Pain when eating?

Hi Newbie -Kimberly here.
I am 3 weeks post op, I am trying Phase III foods.  That means pureed foods.  In phase 2 -like I know most of you know is thicker liquids.  Since I was doing so well my surgeon said OK to go to Phase three.  I am noticing with phase 2 I did OK with almost all that I ate.  Felt no pain and would feel the fullness and stopped eating, as told  -but never felt any pain after eating.  Today has been the first day of all Phase III foods.  I have not been sick, but in constant pain (tolerable pain) -no matter the food.  My question....is that normal, to feel a little pain as you pouch adjust to thicker food?  Or is pain not a good sign?   I am not having diarrhea or vomiting, but even 4 hours after eating pain is still present...not as bad when I ate.  When I had dinner, I only ate about 3 tablespoons.  Normally on the thick liquids I could handle 1/2 cup (cream of wheat, cream of chicken soup, applesauce)

Hi Kimberly - 

I never had pain until I ate solids and something got blocked. Did you drink right away after eating?

You may want to call your surgeon's office and ask them their opinion - any time it involved pain I sure did!

Best of luck to you and I hope you feel better soon.

Stephanie

 There are different reasons for pain, some is because the stomach sutures are still tender, the other side of the coin is that something isn't right. I also had to learn that at first you will learn this axiom: The denser the protein the smaller the portion. You will be able to tolerate a larger portion of soup or pureed food than a dense protein like meat. Also you will not be able to eat certain proteins. Everybody is different, but the term pork or chicken breast makes me want to throw up, because at first I just flat out couldn't handle them. I felt like someone had a foot firmly planted on my chest. 
  Later on things change, but at first things are tender. However, if you have a sharp pain or can't pass well chewed small portions, call your surgeon immediately. 
  

Thanks for the advice.  I feel WAY better today.  I have only had cream of wheat and will be doing a protein shake in a bit.  I feel you are correct, digesting the more solid food was "uncomfortable"  so going back to VERY pureed foods, I may have been trying to ...bite off more than I could chew!

I had a tough time after surgery.  I usually pride myself on being pretty tough...... well this surgery kicked the crap out of me.  I was sore for a good 6 wks, really sore.  I just went as carefully as I could and it eventually went away.  At one point I was pretty sure I had "maimed" myself and it would never get better!  It did and now I'm doing great!

Listen to your body, some things made my gut hurt, so I waited and tried again later.  Eggs until just recently made my stomache HURT!  So I just avoided them.  But most everything did that at first and I just gently worked my way through it.

You'll get there I promise.  You are doing really well!

Tess

Thanks Tess, you make it sound hopful! 

Hi Kimberly,

I had my RNY on 10/11, and find that lack of chewing REALLY well, is my dilemma. As you did, I would back things up a bit, and go slowly.

There are so many reasons why foods can hurt. I try really hard to ensure it's not user error.

All the best,

MM