crazy4pluto

while i know i'm not the only person who has had the compliction of a stricture after sleeve surgery, i am however the only one in my support group and since it happens only in about 1% of the patients, i'm not forseeing anyone joining my any time soon. nor would i ever wish this on anyone. i had my sleeve surgery in december 2011, my first stricture surgery 6 weeks later, now after being on only soft/pureed foods i go for my gastro check up today and find that since i still continue to throw up 1-2 times a day that they want to go back in a do a second stricture stretch surgery next week. i'm so disappointed, frustrated and really feel like i'm on the verge of a mental break! i've been eating the same foods for 18 weeks. i cannot seem to get my protein level anywhere near the 70-100 grams. I do stay in contact with the program nutritionist but I cannot find a protein powder or shake that will stay down. i add the unjury non flavored powder to some of my foods but that is almost a automatic food reversal so i can't do it often since i am already losing 1-2 of the 6 meals already. i really hope that this will be the last surgery i will need and that after next week my stomach will finally allow me to eat what i need to eat. i'm sorry i really didn' t know where else to turn. no one understand what i mean when i say i've only been able to eat yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, string chesse and mashed potatoes for 18 weeks! don't get me wrong i'm down 89 pounds and even with the stricture complication i'd do the surgery all over again because i'm already off my cpap machine, off my blood pressure meds and most importantly my knees and feet no longer hurt. i just needed to vent to someone because i'm just frustrated and disappointed that yet again i will have to start back at block one with the liquids only and begin the progression again back to soft/pureed foods for the third time. i went into this not wanting to be a certain size in the end but to be healtier. this dang stricture is sure making seeing that part hard. thanks for listening.

first of all breathe! i'm glad you posted me because there are not many folks (thank goodness) who experience strictures. communication with your treatment team and staying as positive as possible is what you need to do. everyone heals differently and it's no ones fault you ended up with the stricture but there is light at the end of the tunnel. luckly your treatment team found your stricture early so you should since your stomach is still healing form that you will probibly ride right through the puree process. i'm not a dr so i can't say that for sure will happen but i sure will pray that happens for you. but even if it doesn't i am proof that time can/will get you hopefully to the point of the final eating phase of "eating the foods you want just in healthy amounts". good luck and i'll be praying you start feeling better soon!

first i want to say thank you to everyone who posted concern about me and that i haven't been on in quite some time. i ended up becoming very ill and actually have been off from work since may. i am getting better with the help a wonderful treatment team but this sure isn't how i thought this journey was going to go. my treatment team tells me all the time that i am strong and my having developed the complications isn't my failure (which is how i began to see it) but just my challenge and that i have the personality that will not only get me though this time but allow me to help others in the process. my stricture is stretched to the maximum at this point and in the past month i have finally begun to try to eat normal foods(not pureed). i win with some and others not so much but i have faith that in time this will all work out. as far as weighing they've been doing blind weights because i got so sick and lost a lot of weight that they didn't want me to completely stress out as i gained weight as i began to finally eat again. it has been quite the adventure but like i've said many times--i would do the surgery all over again because even if i don't end up at the numbers that i had hoped for--i've still lost over 100 pounds and nobody can take that away from me! again i want to wish everyone strength, happiness and calm as you go though your own journeys. remember it's really not about the numbers---it's about becoming a healther you!!!! also, for anyone who has developed a stricture or kink (which thankfully shouldn't be too many of you)---yes there is light at the end of the tunnel, just make sure you follow exactly what your treatment team suggests you do and make sure you communicate honestly and as often as needed with the questions and concerns you have. i'm telling you, if didn't know i could tell my treatment team how i feel or know i have their complete support with this---i would probibly not be typing this message to you today.

ok, well i had my second stricture stretch procedure done on april 17th to stretch the scar tissue in my stomach that is preventing me from eating anything but pureed/soft foods and then on april 23rd was admitted to the hospital for 5 days because i hadn't eaten in 2 weeks and drank in 2 days. to say i was dehydrated was an understatement. today was my first day back at work since having 10 saline solution bags and 10 electrolight/nutrition bags and everyone said how good i looked. guess i didn't really realize how bad it had gotten. i have to really learn the signs of when i am getting into trouble before i get into too much trouble. i crossed the 100# weight lost goal twice this month due to gaining 4 pounds after all that fluid was pumped into me. somehow it seems so anticlimatic. you strive to hit that 100# mark and i'm glad i did but i've been so sick since jan that it's hard to celebrate loosing any of the weight anymore. i still have 70 pounds i'd like to lose but to be honest as sick as i have been if i didn't lose any more--i'd still be glad i had the sleeve done in dec 2011 and i'd be happy right where i am because without the sleeve i may not be here at all. best of luck to everyone.

