9 days out and LOST

Hello, 

I am hoping someone may be able to help me since my surgeon's office seems to have lost interest in me since they were paid for the surgery.  I am 9 days out from my VSG and haven't a clue as to what I should be doing. When I was discharged from the hospital on Saturday I was doing fine on Carnation Instant Breakfast shakes (a few ounces every few hours.) Then I saw my doc Monday for my first post - op appointment and he told me to move on to pureed foods. He gave me a list of ideas, but had no answers for my questions pertaining to how much I should eat at one sitting, or how much protein I was trying for in one day. He told me I needed to talk with his nutritionist, but she can't see me until mid - October!  I started having horrible heart burn/acid on Tuesday that has really curbed my eating and water intake since everything I swallow has a horrible taste to it thanks to the reflux.  I called the doc's office Wednesday and they just told me to take tums. Here we are, a week out of the hospital and I have not likely had any protein since my last Carnation shake last weekend.  Did anyone else have this horrendous heart burn? Any suggestions?  What are other pureed food VSGers told to eat at this point? How much protein?  How much at a sitting? 

Thanks, 

Lauren

I haven't had surgery yet but I am on my preop liquid diet. The binder my NUT gave me says that during the pureed stage I should get between 40-60 grams of protein per day. She also said to eat breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. So if you divide the protein up on the low end, that is almost 7 grams per meal - high end 10 grams per meal. She says I can eat chicken or tuna with low fat or ff mayo, unsweetened applesauce, hot cooked cereals, scrambled egg, baby food, cottage cheese, anything that is the consistancy of 1st or 2nd stage baby food.

Thank you for your response.  That is pretty much the list I received from my doctor as well, but the protein info is especially helpful. 

Thanks! !

I was told look where the lunch ambles are, there is mini jack links beef jerky nugget things, 8 grams of protein each! 

Great! Thanks! 

Here's the info I got about my pureed diet, I hope it helps!  (There's a link at the bottom with all the foods I ate.)

http://myvsg.livejournal.com/30074.html

Thank you for your help.  I read your entries and found them helpful as far as how much to be eating right now.  I'm also hopeful that when I am at week 3 I can be up and about much like you were :)

First, get yourself a good protein drink.  I like Premier Protein chocolate ready-to-drink shakes from Costco - I've seen them at Safeway also.  If you can get two of those down each day, then you've got 60g of protein right there. 

Second, it seems like everyone goes home from surgery with a acid reducer.  I used generic omeprezole (I think this is the same as nexium, etc) for the first month or two, which you can get at the grocery store.

Third, sip water all day long and drink as much as you possibly can.

For the rest of the specifics, I'd follow gwenmo's list - it sounds right to me.  I didn't keep a good record of the stuff I ate at that stage, but I remember making a combination of mashed potatoes, cauliflower, and cheese that was really yummy and satisfying even in little tiny portions.  I'm not sure I'd be trying any meats quite yet.  Oh, and I ate lots of sugar free jello and pudding, and discovered that I liked Greek yogurt (Dannon Light n Fit Greek has super flavors).

Good luck!  You can do this!! :)

Thank you for your response.  I have tried the Premier Protein chocolate drink (was told to buy it pre surgery) as well as the sugar free jello and to date have not had much luck with it, but I suppose at this point I just need to get it down, as opposed to enjoy it lol. I appreciate your input!

I tried quite a few protein drinks before I found one that tasted good to me, which I continue to use for breakfast every day.  Maybe you can get some sample size packs so you don't have to invest too much in trying some new ones in the hope of finding one that is more appealing to you.