Food

What can you eat or drink at two weeks post op?

At 2 weeks I was eating very small amounts of: thin oatmeal, mashed potatoes, tomato soup with cheese melted in it, yogurt, egg drop soup, poached egg.

Of course, you should follow your surgeo 's advice.

Your Dr or his staff should have gone over this with you. One of my favorites was re-fried beans with cheese melted in. I could only do about one OZ but it was tasty! Cottage cheese was another staple.

That's so odd.  I wasn't allowed cottage cheese...I wonder what the diff is...

I'm glad you asked this, I was wondering the same thing...what are you eating at 2 weeks post op?

Mendoza, have you joined the new board yet?  I suggest you do for all these questions.  It has turned into a whost town on OH and it is hard to get answers to anything.  Check out m h's and a lot of other peoples signature lines for the link ;-)

In my program, we got a notebook binder with eating guidelines , and the first four weeks were sof//pureed foods, You should ask your own doctor/surgeon, but here's a few of the things that were on the list for me:

Protein: Cottage cheese, eggs, egg whites, yogurt, ground chicken,ground turkey,ham, ground pork, ground beef, fish, beans, cheese, canned tuna, canned ham, canned chicken, canned crab meat and tofu. (make sure the meat is very moist!)
 
Veggies: green beans, peas, carrots, beets, squash, asparagus, zucchini,cucumbers (they wroked best for me peeled), mushrooms, water chestnuts, okra, turnips, cauliflower,broccoli and tomatoes.

Fruit: Applesauce, peaches, pears,pineapple, bananas, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, fruit ****tail, watermelon, mango, papaya, kiwi, straberries, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, prunes (I'd go easy on these until later, they are very fibrous.  Cook them first, then chop fine or puree)

Don't worry about low-fat, fat-free.  You may see some "oil slicks" from eating full fat versions of foods, but this is nothing to worry about.   It means you're not absorbing it, and your DS is working exactly as it should.  Don't try to crowd more food in than you can handle. It may make you vomit, and you're still healing.  You need to be as gentle with your system as you can.  One ounce of each of the above, protein with fruit *or* vegetable.  You will be drinking more than you will be able to eat at first. Dehydration can get you into serious trouble quickly. 

Fluids first, protein next, supplements next.  It will all come together in time. 

I started out with liquid multivites and calcium, and graduated to tablets when my stomach had stretched a bit more. KEY ISSUE - your ADEK's -the fat soluble vitamins, MUST be in dry form.  You malabsorb oil, and the little capsules from the drugstore are filled with oil. I order mine dry. Again, ask your doctor/surgeon.  If they don't know, I'm happy to help, but again, I can only tell you what's working for me.  NOW Foods has a great liquid Multi, and Life Time has a Cal-Mag liquid in several flavors, if you decide to go the gradual route. Your local health food store should have them.  I order mine online from Lucky Vitamins, since they have the most variety of flavors, and I can get whey protein isolate in ten pound bags there. I'm almost three years out, and I still use a shake or two as insurance that I get all my protein in. Some vites I get from Vitalady, some from Lucky Vitamins  She has complete plans for each surgery, but for me, it's less expensive to get them from several sources, whoever has the strength and the lowest price that I need.  It's not very economical for me to get the vites from brick and mortar stores,  since they only have a few at the levels we need.   

As I said, I can only say what worked for me early out.  Most dietitians are clueless when it comes to DS nutrition,  and I can only tell you what's worked for me.

Congrats on your DS.  You will be amazed!

 

My doc was pretty liberal and had me eating what I felt like eating as soon as I got home from the hospital, recommending to start with softer foods to see how well they set at first.

My issue is that I didnt' FEEL like eating a damn thing.

My surgeon also proved me with a binder of information and foods to eat and when.

At two weeks, I was on pureed foods, I did my protein shakes first though and liquids then did cream of wheat, grits, oatmeals, brothy soups, egg drop soup, yogurts without fruit (added flavoring syrups to jazz them up) and stuff like that.

Your first priority is getting your fluids in still, then protein, then vitamins before you start trying to eat too much. Yes, we all miss the sensation of eating and feel deprived a little but you have to give your body time to heal from some pretty intense and major surgery.

There are a couple good FB groups that talk about meals and other general issues with the DS, feel free to join us there too.

You can never have too many places to get information from but your first place to always start is your surgeon.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!!!

Hi Mendoza, I am a Doc Roslin patient.  At 2 weeks post-op I was able to have protein shakes, soups, liquids, thinned out oatmeal, grits.  Just make sure that everything you eat is runny.  by 15 days post-op you can try soft scrambled eggs, tuna, fleshy meat fish etc.

Good luck to you.

Frankie