What to feed him?

sure, but i actually found the drinks quite soothing! nice and cold from the fridge...mmmmmm....with a nice bacon sandwich to follow! i was just thankful when i had any kind of appetite. i did all the acidophilus, aged garlic, green tea extract and vitamins leading up to my cystectomy. i spent the gdp of a small african country on supplmenents. it became an obsession. now im much more moderate and try to eat sensibly and take a good quality multi vitamin. i still try and include yoghurt in my diet as it helps with the bowels. i agree about the mucus though. but its never been a massive problem for me personally.

I'm seeing a trend here. Many people have mentioned eggs, bacon, potatoes, pasta, ice cream, & shakes. Lots of dairy and starchy food. I switched from skim milk to whole. I usually eat a healthy diet and when I called my brother-in-law from the hospital to give him my grocery list, he said "what's wrong with you? That sounds more like my diet". I wanted shakes (my Dr. recommended adding a package of vanilla or chocolate instant breakfast to the shakes for nutrition and calories - I couldn't taste it), BLT's, eggs and egg salad sandwiches, toast, grilled cheese. Then after I got a little appetite back I tried to think of things I loved but usually avoided because they were fattening and I fixed my 2 favorite cheese dips. I was told to go for the calories, and worry about a balanced diet with fruit, vegetables, and low fat foods later. I think V-8 would not be appealing for awhile. Refrigerated probiotics in capsule or powder form are many times stronger than the grocery store probiotic drinks and yogurt.

Some good advice here. I got bowel sounds back at approx 4 days after surg and started eating in the hosp. Very small appetite, I'd want to eat but only a small amount - maybe a half portion or less. Now Im at the 3 month point and my portions are still pretty small. I lost 35 lbs in the first 6 weeks and have kept it off. I did have excess to lose but the doc and visiting nurse were worried that i lost so much so fast so the visiting nurse told me to have shakes, ice cream, etc.

Thank you for all the info:)

Betsy Mae...i also had parenteral nutrition by vien in the hospital as my bowels were extremely lazy. The policy at The Cleveland Clinic was not to discharge until the bowels were working and you could tolerate food.
The whole bacon bit is what i mean by your body telling you what it needs..obviously needed some sodium with all that fluid loss....
I ate a lot of peanut butter on crackers too....don't know what that was about?
Pat

My surgeon gave me total parenteral nutrition ie; a liquid feed via the veins. This kept me off solids for about a week (but I swelled up like a beached whale!) until I had 'good bowel sounds' and was able to tolerate solids. As a registered Dietitian I was impressed by my surgeons forethought! For those who do not know me I am in the UK so it might be different in the USA. I also expected to be in hospital for at least 3 weeks.
Betsy Mae