I met with my surgeon today and got all set to be banded next month! YEAH! Having read so many posts, I naturally asked him 1) do I have to do a pre-surgery diet? and 2) What is the post-surgery diet? He said no to a pre-surgery, just Clear liquids the day before. My tests were all good so I am happy with that. As for post, he said 7-10 days clear liquids, an office visit and then right to solids - no mushy food stage. He said his reasoning was that he doesn't want his patients to get into a mindset of what they can "sneak" through so he likes them to feel full sooner and on track sooner. Solids meaning flaked fish, scallops, etc. (that consistency obviously not french bread and steak:wink2:). Personally, it makes a lot of sense to me. I could see where I would start to get too used to pudding, etc. Has anyone else's doctor gone with something similar and if so, were you ok? My only worry is the healing period, but I feel more than comfortable with my surgeon and so that is my only thought.

Thanks for the input!

Hey there, I had surgery with Dr. Ortiz and his post op diet is liquids for 3 weeks post op (if you can drink it you can have it, use your head though nothing like milkshakes and such) and then no mushy stage just straight to regular food. I was not hungry at all for the first 3 weeks post op, in the 4th week I became slightly more hungry and at that point had been eating for a week, had my first fill just under 6 weeks for 1.5cc in a 10cc band and am going for my 2nd fill on thursday. I had no desire to sneak anything in the inital post op time, mainly since as a self pay I did not want to risk anything that may cause damage to my band. As for preop, we had a 1 2 or 3 week option to choose from.

good luck with your surgery!!

Hi

I was banded 5/6. Dr put me on clear liquids for 1 day prior surgery and 1 week after. 2nd week: soft foods mashed potatos,mashed hard boild eggs creamy soups 3rd week: most foods except stead and some breads.Avoiding foods that expand when soaked, like popcorn, macaroni, tortillas or bread. Other food to avoid--but this is my plan.

I found with clear liquids I have real easy days and some I get just a little hungry. Love it!!

I'm being banded this Thursday (holy toledo!!!) and my pre-op requirement is only one day of clear liquids, tomorrow.

Then, post-op my surgeon requires the following:

Days 1 - 4 - Clear liquids (anything you can see through)

Days 5 -7 - Full liquids (anything you can sip through a straw AND jello)

Days 8 - 14 - pureed food

Days 15 - 21 - Soft food (i'm not actually crystal clear on the difference between pureed and soft? Will have to ask nutritionist for advice on this...)

Day 22 - Regular food!

hope4k, the difference between pureed and soft is, pureed has no chunks in it so thicker than full liquids, soft is like refried beans, has some soft chunks in it but nothing that requires alot of chewing like chicken.

hope4k, the difference between pureed and soft is, pureed has no chunks in it so thicker than full liquids, soft is like refried Beans, has some soft chunks in it but nothing that requires alot of chewing like chicken.

Aahhh, I see, that makes perfect sense - thanks Tarrn13!! This is a good reminder to me that even though I have been voraciously reading this forum and doing research on gastric banding for over 8 months now, I still have much to learn! I suspect that beginning on Thursday, every day will be a new learning experience. I'm ready!

I didn't have a mushy stage either.

It was liquids for healing and then as soon as I wanted to try solids, I could. But I had to be cautious.

I was eating regular food by weeks end. And even still now, if I find something isn't going down well, I won't eat it.

Cool! I am glad you guys responded! I have seen so many different directions from doctors (based on posts from this site) that I wanted to make sure that it wasn't totally "out there". His mindset is that I'll be able to eat almost anything but in severe moderation which is EXACTLY what I need (It's my job to make sure I'm not stupid with food). When I was pregnant with my twins, they consumed all my calories (BLESS THEM!) and with limited stomach room, I lost a lot of weight. Of course, now that I have twins, I am not getting pregnant again just to lose weight! Ha!

Thanks again!

It's interesting how different each doctor is. My routine is:

Pre-Op: Seven day diet consisting of 3-4 MediFast drinks a day and one meal not to exceed 450 calories

Days 0-7 after surgery: anything I can drink through a straw. Suggested food: fruit juices, broth, strained cream soups, Jello, sugar free popsicles, low fat pudding, low calorie yogurt, Tomato or V-8 juice, smoothies, Carnation Instant Breakfast.

Days 8-14: Mushies. Suggested: Creamed Soup, strained vegetable soup, fish or crumbled ground meat if moist and tender, poached egg, cottage cheese, mashed/cooked/canned fruit, soft banana, applesauce, canned vegetables, mashed/baked/boiled/creamed potatoes, crackers, oatmeal

Then begin consuming a regular diet. At this point they recommend NO liquid calories except 2 servings of non-fat milk a day and no soft foods. They want the stomach to begin getting used to regular food.

I'm on day 7 now of my MediFast diet and by now liquids like V-8 juice and creamed soups are sounding pretty good!

My doc has us on Liquid diet for 2-3 weeks, then soft/pureed foods for 2-4 weeks then solid foods as we feel comfortable with it. They only have one post op diet book and that is for bypass patients. So they have inserts for the new band patients saying to skip the mushy stage and go to "solid foods as you feel comfortable". I will probably do a few days of mushy foods to work my stomach into digesting real food again then eat mainly soft foods (read as stews, fish etc) and just work my way from there.