well i just wanted to send an update on what happend when i had the my second stricture procedure yesterday. i went in and had my stricture stretched to the maximum 20mm. that's the good news. the bad news is that once he did this he noticed i have a kink in the middle of my stomach from the way it healed after surgery in december 2011. so, if i am still unable to keep my food down it is no longer because of the stricture since that has been stretched to the max it will be because the food hits the kink and and cannot make the bend. i am on 4 more weeks of soft/pureed foods then i go back for my recheck. of course if i am still getting sick then i will have to go back to my origional surgeon i guess to have the kink fixed. please keep postitve thoughts that i will be able to keep my food down and not need to have the surgery to fix the kink. that would be inpatient at the hospital and i really don't want that. the dr. said because of the kink i will always have to eat 6 meals of no more than 4 oz and i will always have to make sure to take VERY small bites so that it will have a better chance of passing the kink. he said i will also have to be very careful with what food i eat to ensure that i can get it chewed enought to pass by the kink. gees if it's not one thing it's another. who would have thought i'd get hit with 2 complications from it. i would still do it all over again just would like to do it without the stricture and kink! i'll keep updating if anything new happens over the next several weeks. but i hope to have an uneventful 4 week of soft/pureed meals. i am so very thankful that i am not hungry or by now i would have gone mad only eating such a limited food choice for almost 19 weeks now. my focus over the next 4 weeks will be fluids, and trying to get my protein in. i don't want to have to have a 4th procedure and i don't want to become any more malnursihed then i already am at this point because they have tossed the phrase iv nutrition around if i cannot get my numbers up from eating over the next few days. sleeve patients cannot be tube fed because we don't have enough stomach to handle that type of feeding so that only leave iv nutrition and it's pretty expensive. so i'm trying real hard to focus on just getting the food to stay down and eat has high protein count and i can handle.

my stricture was in the middle of my stomach and that is also where the kink is just slighly lower then the area where the stricture formed. my stricture was caused by my body building my scar tissue on the inside of my stomach and not along the outside of the staple line. the kink is also on the staple line and it was explained to me to be like when you get a kink in a hose (slight bend but enough to affect the full flow). the kink will have to be surgically corrected if it continues to cause me not to be able to eat, otherwise its TNP to get me the necessary nutrition. i don't look forward to having to deal with either the kink surgery or the TNP.

you're not a whimp! i also felt like i had been kicked in the gut after my surgery in dec 2011. give yourself credit it's only been 10 days since you had major surgery. also, i think 2.5 oz is great! i think it took me almost 2.5 weeks to get to 2 oz. keep doing exactly what you were told to do. make sure to focus on protein and fluids intake to help you heal. good luck.

well i just wanted to send an update on what happend when i had the procedure yesterday. i went in and had my stricture stretched to the maximum 20mm. that's the good news. the bad news is that once he did this he noticed i have a kink in the middle of my stomach from the way it healed after surgery in december 2011. so, if i am still unable to keep my food down it is no longer because of the stricture since that has been stretched to the max it will be because the food hits the kink and and cannot make the bend. i am on 4 more weeks of soft/pureed foods then i go back for my recheck. of course if i am still getting sick then i will have to go back to my origional surgeon i guess to have the kink fixed. please keep postitve thoughts that i will be able to keep my food down and not need to have the surgery to fix the kink. that would be inpatient at the hospital and i really don't want that. the dr. said because of the kink i will always have to eat 6 meals of no more than 4 oz and i will always have to make sure to take VERY small bites so that it will have a better chance of passing the kink. he said i will also have to be very careful with what food i eat to ensure that i can get it chewed enought to pass by the kink. gees if it's not one thing it's another. who would have thought i'd get hit with 2 complications from it. i would still do it all over again just would like to do it without the stricture and kink! i'll keep updating if anything new happens over the next several weeks. but i hope to have an uneventful 4 week of soft/pureed meals. my focus will be fluids, and trying to get my protein in.

thank you everyone for the kind words and encouragment. i do have a several friends who are very supportive and are with me during the good and the bad. i've not tried proteinex before but i will look into that, thanks for suggesting it piper. i wish everyone continued success on your own personal journey and i will repost after the procedure next tues with an update. thanks again.

i want to thank likasulema, mnbsleeve and lissa for the kind words. i really do feel like i'm loosing it. i've got calls into the nutritionist and the psychologist that are involved with my clinic. i've spent most of the day today being in a total state of overwhelment and i know that this isn't the state of mind i need to be in if i'm going to have surgery. i'm just really upset that my body decided to heal wrong even though i was doing everything i was told to do. i pray that this round of treatment won't last as long as the last one. like i said i'm at 18 weeks as of tomorrow and i'm still on soft/pureed foods. now once i have this surgery next week i get to go back to phase one liquids only then move back to soft/pureed foods again. at this point i've forgotten what most everything tastes like. since i've only eatten eggs, mashed potatoes, yogurt, cottage cheese and string cheese for so long. please pray that i transition through this smoothly this time and hopefully it will be the last stricture stretch i will ever need! again, thanks to the 3 of you for caring enough to respond to my post.

