Help...question

Thank you all.  I had my protein.  I will wait on the salad.  

Wendi, I'd wait on that salad. Your stomach is still in the healing stage. Trust your surgeon and follow his eating plan. At 3 weeks post op I was just getting into puree. I wasn't able to have salad until 3-4 months. Hang-in-there, you'll have your salad soon enough.

I, too, was told I had to be three months out before I could eat raw vegetables.  At six months out, I still have occasional problems with lettuce.

how about some refried beans, bean salad, or peas?  might change things up a bit, different taste, some proteins, still pretty mushy.

Shades of the pureed lettuce I got served in the hospital (and no, I didn't go there and stuck with the broths, eggs and yogurt!) Your doc should have an outline of what you can eat when, which vary widely depending upon your their experiences. Stick to their guidelines or risk being blamed for any problems that may arise, whether related or not (you don't want the doc blowing off any problems as your non-compliance and delay properly diagnosing it.)

When you do get into starting salads (or anything else new and/or complex) start with new components one at a time, testing your tolerance before combining it with other foods. I used chopped spinach rather than lettuce for its' somewhat better nutritional value, and had no problem with that (at around a month out on our plan,) unlike the response that some have with lettuce (and others have no problem at all with lettuce -YMMV) Try small amounts of avocado if you like, being as soft and fat as it is (which makes the calories hard to take in any quantity, and for those worried about seeds, you can scrape the seeds out of tomato as you cut them up.

Your cravings may indicate a nutritional deficiency that your body is trying to correct, so something like V8 juice may meet that demand within your temporary dietary restrictions (the low sodium variety is particularly rich in potassium, which isn't addressed well with our normal supplements.)