What am I doing wrong?

I am right at 3 weeks post op ans I am on soft foods but the only thing I can eat and keep down is pudding, yogurt , soups, and mash potatoes. I had some gravy and chicken one time with success but last night I tried it and it came back up. I have had over cooked maccaroni(sp?) because they are soft but they come up. I do not over eat I still use my baractric medicine cups I got from the hospital, to fix my food. I am just feeling frustrated right now and looking for suggestions.

You aren't doing anything wrong. You don't need food yet anyway. You need HYDRATION. It's only been three weeks. You're still in surgery recovery mode. Give it some time. Are you able to put any protein into the soft stuff? How about consuming any protein supplements directly?

Some people take longer to advance their diets.

What kind of acid reducer are you taking? This makes a HUGE difference for MANY people. If you aren't on one, get on one. My favorite is Prilosec, which is OTC and available in generic.

I take prilosec and yes I am able to get my protein drinks in. I have no problem drinking liquids so I guess that is what I will continue to do. Just focus on hydration and protein.

 Nothing would have made me throw up faster at three weeks out than macaroni!   That stuff still sits heavy in my stomach at five years out, hun.    I threw chicken up at about three weeks out too.     One thing I had good luck with was to take a can of french onion soup, and very finely shred some extremely well cooked roast beef into it, top it with mozzarella cheese and melt it in the microwave.   I felt like I had some substantial protein, but it didn't sit too heavy in my stomach.   Egg drop soup was another good thing at this stage. Scrambled eggs were NOT, although egg salad worked well for me.   So did tuna salad.

You might be advancing your diet a bit too quickly, or you might be eating too fast or not chewing well enough.   When I threw up the chicken, I ate too big of pieces, tooooo quickly.     Play around with your diet and see if that helps.   If you're still having problems, or you can't keep ANYTHING down, a call to your surgeon is in order.

Take your time... imagine your stomach sitting inside you going... WTF just happened, someone came in and took most of us out and now I'm all stitched up! hehehe anyhow, one day at a time it'll all get better. Keep hydrated!
Lisa

Hi! You're doing great! Don't be frustrated.

It took me a while before I could tolerate certain things, the tummy heals at it's own pace so don't be discouraged if you can't progress to certain foods as quickly as you'd like.

A bit of advice though, I found anything with white flour in it really upset my stomach. They may or may not have mentioned at Dr. Stewart's office to avoid bread and white flour for a few months. Wheat gluten can be tough to digest when your tummy is on the mend. Macaroni, even though pasta is soft, is still a flour product of sorts.

I also noticed that some of the "Creamy" soups sometimes have flour in it as a thickener, so watch out for that to.

You've alreay got great advice. Those medicine cups were sometimes too much for me. Right now just drink. Eating will come soon enough. SF popcicles were my friend! Different people progress at different rates. Just because the book/NUT/doctor says it's time to progress, sometimes our bodies say different. You're doing great. We're here for you girl! One foot in front of the other! HUGS


Ruby

follow the vets and step away from the macroni!!!gravy and chicken are out unless the chicken is ground up with a lot of mayo, i could not take anything heavy until i was almost  6months out, i still have problems with anything with white flour in it, i lived on egg drop soup, diet jello and pudding, fage yogurt, tuna and mayo, diet ices and protiens shakes at 3 weeks out, and before that i was on liquids!! milk gave me big problems, it might not be exactly the same for you but stick with the soft food till you get further out, you have a new small tummy!

 Solid meats were super tough for me for the first few months, even with sauces.  I still have issues with pork and sometimes chicken at 14 months out!  And I STILL have to have fatty sauces with all my meat (except steak) to make it work.  Even my seafood has to be dripping with butter...

Macaroni and oatmeal and those types of really heavy, sticky carbs that ball up and expand didn't happen for me until well after 6 months out, and sometimes still give me issue.  I have to be REALLY careful with them, go slow and eat a very small portion.

At 3 weeks out I lived on soft scrambled eggs with lots of cheese in them, then topped with greek yogurt and guacamole.  I also ate a lot of canned ham, tuna and canned chicken, and egg salad in tons of mayo.  Also refried beans with cheese and greek yogurt.

It took me 6 to 8 weeks to be able to eat kind of normal.... I would only eat one or two bites  ..wait for 5 min then take another bite,,,,your  stomachjust has had one major twister done !! 

It will always tell you when  it has had enough,,, either by sending it back,,,LOL or other signs,

Yor early out ,, keep the liquids going, protein, work in your vites and take small bites and give it time to process...!!

Good luck !! hang in there !