Is it normal to have to revert to pureed foods
I'm 5 1/2 weeks out of surgery now, and am on minced foods. The last few days when I eat I sometimes get a terrible pouch pain. I think I'm taking small enough bites, and I think I'm chewing enough, but sometimes the more solid foods really put the pouch squeeze on me. I just had some baby chicken and greek yogurt (very smooth), and 3 carrot slices and 2 green beans which I chewed the heck out of, and everything seems to be pretty good. Good idea to revert to pureed meats for a few days to give pouchy a rest, or should I persevere with the more solid meats?
Had RNY surgery July 22/11, St. Joe's Hamilton, with the awesome Dr. Scott Gmora. Had abdominoplasty August 2/13, Scarborough, with equally awesome Dr. Michael Kreidstein.
I'm 8 weeks out and on "Diet for Life". I find that, if I eat salmon or crab and I add mayo, I don't have any issues. But the 2 times I've tried baked chicken, I had a hard time processing it. I cut it small and chewed and chewed, but it still hurt for about 3 hrs afterwards. In retrospect, I think that I needed to add a sauce or something to it, even though it wasn't dry, it may have been too dry for my pouch. I tried some pork chop the other day and all I had on hand was mayo, so I used that. It went down fine.
So, perhaps you're not making it 'saucy' enough.
So, perhaps you're not making it 'saucy' enough.
Beth
Former RNY patient revising to Sleeve then DS.
Appts: Dietitian - January 21/19; July 16/19, August 13/19, September 17/19, October 15/19; Social Worker: August 23/19; DS Orientation: March 20/19; Internist: September 30/19; Surgeon: November 13/19 (signed consent).
Surgery Date: February 28/20.
MY RNY DIDN'T FAIL ME - I FAILED IT.
Thanks, Beth. I'm going to try that. I have noticed that, even though I'm not supposed to do it, if I have a sip of water or milk, it helps with the pain. So perhaps that's the answer - I'll try something slippery with it next time.
Had RNY surgery July 22/11, St. Joe's Hamilton, with the awesome Dr. Scott Gmora. Had abdominoplasty August 2/13, Scarborough, with equally awesome Dr. Michael Kreidstein.
hi Megan, i had the same issue around the 5-6 week timeline. Kelly NUT said to back it up a tad and then try again in a week. also make sure it is very moist. i have been able to get chicken down now without the fuss and have been able to eat it just fine. but the first time it was cruel and nasty. thought i would not be able to eat it.
There were a few foods that I had problems with early on, but now (4 1/2 months out) I can eat pretty well anything. I haven't tried steak or pork chops yet as I expect they'll be too dry. When I started on meat, I stuck with lean ground beef, ground turkey and chicken, and canned tuna and salmon. Generally, if you can't tolerate something early on, it is recommended that you go back to it in a week or two and try again. Good luck!
RNY April 11, 2011
I find that chicken tends to be dry especially when reheated. I have frozen ice cubes of chicken broth that I will add 1 or 2 to the chicken when reheating. It just seems to add enough mositure to keep from "sticking".
Nov 29/10 Referred to St Josephs Hamilton
Dec 6/10 Orientation
Mar 9/11 Nurse, Dietician & Social Worker
Mar 31/11 Internest
May 26/11 Surgeon & pre-surgery class
JULY 11/11 VSG, hernia repair by Dr Mehran Anvari
Dec 6/10 Orientation
Mar 9/11 Nurse, Dietician & Social Worker
Mar 31/11 Internest
May 26/11 Surgeon & pre-surgery class
JULY 11/11 VSG, hernia repair by Dr Mehran Anvari
Hi Megan,
I've pasted this before, and so many people have told me it is dead on to their experiences at this stage. I stole this from bariatric tv website. They call people who've had WLS surgically altered freaks! LOL Don't be offended! They have all had the surgery too!!!
3). Weeks 6 - 9
The baby-freak often feels they are having a LOT more difficulty eating and drinking than they had over the previous few weeks. This is because the connection between the pouch and the intestine is healing and the scar is becoming thicker resulting in a narrower outlet to the pouch.
