Started phase 3 meal plan today

Pat99 · Mar 11, 2012

I started phase 3 pureed soft foods today. I pureed some canned chicken with lite mayo and parsley. I had one wheat thin cracker with about one teaspoon of chicken puree to see if I could tolerate it. After 5 minutes I made 6 or 7 more and ate them, very slowly. So far so good! I'm not impressed with the texture of the chicken but at least I'm moving forward toward "normal" food. I am lucky that nothing has made me sick yet. I am trying so hard to avoid this and so far it's working. The only risk I took was to eat wheat thin crackers and toasted rye bread half way through phase 2. I ate one cracker, waited 10 minutes then had another. After I ate five I was completely full. I'm not trying to encourage anyone to pull foods ahead of the recommendations but I felt I was ready for it because nothing I was eating would make me feel full.

Does anyone have any ideas for phase 3 and 4 meals? I don't need recipes, just some general food type ideas.

sparker12 · Mar 11, 2012

Hi Pat... I wanted to see how your doing! It's been a long time since I've been on here, but being in a rural town and 5 hours away from my support group meetings keeps me pretty isolated.

I'm 3 days into phase 3 as well. Although I had a tiny set back with either food poisioning or a stricter. My surgeons nurse said to fall back to phase 1 liquids until the nausea and vommiting stopped and if it was a stricter the fluids may fix the problem. I stopped feeling better about 3am yesterday after not keeping anything down even thin liquids for 3 days. Now I'm back on soft foods or phase 3 again and feeling much better!! I tried taking more of my medication today and wish my primary care doctor would take me off of some meds, but she doesn't want to move to fast and cause more trouble. I understand her thinking and even agree with it, but it's so hard to get all the vitamins plus all of my other meds down along with getting enough protein. I love protein, so that's not a problem... I just wish I could eliminate some drugs!!

Pat, I don't know your situation, but, when my Sister (who lives with us) makes a meal; I pick out what I want from it and puree it and it's been pretty darn good! For the last year, we've cooked very healthy and have hardly eaten out. Even when we travel, we stay in places where we can cook, like Homestead Studio Suites (owned by Extended Stay America) in St. Louis if I have an appointment with my surgeon.

Tomorrow, I'm making braised country style bonless pork ribs in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots. I'll be able to eat the vegetable as is, but will have to puree the pork. In talking to people, some say pork is the hardest to keep down and I love pork, so I'm hoping that it does well for me. So far, I've tollerated everything else, so we'll see. I find braising meats to be a very good way to get them to be extremely tender.

You know what I'm really wanting is a nice salad... even just a small one would be nice with a thin vinagrette on it, but that will have to wait till the end of the month. I see my surgeon for my six week check up on 3/27. My hubby and I will be leaving next Saturday for Spring Break as he's a college professor and we're going just outside of Knoxville, TN. I'm so excited that I'll be able to walk through Dolly Wood and not have to ride a buggy because I'm too big and can't breath!! My surgeon is in St. Louis, MO; so when we leave TN were going there and then my hubby will fly out of STL to Las Vegas for a conference. My Sister will drive up and we'll stay at Homestead so we can go the the Monday night Pre & Post Surgical Support Group at Barnes Jewish Hospital and then my appointment with Dr. Eagon on 3/27.

Pat, I'm praying that you will be completely successful on this journey... If I may ask, how much have you lost since your surgery? I weighed last Tuesday and have lost 20 pounds post surgery, which is a total of 50 in this past year!! Good luck to you and I hope to hear from you soon! --Susan.

TwoMas · Mar 12, 2012

Hi Pat, I looked up what I ate weeks 3-5, I couldn't handle the texture of pureed foods

. I stuck with yogurt, cottage cheese and eggs. I did start mixing in shredded cheese, refried beans, ground turkey, tukey sausage and tuna fish with some mayo into my meal plan. The sausage was good diced in with a scrambled egg. It sounds pretty bland but boy it really tasted good then

Tom

Pat99 · Mar 12, 2012

Thanks Tom, your suggestions sound good. I tried a hard boiled egg Sunday morning and again this morning. Both times it felt like I ate slightly too much so I need to cut back a couple of bites. I didn't puree the eggs, I just took tiny bites and chewed it real well. It still feels too "thick" in my pouch and therefore a little uncomfortable. I am going to be adding some lite mayo mashed in with a fork before I eat them again. Sort of like an egg salad sandwich without the bread

I will add some turkey sausage to my shopping list. Are you referring to turkey breakfast sausage or the Italian type turkey sausage?

