Hi Rayb

just been through this had FLOT april and may operation in june  its a long journey but stick witk it.

It may all sound a bit frightening at first i would recommend you read up on your treatment the FLOT is bearable and the operation is not really a worry although it is a major operation i will say that at no point in my journey have i really suffered any major pain and i am 90  percent recovered as of today if i can offer you any help or advice please contact me as it is always good to hear from someone who has been through this procedure recently , our NHS will take care of you by far the best care you can get ,trust me.

do you know what a plo is in an operation? 

would be grateful if you have any idea

sorry to hear about your diagnosis x

Thank you Sally - that is a help as I live alone - so will get condensed soup - would not have thought of that!!  Also the tinned steak. I realise I won't be able to drive for a while - so need something in - then I can get deliveries for a while. It's the unknown!!  It sounds as if you are nearly out the other side - must be a relief for you. 
 

This site is so helpful

Andu xx

Hi Andi, hope you're well.

I'm a week home, post op now so can share the following from my experience so far with you which may / may not help !

The first 5 days post op, I was nil by mouth and fed intravenously via TPN (total parenteral nutrition) via an IV on my neck.

During this time, all I could have orally was the hospital equivalent of giant cotton buds dunked in water to suck on, when my mouth was dry / or I got thirsty. All I could think of during this time was an ice cold glass of cola and I craved an ice cold drink so badly ! BFG kindly encouraged me through and helped man me up a bit !

It was fine though, and completely understand that the surgeon wanted those days for the join to heal as best as possible and I didn't get hungry, the TPN was doing its job.

Around day 5 and I could start drinking water, apple juice, black tea etc and some vegetable consommé soup ...it gave me a whole new appreciation of a lot of things I'd always taken for granted !

My first mouthful of ice cream on Day 6 was whilst I was on FaceTime to my Wife (no visitors were allowed due to covid, still) and I got all emotional eating something so delicious after 6 days of not having eaten anything - so it ruined my tough guy image to my Wife

After that, I moved into what my surgeon called Free Food Diet for a day, to see how my re-plumbing coped with it ... he explained it as anything that fell off a spoon was OK ... ie. yoghurt, ice cream, jelly, soup etc.

Once he knew I was OK with that, ie. no retching, sickness etc he moved me to what he called the Soft Diet the next day.

This means anything like Cottage / Shepherds Pie, scrambled eggs, weetabix, porridge, fruit smoothies, pancakes with honey, soft pasta, soft noodles etc all OK.

A good trick my wife did was using kids meals from COOK :

www.cookfood.net/.../

My surgeons dietician said to me that for the first few months to aim for a quarter of my normal portion size per meal sitting. So, we figured the kids meals are half the adult portion size, so you can just whack one in the oven, cook for 30 mins, serve and eat half of one and then 30-45 mins later finish the second half.

the bonus is they taste amazing as they're all freshly prepared with great and nutritious ingredients so not only are they very tasty but you know you're eating very well, too.

my favourites so far at meal times are the Cottage Pie, the pasta Bolognaise, the chicken tikka and the chicken and orzo pasta. I definitely recommend these in the first few weeks at home as make cooking at home so easy and convenient whenever you need / want to eat.

Also, as another guide - have a look here, my surgeons dietician gave me a copy of pages 3 & 4 which is what I've been following at home and no real issues so far :

www.uhs.nhs.uk/.../Following-a-soft-food-diet-after-a-gastrectomy-or-oesophagectomy-patient-information.pdf

I'm a week home yesterday and in terms of things to get in, I'd echo what everyone else has kindly shared with you - tinned steak is a good one too. Heinz tomato soups, Heinz tinned spaghetti as well is good. If you do an online shop, I'd recommend ordering some milkshakes in, good for adding calories as a snack and also the Haagen Dazs mini cups are great to snack on, soothing on the way down and a great way to add calories to your day too. Also Twirl and Wispa chocolates are easy to eat, melting in your mouth so don't cause issue and add calories as well as maize based crisps like Skips and Quavers that melt in your mouth too as a quick snack !

I hope something in there is of use and helpful to you !

Good to hear Redski, you're heading in the right direction 

Lee

Thanks Lee, really appreciate the encouragement !

