Can I cheat a little?

Goop · December 31, 2006

I had surgery over 2 weeks ago, and am on a clear liquid diet plus Protein and a decent Vitamin regiment. I'll be on the liquid diet for 3 more weeks (it should be 2, but the doc is on vacation). Prior to surgery, I was on this stupid diet for over a month, and a low-food diet before that.

So I'm dying here, and it's driving me nuts that other people with other surgeons can have liquified food after 2 weeks. It doesn't make sense to me that I can have Protein shakes with pureed ice, or Jello or strained Soup, or my gritty "vitamin soup," but I can't have pureed, just as liquidy, regular food. Oh yeah, and I got permission to add tabasco to my bland food right now as well. I'm not talking about throwing a hamburger in the blender, but like dilluted, pureed chicken soup.

Also, my pre-op diet was an exception. Normally, my surgeon has people do a week of the liquid diet, but I was told rather off-hand to do a month. Post-op, others with the same surgeon have been able to start blended food after 2 weeks or so, but normally the surgeon doesn't have that "phase", but jumping straight to soft foods after the 1st fill at a month.

So is there any harm in cheating with blended soup? As I understand it, the post op diet is all about avoiding pressure and irritation. Well, blended soup won't irritate my stomach any more than the strained as I'm eating it now, and if it's as liquidy as a shake, then what's the problem? I'm losing weight really damn fast as well (My regular doc is actually a little concerned I'm losing too fast).

nikki32 · December 31, 2006

im not a doctor just a fellow bandster i have none of the restrictions that alot of you have ,im was allowed semi solid food after surgery but the same rules of chew chew chew dont swallow anything that not chewed to paste and eat slow(the most difficult )im 2 weeks and two days now and im on normal food really though i choose soft options and chew so still not solid when swallowed i would think a thin Soup would be ok ,but be warned as taste buds get flavourable food i think appetite rises quicker ,im still greatwith restriction but i think im dreaming of food more now food getting tastier.

sweethot143 · December 31, 2006

wow, i feel so bad for you! I had a one day preop diet of Clear Liquids, and thought i would die that day! from that day on I can not stomach broth. yuck.

I had a wicked migrane that one day, shaking, it was terrible.

I am now 2 weeks post op and am on mushies.

I would think that as long as it is the same consistency as your Protein Shakes and you are still getting as much Protein as your dr. reccomends then there would be no harm.

Sometimes dr.s vary from person to person, maybe it has to do with that particular person? Maybe your dr. is more strict with you for a reason, i don't know. but when I wnat to cheat or do what others are doing, i think about that. Maybe my dr. wanted me to do it this way for my own health. The dr. know's best, he's the one who has seen hundreds of patients and probablly knows what gets the best results.

marjon9 · December 31, 2006

Normally, my surgeon has people do a week of the liquid diet, but I was told rather off-hand to do a month.

I know nothing about your situation but just from what I read here I would wonder if your surgeon is a little sadistic. You might want ask if he/she was cruel to animals as a child. I'd also ask your surgeon if perhaps he/she owns a pair of thigh-high black leather boots and whip. :whip:

If I were you I would ask the surgeon directly the questions you are asking here, and ask for an explanation for your extreme diet requirements compared to others. ;)

shutuplena · December 31, 2006

Sounds like you're having a rough time, understandably. Quite frankly, everyone should always listen to their doctors as they are all different, but I feel for you. My doc said no solids for 6 wks. I was eating mushy and pureed solids 2 wks post op. I couldn't take it anymore. Blended Soup sounds like it should be ok just be careful of what's in it. Wish I could tell you more.

juliegeraci · December 31, 2006

I didn't blend my Soups. I ate creamy soups a lot. The cream of broccoli and celery go down just fine. If you were to cheat I would move onto yogurt. Its a little thicker than liquid but it will not kill you. Just try and eat stuff that goes through a straw. You should be fine. You are still healing. Good luck.

cinward2001 · December 31, 2006

Might there be some other reason why your doctor is being so strict with you? For example, do you really need to lose a lot of weight quickly because of heart problems, high blood pressure, etc? If you're starting out super morbidly obese, that might be part of why he's wanting you to have great results very quickly.

