My brother is not able to chew following surgery. He also has to avoid spicey, salty and acidic food. What can he eat other than mashed potatoes and cream of wheat? He has has trouble with some blended foods.

pudding, apple sauce, ice cream, thin soups / creamy soups, broths, oatmeal, cottage cheese, yogurt, smoothies, milk shakes, pureed fruits. That's what I remember eating right after surgery - I think I lived on Ensure and Ice Cream for a good week or two.

Try to blend everything real thin! Really runny mashed potatoes/gravy worked for me. Ice cream workd well and was more soothing because it was cold.

Diana,

I ate everything on Amy's list, plus scrambled eggs, Carnation Instant Breakfast and many different flavors of baby food. Sometimes I would just walk up and down the aisles in the grocery store tracking down anything I could see that fit the "easy to swallow" requirement.

Cathy

Diana, I don't know what your brother's surgery involved, but he might have trouble with dairy products if he has raw, healing tissue in his mouth or throat. Something in milk products, a protein, I think, can be irritating in some people. My husband couldn't eat ice cream or Carnation instant breakfast because it felt like it was burning his throat. We are going to try soy milk next. Try smoothies blended with silken tofu for protein and try adding very small noodles (that don't have to be chewed)to broth. Tom likes Campbell's beef consumme because it tasted a little richer and it has more protein in it than plain broth. Be warned though that all canned soups and broth have a lot of salt in them.

Joyce

oatmeal has some substance. Get the whole rolled oats kind, not the quick oats. Use some honey or brown sugar to sweeten. Put a banana in small pieces in it. It was the first thing I was able to eat.

It's very exciting to be able to eat again. It wil take a while, but things will come around. I can now do mild salsa and have even been able to eat jalipenos.

Steve

Hi all...Diet after surgery is an interesting dilemma. I found that almost everything could go thru the blender. I had fish, hearty soups, asparagus, sweet potates and almost anything...blended, add a bit of water..and you can eat almost anything . My plate looked funny, like colorful mush, but sure tasted good. I moved up to Tuna fish. Just a few bites. But it was wonderful. I lost 13 pounds in 5 weeks..but now its back. I eat normal for the most part now. Swallowing was a big issue, and sometimes only ate few small bites, but gradually things got better.

Hi
For me bland and soft worked best. no tomato based dishes for me.
Canned macaroni cheese, just warm, cheese omelets with lots of butter to help them slide down, mashed potato with butter, I'm not a gravy person, I kept away from fruit juices for a while but peach juice was the most gentle to start.
Try to think maximum calories per swallow, if you can tolerate canned soups stir in some cream or whole milk powder, it will get better with time.
Sunshine.. love and hugs
Helen

Diana,
When I first had my g tube removed I could swallow almost nothing except ensure. Evenutally I worked my way up to cream of wheat and mashed potatoes. I describe my diet as soft wet and bland. I still can't handle spice and I need lots of liquid (gravy etc). Fruit never worked because of the acid in the fruit and very surgary thinkgs such as ice cream really didn't start working until this year. My best advice is keep trying. Put things thru a blender, add gravy, butter, etc and see what works. Try getting an appointment with a dietician who has dealt with cancer patients. My goal was always as many calories in as small a quantity as possible. Eating may not be fun for a while.

i lived on creamy pastsas for weeks and lo mein. both easy to chew/bite and slides down easy