Where can I find this? I'd like to read it. My MOM is just starting, and I am 3 weeks out!
Here ya go:
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Let me start off by saying:I'm not a Doctor or Nut these are my opinions based on my research etc, blah blah.........Freaky Stages of Grubbin After Getting RNYI've often heard baby-RNY-freaks complain that they could not eat and drink what they wanted to consume. They want to eat a regular diet but were not yet able to eat as much solid food as they had expected.
The main fact is you cannot rush the healing process and trying to speed things up will only make a baby-freak frustrated and could be harmful.
There is a natural progression after a getting freakified and it usually goes something like this:1). First WeekIt's almost impossible to get as much liquid down as your plan calls for. The only way to stay hydrated is to sip very small amounts every 15 minutes or so all day long - Use a kitchen timer. Also use SF popsicles and get yourself a snow cone machine with SF syrups!
2). Weeks 2 - 5Slowly liquids become easier to handle. This is when the baby-freak starts learning how much they can swallow at one time. If you drink faster than the pouch can empty fluids will back up in the esophagus and cause a severe pain/pressure in the chest area. Slowing down will help prevent/relieve this
SOB sensation.
3). Weeks 6 - 9The baby-freak often feels they are having a LOT more difficulty eating and drinking than they had over the previous few weeks. This is because the connection between the pouch and the intestine is healing and the scar is becoming thicker resulting in a narrower outlet to the pouch.
Majority of surgeons use a 25 mm circular stapler to make the connection between the pouch and the small intestine. The connection is about the size of your thumb and there is minimal resistance to food and drink. The connection starts to heal by the body laying down scar tissue. As the healing process continues over the next several weeks, more scar tissue forms and the scar contracts making the outlet of the pouch become smaller.
As mentioned this usually happens between 6 and 9 weeks, during the “
M.O.M - Month of Misery”, the size of the outlet is only the size of the tip of your little finger or even less.
Because the outlet is so much smaller there is more resistance to the food passing through the new opening. Therefore to get food to pass it takes longer and the particle size may need to be reduced.
If you eat faster than the pouch can empty, the food and drink will back up into the esophagus and you'll experience a squeezing pressure/pain in the chest from the contractions of the esophagus trying to push the food through the smaller opening. This pain in the chest after eating is your body telling you to slow F down as you're eating faster than the food is able to leave the pouch.
Fortunately, after about 9 weeks the scar will slowly mature. As the scar softens the outlet will become larger again allowing more food to pass more quickly. Over time the symptoms will become less frequent.
However....... Sometimes the narrowing becomes so small it is difficult for anything to pass. This is called an anastomotic stricture meaning there is a severe narrowing or stricture at the anastomosis or connection between the pouch and intestine. If this happens the baby-freak will have an upper endoscopy and a special balloon is passed to dilate the opening. After this is done the baby-freak will be able to eat and drink normally the same day. 4). Weeks 10 - 12The scar that I mentioned above softens and the opening between the gastric pouch and the small intestine starts to slowly open up more and food and drink passes through more easily.
5). Months 3 - 6 Although things continue to improve, usually meat and other dense food is still difficult unless it's ground up. I like to chop/slice/dice it up into pencil eraser size pieces to make digestion easier and not cause me
lock-jaw 
6). Months 6 to 12Things continue to Improve and sometime during this period freaks begin to have less and less difficulty swallowing meats and other dense foods. By this time the diet has returned to something resembling
"normal" although many freaks will tell you their food choices have changed considerably and they eat
far healthier.
Ian