Majority of surgeons use a 25 mm circular stapler to make the connection between the pouch and the small intestine. The connection is about the size of your thumb and there is minimal resistance to food and drink. The connection starts to heal by the body laying down scar tissue. As the healing process continues over the next several weeks, more scar tissue forms and the scar contracts making the outlet of the pouch become smaller.
As mentioned this usually happens between 6 and 9 weeks, during the “M.O.M - Month of Misery", the size of the outlet is only the size of the tip of your little finger or even less.
Because the outlet is so much smaller there is more resistance to the food passing through the new opening. Therefore to get food to pass it takes longer and the particle size may need to be reduced.
If you eat faster than the pouch can empty, the food and drink will back up into the esophagus and you'll experience a squeezing pressure/pain in the chest from the contractions of the esophagus trying to push the food through the smaller opening. This pain in the chest after eating is your body telling you to slow F down as you're eating faster than the food is able to leave the pouch.
Fortunately, after about 9 weeks the scar will slowly mature. As the scar softens the outlet will become larger again allowing more food to pass more quickly. Over time the symptoms will become less frequent.
However....... Sometimes the narrowing becomes so small it is difficult for anything to pass. This is called an anastomotic stricture meaning there is a severe narrowing or stricture at the anastomosis or connection between the pouch and intestine. If this happens the baby-freak will have an upper endoscopy and a special balloon is passed to dilate the opening. After this is done the baby-freak will be able to eat and drink normally the same day.
Hope that helps!
Laura
I've pasted this before, and so many people have told me it is dead on to their experiences at this stage. I stole this from bariatric tv website. They call people who've had WLS surgically altered freaks! LOL Don't be offended! They have all had the surgery too!!!
3). Weeks 6 - 9
The baby-freak often feels they are having a LOT more difficulty eating and drinking than they had over the previous few weeks. This is because the connection between the pouch and the intestine is healing and the scar is becoming thicker resulting in a narrower outlet to the pouch.
Majority of surgeons use a 25 mm circular stapler to make the connection between the pouch and the small intestine. The connection is about the size of your thumb and there is minimal resistance to food and drink. The connection starts to heal by the body laying down scar tissue. As the healing process continues over the next several weeks, more scar tissue forms and the scar contracts making the outlet of the pouch become smaller.
As mentioned this usually happens between 6 and 9 weeks, during the “M.O.M - Month of Misery", the size of the outlet is only the size of the tip of your little finger or even less.
Because the outlet is so much smaller there is more resistance to the food passing through the new opening. Therefore to get food to pass it takes longer and the particle size may need to be reduced.
If you eat faster than the pouch can empty, the food and drink will back up into the esophagus and you'll experience a squeezing pressure/pain in the chest from the contractions of the esophagus trying to push the food through the smaller opening. This pain in the chest after eating is your body telling you to slow F down as you're eating faster than the food is able to leave the pouch.
Fortunately, after about 9 weeks the scar will slowly mature. As the scar softens the outlet will become larger again allowing more food to pass more quickly. Over time the symptoms will become less frequent.
However....... Sometimes the narrowing becomes so small it is difficult for anything to pass. This is called an anastomotic stricture meaning there is a severe narrowing or stricture at the anastomosis or connection between the pouch and intestine. If this happens the baby-freak will have an upper endoscopy and a special balloon is passed to dilate the opening. After this is done the baby-freak will be able to eat and drink normally the same day.
Hope that helps!
Laura
Thanks Laura - this exactly describes what I've been experiencing this week. I think one of my problems is that I am probably eating too quickly, a really bad habit that's hard to break. So I'm slowing down, and trying to make things wetter as others have suggested. I'm going to check out this bariatric tv website - sounds interesting!
Had RNY surgery July 22/11, St. Joe's Hamilton, with the awesome Dr. Scott Gmora. Had abdominoplasty August 2/13, Scarborough, with equally awesome Dr. Michael Kreidstein.
Still to this day I often use some kind of sauce, dressing or salsa when I eat more dense proteins. It keeps things moist and is much easier on the pouch.
When you progress to the next stage of the diet you can still have things from the previous stage. So maybe have minced for one meal and then something softer for the next meal.
Linda
When you progress to the next stage of the diet you can still have things from the previous stage. So maybe have minced for one meal and then something softer for the next meal.
Linda
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