NWChick165

The important drivers immediately after surgery are meeting the Protein, Fluid and Vitamin requirements. food is secondary. Your body is converting your stored fat into energy. That is why you are losing weight.

The Protein supplements (protein shakes) in my opinion all taste terrible. The goal in the beginning is to find one that you can tolerate. Protein shakes come in powder form or premix. I used powder. It is important to use an electric blender to mix the powder in order to gain the proper consistency. Hand mixing the powders does not work well. I used a Ninja single serve blender. I also relied on Muscle Milk Light as my Protein shake. You can blend in fruit and the fruit does not count against your meal allotment. The natural sugars in fruit are O.K. But do not use refined sugar. The Protein Shake counts for meeting your protein requirement and also your Fluid requirements. At five days out you are a little early, so you might go easy with the fruit.

The protein requirement is met by a combination of protein supplements combined with the protein derived from meals. I relied on homemade high-protein Soups and chili. At the beginning I was using 3 Protein Shakes per day. But as time went on and my meal volume increased I was able to transition from 3 protein shakes a day, down to 2, down to 1 and then none. When I achieved one cup of food per meal, I was deriving around 65 grams of protein from my meals alone. Now I supplement my protein with a hot cup of cocoa (no sugar added) or a berry smoothie. Also as you get further along you will be able to begin using Protein Bars. They come in very handy in meeting your protein requirement when you are on the go.

I have included some recipes for Soups including egg drop Soup in a short article I wrote. See http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

I have read your article and found it very informative. I printed a couple of you recipes. I think they will help a lot. I am 3 weeks out of surgery and I am having a hard time eating simply things like cottage cheese and tuna. They make my pouch very tender and I find myself going back to shakes and soups. So I think your recipes will work out great thank you NWChick

What we are doing is no picnic. You do what is best for you, don't base your happiness on others no matter who they are, Good Luck to you

Surgery in 4 days, after reading so much I have to admit I am scared. Looking for some one in or near Olympia Wa.