Trouble eating

Anyone else that has had surgery had this problem? I am drinking fine. Even milk stays down ok. And V-8 juice. I have been able to eat eggs, cottage cheese and apple sauce, but when I try to eat chicken, it won't stay down. It's just a baked chicken breast. I don't understand. Anyone else have this problem or any suggestions? Protein shakes are nasty, but I can't seem to keep much else past liquids or super mushy foods down. The chicken tasted good (for plain chicken) but my stomach revolted.

Hi Lisa, I'm not a may op but april 29th is close enough since i'm just 12 days out. I haven't pushed my tummy to try to accept any type of meat yet i'm still on full liquids/soft foods and will probably be for at least another week. Don't try too soon to make your tummy accept solids its still healing, and the last thing you want is an abstruction. I know it's hard eating all these bland, and boring foods but just hold on it's going to get better. As far as protein shakes go i'm drinking the Atkins Advantage shakes and they aren't too bad the vanilla and choclate delight are my favs. Take it easy on your belly and I wish you the best of luck. Kriss

I guess I'm in a hurry to get back to more "regular" foods. I love chicken and figured it would be a good, safe, place to start. I'll have to try those shakes. Thanks. Protein powder is pretty nasty, no matter what I mix it with.

Lisa try Isopure at GNC. They have non-shake types in grape, pineapple/bananna, melon and a few others. Get the non-carb type. You get 40 gr protein in a 20 oz bottle. They taste kind of like watered down koolaid. Having a grape slush right now. Gotta get my protein and fluids in. Clementine

Ooooooooooooo! I've been wanting a slushie from 7-11, too. LOL Those sound like a good way to get in what I need with variety. Thanks!

Sometimes you have to ease into the meats. Also, are you putting gravy on the chicken? You MUST this early out eat things that are moist otherwise it won't sit well. Jarred gravies are low fat and will help immensely. Try tuna salad made with pureed tuna and low-fat mayo. Soft fishes. My post-op diet will be liquids for the first week and then pureeds for 7 weeks. Kathy

No. I'm not much of a gravy person. My mom made wonderful gravy, but I haven't been able to find anything else I like. About the soft fishes, do you have any recipes? I loved Baked Cod back home at a restaurtant we'd sometimes go to, but I am normally not a fish eater, other than the occasional can of tuna. I contacted them for a recipe and they haven't answered. (sigh) I tried Salmon and it was to fishy. Made me sick, literally. I've asked around for recipes from people I know but have mostly hit the wall. Many won't eat fish due to the issues with mercury levels and such. Schwans has Blue Hake in small, individual sized portions, but I've never made anything like that before? It's supposed to taste like Cod? I dunno. I'm lost. LOL

Are you allowed solid proteins already? I'm still on full liquids for another week and a half (yawn!) and then soft foods for two weeks. I've read a lot of comments from people who've had problems with chicken, and it seems that part of the problem is that most people try chicken breast which can be pretty darned dry. We need to start with moist meats. Try dicing that chicken meat and making it into a chicken salad with mayonnaise. Chicken that's been stewed or braised could also work.

Yep. I was told that I could have them as soon as I could tolerate them. I've been craving salads something awful, but they aren't on my list of things I can eat and I forgot to ask my doctor about it. Dang it. Braised? What is that? I've heard the word, but not sure exactly what it is?

Braising = browning meats, then cooking them on low heat with some liquid in a tightly covered pan. The slow cooking method breaks down the connective tissues in the meat, making it fall-apart soft. The easiest way to do this is to brown some chicken or whatever in a skillet, then toss it into the crockpot for several hours. (technically this isn't braising, but the results are the same and you don't have to fuss over it!)