Man, I yell at my wife for being on the computer for so long, but I think this site is very cool. She is the one that actually found it for me. She is 5-7 135, and eats everthing in sight. Anyway. As stated in my other posts, I am 8 days post op and still on liquids. I called my Dr anfd he said stay on liquids till at least weds, 3/10/04. then I can start soft foods. Here are my questions.

1) why cant I start regular food again?? If I chew normal foods till its practically liquid whats the difference.

2) I CANT HAVE A FILL FOR 6 WEEKS. My logic and its (probalby wrong ) is why chew so much before your first fill. If I chewed normally wouldnt I benefit from the fact I am still banded with no fills, hence making the food harder to go down, hence feeling full faster. If I / we chew food to excess and make it a liquid we are essestially letting it go down like liquids with no full feeling. I guess what I am trying to say is that I am really frustrated that I cant have a fill for 6 weeks and dont want to gain back the 20 pounds I lost already. NOw that I read this over I know it sounds pretty stupid but what the hell. I am sure someone out ther has thought of it, sort off...

Hi Marc,

The first few weeks are about letting your stomach heal. The purspose eating soft and liquidy foods is to keep your stomach muscle from moving too much while it's healing. The more movement you have at this time, the higher the risk of slippage or, at least, the chance that your stitches won't heal properly. It's best not to stress them for at least several weeks after surgery.

Normal foods chewed well are what you'll be eating after you've healed and are on to a regular banded life. For this time it's definitely better to stick with things that don't need chewing at all--thick Soups, puddings, and yogurt are all included in this "diet." I had fun with it and wasn't at all hungry.

So remember that this time is not for you to work on your eating habits or worry about whether you're getting full or sticking to a particular diet. It's all about HEALING. You don't want to take any chances!

(No one told me this, either, but I'm glad to have found it out before deciding to test my theories out on myself. )

ALexandra, thanks for all your input thus far. I forgot about that little healing part. I guess i will stick to Dr's orders. I can start SOFT foods Weds, until then its soup.....Marc

Hey I know you are impatient now and we all were or me anyway. Your band has to heal and what I call seat. This means where it is placed on your stomach. Hard foods could make it shift and you do not want that.

In 6 weeks when you get the fill it starts again. liquids a couple days and you may still feel not much restriction. It may take several times to get it right. Eat smart and start to exercise as soon as you can and the 20 lbs aint coming back. Even in a few weeks you wont be able to eat as much as you used too.

Chewing well and not drinking works fine. A chicken breast chewed well will keep me full for a while. It doesn't go straight through. This is a small hole man. Remember?

Hi Marc -

Glad you decided to follow your doctor's orders for the post-op diet. No sense in risking the life of your band by messing around wth the healing phase, which will be over before you know it.

Once you have the green light to go on to solid foods, you are right that chewing less well will keep your pouch full longer. HOWEVER.... FIRST you need to learn how well you have to chew to keep from getting stuck. If you start eating your old way right away, but are very restricted, you have a bad shock in store! Most of us have experienced the pain and suffering of swallowing something we wished we had chewed just a little more...

Also, eventually you will be amazed at how much people do NOT chew their foods! We think we do, but once we get banded we find out what "really chewing your food" means.

It is possible that once you are on solid foods you won't feel as though you have any restriction at all. But, you may be one of those guys that NEVER needs a fill. You won't be able to tell until you are on solids. And if you can manage your satiety WITHOUT a fill, there is no point in getting one. Fills are only to help you manage your satiety.

So in part 2 of your question, you're kind of putting the cart before the horse - until you find out how much natural restriciton you have, the fill "schedule" is a moot worry.

Good luck!!