Marc A. Fellman

In addition to popsicles, I made lots of shaved ice / sno cones. This $30 dollar gadget from Amazon works pretty well. https://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Shaved-Ice-S900A-Electric/dp/B004UBMRKG/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1486133871&sr=1-2&keywords=shaved+ice+machine

I hated 90 % of the Protein drinks I got at grocery and health food store. The only Protein shakes that I enjoy and don't taste gross are Chike chocolate Bliss mixed with 8 ounces of Silk Very vanilla Soymilk. I also like the Inspire Chocolate covered Cherry Protein Power with Silk very vanilla soymilk too. http://chikenutrition.com/buy-chike.html http://www.bariatriceating.com/product/inspire-chocolate-covered-cherry-protein-powder-20-servings/ I hated 90 % of the Protein Drinks I got at grocery and health food store. The only protein shakes that I enjoy and don't taste gross are Chike Chocolate Bliss mixed with 8 ounces of Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk. I also like the Inspire Chocolate covered Cherry Protein Power with Silk very vanilla soymilk too. http://chikenutrition.com/buy-chike.html http://www.bariatriceating.com/product/inspire-chocolate-covered-cherry-protein-powder-20-servings/

Chike Chocolate Bliss with 8 ounces of Silk Soy Milk Very Vanilla is to die for. So yummy.

sugar free pop sickles. They were the only stay hydrated along with shaved ice. For some reason, it was a lot easier for me to eat pop sickles and ice than drink Water.

I couldn't stand Premier Protein, Atkins, or any of the liquid Protein drinks mentioned above. The only one I can actually enjoy is Chike Nutrition chocolate Bliss. My surgeon's office gave me some samples, and I mixed them with vanilla Soy or Almond Milk in a shaker. It tastes delicious. I put a link below. http://chikenutrition.com/buy-tubs.html

Ok, I'm about 3 weeks and 3 days post-op. My surgeon at my follow-up 3 days ago said I should start trying to eat some real foods, and specifically said that occasionally I could have a piece of a small piece of toast. So, tonight I toasted a small piece of honey wheat bread in the toaster and ate it without any problem in about 3 minutes. Suddenly, about 5 minutes, I start experiencing a lot of nausea and fullness. It basically felt like my stomach was filling up foam or something. I spent about 10 minutes excessively salivating and spitting into the toilet, until I finally threw up foamy some foamy liquid. So, my question, what does this mean? Does this mean I had some kind of blockage in my stomach or does it just mean that i'm not ready for bread yet? (Sorry for the gross imagery).

My surgeon told me that I should start eating soft foods at this point. But, most of the time when I try something other than liquid (or yogurt, pudding, shake), it feels like there is a painful rock filling up my stomach. I had some french onion Soup which really just had pieces of boiled onion in it and a soggy crouton, but it hurt. I also tried thoroughly chewing a couple bites of toast. Same thing. I also have some nausea but haven't actually thrown up. So my question is whether this could be a stricture? Or is it just my stomach is particular sensitive and I need to let heal longer? Oddly, I've been able to eat some string cheese without a problem, but that's about it. So, I'm really hoping it's not a stricture.

I remember a couple times first week thinking I felt hungry, but it's not real hunger, it's just a trick played on your nerves because your stomach is healing. Once you try a couple bites of yogurt or pudding, you'll quickly realize that feeling is not true hunger, and also it went away by week 2 for me. mentally, you're also not used to the new stomach and still thinking about food the way you did with your stomach pre-op. Just drink liquids and eat sugar free popsickls. The sugar free popsickles and sugar free Jello would also fill me up when i got that gnawing feelling

Be very careful about redness, heat, swelling, or increased pain, or signs of infection. If you notice anything like that, run don't walk to your doctor or ER. But if it's just increased soreness , it could be related to being more active or decreasing pain meds. But definitely worth calling your surgeon's office to make sure and don't take any chances.

I couldn't drink much Clear Liquids first week either. I stayed hydrated on sugar free popsickles and crushed ice with some sugar free kool aid poured over it. I calculated each sugar free pop-sickle is the equivalent to 3 ounces of Water, and for some reason, the semi-frozen ice liquid was very soothing to my stomach, way less difficult than sipping water. I would have gotten dehydrated without the sugar pop sickles.

The first day sucks. Use your pain pump and ask for nausea medicine (probably phenergan which will put you to sleep. Don't worry about dehydration, you're getting hydration through IV. Hopefully, you'll sleep through most of it, and then be able to drink the next morning after the swallow study.

I love sugar free popsickles. I go through a big box of 50 about every 3-4 days. The cold ice feels nice...but that's pretty much clear liquid which aren't a problem for me.