Questions about pouch & post-op diet

I'm panicking a little.  I went to the pre-op seminar at my surgeon's office, and the nurse who led the seminar said that, for RNY'ers, the pouch will only hold 2 tablespoons or 2 oz. or 1/4 cup after surgery. She noted that it will eventually be able to hold about a cup, a year or so post-op. Well, I'm only 11 days out from surgery, and while during the first few days I absolutely was not hungry, I'm now having my 1/4 cup of cream soup or what have you, and it is NOT satisfying me!  Last night, I experimented to see how much more... so I measured out a half cup and ate it no problem. 15 minutes later, I was still hungry, and then ended up having another 1/4 to 1/2 cup, and then finally felt satisfied.  What the hell???? What's wrong with me? 

When do you progress to 1/2 cup?

Can my pouch already be stretched out? I think I may have drunk wate too quickly in the beginning, because I later read that new post-ops should only be able to drink 1 to 2 oz of water per half hour. Is this true? This is not at all true for me!

I'm so afraid that this is going to fail! I dropped 11 lbs the first week after surgery, and now I've been at the same weight for 3 days.

From what I have read on here you can't stretch your pouch with fluids. they say if you can handle it comfortable and have no pain to drink away. I can drink fine and have very little pain if any at all. I tery to eat ice chips from Sonic to satisfy my drinking. I hate drinking water. And I just had my surgery on 3-22 and although I don't eat much I can hold about a cup at a time and I have lost about 24 lbs in just over 3 weeks. I'm not worried at all..I gained 7 lbs in the beginning for some reason but the weighloss has finally kicked in and I have lost that 7 lbs plus 17 more..4 of that in the past 2 days. I don't think anything is wrong. It's probably just the size your surgeon made your pouch. I have read that different ones do them at various sizes. I won't worry until I am not losing anything at all. I only drink 2 nectar shakes a day made with a cup of skim milk and eat about a cup of something mushy and I'm done for the day. Not much room left after swallowing all those damn vitamins..

Tracy

That measurement applies to dense food, not liquids. Almost all rny's feel like you do and most have those feelings that this too will fail, but I'm here to tell you that you can succeed. Wait until you start eating real food....the challenge will be trying to get it all in.

this early out you can't FEEL if you overstuff your pouch, which is why they have you measure your meal sizes.... you won't feel full and you won't get true hunger signals from the pouch for a while (for me it was six months before I began to feel signals, nine before it was consistent).... so you follow hte plan.... we were on 1/4 cup for the first two months gradually increasing to half cup by six months and a full cup meal at one year.

follow the plan.

Also, there is commonly a stall at two weeks or so.... I didn't lose for weeks 3 through week 8...not an ounce. It's natural and normal. Just follow the plan.

 And remember that warm liquids move down faster than cool ones....I am 17 years post-op. Surgery gives you a control that you haven't had before. Follow the instructions your Doctor/surgery team gave you. IT WILL WORK.... take care of yourself, YOU ARE WORTH IT! sweetpotato

I am three weeks out and having a very hard time getting in all that they want me to have.  One of the things that I have to remember to do is eat....I consistently drink water, but never feel hungry now.  I got clearance to start soft/puree food this week and am doing much better with it.  Rarely hungry, but remember the cream soups were not satisfying the last few days before advanced the diet.

Good Luck,
Kelly

1.  You can't really feel your pouch at this stage.

2.  You have head hunger!!!   You are not really hungry, your mind is tricking you!!! 

3.  Relax.  Go to a support group.

4.  Get enough protein and water(more than you think).  Make sure you are adding protein to those soups, better yet skip the soup and just have protein shakes or .  I could drink tons and tons of water, I remember drinking a 1/2 cup every half hour within the first week.  Take all your vits and meds.  Focus on protein, not calories right now.

5.  Measure out everything and STOP testing your pouch size, it is trying to heal!

6.  Weight will come off any second now.  At this stage you could be down 5 pounds by tomorrow.  Don't fret about the numbers right now, they will come off, just focus on following your surgeon's plan.  Take advantage of these first few months, they fly by!

7.  Give your body some credit as it is handling large amounts of fat loss and all the processes that comes along with that.  It will need time every few weeks/months to adjust, but during that time you will lose inches even if the scale doesn't move.

8.  Ignore the head hunger!  Sorry to be repetitive, but this is sooooo important.  Wait it out, and go for a walk.

Thanks everyone!

I had an "aha" moment yesterday.  During the pre-op seminar, the nurse said that after the full liquid phase, we should have, at the most, only 1 packet of artificial sweetener per day because anything sweet will increase appetite. I'm realizing that she's right!

This occurred to me because I seem to be fine during the day, not really hungry, not much appetite. But, I've been having artifically sweetened stuff all day (protein shakes, diet snapple, etc.). So, I think that may be the culprit. I'm going to look for plain protein powder to use instead of the shakes, and nothing bu****er to drink.

I'm in the same boat. I feel awful that I can already eat 4 ounces for a meal.