Hello all,

I am 3 weeks post op and supposed to be on a soft food / pureed diet.  I have not been sticking to this at all as far as puree'ing everything in the blender.  I just hate it.   I have been just chewing things up more then usual before I swallow.  I don't know what it is but I just cant seem to be proactive with this soft food stage.  I have not had any protein shakes either in over a week now as I got so sick of them during the pre op diet and the 2 weeks post op I had to be on them.  I've been eatting protein bars, some diet jello, some sugar free pudding, some mash and gravy, some scrambled eggs with cheese, yogurt, won ton soup, etc.

They scheduled me to go to a class with the Nutritionist when I was only 1 1/2 weeks post op called a "Transition" class.  This really irritated me because here I was still on the liquid diet post op, not even at the pureed stage yet, and I had to sit there listening to them talk about all this food that I can eat 4 weeks post op.  It seemed cruel that they would have me go to this when I was so far away from being able to eat the food that they were talking about.

It really tested my will power and was also somewhat confusing.  I've been trying to figure out what I can eat and what I cant.  I remember hearing how chili is something good to eat since it has a lot of protein in it and is moist so it goes down well.  They also mentioned hot dogs and baked beans were good.  I ended up trying some chili and my God did that mess me up.  I had not had any issues at all with acid, heartburn or anything up till then but that chili really did something to me.  It was obviously too spicey for me to be eatting just yet.  For 3 days I suffered eatting Tums after Tums trying to get relief.  I finally went to the store and got some Prilosec which seems to have really helped a lot.  I'm definitely better but still not like I was before.

I have yet to have vomited either but I almost did for the first time tonight after eatting some "Home Stretch Soup" that is one of my recipes for the soft food / pureed diet.  I have eatten it several times recently without any trouble and no I am not pureeing it like I'm supposed to be.  Tonight though I only had about 3 bites of it and I had to run to the bathroom feeling like I was going to vomit.  After 5 minutes of copious amounts of saliva coming out of my mouth the feeling passed and I never did throw up but it was very close.  

I am really hating this stage of the diet and cant seem to enjoy any food that I have tried other then some Mash Potatoes and Brown Gravy.  I dont want to be eatting that all the time though.  I cant wait till I can get past this and just have real food again.  

What are you guys eatting that are 3 weeks post op?  Are you putting everything in the blender or cheating like me?

My plan allowed for any gravies/sauces necessary to moisten the meats enough to eat them. I did well with rotisserie chicken - it's moister than anything I cook. I would blend that with a few tablespoons of gravy or other flavored sauces and eat that. You really have to be careful to try to get enough protein. Protein bars are ok sometimes, but probably not good on a daily basis. Have you tried to add things to the protein drinks to make them taste better? Some people add peanut butter to the chocolate ones. I liked to add crystal lite to the vanilla or fruity ones.

 Those are good ideas.  I'll try that!

Hang in there...it really does get better!  Before long, you will be able to eat some of your favorite foods, just in smaller portions.  It took me a bit longer to really enjoy beef & pork again, but I do enjoy them now.  I'm in maintenance now, but still enjoy 1/2 of a bacon cheeseburger on occasion.  Pork is good if someone else cooks it...I tend to over cook and make it too dry...as my granddaughter says "nana isn't a very good cook"  LOL.

I had to fall in love with purees/soft foods because I couldn't tolerate solids until I was 3.5 months out.

Refried beans with cheese and plain greek yogurt(it's a great sour cream substitute plus it's packed with protein)

I could blend tuna, egg, chicken salad (no veggies) mixed with greek yogurt and little sprinkles of dry Ranch or Italian dressing.

Chili was my favorite to be honest. Luckily, I had/have zero issue with spicy foods. But, I also remain on a PPI to ward off reflux.

I had a mini-blender/food chopper that I threw food in for quick prep and I did puree or blend stuff a bit, but I chewed stuff down really well, ate slow and ate measured portions to prevent that sliming you experienced. That's a sure sign your body just wasn't ready for those 3 bites, or it went down too fast.

It's not fun to puree food, but your tummy will appreciate it. Solid foods were so lack luster for me because I just couldn't eat them and it was frustrating.

I understand your frustration too.  I myself am having a terrinble time with this pureed diet.   I am vomiting ALOT  somedays I can't even gt down water.

Hey sleeve friend!
I think the pureed phase was the toughest for me, even over the liquid diet. Hang in there, it gets better & easier!

 I know right .. at least with the liquid diet i knew WHAT i could eat.  This is frustrating trying to figure out what I can have, what I cant, what is going to make me sick and what isnt .. 

What worked well for you during this stage Shagdoll?

I blended up soups & ate cottage cheese. I tried plain Greek yogurt but it felt too heavy at this stage for me. Even now Greek yogurt gets me full fast. So I just drank the Premier protein shakes but when I wanted something with flavor, I'd blend my favorite soups. I just had to be careful with sodium content but I was eating so little of it, that it didn't matter much. Good luck!

Try lentil soup or any other bean soup.  You don't have to puree lentils, they are small and easy to digest with normal chewing.  I put a ham in the soup but made sure it was cut up small.  Add yogurt or cheese and you have a good protein packed meal.  I've also been good with scrambled eggs blended with cottage cheese and topped with parmesan cheese.  1/2 small Wendy's chili is my favorite go-to for lunch.  Good Luck!

I am 2 wks out tomorrow and I am having an awful time with heartburn too!  What seems crazy to me about that is that I was given (and am taking) a rx for generic pep**d morning and night.  I even get heartburn from applesauce and water! 

My first followup is Wednesday and I have lots of questions ready.

I was told no beef until 6 months, so I am sticking to that and doing the  pouch style of tuna and salmon.  Rotisserie chicken is awesome too.

Chew chew chew. 

I would have refried beans thinned out with some broth, sour cream, or salsa (more the liquidy part of salsa), or I'd add some green chili sauce to it. Made it interesting and doable.

I was ELATED to go to pureed after being on clear liquids for 2 weeks! I would open some dinty moore beef stew, remove all potatoes and then puree it. It was DELICIOUS.

Another thing is cottage cheese (just chewed well, ate slow), yogurt, moist chicken shredded up really fine with some light mayo.

It seems terrible now but try to take the focus of food and just get protein in where you can, you will get back to enjoying foods again (in smaller amounts) but this is a great losing phase so try to suffer through as happily as you can!

 I was excited to be going to that phase as well until I started to realize that I havent enjoyed hardly anything I have eatten.  I was really looking forward to enjoying some food again after a month of liquid diet (pre op and post op) but I'm just not finding much to eat.  Won Ton Soup was probably the thing that I have enjoyed the most, that and some grilled chicken and mash w/ gravy. 

Thank you for the suggestions!

 I saw my nutritionist yesterday for my 3 week post op appt and I got the go ahead to start on solid's .. no more puree!  :)  

This opens up a world of new possibilities to use my 2 cookbooks i bought.  So happy to be past the soft food stage I was having so much trouble with.

Of course, I still cant eat much and I'm still trying to fix this heartburn issue that is getting better but not quite back to where I was before I ate that chili.

Looks like you got it figured it out!

Still make sure you take baby steps as you go into each "phase".  You are 4 weeks out....and everyone's program is different.  I couldn't have "solid" food until six weeks.

Good job!

 I certainly will go slow.  She mentioned that if it is really thick or tough food that I should avoid it or puree it still but other then that I should be ok to proceed my diet.  Now .. to figure out what my new stomach likes and what it doesnt ... here goes!