I am a little over 3 weeks out of surgery and I am struggling with food. I sometimes can eat something - no problem, the next time I get that horrible feeing in my chest which doesn't go away until it comes back out.

I am on the mushy stage and I am wondering if this is normal to be experiencing this and wonder how long it usually lasts. I also had a hiatial hernia repair and wonder if it is this or if I am just eating too much, or too fast. I can't seem to figure out what is causing. I feel like I am eating so little I don't know what one bite too much is.

Today was the worst, half a yogurt for lunch and I felt such pain until it came back up. (sorry, I know it doesn't sound pretty)

All in all I have felt positive about the whole experience but today it was really getting me down. I would love to hear from anyone else who has or does have this experience and how long it lasted (and will it go away?)

Thanks

Diane

yes it did happen, for like the first month.....but it'll go away when you least expect it.....goodluck!!:thumbup1:

At 2 months my surgeon did an upper endoscopy to rule out any obstructions since I was having a difficult time getting enough nutrition in. At almost 6 months out if I eat too fast or too much it hurts in the middle of my chest.

I am not suggesting that there is anything abnormal but to be cautious, I'd make a conscience effort to eat slowly so your sure that you are eating slowly and if the pain and regurgitating continues I'd contact my surgeon just to have yourself checked out.

A lot of the patients here that had hernias repair simultaneously seem to have this issue especially when moving to mushies or soft solids.

Can you possibly sip some warmer liquids to help relax your sleeve before you eat? I know that seems to help.

I had some peppermint flavored green tea tonight, it was fabulous, and really made me feel better. I'm having some nausea and the peppermint in the tea really helped my tummy relax.

Diane,

I'm moving to pureed foods tomorrow. I too had a hernia repair with my sleeve on the 17th. I'll let you know how I do. So far I haven't had any problems in the full liquid stage. We can compare notes!

I tended to have mid back pain between my shoulder blades when eating solids...but mushies went down fine.

It wasn't until recently, after 5 months, that the back pain has resolved.

Eating slower did seem to help, and chewing more. Slightly moist foods were more comfortable...I could not tolerate chicken breast...too dry. Dark meat was easier.

1/2 of a yogurt may be too much...that is about 4 ounces. 2 ounces is all I could hold...and that is still true most days. Try cutting back portion size.

*Just an added note here...I also had a hiatal hernia repair with my sleeve surgery. Possibly this may cause extra sensitivity or spasms.

dybarra, I too have a hard time judging fullness, so I stuck to eating no more than 2 ozs per meal. Perhaps start measuring your food each meal and stop at 2 ozs. It takes a while for fullness to register so maybe you are eating past your fullness point. Good Luck.

While on full liquids, I could easily eat 6 oz of plain yogurt. I've been hungry a lot. I guess it's so different for us all. :w00t:

I am 3.5 weeks out and it has gotten easier just this week to eat a little more. But before that I could only eat 2 oz. And it also depends on what it is. Yesterday I ate tuna salad and could not eat much, but couple hours later was able to finish the scoop. Same with yogurt. But if it is something warm and not too thick I can eat more. Temperature seems to be a factor for me. Also if I try a baked potato nothing works b/c it is just too thick and seems to stick to my chest.

I often wonder where IS the stomach/sleeve b/c when I have problems it is always in my chest not what I thought was my stomach.

But eating less, but more frequently is definitely a key. It took my hard head a while to learn that.

Thanks for all the advice!

I too felt the same way yesterday, where the heck is my stomach now in my chest because thats how it feels when it hurts, right at the very top of my chest. I am going to try to take it sloooowwer and measure and see if that will help me.