Question:
I'm confused about sugar & carbs. Which soft foods did y'all eat immediately post-op?

I have never been one who liked yogurt or cottage cheese (yuk!) or malt-o-meal. I read a lot of people saying that is what they eat on their pureed stage. I went to the grocery store last night to get some of these things so I could get used to them before my surgery,and everything I picked up had sugar and carbs in varying amounts. All of the yogurt had anywhere from 11 to 27 grams of sugar, cream of wheat and oatmeal had around 21. Is that an acceptable amount? I have read to stay around 6 or below, but nothing I found had that amount. Help!! What are y'all eating? Thanks. Becky Killough    — Becky K. (posted on January 22, 2003)

January 21, 2003
Immediately pre-op That is pretty much all your new tummy can handle. There really aren't alot of "high" protein low carb things that are that soft. I ate alot of SF pudding, malt-o-meal, mashed taters,yogurt and cream soups with powdered milk mixed in for protein in fact anything that you would or could put that powdered milk in I did. My doc said not to really worry about the carbs at that stage, just because they were trying to get us eating and letting our pouches heal I was not made to do a liquid diet once I was out of the Hospital and was eating a hamb pattie 2 weeks out so my surgeon advances us a little faster than most I think. But I had my energy back at 3 weeks and have had NO problems with food at all. Once you are able to eat "real" food then start being concerned about the carbs. Until then just relax, get your water in and let yourself heal!! Good luck with your surgery!!!
   — Deanna_K

January 21, 2003
I never liked yogurt before surgery either, but now love it. My favorite is Dannon Light 'n Fit (peach, strawberry and cherry...yum) they have 8 grams of sugar per 4 oz. serving. Keep in mind though that at first you will not be able to eat that much. Some of the other early post-op choices were, chicken broth, sf jello and pudding, sf popsicles, sf carnation breakfast. The main thing early post-op is fluids, you are not going to get enough protein real early and that's normal, but drink, drink, drink.
   — Dana B.

January 22, 2003
There are other soft foods, like cheese, soft scrambled eggs and my favorite early post-op was egg drop soup. Check the type of sugar in some of these products, in the Dannon Lite yougurt, I believe it is aspartame and not real sugar. You'll notice canned fruits in their own juice are high in sugar too, but in most cases it is fructose-natural sugar from fruit and not the kind that makes up dump. Also keep in mind that when the label says so many grams per serving, early on you are not getting a whole serving of anything! Good luck.
   — Cindy R.