Soo.. how do you deal with...

I lived on Tomato Basil soup from La Madeleine and Malto Meal for the first few weeks.  Actually the tomato soup was my first food besides broth and I had it on day 5.  It went down with no problems.

Great to know! Thanks so much, Kimberly! :) 

Abby

I was on a full liquid diet immediately following surgery, so was eating the Tomato and creamy-type soups. I went to Costco and bought a 6-pack of the tomato carton soups (Pacific something??) and OMG, I have 5 left and never want to see them again! I would also caution reflux from tomato soup since it is acidic. I had to be sure I could not lie down after eating it to keep it from coming back up.

The only creamy soup that I liked well enough to have day after day was strained clam chowder. I know it prob had more fat, but it tasted soooo goood! And i never want to see chicken broth again, either. ick

Vanilla yogurt sits well. I was finally able to take in all 8oz yesterday morning for the first time. I too am sick of protein shakes, and actually took a break from them for two days b/c I was getting the same as you - dreading it and unable to drink it. I'm better now and only drink one/day while I'm able to get the rest of my protein from food.

I think you'll be fine. Just take a tablespoon or two of it and see how it goes. If it sits well, have another 2Tb 30 min later or something.

Good luck

April, thanks so much! I see you were sleeved this month--are you on mushies or real food yet? How's it going? 

Abby

The stage is pureed, but I would say i'm doing more of a mushies. I just chew really really well until the food is basically pulverized in my mouth. I have another week of this and then move onto soft foods. It's been tricky... I have a whole list of foods I can eat, but I still seem to eat the same things daily. Not sure why, but I need to venture out more and try new things. I guess since I know what works, i'm just sticking to it, but eventually I'll need to add other foods to my diet.

I don't have a problem getting protein in, but since moving away from the full liquids stage, I am having problems getting all my liquids in. I didn't have this problem in the beginning. I know part of the problem is my body doesn't seem to tolerate much liquid in the morning, so by noon, I'm really having to play catch up for the rest of the day.

Other than the food, I've healed up nicely and have no issues. Swelling in the tummy has gone down and clothing is much looser.

Before you know it.... you'll be a month out and it will feel like a distant memory!! :)

Would you say there's kind of a blurry line between purees and mushy foods and sometimes full liquids? It's all a little confusing for me, and I've had to send emails to my Dr's office to clarify what types of foods go where.

I've noticed my swelling has gone WAY down, too! I haven't put on jeans or anything like that yet, just stretchy pants since I still have bandages (last day!) over my incisions, but I'm excited to see what they look/feel like now. :) 

abby

Yes... i think that's why i haven't ventured out much in the way of trying too much new foods since it's kind of blurry still. I might be more adventurous once I hit the Soft Foods stage since I know it's pretty much regular food, just the soft version of it, kwim??

My dr said the pureed stage is the consistency of cottage cheese, and with small pea-sized lumps of soft foods is ok. I can eat hamburger meat in marinara sauce, so I decided to go with Wendy's chili since it has good protein and fiber. I eat a half cup at a time and it sits very well in my sleeve. I'm sure this would be considered 'soft foods' maybe, but i feel if I chew well, it's pureed too.

I had a mahimahi burger patty last night and chewed well/ate slowly. It sat well in my sleeve too. But thinking back, it would probably be considered a Soft Food.... Oh well..... I know I can digest it and feel ok, so i suppose in a week when i officially start Soft Food, I'll be ok.

Eggs don't sit well with me. I would eat 1/2-a full scrambled egg and it would sit like a brick in my sleeve and then give me the runs (sorry, TMI) later in the day. I haven't tried egg salad, but might just to see if it's better mixed with some fat.

It's all trial and error. Just take it slow and see how your sleeve tolerates it.

I had dermabond on my incisions and finally last night started peeling it off. That sucker does not come off easily and didn't in the shower. I almost wish I had adhesive remover! You're incisions are prob doing well. Mine were really pink last night after removing the dermabond, but look more flesh colored today. I think it's healing faster since it's exposed to air now.

Since you were sleeved in Mx, is there any type of follow-up with your PCP? Does your Dr know about it?

I think it's so interesting to see what each doctor qualifies as belonging to each stage. It really varies so much. I think that's why it's so darn confusing for people! :) 

Thanks for the encouragement. I will take new things very slowly. I hate puking, so that's good incentive for me to slow down. :) 

(P.S. Your food descriptions are making my broth-ed out self drool! haha) 

I change my bandage over my drain incision daily, and from what I can see below the tape of my others, they are all doing very well. I just get a very tiny amount of serous fluid from the drain incision anymore, like the tip of a pen. Very small amount. They look very good! Not even a whole lot of bruising.

Follow up is interesting, because Dr. Aceves offers to come see his team for any follow ups for very minimal charge and no Dr's fees, but then you have to go there to have that done. Otherwise, he will work with your PCP to interpret results of labwork and/or the upper GI series he wants done at 3 mos out. He's really awesome about that. Yes, my NP knows, but she hasn't told me yet whether she feels comfortable with my aftercare, even though it's basically just bloodwork and ordering the upper GI series. I think she may be on vacation, so we will see when she comes back. I'm not horribly worried about it at this point. :) I am pretty sure my endocrinologist would do the metabolic panel if I asked him to--hell, that's right up his alley! :) 

Abby