What should I expect? - ThinnerTimes

Meredith · 01-14-2005, 03:45 PM

What can I expect the first month out of surgery to be like? I plan to have it done lap. and I'd really like to know what to expect that first month to be like. I do better with everything when I'm expecting it. Anyway, will I have pain? Will I be able to eat and what kinds of food? Will I have any energy? What about the emotional and psycological parts of the post-op? I haven't heard very much about the emotional/psychological and I think that will be the biggest part. Would you mind telling me about this stuff? I'd like to hear the good and the bad.
Thanks
Meredith

triciaknox · 01-14-2005, 05:19 PM

Meredith,

Yes, there is some pain, but that varies from person to person. Me? I had already had 4 abdominal surgeries so this was a walk in the park (and mine was open). You don't say where you are, so I can't tell if you will be going through Dr. Callery. Each doctor is different. With Dr Callery you are on liquids the first week: sugar free jello, broth soup, water, sugar free popsicles. Then the next week you graduate to cream soups. After about 4 days on that you go in for your post-op checkup and they put you on soft foods (scrambled eggs, refried beans, chicken spread, beef spread, etc) and crunchy foods (crisp bacon, crackers). You gradually work up to regular food over the next few weeks and by three months you are eating anything and everything (within reason of course). Now, the emotional. There again, that varies from person to person. I would ask myself why I did this to me, then I would look in the mirror and answer my own question. Psychologically you have to deal with your food issues. I don't care how good that $6 burger looks, you aren't gonna run out and be able to eat one. It helped me to remember that it didn't matter how good it looked on tv, it never looked that way when you got it and it never tasted as good as it looked. I also argued with my mind that those foods were what got me in this shape and I was fed up with all that. No more. PERIOD. It worked. I am not 100% out of the woods with that stuff yet, but I am well over 50%!

Oh yeah, energy. You will have just had major surgery. Your energy will be down for a bit. Sleep is good though. Once your energy starts coming back you will just keep getting more and more. I constantly feel like a fully charged battery now!

Hope this helps!

cedesigns · 01-14-2005, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meredith

What can I expect the first month out of surgery to be like? Would you mind telling me about this stuff? I'd like to hear the good and the bad. Meredith

Hi Meredith,
I just had my surgery (laproscopic bypass) the first week of December so most of it is still pretty fresh in my mind. First of all everyone is different as far as pain is concerned. Everyone has different pain thresholds. I have talked to some GBS patients who have said the pain was the worst they had ever experienced, for me it wasnt that bad. The main thing was it felt like I had a really bad stomache ache that didnt go away. That lasted for several weeks. I didnt have any incisions except 5 little holes so there wasnt much pain there. I ate clear liquids at the hospital and for the first week (jello, broth, gatorade, popcicles), when I graduated to cream soups it tasted like I was at the Hyatt Regency buffet! Boy were they good! From that point soups, yogurts, puddings, and pureed foods were the fare for several weeks. Believe me that gets boring fast and I had a serious problem with pureed foods (made me gag! LOL). Fortunately you move on to soft foods by the 4th week and then the food supply broadens dramatically. I think the two things I learned right from the beginning that I had to really change was how much I put in my mouth and how fast and hard I swallowed things. Everything has to be tiny tiny tiny. Little sips, little bites, slowly and chew chew chew. At first I couldnt even drink water! I kept swallowing too much too fast, and it just plain hurt. Fortunatley time goes by quickly and you do get adjusted. This really makes you change your way of eating. No more eating fast, no more filling your mouth full of food, no more eating and drinking at the same time. Things I always said I would learn to do but never did, now I have to, you don't have a choice.

As far as the energy is concerned, I did real well the first 2 weeks...then I hit a wall on the second week. Perhaps the change of metabolism hit me, maybe the decrease in calories finally caught up with me, I'm not exactly sure but I felt like I was carrying around 100 lbs of bricks, total inertia! I didnt want to get out of bed. Gradually that went away, and it has been an upward energy level ever since. One thing be sure to do is find a vitamin that you like and be sure to take them. I had a hard time finding one (the liquid vites made me gag! I havent had such an overactive gag relex since I was a kid! ) and went without for a while, that was not good. I can tell a big difference in my energy since I leveled out on my vitamins and the amount of food I could get in and keep down.

