6 week out and can eat only soft food. Am I alone?

My surgery was on April 6th (laproscopic RNY). So far, I lost 26 lb which I consider as a very good achivement (I had 90lb to drop overall before the surgery). So far looks good, no complications. The only thing - I can not eat hard food at all. I was reading all the messages on this board and I can see that people can eat meat and tuna and chicken and cheese... I tryed to do the same. Every time I take a bite of something hard I throw up (even after chewing this for 5 minutes). I can do only blended food so far. My doctor told me that I should be on "blended" diet for 3 months after the surgery. Other people ( from support group) tell me that I should try hard stuff, because our pouch is a muscle and it should work, and otherwise I will never adjust to normal stuff. Trully, I am already tired from cottage chesse, blended soups, Gerber meat for babies. On the other hand, when I am getting sick it takes sometimes overnigth to start even drink after that. I am kind of confused. I should probably be patient especiallywhen my doctor thinks it's ok. Just wonder if I am the only "lucky" person out here.

Ira- I am finding that all Doctor diet plans are different. The only thing I would suggest is to stick with what your Doc recommends. Don't go trying foods that may injure your pouch.......just because you saw someone else post it on the boards. When you go in for your next follow-up appointment, ask your Doc if there are any other foods you can begin slowly trying. But don't try anything without his approval. He knows best! Shelli

Ira, First of all...congrats on your weightloss! I have also heard that the pouch needs to be 'worked' a bit with each meal. It helps it work more effeciently. I also understand that after about six weeks our insides are fairly healed, so that's why we can introduce solids. I have heard of people struggling to eat certain types of solids, but I have never heard of anyone needing to be on pureed for three months. My concern is that the new "connection hole" (can't remember the technical name for the life of me)...is too small. It can generally be stretched as far as I understand. I would stay on your doc a little more. Good luck to you. Rachel

Ira...I'm sorry to hear you're having troubles with food. If you get to a point where the liquid/pureed food or water aren't going down, call your doctor and let him know. You could have a stricture (a narrowing of the opening from the pouch to the intestine), which is usually easily fixed through endoscopy. Francie P Lap RNY 4/27/04

Hello Ira - We all have our little quirks - so you are not the only "lucky" person out there. The other posts are right - if your surgeon says blended foods take his or her advice and not other posters. Also - the pouch has visceral muscle which is a different type of muscle than in your arms or legs and does not need to be "worked" so to speak. It's not the same as working out. Hard food, when your dr. allows it, should be very moist as well as chewed well. Use low fat salad dressing or mayonnaise with tuna as well as some sort of sauce (or soup) for the chicken. What to eat is a common problem. And each stage is boring after a very brief time. I jump ahead at times even though I know that I'm not supposed to. Good luck with everything. Ruth

Ira, I am five weeks out and went to my doctor about the same problem. I had the swallow test aqgain which showed everything was OK. I was told the solid food was causing contractions at the opening of my stomach, (very painful) and the food would come right back. I was given a prescription to take 30 minutes before I eat to calm the contractions. No problems since. Good Luck.

Hi Ira, After reading a few post, I wanted to say that I agree with everyone about following your doctors diet. I just had the impression that you were given the ok for solids and then when you told the doc it wasn't working for you, he suggested to go longer with pureed. I know quite a few people who's complaints have gone ignored by there docs...and then when a solution is found...their quality of life improves so much. Also, as far as working your stomach...I didn't mean work it like a muscle (hi Ruth D...its me from Cali board ), I've heard (in my nutrition class) it helps with proper digestion. Really not sure about the science behind though. Anyway, hope all is well for you!