I am going over the post op diet he 'prescribes' ... 4 days of Clear liquids, moving on to "solid" liquids... then ... Normal food *as tolerated* ....

I called him up yesterday and asked him about this, his reasoning is "mushies go right through the band" ... My jaw dropped, I know he is still relatively new to banding and that he still has to work out how he is going to do things but damnit all. That seems to me to be asking for trouble!!

I told him I would bring in all the research I have found from hundreds of different facilities and show him the normal is same for bypass patients. liquid, 'solid' liquids, mushies, then solids as tolerated.

Now I am not concerned for myself because my research has one up'd the good doctor (and I do not doubt his surgical skills, he is an awesome surgeon) I will follow the common after care diet I have found, and go that route. But I am concerned for his patients that don't do the research to find out things on there own.

*sigh* Surgically speaking he is brilliant, common sense, well lets just say I don't think he showed up for that class :biggrin:

i think it's a little presumptious of you to think that your doctor doesn't know what he's doing. they have to go through a LOT of surgeries before they are certified to do them on their own, so even though he may be "new", he still knows what he is doing. if you would rather not go straight to solid food, then don't, but don't think you know more than your doctor. and mushies ARE normal food.

common sense, well lets just say I don't think he showed up for that class

Lately, I am sensing that a lot of people failed to show up for that class. :biggrin:

Susan how true how true ....

i think it's a little presumptuous of you to think that your doctor doesn't know what he's doing. they have to go through a LOT of surgeries before they are certified to do them on their own, so even though he may be "new", he still knows what he is doing. if you would rather not go straight to solid food, then don't, but don't think you know more than your doctor. and mushies ARE normal food.

Well Hope I don’t presume to know more then my surgeon. I do realize that some doctors do it differently then others. That is all well and good, but (always a but isn’t there) all my research, all my discussion with other doctors, and nutritionists have indicated the common practice is to have the patient on a 4 stage diet, liquids, “solid” liquids, mushy foods, then on to solid foods as tolerated.

I brought this to my surgeons attention not to be a ‘know it all’ but to let him know I am not very comfortable with his after care diet. I am in no way trying to be a difficult patient but an educated one. I refuse to be ignorant about things I am planning on doing in my life. If that makes me presumptuous then so be it, I call it educated.

Ok so your doctor does 4 days clear liquid, than full liquids, than solid foods. And your suggestion would be clear liqiuds, full liquids, mushies than solid if I followed your thread correctly. For me skipping the mushies is no big deal, as if you chew your food enough they will become mushy. I would just ask the doctor what research he has to back him up, but it does not seem like he is endangering his patients.

From the 17th of March until April 8th I was on clear liquids and Full liquids. Now from April 8th til April 22nd I am on pureed diet. Then I will be on regular food as of the 22nd. I will be on the food as tolerated. My dietician and Dr. will be advising me on this.

I had about 2 days of clear liquids, 4 days of full liquids, then mushies for about a week, then food as tolerated with some (steak, etc) exceptions. I guess I'm on the side of agreeing with hope. If you don't like the diet and you're going to err on the side of caution, fine... but I wouldn't be trying to get the doctor to change his Rx for future patients. Fact is, everyone is different. Despite all the research you've done, I'm willing to bet he's done even more. I think it's great you want to be educated (as we all should be before doing such a procedure). I wouldn't let someone cut into me unless I trusted him entirely- diet and all.

The absence of a mushies phase is a bit weird, but really 'normal foods as tolerated' means the same thing. So I'd do mushies, then solids anyway.

The liquids phase is short, isnt it? I had to do 3 weeks of "solid liquids".

I agree with you entirely, I'd err on the side of caution. But it just goes to show that like anything, there's no right and wrong way. Everyone's doctors cant be 100% right or wrong when they all prescribe different schedules can they? And same wiht the long term diet, Protein first, low carb isnt 100% right or wrong either, nor is just eating an average diet. Different people have to take their doctors advice on board but find their own groove.

