How soon after surgery could you eat

BIGDSWIFE · May 6, 2008

My husband, like most of you i'm sure is so sick of Soup that he could spit. I know all doctors are different, so I was wondering how soon after surgery were you allowed to have mushies. He is down 33 pounds since Feb. 23 when we went for the seminar and has been on liquieds for 3 weeks. I know we should follow the dietians orders, I am just asking for the different opinions from everyones doctor. Thanks.

schoolrn · May 6, 2008

I was banded on Tuesday April 29th & my dr. has us do 2 wks of liquids then 2 wks of mushies, then advance slowly as tolerated. I know two people that had my same band date are already on mushies. Today has been the first day that I have felt hungry. I do think that we have to follow our own dr.'s instructions (as much as I hate saying that). 33#'s is a great weight loss! Congrats. Sharon

kbinaz · May 6, 2008

I was told to do Clear Liquids for three days, then on day 4 (surgery day was day 1) I was allowed soft Proteins. (chicken, turkey, cottage cheese, lowfat/low sugar yogurt, refried Beans, tofu). Three weeks on full liquids seems a little much to me - I feel your pain! Yuk!

DaisyMay · May 6, 2008

Hi. I was banded on April 29. I have to be on full liquids for three weeks following surgery and then on pureed/mushy food for another three weeks. I have lost 28 pounds since I started the pre-op diet. My surgeon says the reason for the full liquids and then pureed foods is to protect the internal surgical sites and not for weight loss. He says it takes six full weeks for the scar tissue to hold securely to be sure there is no slippage or other problem with the band. He says that although it could be safe for some patients to eat regular food sooner, you never know and shouldn't push it. I'm self pay and since I already wrote checks for $14,000 I'm going to try to follow instructions to the letter as I really don't want to have to pay for a fix if I mess something up. That being said, IT IS REALLY HARD!! Today is the first day I've felt any hunger since the surgery. I'm sick of sweet Protein Shakes and I'm sick of Soup (I was on a mostly liquid diet for six weeks prior to surgery). I'm struggling every day to look at the long-term benefits and not give in to the short term temptations. It's a very frustrating process. Very exciting but very frustrating!

R Ellie · May 6, 2008

Hi, I'm new to the forum. I'm scheduled for surgery May 22. I start my liquids on Thursday. I'm not looking forward to them. I love to cook and eat what I cook. I am a self pay from Arkansas. Surgery in Little Rock. I'm going to need all the help I can get, but I really do want to lose the weight.

Edited May 6, 2008 by R Ellie

pearlygirl · May 6, 2008

I was clears for two days, fulls until the end of the first week and then soft Proteins as stated above on PO day 8.

NewDiva2008 · May 6, 2008

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks post op for me. I am on soft foods now. As long as I chew everything really well and take small bites, I've been ok. No vomit episodes for me yet. My first fill is May 19 and I am so excited. I feel hungry at times and know I can't eat much. I've also been walking a mile every day. Tomorrow I'll increase it to 1 1/2 miles.

faithmd · May 6, 2008

My husband, like most of you i'm sure is so sick of Soup that he could spit. I know all doctors are different, so I was wondering how soon after surgery were you allowed to have mushies. He is down 33 pounds since Feb. 23 when we went for the seminar and has been on liquieds for 3 weeks. I know we should follow the dietians orders, I am just asking for the different opinions from everyones doctor. Thanks.

Please do not take this wrong, I do not mean it to be rude, but there is no other way to say this:

If you already know your husband should follow his dietitian's or MD's orders, then what does it serve to know what others can do with their diets? What I did with mine, or what another bandster could do means nothing to your husband's recovery.

See there was no way to sugar coat that.

I guess I get a little frustrated when I see the literally SCORES of threads here like this that either ask how soon folks were able to progress through the stages, or asking if they screwed up their band by eating X. What matters is what your MD or dietician said to do. Every MD seems to be different, there are many reasons for it. I think it is just important to follow your office's advice and remember that it is NEVER wrong to go MORE slowly through the stages.

Good luck! This is the worst part, Bandster Hell. Don't have restriction, can't eat, it stinks! But it DOES pass. We haven't gotten fat in six or eight weeks time, surely we can take that long to follow a diet plan for that long to protect the tool that may help us lose the weight once and for all.

BIGDSWIFE · May 6, 2008

Please do not take this wrong, I do not mean it to be rude, but there is no other way to say this:

If you already know your husband should follow his dietitian's or MD's orders, then what does it serve to know what others can do with their diets? What I did with mine, or what another bandster could do means nothing to your husband's recovery.

There was no other way to take that other than rude. We are following doctors orders, and if you are sick of countless threads, then quit reading them. I was more curious than anything to see how everyone progesses. I have watched him lose and gain 80-90 pounds several different times and this was our last effort at a normal life. Trust me, after paying $13,000 we wont be messing this up. I totally agree with what daisy said. Forgive me for asking what others have been told

aubrie · May 6, 2008

4 days clear liquids, 2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks mushies, 1 week soft solids and then a regular diet.

BIGDSWIFE · May 6, 2008

Thanks for all the input. It is truely amazing that when the band is the same that the doctors all have different views and requirements. Good luck to all.

faithmd · May 6, 2008

That's kind of my point (re: doc's being soooo different), and I'm sorry what I said couldn't have been said nicer.

