Hello,

So I am 12 days post op and I have a few questions, actually. First, I am still on my full liquid phase. I start purees tomorrow.

1. How to tell if my pouch is full? I'm not really sure what I feel. I do get the hiccups if I drink too much. I'm trying to "feel" whatever it is I'm supposed to, but still not quite sure. I know when I'm not hungry and I haven't pushed my pouch at all. I haven't eaten or drank anything I'm not supposed to...is this why I don't know what it is that my pouch is full

2. Can my pouch even get full on liquids? I know that food can fill it up because it takes time to digest and filter through the stoma, but do liquids work differently? Does it just kind of go right through?

3.I think I've hit a stall. It's been like 4 days since the scale has budged!!! The 2 weeks before surgery I lost 13 pounds and then the week after I lost another 10. Could this be my 3 week stall??? I'm frustrated hitting a stall only a week after surgery.

4. Is marinara sauce okay to eat on pureed stage? I made some beef stew with it, but wondering if this is good because I know it has sodium and some sugar (from the tomatoes).

5. I still have a bruised feeling in the left part of my belly near some of my incisions. Is this normal? I feel like it should be gone by now. It isn't constant, but with certain movements. It is the worst when I lift my arms over my head and stretch out my belly. I don't have a fever or anything like that.

6. I get dizzy and light headed when I bend over. And slightly out of breath? Does anyone know why this happens and when it will go away?

Please help!!!

Basically with gastric bypass, a pouch is created that is attached to your small intestine. They create a small hole for the contents of your stomach to pass thru to your intestine, that is called the stoma.The rest of your stomach is idle - still in your abdominal cavity, but not in use. The process is two-fold, restriction from not being able to eat much, and also what they call malabsorbtive, which means you can't digest all the food so it passes out of your body without being fully utilized.

Sleeve surgery leaves your normal esophagus intact, it is a path down your throat into your stomach that has a little flap. Your stomach is trimmed down to the size of a banana, and food exits normally through the pylorus muscle, which is a sphincter, it opens and closes to move food down into your intestines normally.

Sorry I could not attach a link, this website does not allow me to post the link, I got an error message, but you can just look up the various surgery techniques on the web.

thanks so much. I think I was confused because my nurse/nutritionist kept calling my stomach a pouch...I don't really think they meant in such a literal term. But it is helpful to understand what is exactly happening in there.

I 12 days post op. my inside still feel sore, like I was on a fight 12 days ago. I lost 12 lbs preop and my first week post op I only lost 2 due to all the IV fluids. I expect this weeks weight loss to be better. I weigh myself daily but I only believe what it says on weigh in day. I moved to puréed today and mashed potatoes were the best thing I have ever eaten!!

I agree...moving to the pureed stage is heavenly. Today was my first day as well. I blended up some beef stew with greek yogurt! and I blended up some canned chicken with greek yogurt. looks disgusting, but tastes sooo good compared to full liquids