I'm new to the forum. I am scheduled for my sleeve on Feb 27 with Dr Ortiz. My question involves going out to eat post-op. I plan on telling a select few about my surgery. When you go out with people who aren't in the know, how do you handle it? I would think it will be pretty obvious that I'm not eating a 'normal' amount.

You'll be surprised at how few people will really notice. If you have to go out with people soon after surgery (in the full liquids/mushies phases), just order some kind of Soup and stick to just the broth. French onion is a good one (even though it's got a lot of sodium) - if you can have the cheese it's good Protein, just try to avoid the crouton or order without. You can always make a comment that you had a late Breakfast or haven't been feeling well.

What I often do is order an entree salad with grilled chicken (or just a side salad with a piece of grilled chicken) - eat most of the chicken which is usually my 3-4 oz portion of food . . . then take a few bites of the veggies, etc. then call it a day.

Well, yes and no. When I got out to eat with friends, I usually get something "snack-like," or order an appetizer and share with the table--nobody notices how much I'm eating.

When I go with business colleagues, I typically order an appetizer and/or soup--again, if you focus on conversation and/or business, nobody really notices, and even if they do, most of the time, they don't comment. The one time someone did comment (someone said, "Wow, you aren't eating much!"), I simply grinned and said, "Yeah, I don't like to feel all full and sleepy when I'm working," and they left it alone. I always order soup, if there's something tasty and sleeve-friendly available, as I can eat a bit more soup than other foods. However, now that I can eat salads, I order "the smallest side salad" with dressing on the side, and I sort of nibble on it while talking.

The first time I ate out after surgery, I ordered a grilled salmon fillet with no mashed potatoes or sides and nothing to drink. My 6'2" husband ordered a salad, huge blue-cheese covered hamburger with a mountain of fries. Nearly drove me crazy.

I could only eat about a third of the salmon, but that wasn't a big deal.

The thing that drove me crazy is that the wait staff kept asking me and asking me if I at least wanted Water. In retrospect, I should have ordered water and sipped on it until the meal came, which is what I've done since. That accomplishes getting a bit more of my liquids and gives me something to do with my hands while everyone else is noshing on appetizers or their dinner salads.

I ate out tonight and ironically, it was at a restaurant I'd reviewed last summer for an area newspaper. The wait staff was hovering, wanting to know if I was happy and here I am eating my little bit of (once again) salmon. I did make sure to get a Carol box of leftovers.

It's doable, but I'm still finding it challenging and I don't want to change anyone else's behavior. But it's doable.

CC

I order water in a to-go cup when we place our orders. ????they usually like me because they don't have to refill my cup with soft drinks.