What to do about blockages?

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Hi everyone
Well, my first experience with a blockage was in the hospital with their soup, and the second at home last night with scrambled egg. Both times I only ate a tiny amount, and ate it slowly - well I thought it was slowly, but maybe it needs to be slower still?
Anyhow, I was hoping to gain some wisdom from the you all about how to prevent blockages, and also about how to deal with them when they occur.
I know to eat small amounts, make sure the puree is really smooth (that's the stage I'm at now), chew everything well (when I get to it), and eat slowly. Am I missing something else?
But when it happens - all I know to do is walk. And that was helping, but not much, and not for long. I tried the de-gas tablets, which released some air and a little of the pressure. And I thought I was going to throw up (and would have welcomed it, really - and I hate throwing up, normally!), but I didn't. After a while I had a drink, and that made it worse for a while and then eased again.
I probably did everything wrong, so I'm hoping for some advice.
Thanks
Chris

whats a KFC roller???

donna-lee

..............KFC Rollers are really disgusting..............

i didnt have it....i chickened out..lol I go and se my dieticain on thursday...so i will wait and get the go ahead from her. :[img]http://ww

I still want a kfc roller......someone please tell me they are disgusting...lol

Go for it Nicole, and good luck.
I think it was on my dietician sheet that I read to try the crust first. Although, like Apple said, it seems to make sense to have something creamy on it, I had mine plain and it was good.
Apple, that's what I love about this surgery - you can go and try what you like, and not go crazy on it!
Chris

Try something like pate on toast or cream cheese on toast. That way you have mushie easy food to start with the help the toast slide down incase it is a problem for you. Me it just went right down firt time toasted ham cheese and tomato sandwhich. well half a one hehehehe

It is very funny what you can eat I wanted to try a mcaustralia burger. I knew to take the pineaple out as I hate sweetened pineaple ikkkkk I like mine in natural juice or fresh. It feels interesting when you can not finish a burger and it left me so full I have not been able to have more than a tiny snack for dinner as I feel so damn full from lunch still. I did say to the male of the species that I was so over it by the time I left there and wouldnt bother for another taste of one hehehehe

applesauce

wow, i only said to my hubby today that im so hanging out for a sandwich.....maybe i might try some toast as well.....sounds like its going to be christmas in my household tomorrow morning...lol

I went out for lunch yesterday with some lapbanders.....one lady said what are you going to order and i said probably scrambled eggs.....she said that was what she was having and i could have some of hers.....but she wouldnt except any money from me...lol so boy was it a cheap lunch ( cos i didnt drink either chris...god i miss having a drink with my meal) it cost me a big fat nothing.....lol.....hubby was happy

Hi Steph
Yes, it was white bread, and I wasn't game to eat anything but the crusts!

I had to laugh that I had the crusts and you had all but the crusts though!
Chris

Lucky you Chris, I wasn't game to eat the crust.

Was it white bread?

steph

Way to go, Steph!
I had toast today too - just a couple of crusts, with breakfast.
Breakfast was awesome, by the way - we went out to a cafe and had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. Ordered one serving with an extra plate and cutlery, and I took my portion and Alan had the rest. It was terrific going out for real food, and the toast was an added bonus. And it went down very well, too!
I did miss having a cap at the same time, but had a drink later on.
Chris

That doesn't sound nice Hayley, what does that involve?

By the way I just want to mention that I toasted a piece of rye bread (I've been hanging out for bread) and put cream cheese on it and ate half a slice without crusts very slowly and it went down better than anything I've had in the last 4 weeks.

steph

Gee, Steph, you did so much yesterday - I hope you won't be sorry you did it! Oh, and coddled, poached, scrambled - whatever works for you is good!
Nicole, yes, I'm sure we're both envious that you don't have our problems - but glad for you!
You'll be glad for me (I think) that the sleeping pills helped a lot, and I didn't get up until 6.45 this morning - amazing! I did wake at 4 to go to the loo, but managed to go back to sleep - success!!!
Chris

Hi Hayley,

I was 4 weeks post op yesterday and I have lost 11.1kg.

