Question:
Can anyone post op answer my question?

I am 9 weeks post op, and I find that I still can't eat anything that is solid or stringy. Let me clarify this with a few examples. I can eat soup, but I don't like many of them, and the ones I do contain noodles or rice which I am supposed to avoid. I can eat chili, and most hamburger if I chew it a lot, no problem. I had a piece of filet mignon, no problem. However, if I eat ground sirloin, chicken (dark or light), or anything stringy like asparagus, it gets stuck in my stomach and I throw up. What confuses me and worries me though is that I can eat things like chili, peanuts, celery, or salad, like I haven't had the surgery. It just goes down and I don't have to wait a long time between bites. Am I just getting used to this lifestyle or has my staple line opened? It is wierd because one day I can eat fine, and the next everything gets stuck. I guess I am worried because I have no one to talk to about this. Thanks for any help. Brian    — Brian K. (posted on December 11, 2002)

December 11, 2002
Brian, At 5 weeks I couldn't hold anything down. I had to go in and get an upper endoscopy and they said my hole going to my intestines had closed so they opened it back up. I to can't tolerate much of anything. I have found that Cambell's chicken noodle and vegetable beef soup seem to sit okay. Needless to say that's pretty much the only thing I eat right now. Try some Chicken noodle, make sure it's really thin noodles and definately not homemade (they tend to be very doughy) take small bites and chew the noodles really well. I've found I can eat a half of a can of soup like that. As for Salad, if I eat one of those I tend to be starving the whole rest of the day. Thank about it really Lettuce is almost like green water. When you chew it up it ends up being basically nothing. Now, as you add cheese, tomatoes, meats, veggies, it'll take less and less to fill you. A side salad isn't near as filling as a grilled chicken salad. It probably isn't that your staple line is messed up, but think more about what you eat. Is it more liquid? How much volume does it take up when it's chewed? Just a thought. Something I needed to figure out too.
   — Rachel W.

December 11, 2002
Brian, you are still a fairly new post-op. Some foods that you cannot tolerate now, like the chicken, you may be able to tolerate later, you just have to try it again every month or so until you can handle it. One thing I found with meats/chickens is that if you cook them in a crock pot with lots of liquid until they are very soft and fall off the bone, then that goes down really well. You will also notice that some foods you can eat alot of , like salad, popcorn, and other foods, yet for some more dense foods, like steak, just a few bites and your full. As for the staple line, do you know if you were transected or not? Most of the RNY surgeries today, the surgeons transect your new pouch. If you are transected, then you cannot have a staple line disruption. And its not true that you have no one to talk to-you have us, and there are lots of "us" here to support you, so ask away...
   — Cindy R.

December 11, 2002
Just a thought -- are you sure you're chewing enough? I have the exact same problem with those foods if I don't chew it enough, or if the bite was too big to begin with. Good luck.
   — Tamara K.

December 11, 2002
I wouldn't worry too much unless you can't keep anything down. I have found by trial and error what foods I can and can't tolerate. And it changes, like one week I could eat pasta the next and to this day every kind of pasta dish makes me sick. Same with any kind of chicken dish. A very odd thing that I discovered is that I cannot tolerate any kind of shrimp, but crawfish is fine even though it is basically the same thing. Go figure.......but don't worry too much about it yet. You are still new adn everybody is different.
   — salymsmommy

December 11, 2002
Brian, Your problem sounds exactly like what happened to me. I too had problems with chicken and most meats from around 3 to 8 weeks post op. Eating was becoming an obligation that I'd rather not fulfill, but I had to. I was calling my surgeons nurse every other week. They kept telling me things like, "oh, that's normal" and "everyone heals differently". I knew what I was going through wasn't normal, I was experiencing pains that I never experienced pre op. But I decided to be patient and let my healing take its course. The condition seemed to worsen, food begin to stick in my esophagus no matter how small of a bite I took, especially chicken. Not only that, I begin to develop severe cramps in my back and abdomen. I got the feeling it was intestinal, but I'm not a doctor so I couldn't be sure. Again, I called my surgeons nurse, she asked me if I was throwing up, I told her no, so he(my surgeon) diagnosed that I was having muscle spasms and prescribed 3 different medications. The spasms dulled in intensity, but still remained. Finally, I began to throw up 5 days in a row, it was only then that an upper endoscopy was ordered by my surgeon and it was discovered that I had developed an ulcer or a thickening of tissues around the opening of my small intestine that was attached to the new pouch. The procedure was quick and painless. And guess what? I can eat chicken for the first time since my surgery!! I couldn't believe it. I am now 10 weeks post op. Good luck.
   — aprilbaree

December 11, 2002
Brian, Your problem sounds exactly like what happened to me. I too had problems with chicken and most meats from around 3 to 8 weeks post op. Eating was becoming an obligation that I'd rather not fulfill, but I had to. I was calling my surgeons nurse every other week. They kept telling me things like, "oh, that's normal" and "everyone heals differently". I knew what I was going through wasn't normal, I was experiencing pains that I never experienced pre op. But I decided to be patient and let my healing take its course. The condition seemed to worsen, food begin to stick in my esophagus no matter how small of a bite I took, especially chicken. Not only that, I begin to develop severe cramps in my back and abdomen. I got the feeling it was intestinal, but I'm not a doctor so I couldn't be sure. Again, I called my surgeons nurse, she asked me if I was throwing up, I told her no, so he(my surgeon) diagnosed that I was having muscle spasms and prescribed 3 different medications. The spasms dulled in intensity, but still remained. Finally, I began to throw up 5 days in a row, it was only then that an upper endoscopy was ordered by my surgeon and it was discovered that I had developed an ulcer or a thickening of tissues around the opening of my small intestine that was attached to the new pouch. The procedure was quick and painless. And guess what? I can eat chicken for the first time since my surgery!! I couldn't believe it. I am now 10 weeks post op. Good luck.
   — aprilbaree

December 12, 2002
I had similiar problems with chicken. I found that if I use breast meat and cut against the grain so that the fibers are very short, I could eat it. I can't eat dark meat at all because to the strings. Same thing goes for steak, chops, etc. And don't forget to Chew, Chew, Chew.
   — jean.campbell