Question:
Need Help Again - This time SALADS

OK all of you great post-ops! I am alomst 8 weeks out and have the go ahead to try salads. I'm scared to death!! I have been SO lucky, and not thrown up once. I have been very dilligent with my eating plans, only eating what the Dr. OK's. I'm good with chicken, fish, and some ground turkey and lean ground sirloin. I hardly get any cooked veggies in me, because I am full after the protein portion. I want to try a salad, with some grilled chicken, maybe some cukes, etc. I have not EVEN tried any sugar for fear of dumping, but salads are good for me, but I am so scared of getting sick off them. (Do I need therapy or what???) So, I am looking for input here....when is the first time you had salad? How did it go? Is 8 weeks too early? I am dying for some pieces of shaved carrot or a bite of cole slaw!! HELP!! :) Renee D    — Renee D. (posted on November 5, 2002)

November 5, 2002
I had salads at 5 weeks post...I was craving them soooo much at that point. They went down real well for me...and because of the natural "fiber" they kept me "going" at that point...It was wonderful!!! I still enjoy salads all the time...I eat them when we go out to dinner because I can eat a large size salad because of the way they break down. It's great. Good Luck and Have a Sparkling Day!! ~CAE~
   — Mustang

November 5, 2002
Hi Renee! I tried my first salad at about 6 weeks post op. I didn't have any problems with it but I sure did it chew it to death :). However, salad dressings (all kinds, even fat free) make me really sick. The veges however were wonderful. Don't be afraid to eat your salads....just chew them really well. Good luck!
   — Jamie H.

November 5, 2002
When I was 8 weeks post-op, I had my first salad, a taco salad. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! It was so good, and did not bother me at all. I eat a lot of salads now with low fat, or non fat dressings, and have not felt sick at all! So, my advice to you is go for it!
   — januaryrn

November 5, 2002
Coleslaw from KFC: 3 weeks out - chewed Very well! Salad with carrot shavings, lettuce, cukes and tomato: 3 or 4 weeks out. Tomato salad (tomatoes chopped and skinned with dressing: 2 or 3 weeks out.
   — [Deactivated Member]

November 5, 2002
I am 11 months post-op and had my first salad at 6 weeks. I only had a couple of bites but it was so good. I had Casear Salad so it was mostly lettuce and croutons and cheese but it was great and I had no trouble with it at all. I have made salad a regular part of my eating plan since. I use regualar dressings but only drizzle a very small amount on the salad. One of my favorites is the Chicken Mandarin salad from Wendy's. I usually make at least two and soemtimes three meals from it. By the way, as you progress further you will find that you can eat a lot of salad - that is not a problem as the lettuce is mostly water and goes right through the pouch. My advice to you is that you start with a salad mostly of lettuce and cukes (peel the cucumber) and eat a very tiny amount to see how it works. Salad dressing will help it go through also. Open RNY 11/29/01 -156 pounds
   — Patty_Butler

November 6, 2002
Well all of the other poster had salad really early. We (All of my surgeons patients) didn't get salad until 4 months post - op. I handled them fine by then. Make sure you peel the cukes. Chew and Chew and Chew.
   — Sharon H.

November 7, 2002
Original poster here....THANKS SO MUCH! Well, I went ahead and tried a little romaine lettuce with some cubed chicken and cukes and a little dressing. I though I was in heaven! Everything stayed down, and didn't bother me at all. So, I am over my salad phobia! Thanks again! Renee
   — Renee D.