1st time here & surgery scheduled for this Tues 2-19

Hi Everybody, Thought I'd visit website for any last great advice. Am asthmatic and a little worried about after surgery. Don't do well with pain and needles (go figure huh) Would also welcome food replacement suggstns...dont eat oatmeal, yogurt or cottage cheese opps or seafood.. was always a meat and potatoe kinda women...Thanks for all your anticipated help.....

May today be a day of new beginnings for you! I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier. You might want to think about what soft foods you can eat.  I bought Nectar protein powder & I mix it with water, they have a lot of different flavors. I also add protein powder to other soft foods. Meat & potatoes aren't going to help with this, so you're going to have to expand what you can eat. Go for smoothies - you can get creative with them if you have a juicer. There's also a wealth of soups out there. You can get low-fat sugar free puddings (jell-o, kozy shack) and add some protein powder to them. Once you're back on solid foods, try scrambled or soft-boiled eggs, cream of wheat, sugar-free oatmeal (the fiber is good for you!), soft cheeses (I like the Laughing Cow light wedges), etc.  I used to pick up the Atkins Morning Start Cinnamon flavored bars (smaller than regular Atkins bars) because they're relatively high in protein with no sugar. Lean ground beef can be good, mix it with something liquid like tomato sauce to keep it soft.  I am almost 5 years out and I STILL have massive trouble with chicken, but I have a ring around the top of my stoma. Too bad you're not a seafood person, it really is a wonderful source of protein. I am allergic to shrimp, lobster & crab, and I would love to be able to eat shrimp again. Sigh. I do eat a lot of fish, and I love to go out for sashimi.   There are protein-enriched pastas out there that can be good, but you have to eat very small amounts. Best of luck to you!

Welcome to the boards!! I was asthmatic plus a smoker before surgery.  I stopped smoking before surgery and didn't have a problem afterwards. Food choices...clear liquids is pretty much sf/decaf crystal lite, sf jello, sf ice pops, chicken/veggie/beef broth.  Mix protein powder into what you can.  You can mix it into warm tea without milk, and the broth.  However, protein powder congeals in HOT liquids - just make it barely warm and mix it in then.  I personally loved unjury chicken broth flavor.  Good source of protein, and GREAT taste.  www.unjury.com I don't eat cottage cheese either - however, nonfat ricotta with splenda and cinnamon or nonfat ricotta heated w/ some tomato sauce and garlic powder is AWESOME.  You can also dry dannon lite and fit smoothies - it's a drink as opposed to a yogurt, although it is yogurt based. The ground meats are a great suggestion, too.  I still to this day eat a lot of 2% mozz cheese sticks.  They have been something that consistently stays down well and has 8gm of protein per stick.  I can have two of them without feeling overly full. There are milks out there with slightly higher protein counts and low in fat.  Skim Plus is one of them - no fat and 11gm of protein per cup as opposed to the usual 6-8gm in other milks.  Soy milk is a great option as well, as sometimes after surgery you become lactose intolerant.  I have trouble with straight milk (ie protein shakes and carnation instant breakfast) but blended with ice in a smoothie, yogurts, cheeses, etc I have no problems with. Protein shakes take some getting used to - and you'll need to experiment.  Also, things you like before surgery you might HATE after surgery so don't stock up on anything.  One of my fav protein shakes is 1 cup skim plus milk, 1 scoop nectar cappuchino flavor, 1 envelope choc. sugar free carnation instant breakfast blended w/ milk and ice.  It's like a mocha cappuchino milkshake.  When I tolerated milk, I would do the same think only make it luke warm for an after dinner dessert drink. It has 40gm of protein mixed that way. Best of luck! Pam