moving on to next stage

[monty 18]

Does anyone know if the reason food is restricted is because the stomach isn't ready for it. I am only 6 days post surgery and I am soooo hungry I tried some pureed navy Beans with a little shredded chedar on top.(about 1/4 cup) and it went down find and eased the hunger. Now I'm wondering if I am just ready to move on. Any one else experience this? Thanks

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

I recommend staying with your doctor's plan. Your sleeve is still swollen and you don't want to progress too fast and break through your stitch line. When I was at your stage, I started my anti acid medicine and would use warm broth to combat that feeling (which for me was acid, not hunger). Talk to your surgeon or nutritionist.

Good Luck.

[RickM 1,753]

You might be ready to progress, but it really depends upon what your doctor's program states - those are your default instructions. My program was puree and soft Proteins (and liquids as needed, of course) from the outset, so things like rice and Beans were on the menu the first month as tolerated; other programs call for liquids only for an extended time. It isn't particularly clear why there is such disparity between programs, whether some docs are more cautious due to inexperience with the sleeve and draw from their RNY experience on post op diet requirements, or if there is a difference in the surgical techniques used to make our sleeves that allow some patients to progress more rapidly than others. My doc's practice has been doing sleeves for about twenty years, so I have confidence that they know what is required for the care and feeding of a new sleeve (or at least their sleeves.) Maybe your docs don't have the confidence in their sleeves yet to allow more rapid progression, or possibly they have had some negative experiences with more rapid progression - I would not contradict their opinion on their work as they know what they have done to your insides.

If you are on one of these liquid intensive post op programs and feel that you are ready to go further, discuss it with your doc or their staff. People progress at different rates and their program should reflect that. If their practice is fairly new to the sleeve, they need the feedback to learn how to tailor their program to the needs of sleeve patients (my doc's guidebook has a section in it on "what we have learned from our patients".)

Good luck with it all - I know how tiring Soups and the like can get in a short time.

[monty 18]

Thanks so much for sharing that info. My doc is very expreienced having done over 5000. They recently changed the pureed to start the 21st instead of the 15th, so I think some people may have pushed the button too soon. I was wondering if another aspect might be that they have found putting pureed down might strech the sleeve too soon.. I know m y body and it's limits pretty well having gone thru 3 abdominal surgeriens none of which were for WL. I am very careful but sometimes it just feels lie the right thing to do. I think you're right about one size does not fit all. Thanks, again. the

You might be ready to progress, but it really depends upon what your doctor's program states - those are your default instructions. My program was puree and soft Proteins (and liquids as needed, of course) from the outset, so things like rice and Beans were on the menu the first month as tolerated; other programs call for liquids only for an extended time. It isn't particularly clear why there is such disparity between programs, whether some docs are more cautious due to inexperience with the sleeve and draw from their RNY experience on post op diet requirements, or if there is a difference in the surgical techniques used to make our sleeves that allow some patients to progress more rapidly than others. My doc's practice has been doing sleeves for about twenty years, so I have confidence that they know what is required for the care and feeding of a new sleeve (or at least their sleeves.) Maybe your docs don't have the confidence in their sleeves yet to allow more rapid progression, or possibly they have had some negative experiences with more rapid progression - I would not contradict their opinion on their work as they know what they have done to your insides.

If you are on one of these liquid intensive post op programs and feel that you are ready to go further, discuss it with your doc or their staff. People progress at different rates and their program should reflect that. If their practice is fairly new to the sleeve, they need the feedback to learn how to tailor their program to the needs of sleeve patients (my doc's guidebook has a section in it on "what we have learned from our patients".)

Good luck with it all - I know how tiring Soups and the like can get in a short time.