Question:
I'm 4 weeks post op and I'm having trouble with soft foods.
The last 3 days I've throwing up my dinner. Chicken main course. I'm sick for 1hour, throwing up, feeling like food is stuck. It's only a few bites. I'm starting to get frustrated and depressed. So I'm avoiding meat right now. Any suggestions? — Linda G. (posted on July 25, 2003)
July 25, 2003
Chicken & steak(beef) seem to be hard for many people to digest post
op. Why don't you try fish instead. Just remember very small bites and
really chew them. One of my WLS books recommends that when eating chicken
to be sure the bit is no bigger than the size of pencil eraser tip and to
chew it to mush before swallowing. Hope you feel better.
— [Deactivated Member]
July 25, 2003
Things I found easy to get down in the early days was steak (though burger
killed me), good cuts, cooked med or med-rare and cut tiny. Canned corned
beef - canned is already chopped into tiny bits and I would steam it with a
bit of finely chopped cabbage. Dark meat chicken - white stuck or
aggravated my pouch, boiled to death or crock pot cooked. I found fish
made me very nauseated. I also ate franco-american spaghetti (not
spaghetti-O's, they didn't taste right to me haha), jerky, string cheese
(still eat that every day!), and hot cereal. Yup there's more carbs, but
while you're adapting to food, whatever works :>) Good luck!`
— [Deactivated Member]
July 25, 2003
I could eat pork easier than chicken for months. Try some fish - it
usually works really well. Just make sure that any thing you eat is moist.
I am almost 20 months post-op and I still have to put barbecue sauce or
gravy on chicken to eat it. Even scrambled eggs have to be very, very
moist.
— Patty_Butler
July 25, 2003
It is so weird how how tastes change. I could not do meat or chicken for
the first 8 weeks. I CRAVED veggies and salad, but I was on a clear liquid
diet for a week, then a full liquid diet for two weeks, and then pureed
food for a month before I could try meat, chicken or veggies. I know all
the different doctors have all different ideas on when we should
incorporate regular foods into our diet. I think maybe we are going to
fast. I have never been sick or thrown up <knocking on wood>, but I
didn't do the general diet for 8 weeks. Then I moved very slowly and tried
whatever my heart desired. If my stomach and my heart weren't on the same
page, I crossed the food off my list of cravings. I still do not do pizza
or hamburgers & fries or bread. (Have no desire for these foods
anymore.) I do so very little of potatoes and rice. VERY little! If I
had my way, I'd ONLY eat veggies and salads. But I do the protein
first..1-2 ounces. When I do have steak, it has to be medium rare...juicy
as all get out and EVER so tender. I cut it into pencil eraser pieces and
chew, chew, and chew some more. I notice lately I am eating too fast. I
chew well, but I shovel it in. You get so tired of your cold food getting
hot and your hot food getting cold. But I LOVE the new THINNER me! ;)
Open RNY 10/30/02 down 175 lbs.
— Ginger M.
July 25, 2003
Chicken is one thing I am still not able to tolerate--unless it is in a
soup--at 4 months post op. I have been able to have shrimp since about 3
weeks as well as salmon. Even tuna fish is easier on my tummy than
chicken. My MD office said many people are unable to tolerate chicken, but
since it is such a good source of lean protein, they have it on their
recommended diet.
My advice is to try a few baby shrimp from the market and start with that.
— Margaret S.
July 25, 2003
Linda I have had the same problem and what I think is that it just was not
moist enough. I now use my crockpot for everything and it makes it SOOOO
much better. I don't know if you are much of a seafood eater but the best
thing that works for me is crab.
— jnmcneil
July 25, 2003
You could be entering a time frame that my surgeon calls "The Window
of Misery". It's where your connection points internally are healing
and starting to restrict. If you had laproscopic surgery, which I did, he
told me to feel the scars that I have and if they were beginning to feel
like they were shrinking and getting little ridges in the skin, then
internally you were doing the same thing. He stated to make sure that I
got my protein by fluids at this time and to eat soft foods, that eating
meats and such would make it harder on you. Now, this started for me at 6
weeks and ended around the 12th week, exactly like he said it would do. I
noticed around the 12th week that I could eat some things again that I
hadn't been able to when this throwing up started. And I also felt my scars
around the 12th week when I could eat again and notice that they had
smoothed out and he said internally that the connection points (scaring)
had relaxed at that point.
I know it sounds strange, but it happens with so many people and they
automatically think they are closing up....sometimes it is and somtimes it
isn't. Just part of the process.
So, try getting your fluids in each day and protein in softer form or just
drinks and eat softer foods.
Sissy in WV
— Sissy I.
July 26, 2003
I'm 14 weeks out and chicken still makes me sick! The nurse at my
surgeon's office said that chicken is a problem for a lot of people, so
I've just given up on it for the time being. I agree with the other
posters who recommended cooking meats in the crockpot--it really does keep
it moist & easier to digest. However, I've noticed that meat in
general doesn't seem that appetizing to me anymore, and I was a HUGE
(literally) meat lover before surgery. I hope it gets better with time--I
always swore I could NEVER be a vegetarian! ;)
— Maggie T.
July 28, 2003
I am having the same problem, so just know you are not alone. I am also 4
weeks post-op and the only things that go down easily are cottage cheese,
refried beans, mashed potatos (spray with Can't Believe It's Not Butter
Spray), it may just be too early for the meats.
— Denise D.
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