Question:
I am one week post-op, at one year post-op how much will I be able to eat?

Will I be able to have a Coor's lite and cheesesteak at the local hang out? If I take the family to a pizzeria or Mc Donald's?? Thanks!!!    — Kevin K. (posted on September 6, 2000)

September 6, 2000
I am having surgery 9/18/00 and I can only answer from the information I have gathered while researching this surgery. I would check into the increased risk of liver damage with alcohol and your surgery and also look at the calories you would be exchanging loosing for no benefit. you have come too far now to sabatoge yourself. The dumping syndrome would keep me away from the cheesecake and as far as mickey d's and pizza you can find something there you can eat. Hang on the results will be well worth what you are giving up. The years you are adding to your life by getting the weight off will be worth more to your family than a night out but by all means because we have surgery dont mean we quit having fun it is just the begining. Good Luck
   —  emma lavonne G.

September 6, 2000
You may want to try red wine before the Coor's Lite...no carbonation to stretch your tummy and good for the heart!
   — Allie B.

September 6, 2000
Hi Kevin: MMmmmm cheesesteak....LOL. I'm 13 1/2 months post-op. I can eat a slice of pizza with whatever toppings I choose. I eat cheesesteak, too, except I usually skip the bread. I can pretty much eat whatever I want. Last night's dinner was part of a pizza burger, a few bites of a salad, a few fries, and a few bites of cole slaw. As for the beer, carbonated beverages are NOT a good thing for us. And the alcohol, well, it's just different after WLS. One glass of wine can literally put me under the table if I drink it too fast! You have a lot to look forward to!
   — Jaye C.

September 9, 2000
I just asked this question of my surgeon: How much will the stomach stretch and how much will I eventually be able to eat? His response was: You start out with a pouch the size of a small egg and a stoma about the size of a dime (this is HIS procedure and practice, mind you, but I shouldn't think they veer that far off the mark from one surgeon to the next). He said over the next 6 months, you will be 'relearning' how to eat and kind of warned me that most seem to go through a struggle period of breaking old habits, etc., but that after 6 months, your pouch and stoma will have stretched a bit (enough for the stomach to hold approximately 1 cup of food, give or take 1/4 cup or so, though there are some patients who can eat as much as 2 cups at a sitting in time). I am going only by the doctor's response, as I'm still waiting for surgery, but hope that helps!
   — Michelle F.