enzymes

unknown said:

Charles...just happened to be browzing and saw your question. I had a gastrecmoy due to stomach and esophageal cancer two years ago. I took Creon 10 tablets with meals for most of those two years. I had lost just over 50 pounds before, during, and after treatment and surgery. I was never convinced that they helped much but cannot say they did not. What I did was eat small amounts of food all day long. I ate everything that would be considered bad for me. However, if it tasted good to me, I ate it. If it did not I didn't eat it. I was eating virtually every two hours. I could not eat anything that was deemed good for me. If I drank too much with meals I would experience dumping syndrome. I could not eat any gas producing foods. Mostly I ate carbs, meats, soups, and very few vegetables. I drank a lot of water...few juices, coffee, and no carbonated beverages. I did not gain much weight at all in during the first year. Then gradually I started putting on weight. I have regained thirty pounds and am maintaining. I can eat a little more without pain and dumping now and I stopped the enzymes about six months ago. I am introducing vegetables and salads into my diet slowly. I cannot eat much more than a child's portion at any given time but am doing very well. Most Americans overeat by tons anyway. I guess my encouragement to you would be...hang in there. Eat often and eat what you like. Take your time and give your body time to adjust to the damage that has been done. It will happen. In the beginning I had pain whenever I ate one bite too many (still do at times), I had dumping syndrome and diarhea galore, I had gas that would make a dung beetle puke and lots of it. If I could have hooked myself up to our propane tank, I could have saved a fortune. I choked on food more times than I could count. I had to learn small bites and finally after 60 years listened to my Mother about chewing my food thoroughly. I turned everything to mush before swallowing. When I did not I had pain and choked or coughed it back up. I ate a lot of Eggo Waff-Fulls and a lot of peanut butter and a lot of chicken noodle soup. I tended to like crunchy stuff like potato chips. I discovered Popcorn was a great pleaser psychologically because you can eat a big bag...it is mostly air and you think you are eating a bunch but is is only a handfull after chewing. I also discovered that crunchy tacos, chewed well, really went down very well. I should get a discount from Del Taco for as many as I ate. Food supplements like vitamins or other nutritional supplements like ensure and so on may help. The biggest things are patience and time. I also found that hitting the recliner right after eating for a half hour or so was helpful. Late night snacks are great. Oh, I also should mention that Oatmeal, instant or otherwise, was a real staple for me. I ate truck loads of the stuff. Seems to stick to my ribs. Another staple for me was Hot Pockets...don't know why, but they tasted good and were eatable. Their chicken and turkey pies are really good as are some others...whatever tastes good. Pasta is my friend...any kind. I ate all the carbs other people were cutting out of their diets. I went from around 150 pound to maintaining around 180-182. But remember I am two years plus away from surgery (5/16/2003)I am also a type II diabetic and all of this has made it very difficult to manage my blood sugar which went bonkers during treatment and thereafter. I am now almost back to normal with that. So I guess what I am trying to say is, the enzymes may help but you will not see noticeable effects from them. I took them because I believed that malabsorption was in fact a problem and whether I felt it or not I took them. In addition, though I had my doubts that it would ever happen, my body seems to be adjusting to my new physiology. I have less gas, less bouts in the bathroom, and am eating more normal meals in terms of content not size. I actually found I can eat corn on the cobb! Wow! What an exquisite pleasure...no blow out! (I do chew it thoroughly) That ability is actually better than before the cancer. I still have problems with onions but am working on that. So my friend. Just take it a day at a time. Don't look for giant improvements. Just listen to your body and eat whatever you can eat. You can get back to the food pyramid when your body heals a tad more. May God bless you as he has me. If you want to get into nitty gritties my email is jzember@alltel.net. Take care.

mv1959 said:

I had my stomach reduced in size due to cancer last August. At first eating was hard, but as time goes by it got much better. I took enzymes for a brief time but my doctor stopped them when I started to gain some weight. If your surgery was very recent time may be what you need more than anything. I have gained 30 pounds in the last year. Try to find foods high in carbs and fat that you can tolerate. I have found Ramen Noodles to be a good food for me. I have them twice a day. Eat as often as you can. Every couple of hours if you can. I have also found beer to work. Good luck.