John Kitsu

I too have started taking Smooth Move at night whenever I notice it's been a couple of days. Actually, I've started typing a poop emoji into my calendar on days when I've gone because it's way too easy for me to let days pass before I realize that something has been missing, and in my experience by the time you realize you haven't gone in several days that boulder of death has already formed and is waiting around the bend!

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!

Oh man, the struggle is real. I used the Smooth Move tea. It's best to take it the night before, pray to your deity of choice and try again in the morning. I will never ever again laugh at anyone who complains about constipation. I really had no clue how bad it could be. Pushing is bad for you so I would sit there and "crown" for a long time, then I would make the mistake of pinching and that log beast would quickly retract back in like an unlocked tape measure! After two days of the same, I actually started rocking and bouncing on the toilet until I finally gave birth and nearly wept in relief and triumph. When I finally emerged from the bathroom, my dad was wearing headphones...

I feel like I've developed lactose intolerance, too! Never had an issue before, but very creamy things lead to immediate rejection these days. It's all very strange, but I suspect it will be an evolving situation.

Tiny 8 oz bottles so you can track how much water you are taking in. It is nice visual feedback for all that sipping you'll be doing. Also Benefiber, just in case. I know it doesn't happen to everyone, but the tragic atomic megaturd that appeared a week after my surgery really could have been avoided. What I wouldn't have bought now that I know what I know now was a pill crusher. It was really cumbersome and the nurses even struggled with getting things smashed. It was much easier to snip the tops of capsules and cut pills in pieces with plain scissors before swallowing.

I bought those 8 oz tiny little grenade looking water bottles and lined them up by 8 so I knew how much water I'd need to take in per day and set up reminders on my phone. This is because I was prone to dehydration and tended to chug water when it was too late, and that was no longer going to be possible. I also bought about 5 days worth of Premier Protein shakes of various flavors. I really wish I had purchased Benefiber and Senna Tea, but I had someone go get it for me because that after-surgery constipation appeared randomly a week later and it was so intense and sudden I felt like I was "crowning" and wouldn't have been able to waddle to the pharmacy to get the stuff on my own. As I sat there for many minutes trying to pass what felt like an Easter Island statue, I wish I had been prophylactically mixing soluble fiber into my liquids from Day One at home. Best of luck on your surgery!

I just went through this unfortunately and checked myself into the hospital. I did a barium swallow and an ultrasound with a ton a contrast dye which was terrible since I was barely swallowing due to the pain. They didn't find anything. Retracing my steps I feel like it was caused by not taking my time with the foods. If your body is rejecting the potato base, it's okay to go back to something safe. You can try again later. I am also chewing and sipping much more slowly. I was chewing thoroughly but after feeling a lump in my throat I would continuing eating once the lump was gone, when really I should have stopped completely until later. Also this is just what I've noticed, but the symptoms got better the more I got to a normal fluid level. Even if it meant drinking stuff like ice tea with diluted apple juice or watered down gatorade, stuff that isn't recommended due to the sugar but I knew would go down easier than straight water. Something about getting back to the optimum level of fluids soothed that lump and pain feeling more than the prescribed meds alone. Dehydration felt like a vicious cycle to me—the less I drank the more pain I felt in my esophagus which led me to drink less and exacerbated the pain. So I would make it a goal to get back to those high fluid levels. Hope you feel better.

I've been doing the world soup tour: cream of chicken and broccoli, miso soup with tofu, Mexican meatball soup with vegetables, heart healthy vegetarian chili with beans, wonton soup base with scallions and ginger—each one blended into oblivion via my Vitamix. What's also good is that these freeze well, so I just have a taste of each and store the rest. I feel like I have variety and am not bored.

I would lower the pressure on yourself on deciding and try to attend an information session first. Keep an open mind and don't think so far in the future. You'll feel less nervous if you go into this with more knowledge. Honestly, due to insurance, health clearances and old fashioned indecision it took me a year between my going to an information session and actually going through with it. At any time during your preparation you could change your mind and not have the surgery. You are in complete control.

I think my doc's plan is to get me to a maintenance/normal level by week 6. So it's like: Week 1 - Clear liquids Week 2 - Full liquids Week 3 - Purees (I'm here but have been testing Week 4-esque foods) Week 4 - Soft foods Week 5 - Chopped foods Week 6 - Normal foods I admire your strength in sticking to the more prolonged plan. I am sure it will pay dividends in terms of weight loss!

Here's a strange one: one thing I wish I learned before having the surgery was the ability to burp on command. There is a technique to it, which I never mastered in high school, but it would have made things a lot easier for me immediately post-surgery. As of now I'm still doing a lot of chest pounding, neck craning and wiggling around to get the burp to happen, whereas all my relatives were trying to teach me their burping skills in the hospital to help me out Willy Wonka-style.

Yeah, I should probably ease into it more than I am doing right now. I feel like I'm a mad scientist testing things out, and my friend told me I sound like one of those YouTube channels that asks "Will it blend?" I am pumping the breaks a bit more as the week progresses. Currently I'm having slow bites of tuna salad. Like a nibble and walk away, one taste at a time.

I'm in it right now in fact. I've had apple sauce, blended plums, pureed vegetable soup and turkey chili, miso soup with soft tofu and a salmon mousse, which admittedly may have been a little premature. I also went to an Italian deli, bought a meatball with tons of sauce and blended that as well. It was actually not bad.

I got a good back, leg and neck massage as soon as I got out of the hospital and felt so much better. Those beds and being constrained by monitors and IVs really made my body stiff, even more than the surgery. For the first few days out of the hospital, sneezing or coughing caused a little bit of a pinch in the lungs. Also a few days after that I felt some internal pinching, which was the internal stitches and scars healing or something. Overall it was not that bad and I didn't have to take pain meds.

Hey Anna! I also had my surgery on the 28th. So right now according to my doc's protocol I'm eating pureed foods. In contrast to you (i.e., very disciplined), I decided to spend yesterday and today testing what I can blend and keep down like some sort of mad scientist. Let's just say when they tell you to avoid heavy cream, it's best to listen. We will all be able to eat some of those foods on occasion and in moderation in due time. One thing I've been doing is keeping a running list of things I am craving in a document. It's really interesting to see the patterns emerging, what kinds of food I'm thinking about and why. Is it nostalgia? Am I just bored of the soup? Is there a temporary substitute for a particular flavor? Also something about writing these things down in a list and filing it away for later relieves me of the feeling that I have to have these things right now and clears my mind of those thoughts. Good luck!