Originally Posted by Tatiana

For those who have given me such support since I've been a member of the site I have to apologise for my absence from the site, there's been a lot going on both at home and with family and I'm at the hospital far too often for my liking.

For those who follow on FB I apologise that you've heard this before but I thought I'd update on my current situation post op.

Since my surgery I've not been able to progress properly onto any consistency greater than soup, yoghurt or smooth desserts which is what I've been living on for the best part of the last 5 weeks (I am now 7 weeks post op). Every time I eat puree or thicker foods I am sick after just 2-3 teaspoons. I have therefore been very reluctant to increase the consistency of food now I'm settled and losing some weight as I am.

I had to see the dietician and nurse about it last week and they were quite cross that I haven't moved on from soups etc. They decided that it was either a case of challenging the sleeve by
1) eating too much at a time - usually no more than 2-3 teaspoons at a time.
2) eating too quickly - usually take 15-20 minutes to eat this quantity
3) eating the wrong consistency of foods - doesn't seem to matter if it is pureed or mashed it all comes back up.
or is anxiety related and that I don't want to move through the different consistencies.

They insisted I should be taking 40-45 minutes to eat 3-4 teaspoons of food at this stage post surgery (6 weeks when I saw them in clinic) which would mean I would have to spend 4 1/2 hours a day over 3 meals and 3 snacks a day!!!

Anyway, they mentioned perhaps doing a barium swallow to make sure it's not a mechanical problem with the surgery but seemed to decide against it. Then, on Tuesday, I got a phone call from the xray department asking me to go in on Thursday for the barium swallow. This I did and, the swallow showed that, if I drink liquid, it goes into and follows through the stomach as they would expect. Then they added bread to it to change the consistency and, while it went down, it then comes back up of it's own accord - this was with one teaspoon of bread & barium mixture. Then, after that, when I drank the liquid on its own it also went down ok but came back up.

I now have to go back to the hospital on Thursday this week to see the surgeon and get the results and their plan of what's going to happen next.

If I'm honest, it's all getting to me rather. I am fed up with only eating soup and yoghurt and I really want to eat 'normal' food which is where I should be at 7+ weeks post surgery. I am angry that, they automatically decided that it had to be something that I was either doing wrong or not doing rather than considering there could be a mechanical reason behind my problems until it was shown not to be in my mind. I feel quite let down by the team and, while I don't wish I'd never had the surgery, I do wish they would not assume that if something is outside their usual expectations then it is the fault of the patient.

Sorry for the moaning,

Tatiana

Originally Posted by Tatiana

So, after a week of taking the tablets, I had a wonderful day yesterday and managed 1/2 a fishcake and tinned chopped tomatoes for lunch followed by 1/2 an Annabel Karmel toddler cottage pie meal in the evening which is a major step forward.

Today not so good but I think it's a bug as everything is coming up rather than just the food. I am staying positive and it does look as if things are moving forward.

Also weighed myself yesterday (9 weeks post op) and I've lost 2 stone 5lbs since my op and a total of 4 stone 1lb since my aborted pre-op diet in the summer. According to the excess weight quoted by my surgeon back in 2010, I am almost 1/2 way to losing all my excess weight though I have revised the amount I want to lose so it seems I'm only 1/3 of the way there.

Tatiana