So I did not ask my surgeon prior to surgery which boughie size he used. In my research people said he used a 40 fr which I thought was a reasonable size. On the day of surgery I spoke with the other surgeon on his team and asked her. She said that he typically used a 60fr which freaked me out. I told her I was really concerned about it being too big etc. she said she would talk with my surgeon and use the size that he thinks is best for my body. When I spoke with my surgeon before the surgery I reiterated my concern that it would be too big.

Then I had surgery and completely forgot about it. The next day there was some concerns over my leak test. His assistant surgeon came to talk to me about it and mentioned that he had used a 34fr boughie on me. I was surprised bc that is really small! A big difference from 60. She told me to take the Water trials really slowly and I did. After a couple of daysI really have no problem tolerating liquids.

I think I'm being paranoid, but I'm wondering if she was lying to me to make me think it was smaller so that I would mentally feel like I could be more successful. During the leak test, the stomach didn't look that tiny, and I am able to drink a Protein shake in like 20 - 30 minutes.

What do you guys think? I don't feel any restriction really yet with liquids. Which size do you have? Does it make a big difference?

I believe I have a 32 (possibly 34). The largest I've ever heard used was a 40.

???

My bougie size is 34 I don't think that size is too small or restrictive. I am almost 4 weeks post op and I can eat about 2 oz of more dense food like chicken and 4 -6 oz of soup in 30 or 40 minutes.

A 60 bougie would be consistent with a DS (duodenal switch, where they combine a larger sleeve with intestinal rerouting/malabsorption) while for the VSG we typically see numbers in the 32-40 range. Docs have differing philosophies as to what works best for them and their patients, and there can be substantial overlap between patients where the same bougie was used (the sleeve can be made tighter or looser around it, and stomach length is another variable.) I have no idea what bougie my doc used (if, indeed, he used one at all...) but my nominal stomach capacity at surgery time was about 2.5 oz. In comparison, my wife's starting stomach size when she had her DS was about 4 oz.

Adding to the confusion is variabilities in inflammation and recovery times, and who knows what other variables that may be involved. When my wife was going thru this, she could barely consume her nominal stomach size in liquids during a meal sitting (which was tough on her Protein intake,) while I had no problem with liquids and had very little restriction with them - I put away a bowl of broth (maybe 6-8 oz) and a half cup of juice in relatively little time in the hospital; both extremes are quite normal, and the doc had no concerns about such variability. I had no problem with consuming a Protein shake in 20 minutes or so as long as needed them, but have little problem with inadequate restriction at 2.5 years out.

Rick - thanks for the response. I have been nervous bc I have been able to get so many liquids down. I'm hoping the restriction kicks in once I get to solids. Hopefully that is Thursday when I see my nutritionist. It is tough reading on here all the different protocols.

Judging capacity off of liquids is silly in my opinion. You won't have a clue what your restriction is really like until you get to dense foods. Try not to worry, I could pretty much guzzle water (not a TON) soon after surgery with no problems. There was no sipping for me.

I'm like @Jenny12 -- I'm 2 weeks post-op, and I can take water in super fast. I feel like I have no restriction when it comes to liquids, and it's been that way from the hospital (with warm beverages/broth, anyway). When I called in a bit concerned, nurse said it's not abnormal to fell little to no restriction with fluid, but expect a difference with dense protein. I do feel more restriction with something like pudding than something fluid-y. We'll see what the future looks like. My doc used a 38f bought on me.