"Nobody knew it, but Blythe felt as green as her knitted frog"
Week 8 and 1 Day Post-Op
Just a quick post to describe what happened to me last night, don’t worry, it’s totally band related. At the moment I am on small amounts of solid food. I was instructed by the dietician last week to “start experimenting with textures to see which foods stay longer in the tummy pouch and therefore keep you full for longer”. Ever one for a challenge, I have been diligently experimenting since those words were uttered.
So far I have had no problems whatsoever. I am eating a hard boiled egg on a slice of dry toast for either breakfast or lunch, chicken and salads, pork chops and baked vegetables, jacket potatoes with their skins on, and sausages with vegetables ‘chips’. I just have about half the amount that I put out for Jack and then divide that into 2 potions; first and second dinner, as they have become known. I serve them on a 7 inch side plate and use my cute, learner-size, cutlery so as to stop myself stuffing it all down my neck too quickly. First dinner is always eaten at the dining table and second dinner is less strict and is eaten (if at all) anywhere I fancy.
Last night we had Aberdeen Angus Sausages (bought simply because I like the name Angus), dry-roasted butternut squash, carrots, parsnip and green beans. I like my veggies roasted so I always stick them in the oven on a non-stick tray with a few squirts of Fry-Light. Somehow they taste much nicer. Anyway, first dinner was eaten, without any problem at the dining table.
Later on, I was watching that ‘Wedding Belles’ on Channel 4. I think that was a big part of the problem. I sat there with an attack of the munchies thinking, mmmm second dinner, in true Homer Simpson style. I was totally engrossed in the programme and probably far too excited to be eating at the same time. So I am scoffing second dinner and then suddenly, wham! I felt something get stuck. I think it was some sausage. Oh. My. God. Now I know what it’s like to have the infamous ‘productive burp’ or PB as it is known in the banding community. It was awful. First of all I had terrible chest pain, I start pacing up and down the lounge, I can’t breathe properly and I don’t know whether to bend over, lie down or have a drink. I can’t burp and coughing is doing nothing. By now I am in a bit of a panic. I don’t want to fetch Jack because he will go into a flap and I know that getting anxious will tighten things up even more. I tell myself to relax and I go into the kitchen to get a glass of warm water to see if that helps. Nope, that seems to have made things worse. Then suddenly it happens. It shoots out of my mouth. Luckily I am by the sink (sorry I know this is graphic but it was a scary old experience) and I keep burping up, what I can only describe as, slime. I think it’s all the saliva that had nowhere to go. The pain went, I could breathe properly and I seemed to return to normal. The whole episode lasted about 10 minutes but, by jiminy, it’s not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry.
What I find difficult to get my head round is why it happened. I had eaten exactly the same thing only 4 hours before without incident. I think that I was far too engrossed in the telly and must have eaten it too quickly. I had chopped up the sausage into tiny chunks anyway but, it just goes to show how vigilant I need to be. I’m also wondering whether feeling a bit poorly had anything to do with it. Anyway, Jack came downstairs and asked me what I had been doing. I told him what had happened and he was extremely upset about it and kept saying “it was only a small piece of chicken you know, that killed that girl with the band”, (he’d watched Fatboy to Slim on BBC3 in preparation for my imminent banding). I had to explain that things would get stuck and that it was best avoided but, yes, it would unfortunately happen from time to time.
So the lesson learnt is not to eat in front of the telly. Hadn’t I already learnt that lesson? Anyway, I feel a bit tender today around the old port area for some reason. I am going to stick to fluids for 24 hours just in case my pouch is a bit swollen. Not sure whether it will effect me having my date for the first fill. We’ll see.
Onwards and downwards.
Just a quick post to describe what happened to me last night, don’t worry, it’s totally band related. At the moment I am on small amounts of solid food. I was instructed by the dietician last week to “start experimenting with textures to see which foods stay longer in the tummy pouch and therefore keep you full for longer”. Ever one for a challenge, I have been diligently experimenting since those words were uttered.
So far I have had no problems whatsoever. I am eating a hard boiled egg on a slice of dry toast for either breakfast or lunch, chicken and salads, pork chops and baked vegetables, jacket potatoes with their skins on, and sausages with vegetables ‘chips’. I just have about half the amount that I put out for Jack and then divide that into 2 potions; first and second dinner, as they have become known. I serve them on a 7 inch side plate and use my cute, learner-size, cutlery so as to stop myself stuffing it all down my neck too quickly. First dinner is always eaten at the dining table and second dinner is less strict and is eaten (if at all) anywhere I fancy.
Last night we had Aberdeen Angus Sausages (bought simply because I like the name Angus), dry-roasted butternut squash, carrots, parsnip and green beans. I like my veggies roasted so I always stick them in the oven on a non-stick tray with a few squirts of Fry-Light. Somehow they taste much nicer. Anyway, first dinner was eaten, without any problem at the dining table.
Later on, I was watching that ‘Wedding Belles’ on Channel 4. I think that was a big part of the problem. I sat there with an attack of the munchies thinking, mmmm second dinner, in true Homer Simpson style. I was totally engrossed in the programme and probably far too excited to be eating at the same time. So I am scoffing second dinner and then suddenly, wham! I felt something get stuck. I think it was some sausage. Oh. My. God. Now I know what it’s like to have the infamous ‘productive burp’ or PB as it is known in the banding community. It was awful. First of all I had terrible chest pain, I start pacing up and down the lounge, I can’t breathe properly and I don’t know whether to bend over, lie down or have a drink. I can’t burp and coughing is doing nothing. By now I am in a bit of a panic. I don’t want to fetch Jack because he will go into a flap and I know that getting anxious will tighten things up even more. I tell myself to relax and I go into the kitchen to get a glass of warm water to see if that helps. Nope, that seems to have made things worse. Then suddenly it happens. It shoots out of my mouth. Luckily I am by the sink (sorry I know this is graphic but it was a scary old experience) and I keep burping up, what I can only describe as, slime. I think it’s all the saliva that had nowhere to go. The pain went, I could breathe properly and I seemed to return to normal. The whole episode lasted about 10 minutes but, by jiminy, it’s not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry.
What I find difficult to get my head round is why it happened. I had eaten exactly the same thing only 4 hours before without incident. I think that I was far too engrossed in the telly and must have eaten it too quickly. I had chopped up the sausage into tiny chunks anyway but, it just goes to show how vigilant I need to be. I’m also wondering whether feeling a bit poorly had anything to do with it. Anyway, Jack came downstairs and asked me what I had been doing. I told him what had happened and he was extremely upset about it and kept saying “it was only a small piece of chicken you know, that killed that girl with the band”, (he’d watched Fatboy to Slim on BBC3 in preparation for my imminent banding). I had to explain that things would get stuck and that it was best avoided but, yes, it would unfortunately happen from time to time.
So the lesson learnt is not to eat in front of the telly. Hadn’t I already learnt that lesson? Anyway, I feel a bit tender today around the old port area for some reason. I am going to stick to fluids for 24 hours just in case my pouch is a bit swollen. Not sure whether it will effect me having my date for the first fill. We’ll see.
Onwards and downwards.
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