I don't feel hungry at all through the day and force myself to eat although by tea time I am and sometimes it only takes a couple of teaspoons and I can feel that blockage. It's damn annoying let me tell you

steph

Hi Nicole,

Your message came through as I was typing mine.

I'm going to ask my surgeon about it at the next appointment as I feel like it's not right.
I also want him to give me the names of some dietitians he recommends too.

I know on another thread we've talked about tastes changing and mine certainly have.
Baked beans was something I hated but I did have some the other night and quite like them now.

I hope things keep going well for you.

steph

Thanks Chris,
I've made a note of that protein powder and I will ask my chemist to order for me too if they don't have it there.
Sorry to hear you are having trouble sleeping still. Things improved for me once back at work although I do wake up around 4 to go to toilet now but go back to sleep after. Last night I woke up every 2 hours..... don't know what that was about. Tonight I should sleep well because I did a lot of activity today. Finally got around to washing my floors this morning for the first time in 4 weeks. Then I got outside and couldn't start my stupid lawn mower so used the hand mower and mowed nearly all my lawns (that took 2 1/2 hours), did some weeding and vacuumed my pergola area of all my labrador's fur and the lawn clippings. So I've had a very productive day and expect to sleep well. Don't think I'll be able to move to much tomorrow. Expect to be a bit sore.
I had Optifast for brekky this morning and over 2 sessions managed to get through the 250ml so that's pretty good. Didn't have lunch and for tea I made some lamb rissoles with gravy, mash potato, carrot and broccoli. I didn't put through the blender though and ate 1/2 a rissole, 2 tspns potato, 2 slices of carrot and piece of broccoli and I can feel it at the base of my throat so hope it goes down on it's own and I don't have to visit the toilet.
I've tried to make the coddled egg and if I do it that way it doesn't seem to cook the white properly. I'm better at poaching LOL.

steph

Hi chris and steph....im sorry you are both having so much trouble....i really do wonder if it is the HH op, i know that someone else said they had no problems after it....but both of you are walking the same path at the moment. I havent had any real problems apart from the reflux....which im still getting ( now taking 2 pariet a day) the odd thing i feel doesnt go down that well...but i havent had to be sick once....maybe im lucky.
Steph a good source of protein is mashed up baked beans....i add a little bit of grated cheese to mine before heating in the MWave and they taste a bit nicer....other than that im having eggs as i dont like fish ..oh and i had a bit of lasagne ( boy did it fill me up) my dietician told me not to have any other meat unless it was pureed... i g back to her next week hopefully i willl get the go ahead to start to try other things. :2345626:

Nicole

Hey, Steph
When I went looking for a protein powder, the people at the chemist and at the health food store didn't really know much about them, so I called the dietician and asked her. No, they're not all the same, and some of them have added vitamins, minerals, sugars, etc.
She suggested getting the chemist to order in the one that she uses, called ProForm, and that's what I did. It's really innocuous, and goes down easily. I think it cost about $19 for 1kg.
LOL about the party pies! Hmm, maybe I'll get some of those, too.
I find the eggs easy to make - if I want to leave it, I just do it the coddled way, where you can turn it off and come back in a few minutes. If you use boiling water out of the jug, it makes it even quicker. Or scramble it and put it in the microwave - usually only takes 1-2 minutes. My hubby's porridge takes longer than my egg, sometimes.
As for my food, I've just started having mushies again. I was on liquids and Opti for a few days, but yesterday I had chicken stew, pureed, and that was okay. For breakfast today I had ham and mushrooms, cut up very small and cooked, which took a while to go down, but didn't get stuck and cause me pain. And I'm about to have more chicken stew for lunch.
I'm still waking up in the middle of the night, though - 2.30 this morning. I was really p**d off, because I didn't even make it until 4! At 5.30 when hubby's alarm went off, I was still awake. He suggested I take something to help me sleep, which I did, and have been dozing on and off all day. I'll stay up now, and take some more tonight, and hopefully get through until 4 or 5 again. I think I'll have to do this for several days until I get back into a normal sleep pattern - it's gone on way too long now, and I have big black bags under my eyes.
Good luck with the protein, and don't forget to keep up your fluids!
Chris

Hi Jezzy,

Yes I take Supradyn too. I know a lot of people don't like the taste but I quite like it. I haven't had a cup of coffee since pre op although I did have half a cup of a cappucino last weekend but then it went cold. I think I am off coffee now and I must admit I really haven't been having any dairy at all. Tried yogurt and fruche but neither really excited me much.

