Eating Woes!! :-(

Hello Everyone! Well, tomorrow will be four weeks since my surgery; I'm down about 20 lbs. I'll see Dr. Irgau and Brett on Thursday, and the dietician at PMRI on Wednesday. I'm pretty happy overall, but frankly, there is hardly a day that goes by that I don't throw up a good portion of what I eat. Basically, I start off fine eating slowly (or at least I'm trying), taking my time, and about 2 or 3 bites in, I feel as though I can't breath. It's as if the food gets stuck half way down my esophagus creating pressure on my trachea and lungs, and it simply won't go down. If I don't puke, I'm absolutely miserable! Somedays, I'll puke as many as 8 times. Of course, this throws me off completely with the protein intake since I'm sort of apprehensive of trying to eat or drink something after this happens. I've thought about what could be causing this - eating to fast, not chewing enough, etc., but I'm also going to ask Brett if it's possible for me to have developed an esophageal hernia this soon after the surgery. If I consume things like pudding, yogurt, cheese, smoothies, etc. (basically dairy products), this doesn't happen; it's mainly with things that have consistency. Has anyone else experienced this? All advice is greatly welcomed!! Liana

Liana, WOW, its been 4 weeks already??? best thing I can offer is ...Talk to the doctors! maybe your stomach just needs more time with puddings and things like that. The first time I tried a pureed meat, it just stuck in my throat for hours. Just try to get in the protein with shakes and protein drinks. Good Luck

Liana, Definetly stress this to the Dr.'s. I also had the same issues at 4 wks out. 1 bite and up & out it came. I showed Brett my log. The Dr. scheduled me for an EGD for 2 days later and found out 2 things. My BP was 110/40, stop all BP meds and he stretched my stoma from 5MM to 15MM. MY stoma had constricted causing that stuck in your throat sensation. So know that you are not necessarily eating too fast. Something might be a little off. Good luck and keep us posted on how your visits go. ((HUGS)) Elissa

I'm definitely going to tell the Doc's tomorrow about this. Hopefully, it won't be anything that needs intervention. I saw Julie Wallenta (nutritionist at PMRI) today, and she thought it was too soon for some of the things I was trying to eat (for example, scrambled eggs without the addition of milk to make them into a puree which I think is disgusting, but that's just me!!). She also stressed eating SLOWWWWWW. Well, I'll find out more tomorrow, and let you all know. Thanks for the tips!