it's strange that

Jillyb · 04-06-2006, 06:45 PM

depending on the doctor that did the surgery everyone has differnt pre op and post op diets... some people can go to mushies earlier than 2 weeks even solid pretty early..... some people have to be on liquid diet 2 weeks pre op!!! what's up with that?

**Jack** · 04-06-2006, 08:10 PM

The treating physician developes a method that is effective in dealing with most patients, that s/he can rely upon, by controlling the conditions of the digestive tract status.

Not only are there "some people can, some people can't" issues, there are issues of 'what should I-as-the-treating-physician expect, and what is out of the usual for recovery process.

There has to be some basic floor of expected and not-signifigant complaints from the patient, and the non-expected but VERY signifigant complaints. Just as each concert pianist interprets the works of the masters in slightly different ways, each physician developes an interpretation of the progress of his patients.

While we as individual patients only have our own and a relative few Bandster buddies to learn from, we all have nuances different from each other. The physician must develope a protocol to effectively manage the individual variation between his last 50 or 100 or 1000 patients.

I positivily LOVED what my surgeon told me when I went in 3-week postOp....I said "I was doing 'pretty good' but LAST week I had issues I might have smacked him about"....he laughed and said "That's why I wait until the THIRD week to schedule you back in here"....

You may notice, many if not MOST of our worrisome issues as a group, tend to pass rapidly and be only temporary in nature. Issues that don't need attention from the surgeon.

**Alexandra** · 04-06-2006, 08:24 PM

That's very interesting, Jack! Jilly, I also think there's a variation in pre-op protocol from patient to patient even within a doctor's practice. Some people may have medical issues that must be addressed first, and a pre-op diet may be part of that. The post-op regimen does vary, but then again so do the bands being used. I think some of the less-restrictive post-op protocols may be used with larger bands not in use in the U.S. That's just a guess, but you're right, there is a big variation.

The bottom line is always the same: follow YOUR doctor's orders. :biggin1:

niki · 04-07-2006, 10:06 AM

Hi,
I guess the more we read and research about this, or other questions, the more we'll notice how things can vary from one doctor to the other or from one patient to another.
I think the best is to follow whatever instructions your doctor give you and do as he says. In any case, liquid and mushy food is certainly less «aggressive» to your stomach and one thing is sure: after you get your band, you will have to learn to chew all your food really well: chew, chew, chew! it's a whole new concept and it's true that old habits die hard, but it's quite a challenge!

best of luck!
niki