Anyone else have to do a liquid diet for the first month after surgery?

I have not had m sugery yet.... but fom everthing that I have read.... my DR requires 3 weeks of liquids after DS surgery.... I am ok with that because my Lap Band DR was the same.... but while he usually does not require a liquid diet before... I have been found to have a dialated esphogus... so he wants me on full liquids 2 weeks prior to try to rest and heal it before the DS surgery....

Jody
Like you I had a dilated esophagus with my band. I had a defill 1 month prior to DS  and band removal(march 9) and ate normally for that month. Eating is so much more normal with the Ds than the lapband. Good Luck.
Joan

1 night is insufficient, in my opinion, especially if you have more than a 1 hour drive home.  You need to have a discussion with him about this, and you need to be firm - your insurance covers it, and you're entitled to feel comfortable before leaving the hospital.

As for the 30 days of liquids, that too seems outside the standard of care for a DS.  Some surgeons use a device called a Valtrec ring to make the duodenal-ileal anastomosis; it is a dissolvable device that makes the anastomosis rigid while it is healing, which MANDATES pureed food - NOT a liquid diet - for three weeks.  But staples don't need to be protected from soft foods!

Sounds to me like Srikanth is padding his statistics at your expense.  He is making the non-complicated cases leave too early, so he can average their stays of 1 day with those where he has complications, to keep his total stats for hospital stays down.  FUCK THAT.  And it sounds to me like he's making you go 30 days of liquid to boost your initial weight loss unnecessarily at the expense of your discomfort in the first, already difficult, 30 days.  FUCK THAT.

If it were me, I'd confront him about his reasons for making these unreasonable requirements.  Both of them seem unnecessarily harsh and unreasonable, and to be designed for HIS purposes rather than your benefit.

Just what I was thinking. :)  I'm not going to be pushed out of the hospital if I'm not ready.  I'm also going to follow my own eating plan, like I'm doing now.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not going  to be stupid.  I'm just going to follow what the norm for what the average DS'er is doing on here.  I tried to follow his super strict pre-op diet and I was starving myself and not losing hardly any weight.  I now eat as if I had the surgery, minus a lot of fat, and I'm losing the weight needed  before surgery.

Thanks for your response.  I really needed a reality check.

Oh, and I've got a 3 1/2 hour drive home.

I just had surgery this past Wednesday. I stayed in two nights, but he told me to be prepared to stay three or more, depending upon my progress. As it turns out, I haven't needed any pain medication after the first 24 hours, and I was able to walk around fairly easily since the day after surgery (I needed someone to help pull me up at first). I don't think that's normal; I believe I have been lucky (so far). The hardest part for me has been getting the fluids in. I don't think I would have been able to drink enough, the day after surgery, to stay hydrated. Maybe your surgeon leaves a feeding tube in, as someone else mentioned?

As far as diet goes, I started clear liquids the day after surgery, full liquids the second day, and starting today, I'm on soft diet with focus on fluids and protein. I'm tolerating it pretty well; I just go very slowly and chew very thoroughly. My life is now devoted to sipping! Sounds like your doctor is very conservative with diet, and aggressive with discharging!

Karen

My surgeon (Dr. Houston in Nashville) requires 2 weeks clear liquids, then 2 weeks clear liquids plus RTD Myoplex protein, which tasted like plastic butt. I drank a LOT of chicken & beef broth, but couldn't do the Myoplex.   I added full liquids/very soft food at about 2-2.5 weeks - cottage cheese, cream of mushroom soup run thru the blender, boiled egg yolks mashed with mayo & pickle juice, jello made with 1/2 water & 1/2 cream, etc.

1 night seems way, way too soon to go home. Day 2 was THE worst for me. I hit that pain button every time I could that day. My surgery was Tuesday morning & I was discharged Friday about noon with all systems go.

Charlee,

I sent you a PM about this. Just curious did you advance your diet on your own or did Dr. H give you permission. I am pretty sick of clear liquids and I am only 5 days out. Yikes!

Hey Ann, I did the advancing on my own. Dr. H's instructions pretty much are for liquids for 4-6 weeks. There was just no frigging way. I don't advocate ignoring the doc, but liquids for that long is pretty extreme. I'll pm you details.

Yikes, I don't remember him telling me that.  That is excessive.  I guess you could see how you feel after 1 day but if you aren't feeling ready to be kicked out after 1 day then don't let him make you feel that you can't stay longer.  Like others have said, the hospital stay is paid for by insurance. 

I know that when I was researching different surgeons they all had different post op liquid diet "theories."   My surgeon(s) said that if it doesn't hurt, go for it.  They feel the quicker you get back to eating normally the sooner your stomach gets used to having you eat normal (for a DSer anyway). 

You will know your body and how you feel both in terms of the hospital stay and what you eat better than anyone else.  Start slow and see how you do and pu**** a little further over time and you should be golden well before 30 days.

I was released to go home less than 24 hours after surgery, and had no complications, but I live 15 minutes from the hospital. My doctor also gave me the option to stay if I felt like I needed to. He felt that patients heal better at home. I was also in less pain, because I later found out my nurse was only giving me half of my pain meds.
I was on liquids for 1 week prior to DS and 4 weeks post op. and the week before was the only hard part. I ate a lot of V8, creamed soups, and protein shakes. I didn't really want food until the end, because my stomach was so tender that I didn't want to make myself sick. I was afraid my energy would be low from not eating, but as long as I drank a full liquid every couple of hours, I was fine. I went back to work as a high school teacher 6 days after surgery, because one of my students unexpectedly died and I felt like my other students needed me. It was sooner that I had planned to go back, but I was able to make it through each day. I was amazed at how much I improved each day.

I think heal ling is very individual, one day is enough for some, but not all. I would be concerned if your doctor isn't open to extra days in the hospital if you feel you need them.

Good luck,
Kelly