Oh dear .. My doc shocked me ...

[hope2bhealthy 2]

sorry about my presumptious comment, because it seems to have disturbed a few people. i think the point is that every doctor has a different diet that they think their patients should stick to. mine, for example, only had me on Clear Liquids the day of the surgery, then i am on full liquids for 6 WEEKS, then mushies for 2 weeks, then (after 2 months) will finally be allowed to eat solid food. This is much stricter than most plans, and is made even more difficult by the fact that I am starving and am fully capable of handling regular food. (I know this because I cheat, but if I had most other doctors, I wouldn't be cheating). On the other hand, it seems that most docs make you wait 1.5 - 2 months for your first fill, and my doc fills every two weeks starting at week 2. so the point is, some are overly cautious (i would be too if i could get sued) and some aren't, but they probably all have their reasons. some people can tolerate solid food a week after their surgery (like me) and some can't. hence, regular food "as tolerated". that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't go slowly. but it also doesn't mean that your doctor hasn't done HIS homework. More likely, he understands that many people start cheating about this time because their swelling has gone down and they are hungry, and he figures that so many people are cheating and doing ok, that it really probably is ok to eat solid food this early, as long as you are doing it smartly and going slowly. and if he sanctions it, he's more likely going to get a call from someone who has a problem because they ate solid food, because they won't think that he's going to yell at them.

[HandInHand 0]

My post op diet is 2 weeks liquids (any liquids) which include Protein Shakes, the 1 to 2 weeks of mushies the normal food as tolerated. I just think every Doctor is different and goes by what they see as best.

Vikki

[Needol 0]

My post op diet was 3-4 days of clear liquids then mushies/soft foods for 1 week, then solid foods as tolerated. Everything has been going down fine so you shouldn't be too worried. All you have to do is make sure you chew really well. Trust me this is a good thing, because for me I didn't start getting my energy back until I started eating solid foods again.

[MacMadame 81]

It's true that every doctor seem to do things a bit differently, but I don't think that means that it's all okay. Some docs have better erosion and slip stats than others and I'm sure that their recommendations for post-op care feed into that.

Also, chewing your food to mush and having it be mush when it enters your mouth are not the same thing. The act of chewing your food generates saliva and that activates various parts of your digestive system. If you are "eating" mushies, that doesn't happen.

The whole purpose of being on the liquids and then the mushies is to keep your stomach quiet during the healing process. If it moves around digesting things, you increase your chance of the band not anchoring properly, which in turn can lead to slippage.

Now, it's true that the experts don't know 100% why slippage occurs and right now the advice not to eat solid food any sooner than 4-6 weeks out is based on theories. Maybe in 5-10 years, the advice will be different. But in the meantime, knowing what we know now, I would be very leery of advice to eat solid food any sooner than 4-6 weeks out and I'd be a bit skeptical of advice to wait any longer than that. We do know about how long it takes for our insides to heal and for most people that's 4-6 weeks, not 2 weeks and not 2 months.

[Gill27UK 0]

My doc told me to eat liquidy, mushie food for about a week then start introducing normal stuff chewed really well. To try and avoid heavy tough meats etc.

That's all.

:-)