Question:
Is anyone else having trouble with the liquid diet the first 6 weeks after surgery???

My surgery was 9/24/02. I am having a very hard time (some days) with the liquid diet. While I knew this surgery wasn't going to be a walk in the park, I miss being able to crunch and chew my food. Some days it gets to be worse than others. Going from the clear liquid stage to the full liquid stage was a good move, but 2 days later, I feel the same way again. I try to keep my mind on other things but by the end of the day it comes back to the subject at hand. Is there any thing to do to help calm this feeling?? I can't wait for the 6 weeks to end!!!! I really have a better appreciation for the food I was eating then versus what I'm able to eat right now. Someone help! This seems like it's going to be the longest 6 weeks of my life!    — wemax2 (posted on October 5, 2002)

October 5, 2002
Hi Wendolyn, I am not trying to question your surgeon here because every surgeon seems to be different as far as what they require for a post-op diet to follow. But 6 weeks on liquids sure seems like an awefully long time. My surgeon required 2 weeks of clear liquids and then I moved on to pureed. I know of some surgeons that start you out on pureed food an hour after surgery. I had a rough time with the 2 weeks of liquid so I can't imagine how it would be for 6 weeks! For me it wasn't so much the crunch and chewing that I missed but the feeling of being satisfied. I told my doctor I constantly felt hungry on the liquids and he said that was normal and would pass as soon as I ate something with a little more consistency. And when I started to eat pureed foods I did feel much better with that. But since that isn't your problem I'm not sure what to say. Perhaps you could ask your doctor if you could eat soups with soft cooked vegetables in it or perhaps eat a saltine cracker with your soup. But I would definately check with your doc about it. There must be some reason for 6 weeks of liquids. Although, I can't imagine what they are. LOL I hope that helps a little.
   — Laurel C.

October 5, 2002
I, too, hard a hard time with the pure liquid stage..I was supposed to be on it for 3 weeks, then move to pureed. Well, I managed to stick to the first 3 weeks, then skipped the pureed stage totally and just ate soft foods for the next 2 weeks, like scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, tuna salad..by week 5, on to salad (crunch finally!) and popcorn! I could not have lasted for 6 weeks. All docs are different-can't figure out why though some of them have you eating salads within a few days and others leave you on liquids for 6 weeks....
   — Cindy R.

October 5, 2002
I am having a little trouble with the whole thing myself. I did good on the clear liquid thing and then I made it almost all the way on the full liquid until the craving for egg salad hit I chopped up those eggs until they were almost pureed and threw a little ff mayo on there and OMG it was so good. I did not puke gage or dump then I had a bout a tsp on cottage cheese. My nutritionist said I was doing all that to early and that the stoma needed to heal but 5 of my other friends that had it done were on different types of food way earlier than me. I don't make a habit of going off the prescribed plan to much but I do take a bit of cottage cheese or an egg about every other day and it seems to help. I think that it is good to let ourselves heal and I am trying my level best to do what they say but those are my few little indiscretions and I feel fine Good Luck
   — Peggy A.