Ok my surgery is Jan 10. My doctor has me on liquid diet with one meal daily. I've been trying to "practice" eating smaller bites, eating slowly and chewing like crazy. My problem is I have trouble chewing enough. It just automatically starts going down my throat. I mean I know it's gross but I catch myself letting whole chunks go down and I'm trying to use my throat muscles to pull it back up and chew more lol. I'm laughing just typing this but I can't help it. Seriously I'm worried that I won't be able to chew enough after surgery

Anyone else have this problem or am I just a weirdo???

I've read on lots of forums and haven't seen anyone else talk about it.

Yea think we all do that. Trust me i havent been able to swallow anything but my vitamins and one of my pills are huge and even cutting it up to swallow is still to big and my throat knows it. I am not at the stage to eat foods yet i am post op still liquids right now. Next week will be puree foods. Its all about retraining yourself. Just like a baby. We will be ok

I'm freaking out thinking I won't chew good enough and I will puncture something. I can have soft foods starting at 3 weeks post op. I'm just nervous.

We all think that but you will be ok.

I am on soft foods and I find that smaller bites is really helpful. Too much food in your mouth makes it harder to keep track of it all. Been there done that. We were told not to but anything in your mouth bigger than a perncil eraser.....NOW, I KNOW WHY! Duh! Go slowly and take small bites.

I am on soft foods and I find that smaller bites is really helpful. Too much food in your mouth makes it harder to keep track of it all. Been there done that. We were told not to but anything in your mouth bigger than a perncil eraser.....NOW' date=' I KNOW WHY! Duh! Go slowly and take small bites.[/quote']

Pencil eraser!?!?!? OMG that's super small. I was thinking dime or nickel sized.

I take normal bites, but I chew them to a paste/puree consistency. If not then you will feel it, because you'll feel painfully full after just one bite. it will come, and if you should forget, you body will remind you. :-) I have made a few trips to the bathroom to bring up the pain. It's a learning process.

I'm the same way. I take smaller normal bites and chew the heck out of it. I read to chew 25 times before you swallow. Takes practice.

I had surgery on 10/3/12... I had same problem pre opt, but trust me you quickly learn/ force yourself to chew well because when food gets stuck in your throat its the most painful thing you can imagine ( it happened a few times to me at the beginning) .... You will be fine .....