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New here and need some help please ... 6 weeks out and can't really eat solids



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Hi all. I had the sleeve and hernia fix on March 11, 2015, and was able to transition to solid foods about 2 weeks ago. The problem is I can't get solid foods down because it feels like it gets stuck in my throat and just won't go down. It doesn't matter what it is, it won't go down and is very uncomfortable. The other odd thing is that it gets worse as the day goes on. I'm able to get a little bit down in the morning, but at lunch it's more difficult, and by dinner forget it ... nothing is going down without enormous pain and discomfort.

So far the only things I can get down are cottage cheese but only if it's pureed a little bit and mixed with Jello (yeah, sounds gross but it's not as bad as you might think), broth based Soups, and Campbell's Bean and Bacon Soup. The Campbell's Soup is the most "solid" food I can tolerate.

My doctor thought perhaps I had a narrowing of the sleeve so he performed an endoscopy yesterday, 4/24, to see about stretching things a bit if it was too narrow. The good news is everything looked great ... no kinks, no narrowing, no leaks, nothing. The bad news is, well, everything looked great with no explanation for why I'm having so much trouble getting solid food down and no solution for how to fix it.

I came home from the endoscopy yesterday feeling very frustrated because I don't want this to be the rest of my life. Did anyone else struggle with something like this at first, but it ended up getting better? I need some hope. H-e-l-p ... :blush:

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I am actually quite surprised by what your doctor said. On my plan, I was not allowed to eat regular (solid) food for 8 weeks, and I now know why! Just from what you said. Now, I know that every doctor has a different philosophy on this, some eat regular foods almost straight away, others, like me, have to wait 8 weeks. I'm thinking the extra healing time really pays off, with little if any digestion issues. Since you didn't appear to have any issues noted in your endoscopy, you just may need a little extra time to heal! So even though you may FEEL ready to eat regular foods, your new tummy may just be saying..."hold on! Let's not rush this!" Maybe take some time to advance, giving it a couple of extra weeks. And progress slowly, trying little tiny bits of different things. Slowly progress to harder, chewier things, and only small portions of those. CHEW CHEW CHEW!!! It can't be stressed enough! Good luck to you!

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