Laya

If you are like me you've been so confused as to what you are supposed to be starting to eat once you got to the mushy/soft stage. I did some research on the net and found a pretty comprehensive list on the George Washington University Medical Center for Weight Loss website. I sent this list to my Dr's office to see if it was what they suggested and basically they agreed, so I thought I would share: Third and Fourth Weeks after Surgery You will advance to small quantities of pureed or creamy foods for each meal. All foods should be the consistency of baby food with no skins, seeds, or solid particles that require careful chewing. Examples are: Cream of Wheat Cream of Rice Farina yogurt sugar-free pudding or custard applesauce creamed soups mashed potatoes commercially prepared baby foods You may puree your own foods at home using a blender. Add liquids such as broth, juice, or milk to foods items cut into small pieces and puree until smooth. Season to taste. Mix pureed baby food meats with mashed potatoes, blend Soups or pureed vegetables to improve taste. Avoid trying to puree your own beef or chicken at this time. As tolerated, you may begin to progress to foods which are “soft and mushy”, or “crispy”. Examples of mushy foods: Eggs – scrambled, soft-boiled, and in the form of egg salad. The whites of fried eggs are usually too rubbery to be eaten this soon after surgery. Remember: egg whites have the Protein, the yolks are mainly fat. Eggbeaters are a good substitution for regular eggs. Dairy products – although these are high in saturated fats, they are also high protein and will go down easily. These include soft cheeses, low fat yogurt, low fat frozen yogurt, and low-fat milk. Hard cheeses may be taken in moderation. Avoid whole milk, cream, ice cream, whipped cream, and ice milk. Legumes – this includes well-cooked Beans, lentils, and peas. All should be in a mushy form, which will pass through the pouch easily. Good examples would be split pea Soup, bean soups, fat-free refried beans. Peanut butter is very high in fat, so use it sparingly. Vegetables – They should be well-cooked and easily mashed with a fork. Canned vegetables are a good choice since they are usually softer. Avoid any “stringy” vegetables such as green beans or asparagus as the new pouch cannot easily digest them. High-Quality Protein – examples of this would be tuna or chicken packed in Water, deviled ham, potted meats, pâtés, and liverwurst. Avoid any grisly meat (including Spam) at this time because gristle tends to get stuck in the pouch. “Potted meats” include any soft meat that you can spread on a cracker. You may include fat-free mayonnaise to prepare tuna or chicken. Grains – You may try well-cooked Pasta and rice in small quantities or soft bread. Use caution as these foods may cause pouch fullness and discomfort due to delayed emptying of the pouch for some. “Crispy foods” will disintegrate easily when placed in a liquid. Examples include Melba toast, crackers, well-toasted bread, baked tortilla chips, and dry Breakfast cereals without fruits or nuts. You may combine any “mushy” food on top of any “crispy” food. Examples are tuna fish on crackers, refried beans on tortilla chips, or egg salad on crispy toast.

I am sure you will be OK, it's soft eggs, not a 2" thick bite of steak. Soft scrambled eggs, mashed egg salad and such are on my "mushy/soft food stage". I am on my two week mark and I started my mushy a couple of days early due to some nausea complications. I've been able to eat soft scrambled eggs about 1/2 cup, oatmeal, cream of wheat, mashed potatoes and so forth. Don't freak yourself out, but if you ARE concerned do call your doctor. Good luck on your journey.

I had my surgery May 6, and I had chest pains too. My doctor told me it was my body feeling the band and the pain was coming from the swelling. I learned that if I breathed through my nose and exhaled through my mouth the pain would subside. If I talked too fast and ran out of breath, my chest would get tight and I would slow down and take a deep inhale through my nose and exhale through my mouth. It worked for me, you might try it. It will pass. I am on day 13 and almost all my pains and aches are gone. Minimal ache near the port from time to time from pants or laying on it in bed. Good luck and have faith~~~

Hi there, I had a horrible time with nausea after my surgery (may 6). I had a bad reaction to the anesthesia and the loratab liquid pain killer they gave me was making me nauseas as well. I actually was dry heaving a lot. I finally called my doctor and he told me if there was little pain stop taking the loratab and try to drink as much Water as I could to flush the rest of the anesthetics out of my system. I did as he said and the nausea lasted til about day 9, but the dry heaving stopped after day 5. I know you must here this all the time, but it will get better. On day 9 I was ready to rip the thing out of me, but the next day it was like the clouds parted and I did feel better. For the shakes, try to make them with a powdered protien, use non fat milk and put some kind of not so sweet fruit in them, a berry of some sort. BLEND BLEND BLEND it. For me the berries took the "icky sweet" taste away from the shakes and I was able to down them. Have faith, it will be better.

Hi there, I am 11 days out and to be honest didn't start feeling better until just yesterday. Are you getting enough Protein in every day. The lack of calories shouldn't be too bad if you are getting in your protein. I don't want to sound contrite, but it will get better, I promise. People kept telling me it would and I just didn't believe them. But, now I do. Take your Vitamins and get your protein in, it will work!!!

Hi Everyone, I just need to vent a bit. This morning I woke up after about only two hours of sleep and had a practical meltdown. I haven't been having the best of recoveries. I had a bad reaction to the anethesia that left me nauseas beyond even the medication and dry heaving for the next five days. I finally had a day without a heave on Monday, but the nausea hasn't gone away. Absolutely EVERYTHING I put in my mouth makes me want to gag. I didn't get fat from eating sweets so all the Protein shakes are making me sick and I can't seem to get the taste of them out of my mouth no matter what I eat. To top is all off I have nothing but liquid coming out of places of my body liquid isn't supposed to come out of. Then there is the tighness in my chest and the lump in my throat, which the dr. tells me is me feeling the band and once the swelling goes down I hsouldn't feel that anymore. I vascilate between being hungry and wanting to gag at the thought of anything going in my mouth. I just had a meltdown. I started hating what I had done to myself. I felt like such a failure for not being able to lose weight without this. I lashed out at the person who had been taking care of me since day one. I lashed out at my band angel from my doctor's group. If I could have I would have ripped the entire device out of my body this morning. Everyone keeps telling me, week three you will start to feel better, but here I am at day 9 and the light at the end of the tunnel is DIM DIM DIM!!!!

Hi there, I had surgery last wednesday and recovery hasn't been smooth sailing, but I did start back to work part time this week. I have an office desk job and am working from 10-2 about all I can manage then back home to rest. It's really up to you and how you feel. Good luck with everything!!!!!