Confessions of The Goat Girl.

Nice. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping I don't end up with reflux after VSG. As for eating spice without drinking, why would anybody want to spoil the burn?

I used hot sauce as soon as I was able to eat chicken and had 0 problems with it.  I liked the stark flavors.  I'd use the hot sauce or plain brown mustard.

Ooo, the mustard is a good idea too! I'm a bit apprehensive about chicken, because even pre-surgery that stuff can be hard to eat if it's dry. I almost always require some kind of "sauce" to get the chicken down. I know how to cook it butter-tender, and a glob of sauce makes the texture perfect, but I never thought of mustard! Some good tangy Dusseldorf mustard would do the trick if hot sauce is too much for the sleeve at first.

This is all down the line, of course. My first 'chicken' meal post-op will probably be cream of chicken soup or something like that.

Definitely ask your doctor, but I'd think you would want to lay off until your staple line heals. But I remember putting a dash of Cholula in my refried beans a few weeks out from surgery. I've had to proceed slowly with hot sauce and spicy foods in general. At first they just didn't feel the greatest going down, and they seemed hotter than they were before surgery. But now at almost 8 months out, I can eat pretty much anything spicy. It's not as much of a preference as it was pre-op. I mean, I like a little hot sauce on some foods, but a little goes a long way, and that is just a preference now.

But as others have mentioned, aside from changing tastes, your other concern will be if you get excess acid. Which I have a bit of (it manifests as a feeling of hunger and gurlgling in my throat) and take a PPI, but the foods I eat don't tend to make it worse.

I get excess acid now if my stomach stays empty too long. If I get it now, I take a PPI and all is well. I understand that PPIs may just be a fact of life for me post-surgery. I guess what I meant from my original post, is that I'd be disappointed if my foods had to get very bland. Also, refried beans. Mmm, I sure do like those and I'm glad that they are on my "food list" for post-op which my doctor gave me!

Refried beans were a lifesaver for me during my soft foods stage. I'd mix in Laughing Cow cheese, Unjury Protein'd cheese sauce or melted shredded cheese.

I avoided spicy food for the first few weeks and all, but I can eat all the spicy food of my pre-sleeve days without issue.  I do not use as much of the sauce as you do, but use all of the stuff you listed routinely without incident.  

Good to hear and thanks for the reassurance! My plan is to be very very careful the first few months and introduce my spices back in slowly. Our new tummies are like baby tummies at first, or so I'm told, and have to be eased back into handling solid food and spicy things.

Siriracha is my best friend at one month post-surgery. I eat unbreaded chicken breast strips every day, and I'll usually dip them in a bit of hot sauce. I was really careful at first, tried it mixed with ketchup and only a dab the first day to see if I paid for it the next, and everything was fine. So I'd suggest going slowly, seeing how your pouch/esophagus handles things (every body is different), and working from that, but you shouldn't necessarily write it off completely. :)