Question:
2.5 weeks post-op and feel like pouch is TOO BIG!!
I am 2 and a half weeks post-op, and I really do think that my pouch is too big. I am able to drink 20 ounces of liquids in a matter of 15-20 mins. I was told by my nutritionist that my stomach should only hold 4oz. after surgery, so this is begining to worry me. Was it anything I did? Maybe a doctor's error? Also, right after I eat something pureed, I get this sick feeling/stomach pains. What's going on??? I chew like crazy!! AHHHH please help — nubiangodess624 (posted on August 13, 2008)
August 13, 2008
I am 13 days post op and I too can drink lots more liquid than I thought I
would be able to. I haven't tried pureed food yet but I can eat a whole
Jello pudding snack without any problem. Hopefully someone will tell us
this is normal.
Toni
— tlbledsoe
August 13, 2008
Don't panic. Liquids go right through u. they don't stay in the pouch and
just sit there for awhile like food does. Even though the stomach is small
the liquid drips right through. I, too,, could drink more and faster than
I expected but that's a good thing I think...it just means that it's going
to be easier to get your liquids.
For the person who replied to this post before mine, jello is just like a
liquid since by the time it hits your stomach it is melted.
It's normal for the heavier foods like purees and solids when you get to
them, to make you feel fuller and to feel a little sick. Your smaller
stomach is getting used to itself and there is still soreness from the
stitches and also swelling.
The fullness and sick feeling is part of the tool that you will use to
cause you to eat less and thus lose the weight. It's the whole yin and
yang thing....the good with the bad.
This is a hard thing to adjust to...to give up that love/hate relationship
with food.
I had my surgery almost 8 months ago though and I'm down 90 lbs. I feel SO
much better and I'm thrilled that I had the surgery, even though I still
feel disappointment at not being able to eat. Crazy, isn't it?
Best of luck to you.
— cjjordan
August 13, 2008
if it hurts no matter how much you eat you need to stop eating, normaly you
need to stop before it starts hurting, you need to take it slower. im 9
months post op and still need to pay attention to how fast i eat, im
getting better, also never drink while you eat, cus it move the food right
out of your tummy and into your small intestine and hurts cus its moved to
fast plus you end up eating way more then you should. at the least no
drinks 30 mins b4 or after.
— 100249023 Not A Number
August 13, 2008
20oz of liquid is completely different from 20oz of solid food. Liquid
goes right through the pouch. If you can hold 20oz. of food then you
should be worried.
— bariatricdivalatina
August 14, 2008
Try this cool experiment....Take a sandwich baggie...Cut one corner so a
pencil fits thru snuggly...No larger than that. Hold over the sink and
pour water into it. Watch how fast the baggie empties. Then pour some
cottage cheese or some other pureed food into the bag and watch how slowly
it pours out...Add a glass of water on top and you will see why a pouch can
feel soooo full and feel uncomfortable with water on top of food. Or how
some food washes out much faster with water too soon. Chunks will get
lodged and stuck causing pain when more food or water is eaten on top of
the food stuck. This is how your pouch works. After some time (About a
year 6-9 months) your stoma stretches from that pencil size opening to a
nickel size. So more food can go in and pass out more quickly. Your pouch
is not stretched, your stoma is. When you constantly place pressure on the
stoma, it is what stretches the most. Chew chew chew so food passes
without pulling...Don't drink while you eat...and don't drink carbonated
beverages that force air back up thru the stoma (causing belching and gas
and bloating) There is a method to the madness and there is a reason to
follow rules. Learn how your pouch works and you will put your mind at
ease. I'm a "visual" person. I can't do math in my head...I have
to see the numbers on paper or I jumble everything up. Give me a sheet of
paper though and i can do some serious figuring! Some of us just need to
"see" how things work in order to understand fully. Hope that
helps.
— .Anita R.
August 14, 2008
Liquids go right thru, and don't stretch your pouch. Just remember the 30
minute rule to eating and drinking and you will be fine. When your eating
put your spoon/fork down and eat very slowly. Your pouch is still healing.
The creamed soups are good at your phase, also, yogert s/f popcycles.
Good luck, you're gonna do fine!
— lesleigh07
August 14, 2008
What the others have said is true. 20 oz of liquid is not the same as 20 oz
of solids. But you're not supposed to be consuming liquids in that fashion
either, especially 2-1/2 weeks post surgery. Ask yourself, "Why am I
doing this? Why am I breaking the rules -- and so soon after surgery?"
If you are not going by the gameplan now, how is it going to be after your
"honeymoon period" is over. I suggest you get into a support
group *SOON*. Talk to the 'shrink' who provided your pre-surgery evaluation
about this. I'd close with 'Good Luck' but successful weight loss after
bariatric surgery involves determination on your part, NOT luck.
— [Deactivated Member]
August 14, 2008
I really, really like the ziplock baggie explanation that was given by
another poster. One thing that people seem to forget is that the pouch
has two holes... an entrance and an exit. Unless obstructed by food or
scar tissue, your pouch continually empties into your intestine. The
consistency/thickness of a food/drink determines how fast it empties. When
you drink, fluids go into the pouch via your mouth/esophagus and then flow
right back out into your intestines. Pureed foods can't flow through the
way liquids do... so your pouch fills up faster and empties slower than if
you were just drinking. The sick feeling / stomach pains are an indication
that you do indeed have a small pouch and that its getting full.
— mrsidknee
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