On the other side!

I can't believe it but I am on the other side! Surgery was a week ago. The 1st 3 days were heck and it took till day 6 to start feeling human but I am back at work now and feeling great!

My Dr is reccomending I still be on only liquids but I'm having a very hard time getting in all my proteins that way since I don't like the taste of protein shakes. I have tried mushing up chicken and eggs and even small curd cottage cheese and I felt so great after and it didn't bother me at all! Is it really a problem for me to be eating real proteins at this point?!

I would have to say stick with your surgeons eating plan especially in the first 4 weeks. You just had a major operation and your body needs time to adjust and heal, eating chicken etc could put your new stomach at risk.

I can understand you don't enjoy the protein shakes but they are designed to provide nutrition at this stage. I went thru 4 different kinds trial and error.

Perhaps others might be able to suggest some different options to try? Good luck :)

I agree that you really should stick with your surgeon's guidelines.  Your stomach is healing and eating those foods at this point could really cause some harm.

As for the protein drinks, have you been buying the premixed drinks?  If so, that could be the problem.  I didn't like any of the ones I tried, and I got unflavored protein powder and make my own.  I happen to use Syntrax Nectar, but I hear Unjury is really good, too.  I mix mine with skim milk and then use a variety of flavorings...cocoa powder is my fave, nothing like chocolate!  I also use pineapple and coconut flavoring to make Pina Colada, Cocoa and Coconunt for Mounds Bar.  I also put it in some broth sometimes, you can't taste it and it's a really nice way to get your protein and your fluids all at once.

Best of luck!!

I couldn't tolerate protein drinks, but I was able to stir protein powder into chicken broth, soups, etc.  and get my protein that way.

Best to check with your doctor before adding other foods.  The sleeve is very delicate until it has time to heal and form tissue over the staples.  The doctor is the best judge of what is best for you now.

best wishes,

Carol

Yes! You really shouldn't be on solid food! No one enjoys being on liquids but it IS necessary.

You don't "feel" anything at all. You nerves were cut! they are healing. So they can't tell you that you are hurting them. Less than a week out and you put yourself on solid food???? girl, you can do some damage. If you don't stick to the plan now, will you stick to it 10 years from now? 

Get some unflavored and mix with cold water, add to your soups, broths. When you get to the mushy stage you can add banana creme zero carb protein with sugar free pudding. Of make banana ice cream. But you should not be eating solids yet.

Unjury chicken soup flavored protein powered was my life saver! I still use it sometimes as an afternoon snack to boost my protein.

You've been posting here, on and off for almost a year. One would think that you would know better than to stress out your system like that by eating real food only days after your surgery.

Sorry, but I'm flabbergasted that you'd put yourself at risk of tearing open stitches and who knows what else by flagrantly not following instructions.

I hope you don't do it again.

I hear the Atkins lift drinks aren't too bad. Also Isopure zero makes a protein drink. Both come in fruit flavors and aren't like the creamier "milky" shakes. I have tried the Syntrax Nectar sample pack and the flavors are good, especially the fuzzy navel one. Maybe Unjury mixed in Crystal light? I would try them all to find one I could tolerate to make sure I got in my liquids and protein! Definitely would not go against my doctors plan. My surgeon says "you cheat, you leak, you die!"

I guess it depends on your perspective.  Myself, I didn't want to be in the 5-10% of people that had complications.  When things go wrong for us they go really wrong.  Of course, I am the person who, ten years ago, got MRSA in the #3 best hospital in the state during a routine outpatient procedure that put me on a wound VAC for 2 months and on antibiotics for over a year.  This taught me in a very fundamental and profound way, that when it comes to surgery, stuff happens, you know?  We can't always control randomness.  This makes it important to control what we can.

As for no discomfort...The stomach is shaped like a giant kidney bean, right?  So, one thing to consider, is that when they remove our stomachs, they don't just staple in a line and then are bam-done.  They actually have to dissect, or take apart, nerves and tissue around the stomach.  If that's all it was it'd just be a 20 minute procedure.  When they divide the stomach along the bougie, they sever many structures.  Nerves curve around towards kidney bean and thread towards the area we have removed called the fundus. Dissecting the nerves cuts and damages them.  It takes months for them to heal and detect sensations.  This is why you would feel no discomfort.  If you overeat dangerously close to surgery, it's more likely you would get nauseous and throw up rather than feel discomfort if there's a problem - at which point you'd already have over-exceeded your sleeve's capacity.  The closer we are to our surgery date, the worse it is to overeat.  Solid foods are far easier to overeat than liquids - if we overdrink, the pyloric sphincter (valve) is not really like a door.  It's more like a circle that tightens.  It can only open so far, and so food takes much longer to leave.  Solid food puts WAY more pressure on the surgical staple line than liquid for this reason. 

Additionally, the sleeve stays swollen for several weeks.  Swelling is inherent with any surgical procedure.  Also, the stomach isn't just sitting there - it moves around.  He's a pretty active guy!  Even liquids cause some movement.  This can cause more swelling, and it also reduces our capacity for a long time.  Bear in mind it's a giant muscle that was just trimmed to 1/4 of its size, that is not going to heal for several weeks.  Part of why we have liquid at first is because they help the stomach stay "calm" because it is not moving as much.  Any protein, even pureed, causes the stomach to move more.  Move movement = more swelling = slower healing.  Not necessarily a problem, but also not ideal.

Until the staple line heals which takes some time, the stomach is somewhat fragile.  It is only held together by thousands of tiny staples.  The staple line is not actually strong until scar tissue forms - I'd argue it's actually the scar that holds it together in the long run.  The staples just basically hold it in place until it forms.  Bleeds and other issues might occur.  The problem is that it might, actually, be perfectly fine - however certain things like bleeds, leaks, etc, can't be predicted.  Leaks are mostly a result of poor surgical technique.  Bleeds can occur for a variety of reasons.  Surgical complications can be theoretically predicted, however in the end no one knows for sure.  Could it increase post-op eating quality to move to pureed?  Well, sure, maybe.  You are gambling against getting complications.

One of the prices of weight loss surgery is that we must eat, sometimes, what we don't have a taste for or don't want to, in order to stay healthy.  Most typical people who are not obese tend to do this most of the time - they eat what is healthy even if they don't have a taste for it, necessarily.  Many of us have a different relationship with food.  Eating what we want because it tastes better/feels better/etc. is, sadly, often what got us into trouble in the first place.  I don't particularly like protein shakes either.  If I need protein, though, I don't eat something I can't eat yet instead.