Stricture stretched, and I'm feeling a million times better

I had surgery June 1 and felt pretty good for the first three weeks (relatively). Then things went south. I could only eat two SMALL bites at meals. Stuff I could eat in the first three weeks wouldn't stay down anymore. I would get such an uncomfortable pain--like a gallbladder attack for those of you who know. Well I haven't had a gallbladder for 20 years, so that wasn't the problem. I just assumed I was eating too fast, or eating something my pouch didn't agree with. I was lucky to get in 15 grams of protein and maybe 300 calories a day while this was going on. I was SOOOO tired for most of July. Well, this past Tuesday, I went for my follow-up scope and the surgeon ended up doubling the size of the opening to my small bowel. That night I ate 4 stuffed mushrooms for dinner, and they were glorious (even if they are baked in butter) . The downside of the past month is that I made a lot of poor food choices, because there was so little that I could eat and keep. Slurpees went down very nicely, because milk, water, and juice certainly didn't. Now that my stricture is opened, the slurpee**** my intestines quick enough to trigger dumping, thank god. It is still hit and miss for my menu choices. My surgeon doesn't provide any diet recommendations or aftercare info, other than take vitamins and drink lots of water. So I have been reading posts about what others are eating, as a way of educating myself. So thanks for all your info. Anyways, advice to others in the same boat: don't wait as long as I did to get it checked out. Lori

Hi, Lori! I'm glad things are looking up for you. My surgeon wants me to eat 45 grams of protein and 64 oz of water. I see other people doing 60-80 grams of protein but I'm doing good just to get my 45 grams in. I start the morning with a protein shake (26 grams). I'm on smushies and I think I'm graduating to the next food phase today after my appointment. I mainly try to eat food high in protein since I can eat so little. Now, that includes cottage cheese, string cheese, tuna. I've been experimenting with chicken (bad) and real baked turkey (good). Any meat cooked in a soup has worked for me. I do a lot of soups b/c they are easy to handle. HTH