Chris L.

IT will get better, first few days are the worst, it will get better every day. I have had more trouble with cold than anything. room temperature water is not very appitizing. but still better than protein shakes

This is a tough time of year to have a bypass. I'm 2 weeks post-op yesterday. Christmas was super difficult for me too. Everything kind of hit me all at once. The thought of drinking another protein shake makes my stomach turn. Plus this was the first Christmas in a long time that we had dinner at my house and being around all those smells was extremely difficult. on top of all that with Christmas coming on Monday I had 3 days home while my wife cooked. In the end I did allow myself a couple spoonfulls of Ham, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes but i avoided all of the sweets. Its gotten better now that i'm back to my usual work schedule and what i'm going to eat next is not the first thing on my mind.

The way my nutritionist explained it to me was that the protein in foods won't absorb properly unless it is broken down by stomach acid. And since we have such a small pouch and on top of that are on acid reducers for the first year, the food needs to spend as much time in the pouch as possible. Plus you stay full longer. So for me, not drinking for an hour after meals is a small price to pay for the results i'm having.