Surgery was 9/17/10 Food goes down SLOW!

[maxi2010 0]

Hi. I'm new to post op. I was banded on 9/17/10. I have had an issues that I would to share and get advice on.

I'm still on my liquid diet. I don't think I could progress to anything more even if I was told it was okay because I'm having trouble getting my food to go down. I had an esophagram and it came back normal so there is no leakage, my band appears to be well placed and liquid is going through the band. My problem is it takes FOREVER to get food through the band. Let me give you an example.

This morning, I had 4.5 oz of Carnation Instant Breakfast that I mixed with 4 oz of skim milk. I ate it slowly over 30 minutes. It took an additional 2 hours to go down. At 12noon I had 8 oz. egg drop Soup. For some reason, egg drop soup seems to go down the smoothest. It may have all gone down in 1 hour. I next had 11.5 oz (1 bottle) of V8 juice at 3pm. I drank it over 30 minutes. It is still sitting in my stomach 1 hour later. Probably by 5pm it will all be down.

Is this amount I'm eating normal? Notice that I have not drank any H2O or other fluids today because I feel I will have no room for more nutritious liquids like Protein Shakes, soup and V8 juice. How do you get more food and fluids in? Will this amount change once my swelling goes down or will a fill get you to the same point I'm in right now? I have no fill in my band right now and I still cannot get much down.:thumbup:

[JMinDallas 1]

How do you know it's not going down? Is it getting stuck? Or can you just not drink anymore if you tried?

I noticed at first, I couldn't drink as fast. I had to take small sips. What helped was drinking out of my toddler's sippie cup. It would only let me drink so much at a time. That helped to get an idea of the amount of liquid I should swallow at once.

I did keep a cup of Water by me all the time, so I could be sipping constantly. When drinking the Protein shakes, I could drink maybe 4 oz at a time.

You just had surgery. Your stomach is swollen and needs time to get used to the foreign object inside it. Give it time and you'll soon be saying you can eat everything! :thumbup:

[maxi2010 0]

I know it is getting stuck because the first day I started dry heaving (came really close to throwing up) about 1 1/2 hours after drinking 9 oz CIB shake and 6 oz coffee. I got nauseaus the rest of the day, which got me concerned. I called my doctor on call. The doctor said they think my esophagus was contracting due to too much food in the pouch (very little was flowing down into my stomach after all this time) and that the shake was too thick for me. I now dilute the shake with twice the normal amount of milk. It helps. I drink about 8 oz of the diluted shake and it goes down faster than before but still takes several hours.

I just ate chewable pills (I liquified the pills) and I still feel them in the pit of my stomach. I had Fluid (V8 juice) at 3pm and it is still not all the way down yet.

I hope this is just the swelling and that I am getting enough nutrition. I don't want to dry heave again. Putting too much in my pouch at a time seems to cause me to dry heave and vomit.

[Pammyl 0]

I had kind of the same problem with to much swelling and they keep me on Clear Liquids for 4 extra days. I had my surgery on 9/14/10 and the next day I couldn't even take my liquid pain meds. All I could do was sip my Water and they were very small sips Saturday PM I tried the CIB shake and could drink about 4 oz over an hour. Every day has gotten better. Today I finished a yogurt big step compared to last week. Hope this helps and let me know how you are doing.

[neenee717 37]

Your drinking alot sounds like. I was told my meals should be 2-4 oz each. So I make a Protein Shake with whey powder added for the entire day to get in my Protein. Other stuff extra hydration. I try and focus on getting in the 50-60g of protein per day. Also I make Jello with Protein Shots from Walmart added to mix in lieu of Water. Sounds like u need to slow down

[maxi2010 0]

Thank you so much Pammyl and neenee717.

I will try to eat a smaller quantity each time and see if that solves my problem.

I will look to buy Protein powder since I cannot consume the volume anymore. Any suggestions on what to buy and where to buy it? Tasting good or neutral (can't taste it in food) is important to me. Thanks.

Edited September 21, 2010 by maxi2010
grammar

[Pammyl 0]

I just bought the Protein Powder at stop and shop and mixed it in my CIB don't even notice and drink it though out the day. I can only drink about 1/3 of it at a time. This evening I made cream of wheat and made it alittle to thick and felt it sticking for over and hour so you are not alone.

[neenee717 37]

Go to Walmart. I use eas sport advantedge powder an premixed shakes. Mix 1 11 oz shake with scoop of powder. Split into 3 parts. = 37g Protein. Have for 3 meals. Get other protein wig your Snacks

[maxi2010 0]

Pammyl and NeeNee717:

Thanks for your reply. I feel so much better about not being alone. I thought I was the only one with this problem where food seems to go down so SLOW it seems it is not going down at all.

Thanks also for the tip that Stop and Shop & Walmart have Protein powder that is good to eat and you can add it to CIB shakes and other food. I definitely did not get 50 g of Protein today. Tomorrow is another day and I'll try again to get more nutrition. Have not been able to fully digest dinner yet (I added liquid pain meds 4 tsp. and a few small pills after I ate dinner).

Edited September 22, 2010 by maxi2010

[Kristy29 0]

At 4 days post op, I was still on clear liquids. I didn't start drinking anything other than tea and Water until 5 days post op. When drinking the clear liquids, I took small sips and drank 1 ounce over 20 minutes like I was told to do. It sounds like you are drinking too much too fast. You should still be swollen in there, your surgery was very recent.

[maxi2010 0]

Hi Kristy29.

I think you may be right. I don't have the same problem if I drink Vitamin Water as slow as I drink these thicker liquids.

I'll try sticking with Vitamin Water tomorrow and really thin liquids. I'll see about purchasing Protein powder so I get some Protein in.

Thanks so much. I appreciate your advice and I like to know I am not alone.

[peggycas 0]

I've tried several Protein powder and I think Unjury is the best. unjury.com