PostOp Diet... what can I have?

[mrsaizsha_101 23]

Hey everyone, I had surgery Oct.17th almost a week ago. Im unsure as to what I can have. I know a week after surgery its all Clear Liquids. Then its pureed foods? Im not able to see my nutritionist for at least 2 weeks but I want to make sure im staying on track. During the pureed food phase, how long is the phase, what do I stay away from and randomly can I have grits/oatmeal/mash potatoes?? Any advice would be great!!

[aelovelady 243]

Hi! I am on post-op day 8 and I can't speak for your doctor but my practice requires a diet of liquids for the first week. Diluted juice, flavored Water, etc with 4 oz of Protein drink 3 x per day. Yesterday I was able to begin tasting light yogurt, small curd cottage cheese, loose mashed potatoes, loose grits and no sugar added apple sauce. I can't say I don't desire to eat real food, but I know the consequences of opening my pouch up are sometimes fatal, so I am following my surgeons directions to a tee! Good luck to you!

[MsUjima 109]

My doctor gave me all this information in writing. Did yours? if not you should call his office immediately and request the information about the diet in writing. In my estimation it is far to complicated to do by memory.

Edited October 22, 2014 by MsUjima

[Jols 27]

Yes, I agree check with your doctor about the diet you should follow.

[Larly109 19]

Each doctor has their own recommendations and it's important to follow their guidelines. I'm surprised you don't have it all in writing - I received multiple copies during all my pre-surgery appointments and even more specific guidelines from my doctor immediately after surgery. I would definitely start by contacting your doctor.

[mrsaizsha_101 23]

Thanks everyone. My doctor has me seeing a nutritionist but she is over an hour away and I have to pay out of pocket just to hear whar I can and cannot have whivh sucks. I have been googling it but there are so many variations of what to do and not to do so I figured who better to ask than you guys.

[LisaCO 169]

Mrsaizha I understand how you feel I was confused 1 week out I had received a folder from my surgeons office & paper work from the hospital that had diff stages of food. I called my NUt & she said I could have five foods up to 3 weeks out including a Protein Shake & 64 ounces of Water. Cottage cheese, Beans, egg whites, yogurt & suger free pudding. The beans had to be pureed. This site has been very helpful. Everyone seems to have a different plan. Good luck on your journey. Sticking to your Dr's plan is always best.

[smiley922 447]

I had surgery on the 14th, and at this time I am allowed full liquids, which includes low fat creamy Soups, and yogurt with no fruit added, no pulp etc, with under 10 carbs per serving. same goes for the Protein drinks, under 10 carbs per serving, I have been using Premier Protein. This goes for 2 weeks post surgery, at the beginning of the third week, I can add the pureed foods, grits, 1 egg, refried Beans, with Protein added.

see if the NUT can email you your plan so you don't damage your pouch.

Edited October 24, 2014 by smiley922

[Wmwallace 7]

I had the surgery on the 8th of October and now I am on soft foods like cottage cheese, greek yogurt, broth, and of course Protein shakes and Water.

I am hoping to add tuna and eggs in the very near future.

[Jonathan Blue 311]

I strongly agree with the above comments to speak with your nutritionist and have a plan laid out. With that disclaimer said, the common consensus is that it will be a liquid diet the first week after surgery which it sounds like you have a pretty solid handle on. The next stage which you are asking about is the pureed food stage. For this, you want all the food you are eating to be the consistency of baby food. I actually know people who have just bought a bunch of cans of real baby food because the servings are the right size and the consistency is correct.

The first thing I ate on the pureed food diet was mashed potatoes and boy were they amazing. I made sure when making them that I made with fresh real potatoes, not that flaked junk. Then I was especially careful to blend them really well. They were a bit runnier than traditional mashed potatoes, but still tasted amazing. I would not recommend grits at this stage due to the nature of the grain used, but you can experiment with plain oats a little bit. Once again, you want to make sure it is the soupier consistency of baby food to make sure it does not clump in your stomach. A side note for the oats is to be especially careful to eat them slowly. The oats will expand in your stomach and can stretch things out a little bit so slow and steady is the name of the game. I would even go so far as to recommend when you are eating it to consume about half of the serving size they are recommending during the pureed stage.

