hi vicc we havent been introduced yet
following my cervicle scs i was unable to swallow (they think that the surgery irritated some of the nerves that assist with the message to swallow and my crps jumped into my throat). why isnt really important what is important is that when i went in for surgery i weighed 125 and within a couple of months i was down to 83. it was finally decided that i needed a feeding tube just to stay at 83. 7 months later my swallow mechanism improved and they finally removed the tube. i still wasnt able to eat solid food, but soft foods were ok. anyway i went to gnc and got the protien powder body builders use to increase muscle mass. i will be the first to admit that the taste left a little some thing to be desired but it really helped with weight gain. i got the chocolate and mixed it with milk and it was pretty much a less than great chocolate milk (since gain weight was the idea i added a little chocolate syrup and that helped with the taste). i also got the vanilla and i mixed that with fruit juice and it actually wasnt to bad (occasionally i would add plain yougart and some frozen fruit...it was a little chunky but not so bad i couldnt swallow). i couldnt drink a whole glass at once so i would mix it in the blender pour some into a cup then put the rest in the refrigorator and a couple of hours later i would reblend it some more then pour some more into a glass. since i had all day i didnt really need to drink it all at once. it took a while but i got back up to 103 despite the fact that i continued to be unable to drink solid foods.
someone else also mentioned boost, that stuff really doesnt taste good but i managed to get down one or two a day. also a thought since you are on w/c you might want to ask you pcp to refer you to a nutritionist (probably out of a nearby hospital). it may or may not be relevent but my nutritionist sent a letter to my work comp claims manager stating that i needed the boost or ensure. w/c ordered a case of it at a time (from walgreens in my case) and it was shipped to me so i didnt have to pay for it because it was essentially a prescribed medication. it was 35-40 dollars a month i didnt have to spend out of pocket then submit to my w/c for reimbursement.
my doctor who handled my feeding tube stuff gave me the best advice i recieved regarding weight gain "you dont have to do it all in a couple of meals a day, just force yourself to at certain incriments all day long to consume enough to make you feel full." a large problem with the whole weight gain thing is the problem that your stomach actually shrinks when you eat less for longer periods of time, so you feel full more rapidly because there is less room. the more often you can stretch your stomach a little by acomplishing the feeling of full the faster you will find that you can eat more.
sorry you are struggling to meet your doctors requirements for a pump i hope you get what you need so you can get off the meds that make you feel so yucky