Looking for suggestions for post-mouth surgery foods

sqldiva
sqldiva Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm getting ready to have surgery to remove a pre-cancerous area from my tongue and gum area (Yes, I'm young for this...I have no risk factors but they're being overly cautious because i've had cancer in the same area before 5 years ago). For weeks after the surgery, I had difficulty eating because of the difficulty in swallowing. Soups do not work because with the difficulty moving the tongue, it's hard to control how you swallow and you feel like your drowning. Last time, I ate lots of mashed potatoes. However, I'm trying to avoid gaining the weight I've lost, and feel like eaitng mashed potatoes for several weeks will definately cause that.

Ideas for foods that might be mushy wtihout being liquid that I could eat and still at least maintain my weight loss once I can start eating again? To compound the problem, I just can't stomach any kind of protein smoothies. i've tried several of them, but they don't settle well. I really have no other aversion to foods. I'll need to avoid anything very acidic or salty because I will obviously have stitches and raw areas in my mouth.

Help?

Replies

  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    This might sound like I'm kidding, but what about baby food? The fruit ones are pretty yummy.

    Also, squash and mashed sweet potatoes. You could also try quinoa, couscous, and slightly over-cooked pasta.
  • hanniejong
    hanniejong Posts: 556 Member
    I would cook my normal food and then puree it add a few spices to make it tasier. It is musshy without being liquid and tastes good too.
  • theoriginaljayne
    theoriginaljayne Posts: 559 Member
    Applesauce, Greek or Icelandic yogurt (it's typically thicker than normal yogurt), yams, homemade smoothies (yogurt, banana, berries, other ingredients that you feel like adding, and press puree), homemade frozen yogurt (stick a regular carton of yogurt in the freezer; it's delicious) -- I really hope you're not lactose intolerant or most of these suggestions are worthless --

    Bananas (eat them by scraping the sides with a spoon; you can feed babies this way, and it's actually quite good), thick soups (a good homemade potato-leek soup with little water has the consistency of mashed potatoes), berries and other soft fruits, avocados...
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    After getting my wisdom teeth out, and during the time my TMJ was really bad and my jaw was very sore, I lost weight no matter how much soft yummy junk I ate. Milkshakes, mashed potatoes with cheez whiz melted in, ice cream.
  • sqldiva
    sqldiva Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks for your suggestions. Realistically, LorinaLynn is probably right. I won't be able to eat enough to gain weight, I just don't want to eat bad for me foods either! Thanks again everyone!

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