I am 7 days post-op and hungry. I am on the full liquid stage and its hard because I am so finicky. I have a hard time with textures so whats on the meal plan is not to my liking. for instance: Jello, pudding, cream of wheat, cream of rice.... and I am so sick of carnation instant Breakfast just thinking about it gags me.

I have been eating creamy potato Soup ( with no chunks) but even that is getting old and I have 7 more days of this stage.

what am I going to do? please help!!!

It has to become mind over matter. I know how you're feeling. By the end anything liquid was just terrible to drink down. Seven more days and then you can move on. Please don't move on to anything more solid though as your stomach is healing and you don't want to chance hurting yourself by eating solids too quickly. Try changing flavors up and keep going. It will SO be worth it in the end!! Good luck!

It has to become mind over matter. I know how you're feeling. By the end anything liquid was just terrible to drink down. Seven more days and then you can move on. Please don't move on to anything more solid though as your stomach is healing and you don't want to chance hurting yourself by eating solids too quickly. Try changing flavors up and keep going. It will SO be worth it in the end!! Good luck!

On the liquid stage what exactly would this be???

Each doctor has a little different routine to follow. But for now, on a full liquid diet you are usually good eating the following things:

• Water
  
• Fruit juices, including nectars and juices with pulp
  
• Butter, margarine, oil, cream, custard, and pudding
  
• Plain ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sherbet.
  
• Fruit ices and popsicles
  
• Sugar, honey, and syrups
  
• Soup broth (bouillon, consommé, and strained cream soups -- but NO solids)
  
• Sodas, such as ginger ale and Sprite
  
• Gelatin (Jell-O)
  
• Boost, Ensure, Resource, Sustacal. and other liquid supplements
  
• Tea or coffee with cream or milk and sugar or honey
  

Ask your doctor if you can include these foods in your full liquid diet:

• Cooked, refined cereals, such as Cream of Wheat, cream of rice, oatmeal, grits, or farina
  
• Strained meats, like the ones in baby food
  
• Potatoes pureed in soup
  

Once you're able to move onto mushies/soft foods you'll be able to add more foods and they will taste WONDERFUL ... tuna/ham salad type foods, potatoes with gravy, etc. Oftentimes people get so sick of the food they are currently on and move on to solid foods and it can hurt more than help. Keep going!

I can completely understand where you're coming from, I just left the liquid stage. I was two weeks full liquids post op and I was so sick of it! It really is true what they say though when they say this has to be a lifestyle change, because I too am a very picky eater. It's just the kind of thing you have to get used to right now, and just remember it's only temporary. I ate a lot of jello and tomato soup during the end of my liquid, just for something different, and I do not like either one of those things very much! Even now, I'm on soft foods, and I'm eating chicken salad. Which normally, I never would have considered eating because the texture creeps me out, but I'm doing it because it's part of the process and I know it's only temporary. And actually, I'm starting to really like this chicken salad! Good luck!

I, too, am a picky eater when it comes to food texture which resulted in me being very unhappy in the liquid and "mushy" stages. I found some recipes on the Food & Nutrition forum, see the sub-heading for Cooking, Baking, and Recipes. The recipes I found were just enough to get me through the few weeks before I could re-introduce "real" food into my diet.

What are you going to do? Tough it out. It's temporary! And if you don't stick with this liquid diet, you risk damage that you'd have to live with forever!

Its sucks yes but part of your new life. Threw out there will be times you have to resort back to liquids for a few days because of tightness. swelling. or over eating at a diffrent meal.

I promise once you start seeing the weightloss you wont even mind the awful menu.

Only thing that bothered me was trying to drink a protien shake while i could smell something delicious being cooked by someone else in the house knowing i couldnt have i. So i took those opportunities to go for a walk. you can do this!

Like a Ribeye steak with all the trimmings!!!!!

now for the mushy stage what was your menu like??? I would love some examples

Here is the part where I get really confused about why doctors are so different because my diet after surgery is this:

Days 1 and 2 post op; Clear liquids only

Days 3 and 4 post op: mushy and soft foods

Days 5 and 6 post op: regular diet

Anybody have clues as to why mine is so different!

My doc is different as well. I was on liquid post surgery for 3 days & then I could do mushy. I.e, yogurt, cottage cheese, grits, cream of wheat, flaky fish, mashed potatoes, all Soups etc.

Day 10 I could start to incorporate solids slowly. I've only had a problem with steak & lettuce.

It's temporary but I agree with a earlier post. Check to see if you can do cooked Cereal, cream of wheat, grits & oatmeal saved me:). Good luck

allik07... here is what my mushy diet consisted of. And I ran it by my VERY finicky doctor and he approved, so I know none of this will hurt you.

Oatmeal - I added fruit to my oatmeal. I put the fruit (blueberries, strawberries, etc) in the microwave and with a fork mushed them to where they were thinner than yogurt.

Mashed potatoes- boxed with sea salt and fat free shredded cheese. The cheese melts and becomes a mushy.

Progresso Soups - I put them in the blender and the chunks became smooth. I love their baked potato or clam chowder

Cream of wheat - I added brown sugar to it, and it was actually yummy.

Jello pudding - I have a huge sweet tooth, these things saved me from grabbing a candy bar or making Cookies

Yogurt - I liked to put it in a blender with apple sauce and some fruit and make a smoothie. Add Protein powder and there is your protein for the day

Egg whites - liquid eggs, poached or scrambled. I could only eat one at a time - with sea salt

I am sure there is more, but I haven't been in the mushy stage for two weeks so I have put it out of my mind! It gets better, the results are amazing, just push through.

Best of luck to you, sounds like lots of options out there. You can find something you like, I just know you can!

All these examples are wonderful and have opened my eyes to a variety of things...

Wow, Its interesting that diff doctors have diff diets. I just had my surgery 6 days ago and my diet goes like this

day 1-3 - clear liquids only

day 4-14- full liquids + protein shakes

day 15-27- soft foods + protein shakes

day 28-35- regular food trial

they told me that it takes 6 weeks for the body to heal from surgery so i need to be really strict and stay on my diet. So far I have been doing it and it hasn't been that hard. Just keep at it and it will pay off in the end.