help...a few questions post-op

Hi there everyone... I have a question or two.. 1. I am never hungry  2. When I do eat, I throw up I am almost 3 weeks post-op and am having a terrible time keeping things down. I think I may be eating too much which is causing me to vomit after eating. It feels like I have food backed up into my throat...  HELP please... my boys are scared of their mom getting sick all the time. Thanks Lori

What and how much are you eating?  At three weeks out, any food could be too harsh on your new pouch.  In the PNC program we are only at pureed food at 3 weeks and mashed at one month.  I had a VERY picky pouch so I was always behind.  I had to build the consistency of my food up to the next level.  So my pureed/mashed stage lasted a little longer.  I would back way down for a couple of days and go back to full liquids to give the pouch a rest and heal up a little.  Then build up very slowly to mashed.    Measure everything.  I think I was at 1/3 cup (3 tablespoons) per meal at one month.  Don't go over that amount until you feel hungry at a meal time -- then you know you are ready to increase up a tablespoon.  But eat the 3 tablespoons minimum of protein for your 3 meals a day so you don't get other malnutrition issues.   Hope this helps.   XXOO

Thank you for responding... I think it is that I tried some mashed food too early. I will go back to liquids.. thanks Lori

I agree that it is probably too early for you to be eating anything except pureed foods. It depends on your program, I had two weeks of liquids, one week of pureed in a blender and then only soft foods.  Also, you should only be eating about a tablespoon at a time, very slowly to see how you are going to handle it.  I think that the total at one setting you should only eat  1/4 of a cup until 3 months post op on my program. If you weren't given any eating instructions, you should call your surgeons office and speak with the nurse or nut. You are not going to feel hungry or really know when you are FULL for about six months.  You need to eat by the clock, measure out only what you can have on your plate and eat that very slowly, if you feel full or sick then stop eating. My analogy when I was going through the process is that it is kind of like being a newborn baby, you need the nutrition but you don't have much room in that pouch...eat too much and it's going to come out!!  You need to give your new pouch a chance to get broken in.  It gets easier-  good luck and be patient with yourself! Lynn

With you saying it feels as though you have food backed up into your throat, you could also be taking too large of bites and/or eating too quickly.  Even though you are eating very small amounts, it should take you 20-30 minutes to finish.  Make sure you are watching the time and putting your spoon down in between bites and chewing until your food is applesauce consistency.  It does take some practice.  If you work at the thing Barb and I have suggested and it still doesn't get better, you might want to call the doctor just to see what they say.   Sure hope it starts getting better.  And it's totally normal not to be hungry at all.  Let us know how what happens.

Hi ladies... thank you for the information. I think it is a combination of eating too fast and eating too large of bites. I will make the changes you suggested.  Thanks again...  the loser's bench is sosoososososooso comfortable.. LOL Lori