Wife had RNY on 4/15

We are in S. Florida, and she had it don at the Cleaveland Clinic. She is not computer literate, so I am posting after being referred here from a completely unrelated board (karoke hosts). She is having trouble adjusting to the diet, and finds she goes from hunger to pain- skipping the full feeling no matter how slow she eats. She also has not followed the mush/liquid part of the diet, insiting if she chews real well it is the same thing.....:shrug: The spouse/family member section of this board is a little slow, so I figured I would come over here. Would love to hear from other people that are on the same timeline, and/or their spouses. Also, this is for the spouses/sig others, if you are heavy too, have you noticed a sudden push for you to diet with and/or go for the same surgery? Just curious....

I had a RNY on April 29. My instructions are: Full liquid diet, 10-14 days post surgery (no concentrated sweets, use sugar free beverages, cut full strength fruit juice with water) , followed by pureed diet for days 14-28. Soft diet for the 4 weeks following that, and regular diet as tolerated (low sugar, low fat) at two months. From the time I got home from the hospital, the goal is a minimum of 60 grams of protein daily. Usually, this means drinking protein shakes/meal replacements, or adding protein powder to allowed foods. The other requirement has been 48-64 oz of water every single day. It is hard to follow, but really necessary in order to allow internal healing. I must also take a specific vitamin/mineral regimen every single day, as well as actigall to prevent gallstones, and Prilosec for my stomach. I too have a heavy spouse, and yes, I think I have put undue pressure on him to diet with me. He likes Optifast, so I have been encouraging him to suffer along with me...at least he'll have company. I think after seeing what I am going through with this open RNY, he will never consider having the surgery! My polite suggestion to you is to review the diet given to your wife with her. If she seems reluctant to follow, maybe call the doctor for an appointment or call the dietitician or nutritionist to see her. I think she might need a pep talk from the surgeon and nutritionist. A lot of this hunger is real, as our bodies start receiving signals again, but some of it is leftover "head hunger". I am trying really hard not to fall off the horse this early out...but it takes real perserverance and of course support to achieve this. Good Luck!

Hi I too had surgery on the 15th. I agree with your wife. I could not do the pureed diet. It made me gag to even think about it. So I eat things like lentil soup which I tolerate fine. I also have not had much luck getting a full feeling. I just stop myself at about 1 cup of food and then I don't have pain. I do feel hungary alot of the time. It is not much fun right now. I have lost about 20 lbs but for some reason I haven't lost anymore. I don't know why but it is really worrying me. I keep thinking that I am eating too much or the surgery didn't work. Lisa

Lisa you probably hit your platue. I too had my surgery on the 15th. I was down 30lbs but gaind back 2 since friday when I started my stage 4 diet. The purreed part of your diet was so you can heal and to get used to eating smaller portions. Not to torture you. To be honest after 4 weeks of eating purreed tuna and chicken I was a little bored with it. No one said this was easy, and the "diet" was ment for us to loose weight and to keep it off. I was able to tollerate crackers that was my chewing. Do you take your protien shakes between meals? that should fill you right up. Your nutritionist and doctor should have given you a sample meal plans to follow so you maintain the weight loss and keep up the nutrition you need. I am shocked you can eat a cup of food. I vomit if I have more than 1/2 cup total. Your meals should take no longer than 30 min. And no less than 20. You also must not skip your meals. 3 a day. And no liquids within 30 mins before or after. I actuilly do not feel hunger and have to keep on a scedual to eat. I recomend the book"weight Loss for Dummies" it has lots of info. I wish you luck and for you to make an appt with your nutritionist or durring your 1 month check up talk to your doc about your diet. Good luck.

Wow! A cup of food is wayyyy too much. I was told 1/4 cup max at a meal to not stretch the pouch. I didn't start getting the "full feeling" until a few days ago and so I had to make sure I measured or counted bites to not go over 3 ozs. I had RNY on 4/16. I would show your wife how to move through screens on this site. It is invaluable and she might find answers to many of her concerns.

