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DS-ers! Question about food intake!



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Hey guys!

I'm scheduled Monday for surgery and I wanted to reach out to see about how much you are able to eat with you DS. I know the pouch is bigger than just the sleeve, but I'm not clear on exactly how much!

Just trying to get ready for meal prepping and portion control! Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

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How much difference in sleeve size is used between a DS and a stand alone VSG is largely a surgeon's preference and what he perceives to be best for a particular patient - some will cookie cutter things while others will more closely tailor the procedure. Classically, the DS sleeve would be around twice the size of a VSG sleeve - a bougie size of 56-60 is/was common for the DS while the VSG is usually based upon a 32-40 bougie; then there are differences in overall stomach length that will determine what the initial capacity is - taller men tend to have longer stomachs than shorter women.

My wife had a DS 11+ years ago and her initial stomach size was about 4 oz. I had a VSG 5+ years ago and my initial stomach size was about 2.5 oz. Initially, she had more apparent inflammation than I did, so she was more restricted in her eating volume, particularly on liquids, than I was, but early on it's still typically a few spoonfuls with either procedure and the variation will be more due to individual differences than the procedure chosen.

In maturity, from any practical perspective, our meal sizes are about the same. On an absolute basis a lot less than "normal" pre-op eating but relative to each other about the same. After her DS but before my VSG when I would prepare dinner, I would serve myself about twice as much as I served her - 6oz of steak for me and 3 for her, for instance, or just 2/3 of a combined dish for me and 1/3 for her; now I make less and split it evenly. When we eat out, we get 2-3 meals out of a typical restaurant meal depending on what is ordered.

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I'm about two weeks post op, and I can eat about one egg at a time. I've tried to eat two and I can't haha, but I do find that I'm hungry more often, so I eat those small amounts throughout the day.

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I am almost 6 months post op. My initial pouch was 4 oz. I was a little bit of a different case because I had a leak complication with my surgery which prevented me from being able to eat or drink at all for the first 5 weeks. At 5 weeks, when the leak was healed, I could eat one hard boiled egg.

Today, I could probably eat two hard boiled eggs and two pieces of bacon.

When I eat out with my friends/family, I tend to eat 1/2 to 1/3 of the portion I am served.

I eat kind of like those teeny tiny skinny ladies who seem to barely eat... and you always wonder if they feel constantly starved...only it is not miserable. You feel just fine/full.

At first, be prepared for waiters to ask you if "everything is ok" and you like your food (because you ate so little of it).

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At 11.5 years out, I eat a lot. For instance, 2 [6 oz. pre-cooked] hamburges w/cheese & catsup. Now, I don't eat them in 1 sitting. It takes 2, but I finish them.

For breakfast: maybe a 3 egg omelette with cheese & bacon (some people add toast, too). Again, it takes 2-3 sittings to finish it. But I sure do.

YMMV.

This didn't happen overnight. I ate 1 tsp. of scrambled eggs [for a meal] the first couple of weeks. I got up to 1 or 2 scrambled eggs for Breakfast at a year or so. To supplement, I had 1 Protein shake per day (for the first year) bc I couldn't eat enough to get in the Protein I needed. Once I could eat all my protein the shakes were no more (as they are for most full DSers). We eat! :D

Edited by Postop

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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