I will say that I do need to take painkillers, and I have a terrible pain in my shoulder from trapped gas, but aside from reflux the only thing bothering me is the pain of the wounds. I can take normal sized sips now (though Water still feels heavy) and I can drink Soup broth with absolutely no problems. I don't have any internal pain other than the shoulder pain, everything is just from the incisions and even that I'm able to manage fairly well with painkillers. The only real pain is when I go from sitting to standing, and that's only in the one incision by my navel.

I'm having to talk myself into sticking to broth because I feel like I can eat normal food...I had some tomato soup, the kind with little tiny bits of tomato and cheese, and it was fine. I only had like 1/5 the bowl because I have no appetite, but it was nice to have something with flavor. Is that pushing things too fast...can the little bits cause any complications? There were little seeds, I'm slightly worried about those getting caught but I didn't think about it until after I had eaten some.

Am I overestimating my healing capability here or did anyone else feel like their stomach was relatively normal this soon?

Oh and I just want to add, I'm in my mid/late 20's, and am one of those people that rarely gets sick, so is it possible my system is just pretty resilient?

Yes everyone has a different outcome to the pain. I had no gas pain, no incision pain other than a tug here and there and only took one of the painkillers I was given to take home on the plane as a precaution (really did not need it). For the food I would recommend you stick to your doctors prescribed food plan. I know the thin liquids are boring and you feel like you will never get away from them. I will tell you once you are on to mushies and then incorporating solids the clear liquid stage will be but a distant memory.

You do want to protect your healing staple like and putting bits of food in there too early could lead to a complication. It may not but it is better to be safe than sorry. I plead with you please please please stick to your doctors recommended food plan.

Thanks You're right, it will be liquids for the next week and a half until I'm ready.

I'm really surprised though, I was in agony when I woke up from the anesthesia, and the first 3-4 days were terrible, and now it just seems like a huge cloud has passed.

To everyone going through the rough first few days...it gets better

I didn't really struggle with the pre-op liquid diet, but it was a different story after surgery. But to be honest, I was too scared to push the limits. Jumping into foods that your stomach isn't ready for is like playing Russian Roulette. Please be careful. This phase will be over before you know it.