chew

I am preopp and have been practicing chewing. How do you manage to chew something 20 to 30 times. I swallow way before I get to 20 times. Any advise.

I actually never concentrated on this. I think after my surgery and because I was taking really tiny bites it comes more naturally for you. Also when you first start out you are eating very soft foods which helps. It will only take swallowing something too big once for you to never do it again -- or eating too fast also. Both can be very painful. You will be fine -- the most important part is very small bites and eat slowly. Janie

I thought I was chewing things well before surgery. Then after surgery I was on the Pureed diet. I still chewed and realized that is what it needed to be like when I swallowed. When I went on my next phase I boo-booed. I was watching a movie on tv....eatind dinner. I chewed up a piece of chicken...but didnt chew it up enough. As soon as a swallowed it I knew I was going to have trouble. Sure enough I did. It got stuck in the exit stoma in my stomach. I was in such pain and misery. I couldnt even swallow my saliva because that made my tummy fill up even more and made it hurt more. I sat spitting in a bowl for three hours before it finally came back up. I was still miserable after that....and it was another three hours after that before I threw up again and felt like a new woman. Moral of the story...make sure you pay attention to what you are eating...and chew chew chew. If you dont.....belive you me....you will more than likely only do it once! Now after only being 9 weeks or so out.....its easier to chew.....and its second nature to me. Billie Jo

Thanks for the good advise. Hope I can learn from your lesson, but I am sure that the best one is having it happen to you.