Question:
What exactly happens to your pouch....

When you are newly post op and not careful. I have read a lot of posts where people say, be careful because your pouch is still healing. I'm just wondering what happens if your not careful? The reason I'm asking is because i am 2 weeks post op and my surgeon said go ahead and try regular foods, just chew well and if you get sick don't eat it again for a while. Well a lot of people say they don't eat solids until 4 weeks out. So can it cause a leak, or just irritate your pouch? Everything I eat goes down just fine and I never push it to the point where I get full. Anyway, thank you! Amber    — Amber F. (posted on January 17, 2003)

January 16, 2003
I'm guessing you will get lots of different answers to this, as the doctors differ on this subject. I was never on clear liquids, but puree food for the first week. Then it was soft food and solids as tolerated. He believes the pouch must get use to normal food. Of course I'm to make good low fat, very low carb. choices.
   — barbara A.

January 16, 2003
My doctor said not to eat solids for six weeks. Just liquids and soft food to give the stomach a chance to heal.. I'm sure all surgeons are different though.
   — April N.

January 16, 2003
My MD starts you on solids at 2 weeks- soft foods, srambled egg, tuna, mashed pot, oatmeal, cream of wheat. Adding smoething differnt each week- Your stomach had been cut- and the tissues need to heal- just take very small bites, chew well, if something doesnt work today try it again next week or the week after- If you do not overeat you will not stretch your pouch-but you can irritate the tissue- and you will throw up if you eat what your pouch does not like! Good Luck Amber- Relax.
   — ~~Stacie~~

January 16, 2003
Amber - My Dr. also required 2 weeks liquids only, then 6 weeks pureed then soft. But a good friend of mine with a different surgeon went home from the hospital eating regular food. When I asked my surgeon why there are so many differences between each surgeon, he said he used to let patients eat right after surgery, but found that some people would "over-do it" to soon and have pain. It probably hasn't happened to you yet, but if you overeat or get something stuck.. IT HURTS, very bad. Well, to sum things up he found that people were doing this and then complaining of awful pain and only to find out (after running several expesive medical tests) that these individuals were over-eating/eating to fast/taking to large of bites..... Follow you Dr. plan, but remember to eat slow, take small bites and get your fluids in. You don't want to get anything stuck, it's only happened to me once, but the pain was awful, and it hurt for 1-1/2 days to even drink water after that. (it was an iron pill... only chewable vitamins for me now!) I hope in all my rambling that I answered your question. LOL
   — Dana B.

January 16, 2003
Amber, my surgeon said liquids for 2 weeks, then pureed for 2 weeks, after 2 weeks of liquid I started with pureed for a couple of days then tried some regular foods, I told the surgeon and dietician, and they both said if my stomach is doing okay with it, then go for it. Every doc has there own oppinion and rules to follow. Good Luck to you. (open RNY 11/14/02)
   — Amy Hoffman

January 16, 2003
Amber<br>Someone explained the pouch to me as being like that of a newborn baby's stomach. A new born baby starts out with watered down formula or mother's breast milk. Very weak liquids. Then they graduate to stronger formula, then to soft foods and eventually to solid foods. My doctor starts us out on clear liquids for about 2 weeks, then creamy liquids for 4 more weeks, then soft food for six more weeks. After that we can try anything we want. If you get sick, we are advised (as one other post put it) to try it again later on. Sometimes we cannot eat something one week, but we can in a couple of weeks. We are always advise to chew, chew, chew after the liquid stage. We have been given this tool, and we should take care of it. We should treat it like a new born baby's stomache. It is only for a few short weeks (and they do go by faster than you think at the time). I hope this helps. I may not have explained it very well, but I tried.
   — Jessie D.

January 17, 2003
Amber, early post-op, your new pouch and the stoma opening are swollen and irritated from surgery. So, there is not much room to put food into or for food to leave the pouch, so liquids work best. Doctors will tell you that they have all had patients that did not follow the liquid stages and were in the emergency room for blocked stomas that were blocked by small items like a pea. Also, until your pouch irritation calms down, lots of food will make you sick so best to start slow and easy.
   — Cindy R.

January 17, 2003
I started real food at 12 days post-op. My first meal was thin Cream of Wheat. Then the next meal was scrambled eggs, then baked potato, refried beans, canned tuna mixed with a little Miracle Whip. By the time I was 2 1/2 weeks out, I was eating baked fish and cooked veggies - not pureed. I had no problems at all til one night I had a piece of fish that was too dry - it came right back up. My advice to you is to follow your doctor's instructions - it is really a trial and error proposition. By the time I was six weeks post-op I was eating steak and caesar salad (on my son's 18th birthday) and it was great. Hope this helps Open RNY 11/29/01 -160 pounds and waiting for TT
   — Patty_Butler