now the pineapple is just more news to me. Didn't know that was bad either. Is this for same reasons as broccoli, or is pineapple bad for another reason.

[denisem]

I'm not sure why they say broccoli is bad, but my doctor told me that people sometimes have trouble with asparagus and pineapple because they are stringy type foods that tend to get caught up in the band. They are too hard to chew well enough not to be stringy. He never told me not to eat them, only to try with caution and cut them up small. I've tried both, and found more trouble with asparagus than pineapple.

Everyone is different, and I've never heard not to eat broccoli or cauliflower.

Denise

[cfuture88]

Same here. And the food plate the I received actually pictures carrots and either BROCCOLI or CAULIFLOWER. And now the pineapple is just more news to me. Didn't know that was bad either. Is this for same reasons as broccoli, or is pineapple bad for another reason.

No food is a problem unless it is a problem. I can eat any raw vegetable, rice, meat, pasta, boiled egg, coarse breads (lots of whole seeds), toast, salad. The more surface area the better. I have difficulty with scrambled eggs, banana, cottage cheese, and soft bread. I can get anything to go down if I chew it enough. There is no rule about not eating something. It is more important to stop eating when you have the first sign that some food does not want to cooperate. You want to avoid feeling something is stuck, PBing, sliming, barfing, and stuffing yourself. These things are what screw up you band. They cause your pouch to stretch, band to slip, esophagus to erode, a "muffin top" to your pouch to develop. For me this means that I must stop for as many minutes as it takes to feel perfectly normal if I get the feeling that something is not wanting to slide right through. If that feeling continues AT ALL, I quit eating. I have never slimed, never PBd. I have been uncomfortable for several minutes and worried, but it did go through after a few minutes- I usually can feel it "plop." A good rule of thumb is the "see how little you can eat to not feel hungry, not how much you can eat to feel full." Dr. Ortiz said this and it makes a lot of sense.