help with the full liquid diet!!??

how long were most of you on the full liquid diet before you could incorporate pureed food? i have been doing fine on the full liquid diet until today, i feel alittle depressed today, i want something with a little more consistancy, am i making any sense?, i hope i am not the only one feeling this way please help, i am now 9 days post-op. any suggestions would be great!!! thank you Mia

Hi Mia, I admit I was not a good patient when it came to the diet my surgeon recommended. The prescribed diet was 4 weeks of liquids (2 clear only and 2 full) before I could "graduate" to pureed foods. Well I lasted 8 days on liquids before I couldn't take it anymore and started incorporating pureed foods. The pureed stage was to last 4 weeks as well but once again, I couldn't take it after about a week. So I slowly started incorporating regular foods into my diet to see what I could or could not tolerate. Meats cooked in the crock pot were a great staple as the crock pot method made them so tender and moist, they were very easy to chew and swallow. I also ate a heck of a lot of cottage cheese and refried beans during this time. Now I'm not recommending that everyone ignore their surgeon's dietary suggestions like I did but I do think you have to listen to your body and decide what is best for you. For me, I had a few missteps along the way (eating too fast the first time I tried pork chops was a huge mistake immediately comes to mind) but overall I have had no real problems. I'm a bit over 12 weeks post-op to date and am down 83 pounds and labs are all normal so I believe that listening to my body and going from there was the right decision for me. Whatever you decide to do with your diet just know that you are definitely NOT the only one who has felt frustrated with the diet so early on post-op! Some find it much easier to follow a restrictive diet than others like myself did...we all react differently and sometimes similarly to those issues. Good luck to you! Tammy

Oh Mia Hun, you are really not feeling any different than most all of us. If I NEVER see another cup of broth again it will be too soon. My dr starts us on real food at one week. Things like tuna, chicken refried beans. I was never so happy as when I had something with some consistency. It also stayed with me longer. Just remember chew chew chew and drink lots of water. Listen to your body, it will tell you what to do. Remember to walk. Tammy Lap RNY 1/8/04 318/280

I had a real hard time with the liquid diet thing also. We only had to wait a week before we could start on soft foods. I never thought refried beans could taste soooo good! I am not trying to tell you to go against doctors orders but if you chew something really good (like RF beans) doesn't it get liquefied anyway!? Hang in there. Diane

Again, in MY OPINION (notice I put that in BOLD LETTERS) I was EVER so grateful to not have to endure a long period of liquids. (BEFORE I GET FLAMED AGAIN, THIS IS NOT AGAINST ANYONE'S SURGEON, OR BELIEFS!!) Having said that.... Like Tanya said, day 5 for us, was soft foods @ our post op class. OMG, RF beans never TASTED so good. And cottage cheese?? HEAVEN!! If I see chicken broth now, I could PUKE. LOL. Also, I can no longer eat the "fake lobster" bites. Musta ate a few too many of those babies in my "soft food" stage. While we're being honest, I crossed the line a few times in the soft food stage also...I had chili. There was only so much cottage cheese, tuna, chicken, refired beans, ETC that a person could take. I personally wasn't worried and honestly, if I could eat beans, cottage cheese, etc, chili wasn't much more than that. I honestly, and respectfully give anyone credit who is on those longer liquid diets. I know I would have been going bonkers by that time. Not hunger..I was just ready to get on with my life. BTW, I have been very compliant..I just knew I was needing more. Good luck!!! ~Michelle post op 11/21 -42 pounds.

Hey Mia I think we both had the same surgeons DR Fang. I stayed on the liquid diet 3 weeks and pureed diet for 2 weeks. It really sucks let me tell you! Hang in there it will be over before you know it! Ellie LapRNY 1/14/04 -35lb

I was on the full liquid diet beginning wiht day 7 for a total of two weeks, then the pureed food stage for two weeks, and then soft food for one week. I have to admit that I went into this knowing that was what was expected and just resigned myself to follow the surgeon's rules. I was one of those who did not deviate from the path. Why? Because I was fearful of causing damage to my stoma that would require reopening it. Simple as that. I can do very well when I am fear driven. I did help the protein shakes by using crushed ice to make them thicker like a DQ shake (well kind of). That also aided my vitamin intake from the beginning because I mixed them all in with my shake as I take several each day in capsule form (A&D dry, B complex, calcium citrate, dry E, etc), plus centrum chewables. The positive side of this is I came through it with my sanity intact and no real difficulties with eating or drinking - just have to make sure to chew very well as we all do and not have something that is too dry as that can really hurt. What are you using for your protein? I found that the protein really helps with the hunger issues. I am using Champion Pure Whey Stack and do three shakes a day (34 gms of protein each). My labs came back okay - I have not seen the actual labs yet, but will get a copy next week so I can track my trends in excel. Good luck. You will soon be past this stage. Sandra