It IS VERY frustrating to read how even though it is the same three bands (Mid, Realize/Swedish or LapBand), the diets vary GREATLY. I know when I was in that first few weeks post-op I was quite flummoxed as to why someone else was allowed mushies at a week out and I had to wait until week three.

The reasons are as varied as the surgeon's opinions. Here's a couple, and some of these the surgeons will likely never admit to.

1) Experience, either loads or lack of.

For example, some docs who have been banding for years and following the same diet for years will always follow that diet.

Other docs who may have only done bypasses may tend to keep their bandsters on more of a bypass-type diet just because that's what they know.

Some docs may have little experience (more and more and more surgeons are jumping on the Bariatric Cash Wagon) and are going with what they read in a journal article that says it's okay to advance faster through the stages because the bands today are wider and *shouldn't* be as likely to slip.

Some docs just simply don't know.

2) Surgical technique: Almost everyone now uses the pars flaccida technique, studies have shown it to be the most secure and have less slips than the older way. With Pars Flaccida some docs think the "extra" stitches should prevent slips.

3) Here's the tough one: Docs are probably sick of us calling and begging to "chew something" and that we will "die" if we can't eat. So they relent earlier and earlier thinking that as long as they tell us to chew really well, hopefully we'll be alright.

4) It's what they learned from whoever trained them.

Did you know that in order to be considered proficient and able to train others (proctor) to place a band, a surgeon only has to have done 100 her/himself? That's not that many.

Hope this helps answer the question about why it is so different.

I'd love to see stats for slippage and erosion in a couple of years with these faster stage diets. We simply don't know, but we do know the slippage rates for those who use longer liquid stages and they are lower than those who didn't. But then again, it could be argued that those numbers are with the older, smooth, narrower bands.

Bosh · May 6, 2008

That's kind of my point (re: doc's being soooo different), and I'm sorry what I said couldn't have been said nicer.
It IS VERY frustrating to read how even though it is the same three bands (Mid, Realize/Swedish or LapBand), the diets vary GREATLY. I know when I was in that first few weeks post-op I was quite flummoxed as to why someone else was allowed mushies at a week out and I had to wait until week three.

The reasons are as varied as the surgeon's opinions. Here's a couple, and some of these the surgeons will likely never admit to.

1) Experience, either loads or lack of.

For example, some docs who have been banding for years and following the same diet for years will always follow that diet.

Other docs who may have only done bypasses may tend to keep their bandsters on more of a bypass-type diet just because that's what they know.

Some docs may have little experience (more and more and more surgeons are jumping on the Bariatric Cash Wagon) and are going with what they read in a journal article that says it's okay to advance faster through the stages because the bands today are wider and *shouldn't* be as likely to slip.

Some docs just simply don't know.

2) Surgical technique: Almost everyone now uses the pars flaccida technique, studies have shown it to be the most secure and have less slips than the older way. With Pars Flaccida some docs think the "extra" stitches should prevent slips.

3) Here's the tough one: Docs are probably sick of us calling and begging to "chew something" and that we will "die" if we can't eat. So they relent earlier and earlier thinking that as long as they tell us to chew really well, hopefully we'll be alright.

4) It's what they learned from whoever trained them.

Did you know that in order to be considered proficient and able to train others (proctor) to place a band, a surgeon only has to have done 100 her/himself? That's not that many.

Hope this helps answer the question about why it is so different.

I'd love to see stats for slippage and erosion in a couple of years with these faster stage diets. We simply don't know, but we do know the slippage rates for those who use longer liquid stages and they are lower than those who didn't. But then again, it could be argued that those numbers are with the older, smooth, narrower bands.

Hello All,

This is my first post and I am one week post op. My surgery went without a hitch and stayed overnite - haven't needed pain meds much at all. (the surgery was HEAPS easier than laproscopic gallbladder surgery 5 years ago) I live outside of the USA (though American). I have a bariatric surgeon who has been doing lapbands for many years with no major complications.

He is nice, competent and RIGID.

Post op - 1 month liquids, 1 month mushies, then intro back on solids.

(plus the 2 weeks preop on Optifast - which, as I understand it, is more to reduce fatty liver size for easier access to upper stomach than weight loss)

After reading and researching HEAPS...only when talking to surgeon did I realise that "slippage" is not the "band slipping", but the lower part of stomach "slipping" up past stoma (band) into upper stomach (above band) and it can happen when you vomit. My band is a soft AMI gastric band... I am not sure how often they are used in the USA, (the photos of lapbands always look to be hard plastic). The fact that the band is completely pliable impacts ALOT on the problem of erosion... And as you mentioned there is no SET STANDARD yet for the surgery so none of us should hold our breathe for comparative statistics in the near future :-(

And so we are all faced with the "problem" that there are NO longterm research results about the band because they simply have not been used "for a long time" yet. And of course patient compliance varies....

I have been involved with healthcare my whole adult life....

Even if you (or I AND the surgeon) do EVERYTHING RIGHT...we can end up with complications! So please reconsider and err on the side of conservative....hang in there (and don't hold your breath)!!!!

regards

Bosh

kbinaz · May 7, 2008

My doctor has done over 3,000 lap band surgeries and I was allowed soft Proteins on day 4 after surgery. She is extremely competent, her center is a Center of Excellence, and she has an extremely low complication rate. I also do not think it is wise to not listen to your doctor's instructions, but boy am I thankful I chose the doctor I did because honestly I don't think I could have done 3 weeks of liquids!