ok. i can honestly say that my sleeve surgery has saved my life and even though i ended up with a stricture i would still do it all over again. i am however noticing that i am currently at week 16 and because of the sticture i have yet to reach the "make healthy food choices but still can eat what you pretty much want just in smaller amounts" phase. i am still on the pureed stage. yes, that's right i'm 16 weeks post surgey and still at the pureed stage thanks to the stomach stricture issue. thank goodness i have no appitite at all nor do i crave anything because if i did then that would just be too much to handle i think. now back to why i need help. this week, i really began to question "who is this person i see when i look in the mirror?" i don't see the old pre-surgery me but i do not know who this is that i see! i've gone from a size 32 pant/5x shirt to 22 pant/1x shirt in 16 weeks and i'm really freaking out. don't get me wrong i did my research before surgery, i knew that i was going to lose a lot of weight but i guess knowing and seeing are two totally different things. i was never in this to be a certain size i just wanted to be healthy and be able to simple things that folks without weight issues don't even think twice about. has anyone else had similar feelings about dropping the weight this fast and if so what did you tell yourself so you could handle it? everyone tells me i look great, i try to take the compliments in stride and smile and say thanks but right now my brain is so confused that i'm finding it hard to handle it when they tell me how healthy i look. if they only knew--healthy isn't what i would say i was. this stomach stricture is a real pain in the butt. it's madining have been on pureed food for so long. i think if i never see or eat yogurt, cottage cheese or mashed potatoes again that will be just fine with me. having the stricture has made my getting enough protein a uphill challenge. i cannot keep liquid protein shakes down and i add the unjury non flavored protein to my 5 basic foods trying to up the protein amounts but i still come way under and it really makes me afraid. i stay in contact with the clinic and the nutritionist and she has given me "the bare minimums" that i can have. i only pray that when i go for my 6mth checkup that my labwork isn't totally screwed up. well i guess i've vented enough. thanks for allowing me the chance to see if anyone else has had similar experience. i hope everyone has a blessed night.

a stricture happens only in a VERY SMALL PERCENT of the patients. its when the scar tissue blocks the stomach being able to pass food. in otherwords, as your stomach heals from surgery in a small percent of patients the scar tissue heals on the inside not the outside which inturn can cause a blockage. mine completely blocked the passage of anything at week 6 after the sleeve surgery. they went in and used a balloon to stretch the stricture to allow me to again be able to eat but i'm now at week 16 and still haven't been released to each anything but pureed foods. it's been a very, very long 16 weeks. i have 2 more weeks before i go back for a recheck and hopefully he will give me the all clear!

at starbucks, be careful with the soy milk. starbucks uses a vanilla flavored soy milk and it DOES have sugar in it already. you can get a their syrups sugar free in vanilla, caramel, peppermint, toffee nut and hazelnut plus they have a sugar free mocha sauce now. if you order a decaf skinny latte they can use any of the sugar free flavors i listed plus skim milk to make the lattes. which is less calories then getting a latte with soy milk. also, they do have a passion tea that is decaf and you can get it hot or iced. just remember to tell them not to add the classic syrup (used to make it a sweet tea) or the lemonade and it's not bitter at all but if you need it they also have spenda, sweet and low and equal that you could add to it. the starbucks shop should have a brochure of the drinks offered and what's in them or you can go online to starbucks.com and get the full list of what is offered and what's in all the drinks. not sure about paneras though. hope this helps!

i wish someone had told me that all the planning and preperation i made for my surgery that having a "plan b" was a good idea just incase complications come up afterwards. i was doing ok after my surgery on dec 6, 2011 until i hit the brick wall known as "stricture". this totally caught me off guard and i was not prepared mental, physically or financially for needing a second surgery on jan 18, 2012 to correct it. also the emotions that come over you when you are told that you get to start all over again with the 2 weeks of liquids and then move to soft foods. i go back next tues to see if i get to try to eat more than just jello, yogut, eggs, cottage cheese and mashed potatoes. the rate i'm going if i never see another meal of cottage cheese, yogurt or eggs again that would be just fine with me. thank goodness i don't have any physical hunger or i do believe i would be totally crazy by now! continued success to everyone on their journey.

glad to know i'm not the only one having a rough time right now but i am sorry you are having one too.

oh, i am so very sorry. i had surgery on dec 6 and was following the plan without too much difficulity but when i transitioned into the 5th week everything stopped and headed in reverse every time i ate! lordy that wasn't fun at all. i was so sick and dehydrated after not eating and drinking for 3 days that the hospital couldn't even get an iv started when i went in for my second surgery to correct a stomach stricture on jan 18th! i was placed back on liquids only for a week and then have been only on soft foods until i see the dr for a follow up next tues. i'm still struggling to get enough protein in every day even with adding protein powder to my food. i'm trying hard but i'm getting so frustrated with the fact that i still can't keep everything down. even the meds they are giving me to coat my stomach to help me to eat now makes me sick. not much fun right now but i'm trying to stay positive. i follow the drs orders, attend my group meeting, exercise and i really believe this rough patch will pass--lets hope sooner rather then later though. good luck with your future journey!!