I had my surgery the 16th of May lost 25lbs the first week (I don’t see it yet) but Im truly struggling to get my protein in and my water. Any advise on this would be amazing! I have spoken to the dietitian and she said it’s completely normal and not to worry but I am really worried I’m not doing this right and I don’t want to fail! My dr has me on the soft diet already and I did explain my stomach doesn’t handle the protein shakes well and he even advised maybe try beans, eggs, etc. just looking for some advice or maybe others who have or are struggling too.

So i bought little 1 ounce sauce cups and i would fill it with protein shake and take shots like that. Little by little. Was much easier than drinking from the bottle. As for water. Even 6 weeks post op i struggle to get in the required water unless i just keep drinking and drinking. Big sign that you are dehydrated is the color of your pee. If its yellow or very yellow you need water and mine is most times very yellow. when i see that i am like Oh crap i need to go drink water. So i get my container of water and take as many sips as i can over the course of an hour. As for eggs. If your surgeon says its ok. Then try some scrambled eggs. I typically eat quail eggs because they are much smaller.

I will definitely try that with the protein shakes!! Thank you so much for responding I really appreciate it!!

Some ideas for getting in liquids that really helped me:

Ice chips- Sonic has the best ice chips for chewing. Remember that a 44 oz cup of ice equals to 22 ounces of water.

Popsicles- So nice to enjoy the chewing of the popsicle. Very satisfying. You'll be wanting more.

Hope these tricks help.

if your tummy doesn't handle the protein shakes don't have them, Scrambled eggs, kids yoghurt ( its thinner ) Mash potato and gravy, mushy stews and stuff like that are great. You can get flavourless protein powder to add to these things to get your protein in. I drank powerade it made it much easier to get my liquids in and cloudy pear juice is easy to get down too and it will help with number 2's as well. As mentioned above iceblocks are good too especially the hydration ones. Yes what you are feeling and going through is all pretty normal just do the best you can it gets easier.

Refried beans with melted cheese on top? Yum!

too much fat will make you have the orange explosions in the potty, and too many carbs will make your insides cry with gas pains and the resulting smells are noxious (combined with orange explosions, be careful.. jus' sayin').

With a DS, it's protein first. I could tolerate Bariwise cream of chicken protein soup, but not any bouillon broths. Not even store bought brands. Everyone is different, but the average amount of protein a DS'r absorbs is 60% of intake. To reach the amounts the body typically needs, 130-150g of protein should be the goal per day (unless otherwise indicated by doctor).

P.S. (edit) It took me about 6 weeks to reach that goal and I am still falling short of it. I had another doctor botch my DS in 2010. I had a revision with corrected limb length on April 18, 2022.

Edited June 9, 20224 yr by Patricia Bee
English is a second language for me today

On 06/01/2022 at 17:57, monamcd2004 said:

I had my surgery the 16th of May lost 25lbs the first week (I don’t see it yet) but Im truly struggling to get my Protein in and my Water. Any advise on this would be amazing! I have spoken to the dietitian and she said it’s completely normal and not to worry but I am really worried I’m not doing this right and I don’t want to fail! My dr has me on the soft diet already and I did explain my stomach doesn’t handle the Protein Shakes well and he even advised maybe try Beans, eggs, etc. just looking for some advice or maybe others who have or are struggling too.

Hello there! I am five days post op and having same issues you had. Did it get better? Today I cried, because I thought I was doing something wrong. The binder of instructions from my dietician needs to be worded better. I called her last night and she talked me off the ledge. We lowered my fluid intake and protein intake to 40/40 until I can tolerate more. But I HATE protein shakes. Going to be an interesting journey!!!

On 8/3/2022 at 5:38 PM, OtterBot said:

Hello there! I am five days post op and having same issues you had. Did it get better? Today I cried, because I thought I was doing something wrong. The binder of instructions from my dietician needs to be worded better. I called her last night and she talked me off the ledge. We lowered my Fluid intake and Protein intake to 40/40 until I can tolerate more. But I HATE Protein Shakes. Going to be an interesting journey!!!

I final got to move onto the soft food diet, but after eating a small amount of food for 3 days, I went back to liquids because the idea of food makes me sick. I have had an issue with pain and nausea since I was in the hospital and it continued at home, does this go away? I'm going into my 3rd week and I don't think I have ever made my protein and water goals..