Eating Immediately After Surgery

 Hello,  I just had my Roux-en-y surgery last Wednesday 05/16/2012.  I know I should just wait to ask the doc this stuff but am really curious, and I don't see him for 2 more weeks.  Do they make the pouch a different size for different people?  Or, maybe make the stoma from the pouch to the intestine different sizes?  I feel like I can drink more water and really eat more food than I thought I should be able to.  Granted I'm not pushing it really but I can eat like a cup of pureed food or sugar free pudding in a 15-20 minute period.  I have been trying to make sure to eat the protein levels requested since I had a bleed after surgery and want to get my blood health back to normal and healed up.  Everything I read said that should be this awful chore to do? I haven't had anything I felt was 'dumping syndrome' and have not felt like vomiting.  My temp is fine so I'm pretty sure it  isn't dumping into my abdominal cavity or something wonky.  I just don't want to start out wrong and have a failure.   Thank you for any advise you can give!

Eating a cup of food at this point sounds like pushing it to me.  What do your surgeon's instructions say you should be eating?  Less than a week after surgery, I was supposed to be eating 1/4 cup of food at a time.

I don't think they make the stoma different sizes but they may make the pouch slightly different sizes.  Did your surgeon tell you how big your pouch would be?  Mine said my pouch was the size of an egg.

Runny food like pudding is known as a slider food, though, because it easily slides out of the pouch and through the stoma.  Also, your nerves haven't healed yet so you can't really tell when your pouch is full.  That's why you're supposed to be measuring your food.

 Thanks!  That is very helpful.   He said that the pouch is 1 oz.  I didn't know it woud not be able to feel right off the bat though!  The pudding thing makes sense and also would explain the protein drink and the other foods I have eaten.  I have been sure to puree it all to a soupy consistency.   That really probably is my problem then.  I will start just measuring 1/4 cup amounts and stopping.  I have been really focused on the protein though.  I will have to work out a plan to be able to get 70 grams of protein in using that method.   Thank you for your response!!!

Now, if you're using a protein shake, you can drink more than 1/4 cup of it.  Liquids are different than food.

When you start eating more solid, dense food and get a little further out, you should get that feeling of restriction when you eat.

But I'll tell you something, and this may just be me, it may not apply to everyone.  But I think my body's signals were off somehow.  Like, I would think I was hungry all the time and I don't think I really physically could have been.  And I thought I had to eat a TON of food to feel full.  I'm talking about pre op.  I don't think I was a very good judge of when I was hungry and when I was full.  So for me, I think eating on a schedule and measuring my food was a really good thing.  I just couldn't trust my body to tell me reliably what it needed.