Hi All,

I am now almost 4 weeks out and have been told to start adding small pieces of food to my diet. I am following the rule about no liquids 30 min before or 1 hour afterward and chewing, chewing small bites. I had no problem with ground meat, ham salad, and pork. But I made a slow cooked pot roast, very tender, ate a few small bites after chewing well, and I started getting these awful pains coming from mid-chest, in waves and felt like I was going to die! I could do nothing but wait it out. Finally I started to try to burp and up came what seemed to be "slime". I was so frightened that I was reluctant to eat the next day. But at lunch, ham salad went down fine. So I tried some chicken in ragu sauce, and again pain, then slime. Now I am concerned I can not eat meat or dense solids. Did anyone else have this, how long did it last and how do you handle it when it happens? Is there something you take to get thru this? Thanks as always for all of your help!

Hi Monty

No worries, what you are experiencing is quite normal. The slime comes from what our bodies create in our esophagus to help expel the stuck food, like lubrication.

When learning to eat with our sleeves not everything is going to work right away. If you eat something that you're not ready for you will find out right away. This does not mean you won't ever be able to eat it, just that you're not quite ready for it yet. Try it again in a few weeks and see how you do then.

Also, once you eat something that your body rejects you end up sort of aggravating yourself, so likely everything you eat won't sit right. I suggest going back to liquids for a day or two to allow your esophagus swelling to go down some.

Of course, I'm no Dr! So, if you are experiencing a lot of pain or swelling, please contact your surgeon.

HTH! Congrats on your new tummy!!

I totally agee with Diva, I seemed to make a lot of mistakes initially, eating too quickly, eating too much, eating the wrong things for my stage of healing etcetc etc.

Everyone's journey is different so what works for one may aggravate another person, it is all trial and error, but it gets better, and becomes second nature eventually.

Good luck finding what works for you, and try not to worry, that stage isn't always fun, but it really is short lived in the grand sceme of things!

I have found this happened when I eat too fast, eat too big a bite, eat something that balls up (tortilla is the worst), or overeat. It used to happen every few days when I started eating solids. At 11 months now, it has happened once in the past two months. I ate too many bites too fast.

Part of my surgeon's program is no red meat for 6 months. They claim that it can be hard to tolerate in the beginning. It may be that specific thing just didn't agree with you. Don't give up! Keep trying things that work for you and maybe you will be able to revisit the beef in a little while. I don't think it has to be all or nothing, but rather what will work for you.

Once again thanks for your advice and encouragement. It helps the head to know that what I am experiencing, you have as well and to have one's hand held thru all this. God Bless!