I am 4 weeks post op and two days away from going on regular soft food. (No fills yet.) I must admit I have not been sticking to all pureed foods, but have been eating mostly soft food for the last 2 weeks. Have had no trouble eating anything including steak (know I probably should wait) until last night. I tried to eat a baked ground chicken patty, some crackers and some broiled brussels sprouts. Couldn't get half the patty down and a couple of sprouts and I started to gag. I kept spitting up for about 3 hours. The Brussell sprouts were really a problem. Had to make myself throw up and all the cracker meal came up. I'm much better now, but I keep burping and I feel like I have a lump in my throat. Will this go away?

Also, my doctor told me that I should feel restriction in the center of my chest, but I feel it higher up - like in my esophagus and get pain in my upper back if I eat too fast. Is this normal?

Yes. Very normal. If I get stuck I feel it at the base of my throat and it almost always leads to back pain. Brussel sprouts are really hard to break down. I had an episode last week with B Sprouts. Like my doctor always tells me "small bites and chew, chew, chew, then chew some more". Good luck!

Totally normal. It's happened to me too

Mash your brussels with a fork then eat small mouthfulls .. try not to divert from your doctors guidelines they are there for a reason

Thank you all for your input. Just surprised that I still feel uncomfortable in my neck/throat.

I know that I should mash veggies, etc. I am not a creamy/sweets person. I just miss the 'crunch'.

Happens to me too sometimes. A actually felt I had a blockage & I had back pain. I had to get a slight unfill to get comfortable. Good again.