Every adapts to new foods and to each stage in their own way. Just take your time and slowly add new things into the diet every couple meals. You will be on this stage for about two weeks. Caution is key here. One thing that was really helpful for me was to cook in bulk. I would make two whole potatoes into pureed potatoes for example. Then I would portion them into a bunch of little plastic containers and store in the fridge. Every time it was time to eat for a couple meals, all I would need to do is pull one out and pop it into the microwave for a minute. This helped me not have to be cooking like crazy or have to alter my cooking style too drastically to keep up with the smaller portions. I would usually have two or three different purees in my fridge at any given time.

Best of luck to you. This is truly and amazing journey and you are right on the cusp of the incredible experience of rediscovering your body and all of the remarkable things it can do. Take your time and enjoy it. It may annoy you know, but in a year you will look back fondly at how far you have come. I am so excited for you. If there is anything I can do or you have any additional questions let me know. I used to work as a Chef for Walt Disney World, so the cooking part of the journey and trying to figure out how to make the things I enjoyed healthy was so much fun for me. If you need any pureed food recipes just reach out to one of the links below to contact me directly.

[gaudjosl 22]

pudding is my fav lol. I am on day 8 as surgery was Oct 16. I have oatmeal and creamy Soups with mushed carrots. I'll do rutabaga tomorrow. Greek yogurt I tried again today. It has been giving me the runs. Trying to balance getting 60 to 80 grams of Protein ( seems impossible) and drinking Water. I love this sleeve!

[mrsaizsha_101 23]

I strongly agree with the above comments to speak with your nutritionist and have a plan laid out. With that disclaimer said, the common consensus is that it will be a liquid diet the first week after surgery which it sounds like you have a pretty solid handle on. The next stage which you are asking about is the pureed food stage. For this, you want all the food you are eating to be the consistency of baby food. I actually know people who have just bought a bunch of cans of real baby food because the servings are the right size and the consistency is correct.

The first thing I ate on the pureed food diet was mashed potatoes and boy were they amazing. I made sure when making them that I made with fresh real potatoes, not that flaked junk. Then I was especially careful to blend them really well. They were a bit runnier than traditional mashed potatoes, but still tasted amazing. I would not recommend grits at this stage due to the nature of the grain used, but you can experiment with plain oats a little bit. Once again, you want to make sure it is the soupier consistency of baby food to make sure it does not clump in your stomach. A side note for the oats is to be especially careful to eat them slowly. The oats will expand in your stomach and can stretch things out a little bit so slow and steady is the name of the game. I would even go so far as to recommend when you are eating it to consume about half of the serving size they are recommending during the pureed stage.

Every adapts to new foods and to each stage in their own way. Just take your time and slowly add new things into the diet every couple meals. You will be on this stage for about two weeks. Caution is key here. One thing that was really helpful for me was to cook in bulk. I would make two whole potatoes into pureed potatoes for example. Then I would portion them into a bunch of little plastic containers and store in the fridge. Every time it was time to eat for a couple meals, all I would need to do is pull one out and pop it into the microwave for a minute. This helped me not have to be cooking like crazy or have to alter my cooking style too drastically to keep up with the smaller portions. I would usually have two or three different purees in my fridge at any given time.

Best of luck to you. This is truly and amazing journey and you are right on the cusp of the incredible experience of rediscovering your body and all of the remarkable things it can do. Take your time and enjoy it. It may annoy you know, but in a year you will look back fondly at how far you have come. I am so excited for you. If there is anything I can do or you have any additional questions let me know. I used to work as a Chef for Walt Disney World, so the cooking part of the journey and trying to figure out how to make the things I enjoyed healthy was so much fun for me. If you need any pureed food recipes just reach out to one of the links below to contact me directly.

Thank you for all your advice! I would love to know some of your recipes. Which one is your favorite?