Question:
How do you get enough water?

I know you're supposed to have 64 oz water/day...but how do you do it after wls surgery? doesn't it stretch out your stomach?    — heather D. (posted on December 21, 2000)

December 21, 2000
Hi: I'm almost 9 mo. postop RNY and have never had a problem drinking. I don't 'gulp' but I do drink normally. I can drink an entire Snapple in a few minutes.
   — Cindy H.

December 21, 2000
I was nervous about this at first too. I took tiny sips of water all day long, thinking I had to protect my pouch. But that made it awful hard to get my 64 ounces in. I had some other problems with nausea and my doctor ordered a barium swallow test to make sure my pouch was working properly (about 10 days post-op). In the test, I stood behind an "x-ray" panel and took drinks of the (yucky) barium liquid while the radiologist watched it go through with the fluoroscope. The fluoroscope screen was facing toward me so I got to watch all the action "live". It was a neat thing to see, and I watched each swallow of liquid go into my pouch and continue with barely a pause through my stoma and into my small intestine. My pouch was working perfectly, and after that I was not so nervous about drinking my liquids at a more normal pace. As long as your stoma is not closed up with swelling or scar tissue, liquids will not sit in your pouch and fill it up. Listen to your body, and you will be able to tell if you are doing something wrong. Otherwise just follow doctors orders and you will be fine.
   — Lynn K.

December 21, 2000
Can I expand on this question? Are you guys saying I can drink normally, as long as I don't gulp? What would happen should I forget and I gulp about a cup of water? Also, if we're drinking all day, sip, sip, do we have to go to the bathroom more often?
   — Kristy J.

December 21, 2000
I guess I can't really say what would be ok for you. But for me, drinking normally works perfectly fine. If you are newly post-op, you may have to work up to this gradually, because there may still be some swelling in your pouch. You don't really have to be afraid though, just listen to your own body. If you drink too much or too fast, it will feel very uncomfortable, and you might vomit. I think it is very unlikely that you would injure yourself. Also, I think you do have to use the bathroom more often in the early months. Your body will be burning fat, and eliminating alot of the toxins and by-products of the fat, so you need plenty of fluids passing through to help wash all that out of you.
   — Lynn K.

December 21, 2000
I have no problems at all with drinking. While I was healing, I did drink slower because I wasn't sure what I could handle, but now I can take long drinks (not chugging by any means, but definitely a couple of swallows in one drink) and I can do that several times in a row and feel no different.
   — Beth B.