And I dont think its the least bit presumptuous. There's a lot of docs out there who are brilliant surgeons and have gotten into bariatrics becuase its a growing field, but they are not nutritionists and have they can have some pretty strange ideas about diet, depending on things liek their age and where they grew up. I'd question it too.

Frankly, I don't think they know what causes slips and what doesn't. So, some doctors are extra cautious, others are not so much.

I have to say I disagree with the "presumptuousness" comment. As a nurse myself and being married to a physician I really hope you know that doctors or any medical staff for that matter are NOT perfect and do NOT know everything. I trust my doctor, as each of you probably do but if there ever arose a situation where I doubted information that I also had researched, I too would question it and probably get a 2nd opinion. That is just being proactive. No one is going too look out for you, like you!

Pearl I quite agree!! I come from a family full of nurses, doctors, etc ... I myself was an EMT more years then I care to count. My family would hunt me down if I went into this blind and blith only taking my doctors words as gospel. (my family is weird, we never talk to each other but by gawd you do something that retarded they will know and you will get an earful or 10)

My surgeon is going to have a sit down discussion with me about my concerns and research I have done. He didn't seem put out or even upset. Actually he sounded more amused then not. He already knew when he had the first sit down with me I was more prepared and had done more research then most (his words) of his patients.

Again, I don't assume to know more then he, or even presume to know more then anyone. But in this I will stick to my guns and go forward with the post op diet as I stated above. Call me crazy but I would rather go forward slowly then blazing ahead of what my body might or might not be able to stand.

My post op diet info is:

stage 1 liquid (anything you can suck through a straw)

stage 2 mushy food (if you chew well enough it turns into mush)

stage 3 a normal healthy diet dependant on what you can get down.

Everyone tolerates food differently. My sister who had the op 4 years ago is amazed at what I can eat 2 weeks post op. I had sushi on Tuesday. She said she couldn't eat rice for the first 3 years.

It'll be interesting to see how my eating changes as I start to get fills though. I could drive to Maccas and get a big mac meal and get it down without a problem - the thing that stops me is the fact that I paid for my operation and Healthwise, I need this to work for me. Theres enough people out there who are willing to sabotage your efforts without self sabotage.

I'll be asking for my first fill next week - I'm ready to get the ball rolling - I'm so excited.

sometimes I think all the different prescribed diets are more a difference in definitions than actual differences. But I have noticed that he US docs are a lot more conservative about pre and post op diets than Mex docs. After my surgery I was on Liquids for 1 week(any liquids-clear full-pudding,etc) Then 1 week of soft foods(anything you could give a 5-6 month old-or someone without teath) then gradually ease back into normal foods as I was able.

My dr had me do clear, full then regular foods, too. Its ok. There are many different studies.

sorry about my presumptious comment, because it seems to have disturbed a few people. i think the point is that every doctor has a different diet that they think their patients should stick to. mine, for example, only had me on clear liquids the day of the surgery, then i am on full liquids for 6 WEEKS, then mushies for 2 weeks, then (after 2 months) will finally be allowed to eat solid food. This is much stricter than most plans, and is made even more difficult by the fact that I am starving and am fully capable of handling regular food. (I know this because I cheat, but if I had most other doctors, I wouldn't be cheating). On the other hand, it seems that most docs make you wait 1.5 - 2 months for your first fill, and my doc fills every two weeks starting at week 2. so the point is, some are overly cautious (i would be too if i could get sued) and some aren't, but they probably all have their reasons. some people can tolerate solid food a week after their surgery (like me) and some can't. hence, regular food "as tolerated". that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't go slowly. but it also doesn't mean that your doctor hasn't done HIS homework. More likely, he understands that many people start cheating about this time because their swelling has gone down and they are hungry, and he figures that so many people are cheating and doing ok, that it really probably is ok to eat solid food this early, as long as you are doing it smartly and going slowly. and if he sanctions it, he's more likely going to get a call from someone who has a problem because they ate solid food, because they won't think that he's going to yell at them.