If I were you, I would question my surgeon directly, but until that time, try to see this as a positive thing. You ARE losing tons of weight and unless you continue for months and months to lose too rapidly, you should be fine. It sounds like you're getting plenty of Protein and Vitamins, so losing the fat is great...not something to worry about.

transformer · January 1, 2007

Sorry to hear about your suffering! I have to agree with the other folks that your first step should be to get in touch with your doctor's office as soon as they re-open after the holidays. I don't think it's a stupid question to ask why you have to stay on the liquids for so darn long. Maybe there's some good reason for torturing you...although I can't imagine what. Try to avoid wrapping your hands around your doctor's neck when you seem him though... :party:

The only other thing I can offer is that Tomato Soup and lowfat, low-sugar yogurt are an acceptable part of my own post-op liquid diet. I've also been having sugar free Jello and sugar free and fat free pudding. I'm just coming up on my first post-op appointment on January 3rd (2 weeks post-op). At that time, the doctor decides if I can move to real "pureed" foods. Again, make sure you're getting in your Protein, which will help keep your hunger at bay, at least for a little while!

Hope your clothes are already hanging off of you!

Goop · January 1, 2007

Thank you very, very much for the replies. I tell ya, I'm impressed with you guys.

Anyway, I decided to have some pureed Soup, with double the amount of liquid, and damn it was so good. Really, I don't think that was a big deal in retrospect, because I can have homemade "strained" soup, and this stuff would definitely have been able to go through a strainer.

But I think I'll heed all of your advice and not going to go any further until I talk to someone at the office or at least a fellow patient of the same surgeon. Maybe there's some slight variations in the procedure that would justify such vastly different nutritional plans... but I doubt it. It's funny, because I was great through Thanksgiving and Christmas, but that's when I believed there were a purpose to the diet. Now, the difference is that I don't see the purpose, and man that really screws with your psyche.

Might there be some other reason why your doctor is being so strict with you? For example, do you really need to lose a lot of weight quickly because of heart problems, high blood pressure, etc? If you're starting out super morbidly obese, that might be part of why he's wanting you to have great results very quickly.
If I were you, I would question my surgeon directly, but until that time, try to see this as a positive thing. You ARE losing tons of weight and unless you continue for months and months to lose too rapidly, you should be fine. It sounds like you're getting plenty of Protein and Vitamins, so losing the fat is great...not something to worry about.

Pre-op, there was cause for the liquid diet, which is that they wanted me to shrink my liver (the fat pads, that is. I don't have any liver problem). That and my stomach was probably the size of a trash bag, and it too has a fat layer. Of course, he didn't actually tell me that I was going to be on a different, extreme program and explain why, so this is me putting together the information after the fact.

So, I lost 50+ pounds. The weird thing about that is that I was losing weight pretty fast on a low-carb diet, so the idea that he switched me to the "nothing at all" diet a month before surgery seemed excessive. But, hey, apparently fatty livers can cause the surgery to be longer, trickier, and more dangerous. I can undestand that. However, I wish my doctor would have just asked how easily I can lose weight on my own and said "Pick what works for you, but you need to lose 50 pounds" and I would have done it.

Otherwise, I was told I'm in "excellent health for my weight." No comorbidities, normal BP, and I'm a 27 year old male. My regular doctor, who is also an internist, thinks I'm losing weight too fast. I lost 9 pounds last week, he wants to see 2.5/week max.

Sorry to hear about your suffering! I have to agree with the other folks that your first step should be to get in touch with your doctor's office as soon as they re-open after the holidays. I don't think it's a stupid question to ask why you have to stay on the liquids for so darn long. Maybe there's some good reason for torturing you...although I can't imagine what. Try to avoid wrapping your hands around your doctor's neck when you seem him though... :party:
The only other thing I can offer is that Tomato Soup and lowfat, low-sugar yogurt are an acceptable part of my own post-op liquid diet. I've also been having sugar free Jello and sugar free and fat free pudding. I'm just coming up on my first post-op appointment on January 3rd (2 weeks post-op). At that time, the doctor decides if I can move to real "pureed" foods. Again, make sure you're getting in your Protein, which will help keep your hunger at bay, at least for a little while!

Hope your clothes are already hanging off of you!

That reminds me, I have a few recipes from the doc's office that are for the "clear liquid diet" and they allow diet V8, clamato (yuck), and non-creamy broths or "strained soup." I also recall the nutrition class mentioning Tomato soup, saying it's fine if you dilute it or somehow magically find one that's like 6g of sugar per cup. Hooray!:woot: So that does seem to justify me just blending some regular soup, as long as it's liquidy enough and low-sugar.

Yeah, my clothes are becoming a pain. I was walking around last night with friends for New Years, and had to hold up my pants with one hand the entire time. This exact pair of pants was perfectly tight around my waist just months ago. I am amazed, but then what are you going to do when you're eating 2 calories of broth every meal but lose weight insanely fast?