I am tolerating cottage cheese very well so will continue with that. I have some refried beans in my pantry so maybe that will be dinner tonight along with a little bit of melted mozerella cheese. I like to add hot sauce to refried beans. Did you have any issues with spicey food in phase 3? I never thought a container of cottage cheese or a can of soup could take so many days to eat *LOL* I think I'll put the money I save on groceries toward a cruise

Bigtallsis · Mar 12, 2012

Sparkler

hi your're the FIRST PERSON I"VE MET ON HERE WHOM HAS THE SAME SUGEON AS ME. May I ask how many months it took you to get an appt? I've completed all my test as of last week, they told me to wait 5 days to allow time for all the rresults to get back into there office. eveyone I met with said I was doing great and should have no problem. I am jsut curious once you have the surgeon appt, do you see nurse practioner first visit at barnes or surgeon and then what' next. I know I 'm asking alot of > just happy to come across someone whose had same dr etc.who might be able to ease my mind on what to expect next, and last how often do you have to go back once the surgery?
I'm havng hernia surgery and w/l surgery the same day, both dr are from barnes and they suggested it, I axiously await my turn, thanks for taking time to read my ?
wishing you continued success.
DOnna

TwoMas · Mar 13, 2012

Pat99 said:
Thanks Tom, your suggestions sound good. I tried a hard boiled egg Sunday morning and again this morning. Both times it felt like I ate slightly too much so I need to cut back a couple of bites. I didn't puree the eggs, I just took tiny bites and chewed it real well. It still feels too "thick" in my pouch and therefore a little uncomfortable. I am going to be adding some lite mayo mashed in with a fork before I eat them again. Sort of like an egg salad sandwich without the bread I will add some turkey sausage to my shopping list. Are you referring to turkey breakfast sausage or the Italian type turkey sausage?

I am tolerating cottage cheese very well so will continue with that. I have some refried beans in my pantry so maybe that will be dinner tonight along with a little bit of melted mozerella cheese. I like to add hot sauce to refried beans. Did you have any issues with spicey food in phase 3? I never thought a container of cottage cheese or a can of soup could take so many days to eat *LOL* I think I'll put the money I save on groceries toward a cruise

I liked to use the little breakfast sausage, I would cook them all up in a pan and refridgerate them for the week, they are very lean so I would add a little water to the pan as I cooked them. I tried the italian sasages but I did not care for them, I don't know why I used to like them

. Post surgery I didn't use a lot of hot suase, I would put a little Cholulu sauce (it's like Tobasco but better) on my eggs or beans, I waited about 3 months before I started using sorrano's, jalapeno's, ceyanne and thai chillies. I love spicy it doesn't seem to bother me although thai curry dishes are kind of rough on me but they always have been LOL!! but I love a good red Thai curry dish.

It's crazy how such a little amount of food will fill you up, it still amaze's me. A cruise sounds like fun, I took one in 2008, it nice and warm down in Mexico while it was freezing up here.

Tom

MiniLopHop · May 4, 2012

I know I shouldn't have, but I ended up basically skipping the pureed stage. I couldn't tollerate the texture of meat from the blender. I started little bits of solid food around 4 weeks out. I have a shake for breakfast, yogert with smashed berries (protein powder added) for lunch and solid food for dinner. I have found this works well at the office and I can get all my protein in.

I love spicy foods and nothing has bothered me so far. I have to admit I am a little scared that my appitite has come back so quickly. I want to eat at meal times and I want tasty food, I'm just done much sooner.

TwoMas · May 5, 2012

Hi MiniLopHop, Welcome. You need to be real carefull about solid foods before it is time, you don't want to accidently tear open any of the stitching/staples the surgon used to make your pouch, I guess as long as there is no pain you haven't done that. Another concern would be blockage or your pouch just not tolerating what you eat. I couldn't even think about pureeing food, so I stuck with soft foods like eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese and refried beans until I could eat ground meats and tuna, so I know how you feel about pureed food

, I never tried it so I don't know if it was good or not

, it was just the thought of it. Just be careful they have these eating rules for reason, someone has already had a problem with it, so just be carefull, and head the doctors advice, I made the mistake of not listening to everything and it set me back a little bit.

Tom