I just don't understand--please help!

I can't eat anything at all without my stomache hurting afterward but....I don't ever seem to feel FULL! I thought we would feel full after just eating a few bites! I ate a WHOLE can of tomato soup the other day before I even realized what I had done. I felt so bad afterward that I tried to which was not the smartest thing in the world to do 5 days post op. OUCH!!!!! Man did that hurt. Anyway--I couldn't puke but was absolutely paranoid that I had ruptured my stomach and now I'm afraid to eat anything because I apparently have no "full" signal. What's up with this? I have a constant pain in my left side but I just figured it was my G-tube. Now I read these other messages about left sided pain and I'm starting to wonder. Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks Michelle

Hi!, First, that "am I full or hungry?" deal gets better in a matter of days. I had that as well and qustioned everything. I still do at least once a day, question or doubt myself. Everyone tells me that will get better too. The pain in the left side, I still am not totally sure. I think that is the side they work the most on, so everything is moved around alot more than the other ports. We all have to remember that this takes time, and 1-4 weeks is still really early, considering we have had major surgrery. HAng in ther, it will get better...I am counting on it too! KRistal

My thought on this is that tomato soup is going to be more like a liquid in your pouch. It isn't going to hang around in there like food would. So I think it is possible that you could have eaten the whole can just like you would drink a glass of water. I can't really say that I have hunger or full pains but I am just AFRAID to eat too much. I have a bite of this and a bite of that and I'm done. I'm sure it will get easier as we go. But at any time, if you experience things that YOU think are not right....call the doctor. Don't even hesitate for a second. It's your life you are talking about here. Keep your chin up and doing what works for you. Blessings to you.

I don't know hungry or full either. I am only eating because the Dr. & nutritionist said "You have to eat 6 times a day. I hope that in the future I will know. So I am doing the 2 oz. rule for now. I havent't dumped yet. I eat real slow. I watch TV. Talk on the phone to detract from eating fast. I eat with a baby spoon. I was a GULPER pre-WLS. I am only getting in maybe 4 meals a day. Protein drink 1st in the liquids area and alternate the food. I'm still new at this. Surgery date was 1/26. Tummy still tender at drain site. IV site with a heating pad for the last week is not hurting anymore. Knees feel better. Left thigh tingles above the knee front to outer part. What's that? Not sure. Throat finally feels better from NG tube and dryness in the hospital. Rings already swiveling around my fingers. Whoppie!! This is working. Good luck sweetie. ((HUGS)) Elissa

Michelle-We had surgery on the same day. You didn't say if yours was lap or open? I had lap. The first week my doc had me on clear liquids with protein drinks (IsopureSport zero carb), water, sf popsicles, sf jello, broth. I wasn't hungry and I am still not hungry. I have had head hunger and that is BAD. I agree that soup works just like liquids in our pouch. My doc said we aren't to have soup after the first week due to that. Don't know about your left side pain but could be gas. I agree that if you have something happening to your body that concerns you CALL THE DOCTOR. It is better to be safe than sorry. Hope this helps some. Pat

I had my RYN on 1/8 and I am just starting to get the FULL feeling. As of now I still do not get the HUNGRY feeling, my doctor said not to expect it until after week 6. Our pouch will take at least 6 weeks to heal. Just eat your required diet and nothing more. If you have to have small snacks of the same diet food or liquid. If your pouch hurts it is time to stop and also slow down your eating. When I eat too fast I feel terrible after. Best of luck ! Dawn -32

I had my surgery on 1/12 so I'm a few weeks ahead of you. For the first two weeks I had no feeling at all of my stomach being either empty/hungry or full. I did my protein shakes 2x a day and ate small amounts of soft protein foods in between. Tuna salad, cottage cheese, and eggs were good at that stage. I could also eat about half of the meat from a Lean Cuisine meal at one time. They are good because there's usually a sauce with it to keep the food moist. I put it in the food processor to mu**** up. During the third week I started to be able to tell when I was hungry and when I was full. Since you like tomato soup, try mixing 1 Tbs of the soup concentrate with 1/2 cup of skim plus milk and 1 slice of 2% American cheese and heating it in the microwave. It makes about 1/2 cup of soup and has 7 grams of protein. Now I'm doing the protein shake only once a day (25 g protein) and eating other protein foods to get in another 50 g of protein for a total of 70. At the end of the day I tend to feel I'm behind on both fluids and protein, so I usually have a cup of Swiss Miss hot chocolate (no sugar added) made with skim plus milk.