To this point, I haven't been very hungry since the operation. And it's a good thing.
- First week of post-op - Clear liquids only. I've been able to have sugar-free jello, sugar-free popsicles, chicken broth, beef broth, etc. I can have up to 6 "meals" a day that consist of 2oz of one of the "foods" listed above.
- Second week of post-op - Full liquids. Next week I can incorporate some milk, carnation instant breakfast, cream soups, sugar-free pudding, etc into my diet. The quantity also increases by an ounce or two as well.
- Third through sixth post-op weeks - Mush. I can have any food that is the consistency of baby food.
Things I can never have again: Carbonated drinks and sugar. I'll have to carefully inspect all consumed foods for high sugar content. Consuming sugar with the bypass leads to some very unsavory results, the likes of which are called "dumping syndrome." Sounds awesome, doesn't it?
The reason for this crazy-ass diet is to allow the new pouch (the new holding tank for consumed food - about the size of an egg) to completely heal.
Talk about consequence. If I went off the deep end right now and ate a cheeseburger, it could very well kill me by exploding the new pouch.
The great thing about this diet is that it has significantly lowered by blood pressure, for which I was being medicated. Even on medicine, my BP would hover around 140/90. Every day since the procedure my BP has been below 120/80. The last few days it's been around 110/70.
Hopefully I'll be able to drop the BP meds for good. Of course this is after a consultation with my awesome family (literally) physician, Dr. Laura Lee Adams.
For those keeping score at home, that's two significant improvements in life so far. Much less joint pain and decrease in medications.
Thanks for all the support I've received since announcing the blog. It means a lot and helps me maintain more than you can imagine.
Regards,
The Vanishing Taylor
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