Update, and a few food questions - ThinnerTimes

electrichoney · 03-09-2007, 09:24 AM

Hi everyone -- I'm now 10 days post-op and just getting back to reading the TT forum. My surgery was Tuesday, February 27, and boy, do I ever know why you guys call the first week Hell Week!! I had an open RNY and my hospital stay (4 days) was truly hellish. I retained 10 pounds of fluid due to the IV drip, had serious allergic itching and nausea from the anesthesia, got no relief from pain meds, and was basically miserable for the last two days. The absolute worst was Thursday of that week when I had to go to X-ray for the upper GI series. I was in so much pain that it hurt to even move, and then I had climb up on the x-ray table, lay flat on my back and drink that nasty barium crap. I just wanted to die! But everything went well and I'm now recuperating comfortably at home (YAY!!). My mom stayed with me for the first four days or so to help me out and after she went back to work she's been stopping by a couple of times a day to help me bathe and do basic house stuff. I absolutely wouldn't have been able to do this without her.

It took several days back at home to lose to fluid that I gained in the hospital. I weighed about 380 on the day of surgery, 390 when I got home, and 369 as of this morning. So, depending on how you look at it, I've either lost 11 or 21 pounds since surgery.

The first few days were rough -- my MD discharged me with Percocet, but it really made me sick to my stomach and sleepy instead of relieving my pain, so a couple of days ago I switched over to Tylenol and that's been fine. I've been feeling a little better every day, although I overdid things around the house yesterday and had a little bit of a relapse (more incision and abdominal pain and really tired as compared to the day before). The hardest part now is not being able to comfortably bathe myself, and being home alone all day without a lot to do when I'm used to being at a really busy job all week. That part has been a little depressing -- I tend to get depressed and anxious when I don't have constructive activities to accomplish, and of course I can't drive until after my first post-op appointment on March 15, but I'm trying to maintain!

So I have a few food-related questions for those of you who have been through my stage. My discharge instructions were to basically live on three servings per day of Carnation Instant Breakfast and protein smoothies, but I got super-tired of that really quick and transitioned to cream soups over the weekend. A couple of days ago I tried pureed turkey and mashed potatoes with a little pureed peas, and that went down fine. I haven't vomited at all -- everything is staying down, so I guess that's good, but I'm wondering how fast I should be eating. According to my surgeon, my stomach is the size of a golf ball and holds about 1 ounce. So, for example, if I drink 8 ounces of CIB, how fast should I be drinking it? I had a cup of cream of shrimp soup for lunch yesterday (surprisingly good, I didn't think I'd like it) and ate that in like 30 minutes...was that too fast? The first night I tried the mashed potatoes and turkey thing, I think I did eat too fast because I felt a lump under my rib cage which I assume is my new pouch. I think I ate about 3 oz of mashed potatoes/turkey and about 1.5 oz of pureed peas (didn't think I'd like those either, but they were yummy) in about 20 minutes or so, and that may have been too fast. What do you think?

My other question for y'all is basically to ask for food ideas! What else can I try pureed at 10 days to 2 weeks post-op? I need some variety or I'll never make it through. I haven't tried scrambled eggs or oatmeal or cream of wheat yet -- is it too early for that? Any ideas you all have would be greatly appreciated. I'm just wondering at what point people switched over to actual food with form, instead of puree. Also, I'll be going back to work at about 3-4 weeks post-op -- what did you all take for lunch at that point?

I'm going to search the forum for food threads, but for some reason I haven't been successful so far at using the search feature here so I may not get any good results. I hope you all are doing well and I look forward to reading your replies.

mauldinmama · 03-09-2007, 10:45 AM

I am glad to hear you made it through the first week! I have heard it really is BAD! I just wanted to say hello and I hope you get your questions answered!

Take care

CeeCee · 03-09-2007, 11:10 AM

I had open RNY also, on 2/12. I'm eating safe, soft foods still, but I'm adding in more variety. The most important thing is this: if it's not pureed, chew, chew, chew! I've had baked fish, mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower- this was my birthday dinner at Uno's on 3/7. I also do cottage cheese- that can be jazzed up with seasonings-try Mrs. Dash! A yummy desert kind of thing I got from South Beach: a scoop of part-skim ricotta with 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and Splenda to taste. I also made this casserole like the insides of a lasagna and put sauce on it- see the Recipe thread. A couple times I've just smeared a small banana with peanut butter and had that as breakfast or lunch. I've had chowder out too- just chew, chew, chew! Check under Recipes- there are a lot of good ideas there too. I've also just added a protein bar to my day; 1/2 as a morning snack, 1/2 as an afternoon snack. My surgeon left it up to me as to when I progress. I plan on sticking where I am for a while. I'm dying for a piece of toast, or a salad,but I'll have to wait for that. I may try turkey bacon next...

Dyann · 03-09-2007, 12:04 PM

Sounds like you are doing great. It sounds like you are straying from your doctors recommendations. Not that you were doing anything that is hurting you, but the most variable thing I see is those first two weeks. I was on clears for two weeks and then right to puree food and soft solid and advance as tollerated. The quantity seems a bit high and I think that is because you are eating too slow, not too fast. 20 minutes that is it. Soups and liquids go right through the pouch. As you have found out, solids stay a bit longer and give you that full sensation in your chest. I would stick with pure protein and stay away from potato. You can eat so little now, get the protein level up and that is the best thing for the weight loss. Drink your liquids at a rate that is comfortable to you.

I can't wait to see how you continue to do!!!

electrichoney · 03-09-2007, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dyann

Sounds like you are doing great. It sounds like you are straying from your doctors recommendations. Not that you were doing anything that is hurting you, but the most variable thing I see is those first two weeks. I was on clears for two weeks and then right to puree food and soft solid and advance as tollerated. The quantity seems a bit high and I think that is because you are eating too slow, not too fast. 20 minutes that is it. Soups and liquids go right through the pouch. As you have found out, solids stay a bit longer and give you that full sensation in your chest. I would stick with pure protein and stay away from potato. You can eat so little now, get the protein level up and that is the best thing for the weight loss. Drink your liquids at a rate that is comfortable to you.

I can't wait to see how you continue to do!!!

Dyann, thanks for that! My surgeon and the hospital nutritionist recommend that each meal be approximately 8 ounces of something -- CIB, or pureed food, or whatever, but that we shoot for 8 ounces and that be eaten slowly over about a half-hour to 45 minutes. What they didn't say, though, is WHEN puree should start. There wasn't any detailed diet of any type, just general instructions. I've seen some diets that are broken down into 1 week post, then 2 week post, then 3-4 weeks post, etc., but they didn't give me anything like that so I've been trying to cobble together a meal plan that works for me. So far I've tried eating new stuff in small amounts to find out if I can keep it down, but you're right, I did wonder about the quantity. I mean, if the point of GBP is to limit food intake (as well as malabsorb), then eating a cup at a time over a half-hour time period would seem to counteract the point of having the small pouch. On the other hand, though, their point is that we need to get in enough nutrients and protein so as to not become malnourished. I did fail to mention in my post that I'm supplementing with New Whey protein bullets, which have 42 grams of protein per 3 ounce drink; I add a half of one of those to my daily water intake so I can make sure I get in 50 to 60 grams of protein per day.

Cheers!