Esophageal Myotomy

Recovering from Surgery: Your Diet

You should immediately note improvement in your ability to swallow. Patients are usually allowed liquids immediately after surgery. You should only take small sips and not overdo it during the first 12 hours.
You will not get any solid food until after you have an upper GI test to be sure everything is fine with the myotomy. Breakfast will consist of liquids only. After your upper GI, you will be discharged.
When you go home you should only eat very soft foods, such as purées, soups, rice and mashed potatoes.
You should not eat anything with sharp edges, such as candy, potato chips or pretzels, and you should not eat breads or meats. The lining of your esophagus is very thin at this point and needs time to heal. You should continue this diet until you see your doctor in the office.
However, you can experiment with foods of more consistency after one week if you are doing well with the foods you are eating.
Don’t be disappointed if you cannot eat anything solid.
Swallowing may be difficult and sometimes painful. It may be associated with pain in the shoulder as well as in the chest and back. Although liquids usually go down without any difficulty, some people experience problems with them, especially if the liquids are hot or cold.
Remember that feelings of early satiety (getting full quickly) occur because the capacity of your stomach is reduced. Since part of the stomach is wrapped around the stomach to create the valve, there is less stomach to hold food and liquids that are ingested. Even a few bites can give you the sensation of being full. This takes a few months to resolve, but usually does in most patients. Meal size should be normal by six months.
During this period of reduced food intake, be sure to take a multivitamin with iron and drink high calorie and protein supplements, such as Sustacal, Carnation Instant Breakfast, egg nog, etc., to minimize your loss of weight and energy.

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