Hi Redski,

So good to hear from you and pleased that the op has gone well! You sound like you are doing really well. Great tips for AndI too. Soup is always a good one but I hadn't  thought about condensed soup as Sally suggested.

Keeping the faith

Milly

Thanks Milly, appreciate it.

Hi all again lol,

Just thought I'd share that Kev has bought a wedge pillow from a well known online supplier   which seems a really good option instead of pillows. He has also bought an inflatable one in prep for trips on a plane hopefully! 
Thought I'd mention it especially for AndI and Redski. If you Google wedge pillows you will find quite a few. 
 

Andi I suppose this is obvious but I bought some small tubs to put a variety of food in small portions in the freezer  but because Kev had a longer stay in hospital he was further down the line regarding eating. Fish is also a good opton like salmon which is easy to cook either pan fried, in the oven or microwave.

Hope this is helpful

Keeping the faith

Milly

Yaaay, Redski.

You're back too. X

There are a few more still  MIA- hopefully for good reasons.

Nice one- job done. My husband said same sort of things " best bit of grub he'd ever tasted" etc.A boost as well- it only gets better ( okay maybe not during the post op chemo !). But food progress is fairly quick  . mine is now 9 month post op and 6 months end of post chemo, he eats EVERYTHING (:

As for the 'new plumbing' husband will eventually learn ( I live in hope!) that he really needs to eat smaller portions grrrr. He has had this cough since op and after much wondering turns out basically that he eats to big potions all at once and there is no **** room for any more = coughing ,as irritating the airway as it is stuffed to the top ! HOWEVER, he is most pleased that beer seems to help swilling it down(: He needs to 'learn' to eat big in the morning and not in the evening ............. I give up grrrr.

Anyway, really shouldn't complain.

Well done to you and nice to see you back

Keep the faith

Hilts

PS - Millie- would it be a powder blue shade? , the online retailer beginning one whose name can also be found in South America???- if so, yes, it is brilliant- a great coming home pressie or in my case , his xmas gift (((::::

This is where I absolutely struggle too, Hilts - same as your guy ; and I need to learn ... eat smaller and slower. I still have the same appetite I had pre op and find it very hard looking at a plate of food and not want to vaporise the lot. So much so, after I got my surgical staples out last Thursday in London, I found myself in Nando's sat infront of a plate of a quarter chicken and chips - perhaps a bit too bold !

I ate half and doggy boxed the rest for later and was OK ... but I do find if I eat too much or too quickly I get a bout of the hiccups that are very annoying whilst my body is trying to process it all, like you say with your guy but his is a cough.

Just have to be patient, remind myself what we've been thru and take it slowly when eating and being sensible with portion sizing - which is where the kids COOK meals really come in handy as the portion sizing is easy and my wife refuses to let me eat more than half of one without 30+ mins in between sitting 1 & 2 ... and in fairness when she does that I don't have any issues (and I'm not sure she'll let me go rogue in LDN again solo, haha !)

Last tip (for just after op) I found useful is my surgeon got me onto chewable vitamins too, to help make sure levels are maintained ... and I know and appreciate opinion here is divided on them, but for context I like them because they taste like sweets and worst case - they can't do any harm so I'd rather errrr on the side of caution and take them !

www.boots.com/bassetts-multivitamins-raspberry-and-pomegranate-flavour-soft-and-chewies-adult-30-10204168

Hi Redski

thank you so much - loads of tips and ideas of food to get in. That was really kind of you - this is all so helpful when everything is so scary and unknown 

Kerp eating 

Andi xx

Hi Redski

thank you so much - loads of tips and ideas of food to get in. That was really kind of you - this is all so helpful when everything is so scary and unknown 

Kerp eating 

Andi xx

Try not to worry or be scared Andi.

Like someone said to me, you won't know anything about it and will wake up, out the other side and can just focus on rest and recuperation.

I went down to theatre walking with and talking to the anesthetist and he put a cannula on my hand, said he'd give me 'a little bit of champagne on board' (his colloquialism for some initial anaesthetic) to relax me ... well that was all OK and was the last thing I remember talking to him as he said that ... next thing I knew, I woke up in CCU with my surgeon talking to me about how it'd all gone.

Youll be great, stay positive and keep walking forwards you're doing well.

Thank you - I will x