Resumption of normal diet

Don't rush it! Recovering from any major surgery takes 3 months or more. With the "wrap" you can add "full" liquids (i.e. milk) after a few days to a week.
Soft foods a few days to a week later. Hold off on the beef for several weeks at least, but chicken and fish are considered soft foods. I'd take it easy on
anything you didn't tolerate before surgery. If you couldn't tolerate it before, you may not tolerate it ever. Food intolerances are not "cured" just by getting
your stomach tied in a knot.

Stay away from anything that causes gas - look up gassy foods. Your digestion will take weeks or months to normalize. Eat yogurt at least once a day.
Take a probiotic (good bacteria) to repopulate your gut. Avoid soluble fiber, artificial sweeteners, sugars of all types, complex carbohydrates. These
cause gas because the bacteria in the gut do eat them! This will help avoid gas and bloating.

If you're at two weeks now then you'll be at six weeks by Christmas. At six weeks all I could eat was 5 vienna sausages and a four crackers and feel stuffed.
I had my surgery 3 days before Christmas last year and I remember drooling over the Christmas dinner my mother made as I held my 1/2 cup of beef broth. I had to stay in my room during the holidays so I wouldn't be tempted to cheat.

Hi Hamsa,
Sorry to hear you're going to have to postpone your trip. I do have to agree...something that much fun and connected to delicious eating and drinking needs to wait until you can really enjoy it.

I can tell you this. We took a vacation at four months, and I was able to go out to eat at nice restaurants without any trouble. I could eat anything I wanted, and my stomach handled normal amounts.

It's not that far off. Hang in there!
Denise

At a month post op I was pretty much eating whatever I wanted in small amounts. There were a few things that disagreed with me and at 2 months post op now I still can't eat raw veggies or acidic things like spaghetti sauce. Believe me, I'm dying for a salad! But I've tried to eat a few bites and it cramps me up. Also at a month I was sipping soda all day. It was better when it was flat. And also I did have a few rum and cokes at a wedding reception at a month post op.

However, I had a partial wrap so I'm not sure if someone who has had a full wrap would be able to do what I've done. Really the only thing you can do is try a little bit of food or drink and see what happens. Of course, I don't condone disobeying your surgeon's orders.

At 2 months post op my bowels are still messed up. For awhile there I was having the runs every other day. It came with cramping and a lot of pain. Right now is has been many days since I've gone although I am cramping with lots of gas. (as we speak in fact) I do have IBS so it may not even have anything to do with the wrap.

I think what I really miss is going out to eat. There's really no point in spending money on me when I can only eat small portions. Thanksgiving day I soooo wish I would have been able to eat more.

Hi drgrcr,
I can speak to my own experience. The first two weeks are challenging, although considering what has been done, not nearly as bad as I had expected. The swelling of the wrap increases and peaks at two weeks.

I started eating regular foods that could be chewed to a liquid on Day 5. In the early days, I could eat only a little, but that was because of stomach swelling that is interpreted as fullness. You don't feel hungry, so don't worry about that.

I can't tell you the exact timing, but I can say with confidence that I was eating out at restaurants without any trouble by the last week of the fourth month. We were on vacation, and did a lot of eating out.

Hope that helps.
Denise