First day "soft" food- too dry?

[Lizaboo 23]

So today was my first day on soft food. I had oatmeal earlier, no problem. Tonight I tried rotisserie chicken. Chewed for at least 30 bites, very fine, took at least half an hour. It feels a little stuck in the chest area. About a half an hour later, drank some Water, and then a few moments later vomited some up.

I still feel like some is a bit stuck. Should I be really freaked out? Our menu plan says just eat the chicken plain, but then they also say to eat bread, toast and english muffins at this stage, and to avoid Protein Shakes at all costs in any stage. We think they're a bit crazy. Should I have put some sort of sauce or something on the chicken to help moisten?? It looks from other posts that a lot of other groups don't do plain meat? ?

Edited October 21, 2018 by Lizaboo

[Orchids&Dragons 9,047]

All food progression is usually listed "as tolerated". The food lists are suggestions. Start with the softest food at each level and work toward the more solid foods. chicken should be at the tail end of your progression. For most programs, chicken is not on the soft food stage at all unless it is ground. No need to freak out, just go much more slowly and you'll do fine.

Your program isn' crazy. Even though your soft foods include bread and toast, you're 8 weeks out. My program was soft foods at 4 weeks. So some of the differences are more about the timing than the actual foods. Right now, from experience, you know that you're not ready for chicken, yet. Try again in a week or so. (And if chicken didn't work, beef and pork are unlikely to work at this stage, either. You may be able to handle ground meats or sausages, though.) Good luck!

[Lizaboo 23]

1 hour ago, Orchids&Dragons said:

All food progression is usually listed "as tolerated". The food lists are suggestions. Start with the softest food at each level and work toward the more solid foods. chicken should be at the tail end of your progression. For most programs, chicken is not on the soft food stage at all unless it is ground. No need to freak out, just go much more slowly and you'll do fine.

Your program isn' crazy. Even though your soft foods include bread and toast, you're 8 weeks out. My program was soft foods at 4 weeks. So some of the differences are more about the timing than the actual foods. Right now, from experience, you know that you're not ready for chicken, yet. Try again in a week or so. (And if chicken didn't work, beef and pork are unlikely to work at this stage, either. You may be able to handle ground meats or sausages, though.) Good luck!

Thank you so much. They gave us a calendar that actually has us starting both the breads and meats at the beginning of soft foods. So puree at 3 weeks then starting this today, with chicken as the lunch. I was a little off schedule today, hence chicken at dinner.

I will pick and choose out of the options and go back to this later, like you said.

Thank you so much!

[Frustr8 7,886]

try some fat-free gravy and or a little diet margarine the next time, things go better with a lubrication.

[Lizaboo 23]

1 minute ago, Frustr8 said:

try some fat-free gravy and or a little diet margarine the next time, things go better with a lubrication.

LOL, I had a feeling that did not help the situation either!! Good thought, Frustr8. I will definately pick some up before making an attempt next time.

[John Kitsu 34]

9 hours ago, Lizaboo said:

So today was my first day on soft food. I had oatmeal earlier, no problem. Tonight I tried rotisserie chicken. Chewed for at least 30 bites, very fine, took at least half an hour. It feels a little stuck in the chest area. About a half an hour later, drank some Water, and then a few moments later vomited some up.

I still feel like some is a bit stuck. Should I be really freaked out? Our menu plan says just eat the chicken plain, but then they also say to eat bread, toast and english muffins at this stage, and to avoid Protein Shakes at all costs in any stage. We think they're a bit crazy. Should I have put some sort of sauce or something on the chicken to help moisten?? It looks from other posts that a lot of other groups don't do plain meat??

I had surgery around the time you did and plain white chicken meat is a bit tough for me too. My doc told me to stay away from turkey which is even more fibrous and dry.

If forced I could chew down chicken thigh meat, especially if it is simmered in sauce or cooked with a bit of butter/fat to help it slide. Minced or ground chicken is fantastic though and I have no problem with that. I've had in the form of Chinese Chicken and Egg Drop Flower Soup, Chicken Bolognese (w/o the pasta), and tsukune (Japanese ginger chicken meatball skewers).

My doc said there really is no rush, it's not a race, in fact more problems are caused by people pushing themselves too hard. Even though they would like me to follow a 5-week plan to normal foods, he told me realistically there is no concern unless I can't get to that point by 3 months, which is the end of November.

I would also say—and I am mostly saying this to remind myself—when you feel that lump-in-chest feeling—don't eat or drink for a while. Give it more than the 30 mins. Act like the meal ended and go about your day before ingesting anything else. That should stop the vomiting and let your system process whatever you just ate.

Best of luck!

Edited October 21, 2018 by John Kitsu

[BelleOfBatonRouge 80]

My coordinator told me that when I’m allowed chicken on my soft food stages, it needs to be super moist- like cooked in the crockpot and drizzled with sauce moist. She specifically used rotisserie chicken as an example of what not to eat when I enter soft foods.

I love crockpot recipes, and while I have tons of favorites a good simple one is chicken (thigh will be juicier, breast if that’s what you prefer) with a can of cream of mushroom Soup. Cook it on low for a few hours until it easily shreds. Mmm my mouth is watering now- I can have this in two weeks!

[Lizaboo 23]

1 hour ago, John Kitsu said:

I had surgery around the time you did and plain white chicken meat is a bit tough for me too. My doc told me to stay away from turkey which is even more fibrous and dry.

If forced I could chew down chicken thigh meat, especially if it is simmered in sauce or cooked with a bit of butter/fat to help it slide. Minced or ground chicken is fantastic though and I have no problem with that. I've had in the form of Chinese Chicken and Egg Drop Flower Soup, Chicken Bolognese (w/o the pasta), and tsukune (Japanese ginger chicken meatball skewers).

My doc said there really is no rush, it's not a race, in fact more problems are caused by people pushing themselves too hard. Even though they would like me to follow a 5-week plan to normal foods, he told me realistically there is no concern unless I can't get to that point by 3 months, which is the end of November.

I would also say—and I am mostly saying this to remind myself—when you feel that lump-in-chest feeling—don't eat or drink for a while. Give it more than the 30 mins. Act like the meal ended and go about your day before ingesting anything else. That should stop the vomiting and let your system process whatever you just ate.

Best of luck!

Thanks, John Kitsu. That is good to know, especially since turkey was on their calendar for lunch today. LOL. Oh dear. It sounds like all of my grocery shopping I just did won't do me much good now.

I really am appreciating everyone's feedback a great deal. It sounds like you are all finding some wonderful methods and your coordinators have had some great suggestions. Thank you for helping!!

[RickM 1,747]

Dark meat poultry is usually better tolerated than light meat at this point - the extra fat and moisture helps it go down easier. Likewise, meat lube - gravies and sauces are helpful now (but not so much later when they might lead to over eating.) While it is generally good to get away from the Protein Drinks as soon as one can and get into real foods, we still need the Protein, so one should use them as long as needed until all of your protein needs can be met with real food - that can be a big variable.

Don't be concerned about how other programs define their stages or what they allow when - we never had a liquid or puree stage as it was all mushed together along with soft foods that we could progress through as our tolerances dictated for that first month or so. If mushy things like oatmeal or cream of wheat are what settles well for you now, go for it, and just sample other things in small quantities to see how they work.