Swallowing difficulties - 3 weeks post op

[SueB55]

Help! Three weeks after receiviing my band, I am having difficulty swallowing. Even liquids take a long time to get down, and soft foods are nigh impossible. It takes 30 minutes to swallow 8 tiny bites of egg. Then, the food feels stuck in my throat. I burp a lot and my neck feels tight. Also, my appetite has returned, so I have the additional problem of being very hungry and unable to eat.

From reading the boards, it feels like I have a too-tight fill, however, my surgeon put no fill in my band. I have followed my post-op instructions to the t. My surgeon said my band appears to be tight, which gives the best results. However, I am starving and very uncomfortable.

[Greenbaypackerfan]

You are showing all the signs of a band that is too tight. I know that some Surgeon's expand the band during surgery to check for leaks, maybe he/she has left some fulid in the band? In our group here in NY we has a person that during sugery the surgeon mand the choice to put the smaller band in. This person was too tight and had resriction from day one like your self. The good news is over time the band will loosen as you lose weight and you will do better. My friend was given a choice of going back to sugery and having a larger band installed or staying where he was. He chose to stay where he was. He is now at his goal weight and looks,feels great. My only other suggestion about you starving because of your restriction in keep driking the protein drinks. It should get better for you going forward.

[remmi]

Call your surgeon! I know someone who had 4cc in her band from surgery! Some surgeons do a partial fill based on what they see at surgery. This sounds exactly like what she went through. Once they took out the fill she was able to recover and get back on track!

Please don't wait. It is a relatively easy fix and then you will feel much better.

[BrendaC]

I agree with remmi. It sounds like you got a fill at surgery and if not maybe you did get a samll band. I didn't know for quite some time that I got a fill at surgery but I have a 10cc band. My last fill was completely miserable and the symptoms were not as bad as yours, after 5 days I had it removed and it is immediate relief and complete recovery in 2-3 days. Call your doctor TODAY. Please keep us informed as to how you are.

[SueB55]

Thanks - what you said (band will loosen with weight loss) was what I was hoping. I certainly don't want surgery again!