Question:
I am going to put myself on soft foods.

Surgery on 6/4/01 and having real problems with liquid diet. I am sick of soup, and jello. My DR. says six weeks of this and I simply cannot do it. I am going to put myself on a soft diet. I have read where some DRS do this at one or two weeks post op so I dont see what it will hurt. I am getting in all my water and walking. Anyone else take there self off liquid diet before DR said ok? Karen    — KAREN T. (posted on June 16, 2001)

June 16, 2001
Karen, the purpose of the liquid diet is to allow your insides to heal. If we eat solids too soon, we may disrupt our staple/suture line inside the pouch. However, I would agree that 6 weeks of liquid is a bit much. My surgeon recommends 2-3 weeks of liquid then 4 weeks of pureed before switching to soft/solid diet. I recommend you discuss this with your doctor. He may be able to explain to you his rationale for the 6 weeks of liquid.
   — Melissa A.

June 16, 2001
Every surgeon has a different protocol for a post op diet. Six weeks seems like a long time to me, too. I'm sure he/she has a reason for this time frame. PLEASE-PLEASE contact your surgeon before doing anything!!! Even though it seems drastic, I'm sure you would not want to do anything to endanger yourself. You did this to be healthier right? It would be a shame if you did it all for nothing. LISTEN TO YOUR SURGEON, believe it or not, he/she knows what they are talking about. HAVE TRUST!
   — [Anonymous]

June 16, 2001
My surgeon has twenty years of experience with various forms of WLS. He has his patients on pureed soft food IN THE HOSPITAL! We get pureed meat, veggies, and mashed potatoes on day three. I'm sure every surgeon has their ideas and reasons behind this. My surgeon and his colleague are doing 30+ patients a month (sixteen next week alone!) and he has a less than 1% leak rate.
   — PT LawMom

June 16, 2001
The surgeon I was first going to use had his patients eating soft/pureed foods while still in the hospital. I ended up using a different surgeon (insurance network problems). I had WLS on 4/13/01 and my doctor who did the surgery said to go to soft/puree diet on 4/23/01 which was 10 or 11 days post-op. I could barely stand staying on clear liquids that long. I actually started trying a small amount of soft/pureed foods a day early (mashed potatoes and sugar free Fudgcicles). 6 weeks seems like an impossilbe amount of time to drink only clear liquids and I know I could not have done it. Like you, I had the lap/rny but proximal. I see you had distal and I don't know if how much was bypassed makes a difference in how long you have to stay on clear liquids. People who've had the distal bypass can answer that better. Maybe your surgeon will meet you half-way, like letting you have strained baby foods (add canned broths to make them more liquidy), soupy mashed potatoes, blenderized soups, etc. I have one of those Thunder Sticks which really does a good job pulverizing food, especially when you add liquids. If a newborn baby can eat strained baby foods, you should be able to tolerate them too. Check with him and let him know how desperate you are. Remind him how many doctors allow their patients to eat the soft/pureed diet much earlier than he does - he should know that already but maybe he doesn't. Ask him if there is a medical reason for having to wait 6 weeks and tell him you don't want to do something out of desperation that could jeopardize your surgery - neither one of you wants that. Hopefully, if you explain everything to him he will make some compromises. Good luck.
   — [Anonymous]