So, here is the deal and I have read a lot of posts about strictures and I don't think this is the issue, but would love to hear from others. My surgeon used a 54 French bogie. So, that being the case, you would think I would have no issues getting food or Water down. I was sleeved on April 16. I am still struggling with eating and drinking. So far since 7:00 a.m. I have had one 12oz. Syntrax Protein drink made with water and ice. I did not blend the ice, just added ice to keep it cold as it takes me so long to drink it. At 10:00 I was hungry, so I got my tuna with mayo mashed to death out and started to eat it. I have had 3 very small forkfuls, chewed to dust before swallowing and I feel like it is stuck between my throat and my stomach. If I wait 15 to 20 mins, the feeling starts to subside until I decide to take another small forkful and then it starts all over again.

I am not vomiting, but I feel like things don't want to pass, or they don't want to pass easily. Has anyone had a stricture or narrowing without vomiting? Do any of my fellow April sleevers feel this way still and maybe my stomach is just not healed yet and is still really swollen? Thanks much. I appreciate it.

Karen

This all sounds pretty normal to me. Looks like you were sleeved last month sometime... a bougie is kind of a bougie. There's not much capacity difference between them, so don't assume that a "larger than other people" bougie means you should have no issues getting food or Water down. Look. You're the Sharpie highlighter, I'm the Pilot Precise. The difference between us is maybe a table spoon. (All approximations)

The drink sounds about right to me. If it's thicker than water, fluids ake me about an hour per 12 oz. A thick Protein drink takes me at least 90 mins - at least. I can drink water pretty quickly.

The food amount doesn't seem excessive. Usually when I get a "stuck" feeling it is from eating too quickly. Tuna is hard for me to eat, as well. Have you tried something less gloppy? I find I really do best with about 3 minutes between bites. But to do that, I all but have to use a timer. It's so routine to put more in as soon as the first is finished.

You're guaranteed still swollen. Swelling doesn't go away nearly as quickly as people think it does. On something like this you're probably looking at 12 - 18 months before swelling is truly gone.

If it makes you feel any better, nothing about what you're saying even remotely hints of a stricture. And a stricture from a 54 bougie would be fairly uncommon (32 and smaller have the highest incidence).

So, here is the deal and I have read a lot of posts about strictures and I don't think this is the issue, but would love to hear from others. My surgeon used a 54 French bogie. So, that being the case, you would think I would have no issues getting food or water down. I was sleeved on April 16. I am still struggling with eating and drinking. So far since 7:00 a.m. I have had one 12oz. Syntrax Protein Drink made with water and ice. I did not blend the ice, just added ice to keep it cold as it takes me so long to drink it. At 10:00 I was hungry, so I got my tuna with mayo mashed to death out and started to eat it. I have had 3 very small forkfuls, chewed to dust before swallowing and I feel like it is stuck between my throat and my stomach. If I wait 15 to 20 mins, the feeling starts to subside until I decide to take another small forkful and then it starts all over again.

I am not vomiting, but I feel like things don't want to pass, or they don't want to pass easily. Has anyone had a stricture or narrowing without vomiting? Do any of my fellow April sleevers feel this way still and maybe my stomach is just not healed yet and is still really swollen? Thanks much. I appreciate it.

Karen

Thanks so much for your response. I did eat some frozen mellon balls that I made and they went down just fine. I think it must have to do with the thickness of things even if I blend them and think I am eating slow. You know over the last week, I have totally lost interest in food. I really do have to eat to live at this point. I no longer live to eat. I have just lost all interest in food. It is such a struggle to eat that I just don't care. Yes, I am making sure to get in what I need because I know my body needs it, but it has been a shock for me to feel this way after being a food adict for so long. It is rather liberating! Thanks again.