Food Getting Stuck

I am almost 4 weeks tomorrow and for the last week, i had three episodes of food getting stuck. First episode occured last Monday - my first day back at work. I had a tuna kit...i added a drop of relish and half of the packet of reduced fat mayo with a 3 oz. can of tuna. I literally ate half a cracker, chewed extremely well....it got stuck, even though i chewed it. It literally began to go up my esophogus and i felt it going up. Then i started burping (i know, gross) and it digested!!! I just started praying i wouldn't throw up and i didn't. Friday I bought a boca burger...kinda got stuck but afterwards was fine. Yesterday, I ate the smallest piece of lavash with some turkey breast deli meat and some melted cheese...3rd bite, it got stuck. I started walking for about 10 minutes, rubbing my chest...it went down. I removed the lavash and ate the turkey breast plain. Then last night I ate some chicken and beef kafta (shish kabob) cut into teeny weeny bites...and I chewed extremely well....mixed them with some mushroom soup for the moisture...it got stuck. I got up, started walking, ran to the bathroom to :barf, then it went down. I finally felt better, walked 4 miles, and was fine afterwards. Please explain to me why this keeps happening. I'm scared that I will always feel this way. I've read so many posts about people not being able to eat meats/tuna easily. I also know that my new pouch is still swollen, but i'm really scared. Will I always feel this way? I thought i was eating slowly, maybe i was wrong? Someone please let me know if this is normal? I am not eating too much, and I'm a little worried that I am not eating enough because of my fear of things getting stuck. Will it get easier to digest foods after a few months. Help me please! Someone said it could be a stricture. What is that? Does it sound like it could be a stricture or does my situation just sound normal?

Everyone is different, turkey, chicken, water packed tuna are pretty dry. I would suggest adding a littlle more relish and reduced fat salad dressing or mayo, works for me. Most everything will pass if chewed well and has a little "lub". Me, I'm a little tighter in the morning and loosen up by evening but still need something to help the dry stuff go down. Good Luck! DAVE

oh shay-you are not that far out from surgery and your pouch is still healing.....i could not tolerate chicken or fish for a good 6 mos......it just would get stuck...no matter how much i moistened it..............you must also not only eat slowly but chew chew chew....and then chew again...............some of us or so used to just putting food into us and then swallowing and not even really chewing before surgery.........that this becomes a real test to learn to eat and chew again........also--after you have had an episode of something getting stuck....you kind of need to rest your pouch and go back to liquids for a while to let it settle down and decrease the inflammation etc...........some of it is behavior change and some of it is just plain anatomy change..........and getting used to it and the changes you will go through as the pouch heals............it will get much easier as time goes on (too easy grin) to eat you are doing just fine........just back off when something gets stuck and try it again a week or two later........but chew chew chew!!!!!!!!!! it could be a stricture.there is alwasy that chance.........but i would try the behavioral things.....unless you are having significant pain, dehydration because you cant hold anything down etc..............good luck, rae

Shay, I am six months out. At four weeks out, I definitely could not get down the food you're describing. It has to be an extremely tender, moist chicken for me to even get down now. Even then, I have to eat very small pieces, very slowly. I seem to do much better with ham. Fish of any kind causes me problems. The burping was and still is my sign that I'm eating too much. I've had a stricture two times now. It just means too much scar tissue forms and food won't go down. And the treatment for it is they use a scope to stretch the opening, no big deal, very simple. The symptoms, at least for me, is things that I could get down, I could no longer keep down. I started having trouble even keeping my protein drinks down. I was vomiting a lot. I remember being at four weeks, and I just wanted to pound the wall because it was so hard to figure out what to eat that would stay down, and swore I couldn't eat another bite of cottage cheese. It DOES get much easier. Marie

I thank you for your response. My concern is I might have a stricture. I don't know what else it means besides scar tissue that causes the stoma to get narrow and not allow food to go down. I hate the "food stuck in the esophogus" feeling. Yesterday it felt like i wanted to throw up...and i kept rubbing the area it was stuck at..and walked a little, then burping constantly - it went down. I had this feeling three times this weekend. Today i am eating 4 slices of honey ham...now i am at work might i add. But i started eating at 3:30 and stopping every few minutes to put a dime size piece in my mouth and just chew chew chew...so far so good. I think it's time to stop eating....lol. I might have ate only a couple of slices really, but it's some kind of protein..something better than nothing right. No stuck feeling!! Early this morning I had a protein shake that took about three hours to drink (again, at work so stopping here and there) and a wedge of laughing cow cheese. Oh well, thankfully all is well as of now....thank you for your input! Shay

Shay...When you get that feeling of having something stuck...Try laying on your left side!!! It has helped me in the past when I had that stuck feeling!!!!! Remember to eat slowly and chew chew chew!!!! You are still fresh out of surgery and pouch is tender yet....Would you feed a new born all this hard to eat food??? Nope you sure wouldn't....So smaller pieces and chew it really good and you will be fine. Hugs Judy

Thanks Judy...i will take that advice! I'm just chewing girl...chewing chewing and more chewing. I don't like the feeling. And you are absolutely right about the newborn. I would never, so i shouldn't either. Hugs to you! Shay

Shay there is no way i could have ate bread , lavash, or crackers that early out. It's too mushy and got stuck every time. I don't think you have a stricture. It was a good year and a half before i could handle any kind of bread. Kafta is one of my favorite foods, i put them into meatballs and fry them with cut up tomatoes and eat it with pita bread. there's a meat store in sterling heights who sells the best kafta i've ever had. Dont worry, you'll get the eating thing down. Just give your pouch time to heal. Hugs Linda

Linda, Thank you for the post. You know, I am just trying different foods and I should know better to allow myself to heal my pouch first. I can do deli meats and soup just fine, I just wanted to get my proteins from real food instead of drinks/shakes you know? You really don't think i have a scricture? I'm not nauseauted and the only thing i feel is the stuck feeling. Today was a good day, knock on wood. Hugs to you, Shay