Am I consuming too much one week post op?

I'll be six days out tomorrow.  While my doc had me drinking just one ounce very 10-15 minutes at first, I can already (sipping...) drink a good 6-8 oz fairly quickly--say within 5-10 minutes.  I'm sticking mostly too cammomile tea, healthy electrolite/vitamin water and 5 or so protein drinks/day (14g each).  When I look at this post-op  diet it still seems to be more at only about 3 protein drinks/day and little 4 oz portions every half hour or so.  I go back in to see him next Wed. and will call the nutritionist Monday morning, but I'm hoping I'm not doing this all wrong by taking in too much too quikcly....any advice would be apprecated!  Thanks, Marie 

To an extent this is a situation where everyone is different as far as the volume that remains in their stomach and the swelling this early out, but for me, at one week it took about half a hour to drink 8 ounces. Any faster would cause pain. My suggestion would be to slow down and discuss with your doctor. It may be ok for you to do so, but it won't hurt to slow down as long as you get all that you need.

 Just because you CAN doesn't mean you should :-)  The nerves in your stomach have been cut, so you may not feel acurate fullness.  Do what your surgeon says, and you can't go wrong :-)

Best wishes on your journey!
--Dorothy

Please let us know what your doctor says. I've been able to drink well also, even in the hospital. Thanks!

 Hi Beth--check out what the other man answered (the most recent post).  I think that makes sense--we are all just different as he and his wife were.  I had noticed it pretty early and in my first phone call w/ the doc asked if I can accidentally drink too much and hurt myself--he indicated it would be VERY difficult to do any harm and that these first weeks of drinks only will be different than it will be when hard food is introduced.  Nevertheless, I continued to be nervous about it and can't ask him again til I see him this coming Wed....the advice I got here really calmed me down a lot.  What a great forum!  -Maria

The liquid phase is the most strange and the amount people can tolerate on that phase seems to vary widely.  Swelling and surgical trauma is different for everyone and resolves at different paces. 

My surgeon's guidelines were simple - get in your fluids.  We were told to sip slowly at first and then to build up based on what we could tolerate.  I would sip slowly, listen to your body, and then sip some more.  As long as you're not feeling pressure and pain, I think you're ok.  Just remember, it's not a race :)

 Thanks--all solid advice--I'm just surprised there is no pain....but won't enter a beer chugging contest or anything soon ;-)  !!

Generally, with liquids, you will know if you are going too fast; it's an individual thing. I was able to go thru a 6-8 oz bowl of broth and a half cup of juice in a sitting in the hospital while my wife, who had a DS a few years ago, could barely take in her nominal stomach size in liquids in a sitting. The doc says it's just the variations between us all. This is not such a bad thing for you as you (and I, at the time) can get in the protein that you need, while my wife and others with that level of individual restriction had a hard time getting in the requisite protein. My wife had to have her protein shakes so concentrated to get them in that they were ghastly to her while I could have them blended up in their normal concentrations just as I did for many years pre-op.

 Thanks--your response was very helpful as it gave both perspectives (and I like our position better than your wife's!)  I've had no problem at all getting in the protein and drinking what I need to.  I'm 8 days out now and feeling great--go for my post op visit tomorrow.  -M