It definately gets better as you go. The first couple weeks is the toughest, a lot of learning new habits and techniques, and getting used to not eating everything you want anytime you want. That is tough. But the cool part is you are not ever really hungry. That sounds like a wonderful thing, but in the long run that can be a dangerous thing too. Mainly because you have to remind yourself to eat. Already I have been preoccupied during the day and realized I havent eaten a thing since 7AM. I am learning to take energy bars with me, and keep some gatorade close by. It just takes time. But it is definatley worth it~

Carol
5 weeks post op/ laproscopic bypass

triciaknox · 01-15-2005, 08:35 AM

And that is the difference between doctors. Carol was on soft foods the 4th week, we go on them the second week. Your doctor will have his own plan for how he wants you to eat. Be aware of that.

HAMPTON5555 · 01-15-2005, 09:24 AM

Merideth,

Welcome to our forum. Just a little heads up, while the info given is usually good and helpful, you want to make sure the details are in keeping with your doctors orders. One example is that one reply mentioned Gatorade. Please verify that. Gatorade has a lot of sugar and Dr, Callery advises against any high sugar content foods. however, Propel is like Gatorade with less sugar.

As for me I am almost 3 weeks out. had open and had moderate pain. Sleep is good and I found my energy to dip when I am not taking in enough protein, which is a challenge as I am still in the mushy, crispy stage. I am drinking low sugar high protein shakes at least once a day and taking all my vitamins.

Psycologically this is difficult to answer. There are many times when I ask myself, "what have I done to myself??" When I eat one teaspoon of food and can not eat anything else. Or a sip of water feels like I just ate a 3 course dinner. Then there are times when I watch the scale go down and my clothes start to hang when I want to jump for joy and thank God for the miracle happening to me!!! I can breathe going up stairs and walk from store to store just a little easier.

Hope this helps.
Rain

bridgetgirl · 01-18-2005, 12:52 AM

Hi Meredith! I thought that I would try to provide some input about the psychological stuff... as Rain stated earlier, for the first few weeks you do go through that, "what have I done to myself" stage... its tough to get through. But it only lasts a little while, then you are on soft foods and then moving on to more solid foods and then eating wont be such a big deal. Just think, for at least the first 5-6 months YOU DONT GET HUNGRY ( ususally) this is where you have to think if you are hungry or having head hunger. What I did and suggest you do as well, is pick a book titled, OVERCOMING OVEREATING. It is fantastic, it talks about the problems we have emotionally as over eaters andothings to recognize and behaviors tootry andodeal with.... it helped me so much. Its available on paperback and well worth the buy, I highly recommend it.

Another thingoto look at is being 10-12 months and being scared then when the "honeymoon" period is over and you can eat more and that gets scary..... having GBS is the last alternative to saving yourself, saving your life. You will have to learn new eating habits, and also you will be forced into learning new behaviors and how to cope in stressful/emotional situations. Many of us are in therapy, its nothing to be ashamed of... if you have some fears now, it maybe a good idea to get a jump start on therapy now.... food is the enemy, try to change your outlook and say goodbye to the monster that has had a control of your life for so long. Phil joined OVEREATERS ANYOMOUS prior to having surgery, from what I hear this has helped him in a HUGE way... thats one outlet for support. I went to a meeting before, but I have young ones at home and no babysitter to watch them or you can bet I would be joining Phil as well.... for the rest of our lives we will struggle and feel scared... first your scared because your afraid you wont be able to eat again or enjoy food again... that feeling will pass... then you will worry and be afraid that you are not losing fast enough or losing too fast... then alas you will worry about the fact you can eat more... you will worry about gaining weight back... its always a struggle. Stay close to the forum and definitely join a support group to do the least and you will see that you are going to pull through this just fine.

Lastly, I had my procedure done laprscopically. I was at a social event 3 days after surgery, and at work one week after. I didnt have any pain.. virtually no discomfort. But then again, I have had kids and that pain is like no other.. in comparison GBP pain was nothing...... the post operative gas is the worse. And the dry mouth from morphine......

However if you can afford and get the time off from work for 6 weeks, I suggest you take it... shoot you deserve it. I hope this rambling was of some use to you... letme/us know if you have any more questions! Best wishes!