Hi Chris,
I went grocery shopping this morning and bought another packet of party pies LOL. Usually I'd buy them for kids parties but now I'm buying them for a meal. 12 in a pack, that's 12 meals for me and my dog gets the pastry. But I do have to fight the kids for them too. I go to heat one up and find some missing LOL.
I will look for some protein powder too. Where should I buy it? Chemist or supermarket or health food shop and what should I look for in it. Are they all the same?
I had thought about the eggs for brekky but the porridge is so much quicker to make and even though I have 2 hours in the morning before I have to leave for work I still run out of time.
I know you went back onto liquids because you were having probs with mushies Chris, I gather you are still on liquids now?

steph

If you're managing milk okay (in tea or the like), it might be worth getting Anlene or Pura Lite Start - they have added calcium (very important for us ladies) but also a fair bit of protein in them. If you can manage a couple of cups of de-caf tea or coffee a day, it might help a bit. Are you taking a multivitamin? I was recommended Supradyn, which is a liquid, to take until I'm comfortable with bigger tablets and can take my Elevit.

Hi Steph
Thanks for the update - I was wondering how you were doing.
Gee, you're really not eating much, are you?
I won't go near porridge because I just don't think there's enough goodness in it for me at the moment. How do you feel about trying an egg for breakfast instead? Easy to get down and not as filling?
You're doing well with the cruskits, though. I stopped having them several days ago, after I had that big problem. Had some pureed chicken stew yesterday, though, and that went down well - the first 'real' food in days, except for eggs.
Way to go with the pie, though!
Maybe you need to get some protein powder - I've got some and add it to things sometimes. You can even add it to drinks, and even if you don't have a full serve, some protein's got to be better than none, doesn't it?
I just keep thinking that this won't be forever, and after a few more weeks, it'll be all healed and I'll be able to eat normal food again. I hope I'm right!
Take care steph, and good luck with the food. Never thought I'd be worrying about not getting enough food!
Chris

Hi Chris,

I hear what you're saying.

I worry that I'm not getting enough protein too. I can hardly eat anything.

I ahve been making porridge for brekky all this week and I use those Uncle Toby's single serves but I only put half a packet in my bowl and cook that up but once cooked I am lucky if I can get through quarter of it.

Lunch I have been making up 2 cruskits with cream cheese and slice of ham or roast chicken on. Yesterday I ate 1 1/2 and was uncomfortably full for about an hour or so after but today I was only able to eat 1.

Tea tonight was a party pie and I just ate the mince out of the middle of it. I thought that I hadn't eaten enough so about half hour later I poached an egg and ate 3/4 of that.

I can't fit in any snacks between times either.

steph

Hi everyone
I had another problem last night, resulting in a blockage again.
This time it was a pill - one that I'd taken before, too.
For some reason, and I have no idea why, it got stuck. Being a pill, I thought if I had a hot drink, it might dislodge it, or even melt it. Didn't work, though.
Finally threw up, and found out why the tea didn't help - it was all just backed up behind it!
For someone who hates throwing up, I sure appreciate its benefits now! No, I know, it's not good to do, but it's not like I have a choice - it's the only thing that relieves the pain!
I'm feeling like breakfast again this morning, which is great, but to tell the truth, the blockage of a few days ago has left me feeling not quite right since.
I sometimes feel like food, and had an egg and some pureed stew yesterday, but that's all.
I'm just worried that I'm not getting enough nutrition, as I'm hardly eating at all now.
I had Opti planned for last night, but didn't get to have it after the blockage, so I'm planning on having it this morning - in fact, I started to, and then decided that I was more thirsty than hungry, so am having a decaf coffee now, and will have the Opti later.
A friend is coming for lunch today, so I'm hoping to be able to eat some more puree by then.
Anyone else having this trouble?
Chris

Hi Hayley,

No I haven't recently had a blockage with liquids. This was back when I was on liquids only.

steph :flower: