Every Doctor is Different: question to all!!

I have been reading posts for years. i find it so strange that the food requirements differ sooooo much depending on where you have your surgery. like...i had to be on a 10 day liquid diet prior to surgery to shrink my liver...some people don't......post-op, i have to have 7 days of clear liquids (thank god that is over), next 7 days are full liquids, next 14 days are pureed foods, then another 14 days of soft foods...this is all before i can eat like a regular person. i hear people coming home on soft or pureed foods. it is so strange to me. is it a guessing game for them? or do they go by what has worked in the past according to their experience? it is just something i have noticed and wanted to see what you all thought.

I've noticed the same thing! My doctor said I had to have 7 days of clear liquid pre-op, and 14 days post-op (I'm at 5 days post-op now). I then will have to have 14 days of liquid (soups, yogurt, pudding, etc), and then 14 days of soft foods (mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, etc). FINALLY - AFTER 7 weeks of CRAP I will be able to start adding foods in. I am disgusted by all of this - especially when I read about people that are 1 1/2 weeks post op eating food. WHY IS THIS FAIR???????? Of course, my dr would say that his way is the best way - so there's no use asking him about it. I think that I will use the other AMOS members' eating patterns as my guide. I will only add one tiny thing in at a time so that I don't have major problems. though. And I'm not going to add any solids for at least 5 more weeks, but I will be having some pudding soon! Here is a list of what I have had in the last 13 days: WATER SF JELLO CLEAR BROTH DILUTED JUICE SF POPSICLES UUUHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sick of it!!!!!! Oh, and I gained 20 pounds in the 3 days in the hospital! I'm still up 6 pounds from where i started. (7/20 wls date) Sorry about the venting - but I'm literally DREAMING about food. I had a dream that I snuck a candy bar . I also had a dream that I ate some milk-toast* (which I haven't had in over 25 years - and I don't even like that much). *milk-toast is where your make 2-3 pieces of toast, put it in a bowl, add sweetener, and pour milk over it. We sometimes had it instead of cereal when I was a kid. I had a sit-down, foot-kicking, bawl-baby screaming, crying fit today (my poor husband). He later told me that he wanted to tell me to go and eat something. I'm glad he didn't though. Well, does this answer your question? I'm so sorry to put this on you - but I was ready to write my own posting when I read yours! Thanks for letting me vent! Next time I will try to be nicer when I post. I'm just so frustrated right now!!!! Thanks again! Joyce

I was wondering the same thing! I had my surgery the 19th and I'm on a clear liquid diet for three weeks. I did have to lose some weight before surgery to do it laproscopically. My doctor said the mortality rate is much lower if you weigh under 350. At three weeks I get to have cream of wheat, cheese, cottage cheese, yougurt, mashed potatoes, blended soups, sf pudding and scrambled eggs. At four weeks I can have deli shaved chicken and turkey, seafood, peanut butter and crackers, then five weeks, cold cereal, toasted bread, rice and vegetables, six weeks, fruits, lettuce (raw), nuts, eight weeks, pasta, bread, poultry, raw veggies, three months, citrus, I dont get to have beef or por****il six months out, the reasoning for this is the small pouch does not produce enough acid to efficiently digest red meat at that point I can also have raisins, grapes, popcorn and gum. So see mine varies so much even from yours. Even though there are so many different ones, I am going to stick to my doctor's guidelines, no matter how tempting it is. I figure he must know what he is talking about, my surgeon along with his partner are the ones who pioneered the laproscopic version of this procedure and teach it across the country to other docs and hold most of the patents on the instruments used during the surgery. Soooooo I'm with you sweetie, dont quite understand it, but going to go with it. Does feel good to vent. I'm like you though, I'm tired of all these liquids and protein shakes, YUCK!!!!! But we just gotta hang in there. We'll get through. Michelle

Hi Gloria, My doctor is one of those who doesn't have the same guidelines. Preop, he told me to lose as much weight as I could, which would help him during surgery, but did not impose a minimum or tell me how to do it. There was no special diet for the days before surgery except that for a few days before, eat light, and for the day before, no beef or pork. The day of surgery, just ice chips, the next day clear liquids, then the next day and forward soft foods, adding fish the second week, beef and pork at one month. He did tell me after surgery that he didn't care if I ate anything for the first two weeks...that my new stomach is healing and needed rest too. I've wondered so often what makes every doctor have such different views on this. I asked the dietitian, she told me that they want us to start eating as we would later on, as soon as we can, and that they have not seen any need to limit food in the beginning. My doctor doesn't push protein either. They say eat protein first, and mostly, but no need for powders or shakes. Confusing to me hearing everyone else talk about protein in numbers like 60 grams or more, and when eating so little, I get in maybe 30 grams on a good day. I dunno. I'm trying to follow the doc's orders, he's the expert, but with so much information out here it's hard to know exactly what to do. Have fun on the losing side!! Deb

I agree!!! There should be a standard so that it's not so confusing for everyone. My surgeon told me in the hospital, one week clear liquids, one week full liquids, next week, puree diet and two weeks later start to move onto full foods. BUT he's telling this to a drugged person and gave me no guidelines on paper. Today I started my full liquids, and I know I can have Carb Countdown, so I had that with my protein for breakfast. I just called his office to ask what full liquids are and the office manager is unsure. She says you can have decaf tea, SF jello, broth - I told her that's a clear liquid diet - can I have cream soup, or Cream of Wheat and she didn't have a clue!!! She asked if I had the paperwork they sent from the office, and I said yes, but that showed Stage 1 clear liquids and Stage 2 Puree food, and that's not what the doc said. She told me she'd ask the doc and call me back..... Oh well, how would I spend my time if everything was easy??? Hugs, Nancy