I had my surgery on April 18/08 and I was directed by my doctor to follow a booklet he provides all his patients.ie Day 2 After Surgery Breakfast :1/4 cup apple Juice 1/4 cup jello Morning Snack: 1/2 cup apple juice Lunch : 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup Jello or Cranberry juice Afternoon Snack: 1/2 cup apple juice Supper: 1/2 cup chicken broth 1/4 cup Jello or Cranberry juice Evening Snack:1/2 cup apple juice Days 3& 4 After Surgery Breakfast 1/2 a cup of cream of wheat or strained oatmeal/artificial sweetner 1/4 cup of milk 2% Morning Snack:1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt or plain 1/4 cup apple sauce Dinner:1/2 cup cream of soup strained 1/4 cup of 2% milk Afternoon Snack:1/2 cup of pureed soup Supper:1/2 cup strained cream soup 1/4 cup low fat pudding Evening Snack 1/2 cup 2% milk Days 5& 6 After Surgery Breakfast 1/2 a cup of cream of wheat or strained oatmeal/artificial sweetner 1/2 cup of milk 2% Morning Snack:1/4 cup of vanilla yogurt or plain 1/4 cup apple sauce Dinner: 1/2 cup cream soup 1/2 cup tomato or fruit juice 1/4 cup pureed fruit Afternoon Snack 1/2 cup pureed fruit Supper:1/2 cup cream soup 1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt 1/4 cup pureed fruit Evening Snack:1/2 cup Carnation Instant Breakfast then the amts and consistency increase from there.But a cup in total is the aim.My doctor tells me once I am full dont eat anymore.I must eat my protein first then the rest.

Hello: I also had my RNY surgery on 4/15. I'm in South California. I've lost already 30 lbs and I'm feeling great, but I have been following my doctor's instructions closely. I tried to do what your wife did, chewing really well, but I got a bad pain exactly where my pouch is. The protein intake is what will make her loose the weight I was told between 80 and 90 grams a day, but it is very important not to over fill the stomach for two reasons, one is the pouch will expand and two is the staples can open, and if that happens, she will be in big trouble. My best friend had that problem and she is gone now, I don't want to scare you guys but this is a new way of living, and I know it is hard, specially fighting with the brain hunger and the habits that we had, the lack of chewing is the worse feeling, you don't know until you cant chew solid foods, but it won't be for too long, on the 6 week she will start with solid foods little by little, so tell her to keep it up, she can do it. She will need all your support, and I'm also here for her if she needs me. My husband started dieting and doing exercise when he knew my surgery date, he lost a few pounds and he is getting his muscles back. Good Luck Chris

She is doing better, but still not following the diet. She lives on the Atkins Advantage shakes and still eats regular food, just chews it a lot. Last night she had me make Turkey Smoked sausauge, because it has a lot less fat and carbs than regular sausage, and she had 4 'slices'. She then had part of an ice pop and bite of my klondike bar. I warned her it was too much, and she said she was fine, but 10 minutes later she was running for the bathroom... Came back insisting it was the sausage and not the pop or ice cream that did it.... I have told her some sugestions i have read on here, and she is trying cottage cheese, and Taco Bell refried beans. Any suggestions on brands of Lentil soups? She is willing to try but wants some suggestions. I think I am getting through, it is just a slow process....

David: There is something I have learned and I bet you know too. If she is not ready to change her habits, not even the RNY surgery will help her. She needs to follow the diet as the doctor gave it to her. The susage is a no no now for us, a sugar free pop will be fine, but I'm not sure about ice cream the problem is the milk. Those pains and runnings to the bathroom are because she is dumping. Whenever she eats more, or fast, she will dump, it also happens with the sugar, that supposed to help you in the process, its horrible but it does help. About the soups, I eat the campbells ones, all the cream soups, at first I strain them, now I just eat them as they are because I'm on pureed food. I just tried the shrimp one and it's awesome, the only ones that I passed on was the broccoli and cheese ones, the broccoli gives you gas. I haven't try the lentils one, I don't even know if cambells makes one. Good luck. Chris

David, I think I agree with the others that your wife has to make the decision to live this life now...or not to and throw it all down the toilet. I do sympathize with her hatred of purees. They truly make me gag, but there is a reason for every directive the docs are giving us. What I might suggest is getting the things that tempt her OUT of the house until she gets a better handle on her new body. This will be tough for the rest of the family for a while, but I think it may be worth it. My hubby is in Afghanistan and has been for the duration of my recovery. I was wondering how YOU are handling the changes your wife is going through. I'm very interested as my experience is going to be a bit warped. He won't be home until next January for a visit. Best to you both.