Glad to hear you are feeling so good. I have been feeling great and then the last 2 days were kinds rough. I got dehydrated. For me, it has been difficult o get all the fluid in. Especially since you have to drink, then wait an hour an hour to eat, then wait another hour to start drinking again. When I went to the dietician, the pysch evaluation and my surgeon they all spoke about the vitamins and the importance of them, especially in the gastric bypass since many nutrients aren't absorbed. I take a chewable multivitamin, 2 of these, B12 sublingual 3 times a week (this helps with energy), Calcim (chewable 2 a day) and for the first 30 days Vitamin C which is supposed to help with the healing process. They had me start this regimine 2 weeks befpre so I could used to taking them. I would definetly ask your doctor, since we are on such a limited diet. I ordered on line a large container of the Isopure, it was about $40 but well worth it since this is a way to sneek in my protein. Please listen to your body and rest when you need it. My husband keeps reminding me, you had major surgery.
Glad to hear you are home safely. I went back to work this work and things have been a bit hectic. I was sore for about a week. I was lucky that I never had bad pain. Even today, 17 days out, I feel a little sore on my belly button from sitting and having pants on. Please sip, sip, sip, and walk, walk, walk,. You will thank yourself later. This will help get the gas out. You might have some shoulder pain. That is from the gas they give you to inflate your stomach for surgery. This gas will rise and then reabsorb into your blood stream. The other gas is from your intestines. Be careful the first few times you feel you have gas, you may have a little accident if you get my drift. Please listen to your body and rest when you need to, this will help your reovery and take your vitamins. Did you dr. have you take Vitamin c? Mine told me to take it for 30 days to help with the healing. You have made it thru the hard part, I am proud of you.
In case i don't get on for a few days, i wanted to wish you luck on Friday, not that you need it becasue everything will be great!!! Try not to be scared or focus to much on the surgery itself, think wonderful thoughts on how your new life will begin the minute you open your eyes. Please post when you can.
I didn't have a drainage tube. My surgeon said rarely uses one. I was on a liquid diet for the first day and then when I left the hospital I was on Stage 2, this is cream of wheat, jello, applesause. I see my dr. on Wednesday and then he will decide if i go to Stage 3. I have been very lucky and having NO food issues. They gave me something to drink in the hospital called Isopure(?). It looks like Kool Aide and has a slightly wierd after taste, it's Ok. It comes in many flavors and you can buy at GNC. A 20 oz. bottle has 40 grams of protein. In an effort to get my protein, I have been sipping one bottle of this everyday. I can eat yogurt, applesauce and other stuff but all has very littlr protein. I also bought some whey protein for a shake once a day, this has 24 grams of protein. Hope this helps, please let me know if you have any questions and I am happy to share how I am doing.
When I went the day of surgery I was very relaxed and focused on the life I will have when this is over. I think staying relaxed is key. I woke up in my room, don't remember the recovery room at all. I was warm so they got me a fan and my husband put cool wash clothes on my forehead. As I layed in bed I was waiting for the pain to hit, but it wasn't bad. On a scale of 1-10 it was a 4. It was more discomfort than pain. When you come out of surgery I had a catheter so they can monitor your urine output for 24 hours. My surgery was 7:00 Monday morning and the cathater came out first thing Tuesday morning. Also from surgery you will have on compression hose that inflate at intervals, these are to help not get blood clots. The hose stayed on until I left the hospital, but the compression stopped after 24 hours. I also had oxygen in my nose which came off Tuesday morning. Then the IV, they had a fluid bag going and antibiotics as a precaution for 24 hours with the pain meds. They were very sure to make sure I was comfortable at all times. Again, on Tuesday they unhooked everything and I was a free woman at last. They also gave me a shot in my stomache every 8 hours to help with the blood clotting (it didn't hurt). Most of what they were doing was preventative. For me the worse part was the nausea on Monday. The anestesiologist told me he mixes up a good cocktail, but with any abdominal surgery there tends to be nausea. Monday night i had to get up and walk to help get the gases moving. It wasn't painful, just akward with the IV pole and cathater. 24 hours after my surgery they did the graphing test where i had to drink this gunk and watch it go thru my new pouch. The stuff tastes disgusting just to warn you. my roommate had her test 12 hours after surgery so maybe it just depends on how busy they are. All in all, I sounds much worse than it seems. I walked and sipped the next day and am feeling wonderful. My advise is to not focus too much on the actual surgery and concentrate on your recovery. You will be great. Please let me know if you have any questions.
