Only liquids are tolerated; pureed foods & soups cause terrible pain and nausea.
I had an open RNY proximal on October 7 of this year, and am just two weeks out of the surgery. The reason I am writing is because I read about problems with strictures and I was wondering if I might have one. I see my surgeon & dietitian Tuesday morning and will go over the problems with them then, but was trying to find out anything I could in the meantime. My starting weight was 273 (5'4") and in the 12 days since surgery I have lost down to 249 pounds. My sister is really upset and thinks something awful is happening because of the fast weight loss (-24 lbs in 11 days) and because I can't keep anything down but liquids. I don't see any need to call my doctor since I see him in less than two days but I would like to be able to calm my sister's fears about this. I was in the hospital (Obici in Suffolk) for six days due to minor complications, but have done well at home since then. I could eat very thin oatmeal and keep it down my last day in the hospital, and could eat thin soups & applesauce for my first few days home. Now I can only tolerate protein drinks, sugar free popsicles, and fat-free yogurt; anything else causes horrible pain and nausea with the first bite. I feel perfectly full with just these foods and am getting about 500 calories a day with about 50 grams of protein. I've tried baby food and tried making my own pureed food but can't get any of that down. The last non-liquid food I tried was very thin cream of wheat and I was sick for hours after that. At this point I feel I could live happily on protein drinks and yogurt for the rest of my life just to avoid the pain and nausea that real food brings. Wow, this is long! I didn't mean to write a medical report but I do feel more anxious after talking with my sister. Also, sad because I don't want to have to go back into the hospital for any more procedures! Anyway, I was hoping to hear other people's viewpoint since who have had complications from strictures and other things. I'm not sorry in the least about having the surgery, and am pleased with my progress so far. I don't feel bad physically and am walking a little bit each day and I live alone and am doing well taking care of myself. Thank you for any input you can give, and for any reassurance that I didn't make a mistake in not contacting my surgeon before now. (I'm second-guessing my decision now!)
We greatly appreciate your interest in helping us build our Q&A database. To discourage vandals from posting garbage, however, we require people to register before posting.
You must be logged in to post an answer. Click here to log in.