Posted 2/22/2014 4:28 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Journey,
While some surgeons expect their patients to remain on a liquid diet for extended periods of time, this is not universal. Like you, I'm not the "liquid type". My recovery would have been torture if I had to stay on liquids for weeks and weeks.
This was my eating protocol, and it worked fine. Above all--LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. I was on liquids the one day I was in the hospital, and my surgeon sent me home on a soft diet. I saw him at Day 6, and at that time he told me to eat "whatever can be chewed to a liquid".
My mouth and teeth became my blender. Instead of sticking foods I ate into the blender to liquify, I enjoyed that task via my own mouth and teeth. In my opinion chewing is the best part of eating anyway.
If something I ate didn't chew to a complete liquid, I didn't swallow it. I always kept paper napkins nearby, and deposited the offending food there. It was a trial and error process, and I was extremely careful. When a surgeon sets a patient free to use his/her own good judgment, rather than doing the easy thing and sticking to liquids, that patient has to take the responsibility to eat carefully.
As long as you chew your food thoroughly, you won't need to "throw the food up" if it gets stuck. My surgeon said that if I were to forget and swallow something that wasn't completely chewed, don't worry. Just relax, take sips of water or warm tea, and it'll go down eventually.
I was eating out at a restaurant and ate a cherry tomato without thinking. Ouch. I got the typical spasms with the stuck food, and stupidly only had ice water to drink. Still, I took sips, and the tomato did go down. I had some painful spasms in the process, but all in all, it didn't last long. After that I always ordered tea with my meals. Water without ice, also...just in case!
You are right that small meals still are important at your stage of recovery. Many, many foods will chew to liquid...not just soft foods. Saltines (and a variety of crackers), toast (NO untoasted breads), etc. chew easily. Of course veggies and meat cooked to a tender, soft consistency (no steak), when chewed thoroughly to a liquid consistency, are fine. Really, you can try anything. Just remember the rules: small bites, chew, chew, chew; eat in an upright position (as you have discovered), and ONLY swallow foods that basically disappear in your month. There are a world of foods out there that fit this protocol.
My surgeon told me that even mashed potatoes can get stuck. It's the small bites, and chew, chew, chew that works best. Scrambled eggs only work if you can eat them scrambled SOFT, and beat them up with some milk.
Take sips between bites, and wait for the first bite to go down before taking the next bite.
Puddings and other sweet things can make your dumping/diarrhea worse, so stay away from sweets at this point, as much as possible.
Hopefully these suggestions will help. You don't have to punish yourself with going back to liquids. Use your head, select foods carefully, and chew, chew, chew, chew, chew. If something doesn't chew to oblivion, don't swallow it.
Many small meals are preferable at this point. Do you have a slow cooker/crock pot? Stick a nice piece of meat, some carrot, onion, potato, a package of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, and a cup of water in the pot. Cook on low for 10-12 hours. I'm not saying you can definitely eat everything in there, but at your stage when I did it, I was able to eat the veggies as well as the meat, although I expected to only be able to eat the meat-flavored veggies.
If you have any gas issues, be sure to take BEANO just before your first bite of any veggies/gas producers you eat. It'll help prevent the gas, and I used it a lot during my recovery. I don't need it now unless I make a diet of bean soup, or chili, etc.
If you have any more questions, ask away. Your questions/our answers help others looking for information as well.
Hang in there...you're in the very infancy of your recovery. You'll get back to eating all those food favorites. Just not yet.
Best wishes,
Denise