I am 15 days post-op. I am having a hard time judging what my pouch should hold. In the hospital, I could tell, obviously. A few sips and I was done. That lasted a few days, then overnight I seemed to tolerate thick drinks well. I can drink an 8oz protein drink with no problem, even more when Ive blended with ice. Shouldn't I be full ? All I kept hearing was "you can only eat a few bites." Does that really just pertain to solid food? I am just about ready to start stage three foods though, I have eaten a few wedges of Laughing Cow lite and tomato soup with a sprinkle of cheese with no problem. I'm really confused by this.

Thanks!

I am 15 days post-op. I am having a hard time judging what my pouch should hold. In the hospital, I could tell, obviously. A few sips and I was done. That lasted a few days, then overnight I seemed to tolerate thick drinks well. I can drink an 8oz protein drink with no problem, even more when Ive blended with ice. Shouldn't I be full ? All I kept hearing was "you can only eat a few bites." Does that really just pertain to solid food? I am just about ready to start stage three foods though, I have eaten a few wedges of Laughing Cow lite and tomato soup with a sprinkle of cheese with no problem. I'm really confused by this.
Thanks!

I know what u mean about being confused by whats going on in there. For example, with me when i take a medium-sized gulp of a drink, my pouch fills up so quickly, as soon as I'm done swallowing! Then I have to stop drinking and let it drain for a minute or two. However, there are some foods I can eat a pretty healthy amount of and I'll never get that jammed up full feeling like when I have a gulp of a drink. So, I have no idea why full on liquid doesn't just sail on thru my pouch but some solid foods that I eat do, no problems, no hangups?! Odd right?

I had the RnY on 9/13, exactly 1 month ago today.

Happy Friday the 13th guys!! [emoji192][emoji316]?[emoji317]

10 hours ago, KarenOR said:

Shouldn't I be full ? All I kept hearing was "you can only eat a few bites." Does that really just pertain to solid food?

Liquids won't keep you full. Only dense protein (chicken, steak, pork chops, turkey) fills you up.

Liquids rapidly enter the sleeve before sticking around for a few minutes to enter the small intestine via the pyloric valve at the bottom of our stomachs.

The moral of the story is that, since liquids don't stay in the stomach for longer than a few minutes, they don't result in fullness or satiety for most sleevers.

Pureed foods are blended to a pudding-thickened liquid consistency, so they might not get you full either. For most sleevers, only solid protein does the trick.

I found that drinking liquids for me were no problem including protein shakes. I spoke with my Dr., and she said that the fluids go through the stomach unhindered because there is a valve at the bottom of the stomach that never fully close. The reason we were limited to small sips right after surgery was that of swelling.

My Dr. cautioned me though that once I started to eat real food, I would then feel full. You need to learn what the "New Full" feels. You will feel discomfort in the chest around the breastplate. The minute I feel that I stop eating. I have had zero issues so far.

The other thing I have learned is that if you chew your food and I mean chew your food to the point of liquefaction you should not have any issues because the only thing your stomach has to digest is tiny particles. This helps keep the acid down as well. We forget that the first stage of digestion happens in the mouth as we chew. The more we do there, the less our stomachs have to do and the less acid it must produce.

I found that drinking liquids for me were no problem including protein shakes. I spoke with my Dr., and she said that the fluids go through the stomach unhindered because there is a valve at the bottom of the stomach that never fully close. The reason we were limited to small sips right after surgery was that of swelling.
My Dr. cautioned me though that once I started to eat real food, I would then feel full. You need to learn what the "New Full" feels. You will feel discomfort in the chest around the breastplate. The minute I feel that I stop eating. I have had zero issues so far.
The other thing I have learned is that if you chew your food and I mean chew your food to the point of liquefaction you should not have any issues because the only thing your stomach has to digest is tiny particles. This helps keep the acid down as well. We forget that the first stage of digestion happens in the mouth as we chew. The more we do there, the less our stomachs have to do and the less acid it must produce.

You got that right, that we have to learn what the new full feels like. For me, its completely different than before I had the surgery. Like u said, it's like a discomfort in the chest area, almost like the food has gotten stuck or backed up. That tells me 'ooop, gotta stop! Must be my new full feeling!'

Tonight I actually ate real food Salmon with smoked green beens. I could only eat an ounce of the salmon and .75 ounces of the green beans. So those reading this thread and have no issues with soft food be warned it will probably change when you move to solid foods.

2 minutes ago, JeffN said:

Tonight I actually ate real food Salmon with smoked green beens. I could only eat an ounce of the salmon and .75 ounces of the green Beans. So those reading this thread and have no issues with soft food be warned it will probably change when you move to solid foods.

Oh yeah. I just learned this with my first solidish food, a scrambled egg. It's a whole other ball game when you start to chew.