Post Op Questions...

Thanks Kylie :)

Hey EmilyG, I was told not to have a bath in the first 2 weeks or at least until the band aids over the wounds are taken off.

aushope2, are you on anti-reflux medications? If not, I would go to the GP. You can ask for a H.pylori test to see if you need antibiotics for a bug in your tummy. Otherwise, I would get some reflux drug like esomeprazole or lansoprazole.

My postop question is - how soon after surgery can you have a bath again? I know the wound dressings are water resistant, and I wouldn't have a bath yet, but I wonder how long to wait?

well didnt know about this site but started looking because;

1 i seem to burb allot
2 i now the last few days i have a bad smell when i burb
3 also i am having heartburn lots when i dont eat normal food (yogurt works the best it seems to settle my stomach down
4 having problem drinking enough water

well that is enough questions for now i think

just a bit of my journy here

i didnt really do the puree stage but i been eating lots of yogurt have no problem with meat as that seem to settle me down aswell
i was 176 kg went down after2 weeks to 166 10 day later to 163 and havent weighed myself for the last 5 days

i am a smoker dont know (beside smoking is bad) if this is having some effects aswell

all by all i think it is good think had a few problems just thinking about not able to eat but i am over that now a bit

one more question what is the best to eat basically i am eating anything is that ok ?

as you can see i am highly confussed state of mind regarding it all , but we just soldier on

Carrie, I'm on the pureed stage now but don't feel like I'm eating enough protein or enough food in general. Also with all the information out there I guess I got myself a little confused, some people are still having a few shakes a day.

Why are you still needing the shakes Kylie? How long before you can start on purees/mushies & soft foods? I haven't tried the Tony Furguson ones, but have heard they're much nicer.

Cheers - Carrie

I'm over the taste of Optifast but not sure what else I can drink? I've heard Tony Fergusson shakes mentioned, are these ok to use? Do they taste ok? HELP PLEASE

You are probably right Janette,

I am on liquid moving into mush and the egg was lovely and mushy - but considering my diet of the last 6 weeks perhaps far too rich for me. I am going to have some nice clear soup for dinner and get an early night.

Thanks
Concertina

Not sure.......maybe too early to be eating solids. I was on pureed/mushie diet for 4 weeks before I started on a soft diet. Then all Drs are different.

Hi everyone,

I am 13 days post op and from all accounts doing very well. I read all your stories with interest and have found great information and great solice on occasions. I had my first bit of trouble today and was looking for some answers as to why - I ate an egg - simple plan egg - nothing on it or in it and within 5 mins had thrown up. I felt like I had just eaten an entire cheesecake, like nothing I have felt before. I felt much better once I had thrown up - and it was not as painful as I had imagined.
Any ideas on why this might happen? Thank.

Concertina

hey, with the shoulder pain it is connected with the Esophagus (that's what the doc told me ) but to relieve it i took one pandadol (was at the puree stage) snapped in half and it worked! i was in so much pain with the shoulder agh :) but its all better now

xena-warriorprincess wrote:

Hi All,

My surgery is in 7 weeks but I find some nights I cannot sleep with questions going through my head and feeling so ready to go. It's going to be a looooooong 7 weeks for me! I have some questions I would like to ask those of you who are post surgery. Hope you don't mind! :)

1 Immediately after surgery were you in pain, apart from the shoulder tip pain? What did you have to ease the pain? Was it a pump thingy (I know, great english huh?);
2 Did you have a drain? If yes, how many? Did they hurt coming out and how long were they in for?
3 Did you feel different right away after surgery? Was it evident part of your stomach had been removed, as in did it feel different?
4 Were you weighed in Hospital as you went along or did this happen later at say the Surgeon visit after the operation;
5 Were you up and walking about the first day or did it take a couple of days to get back on your feet?
6 I'm a mum of 3, with a house to keep and cats to feed and all of the standard chores a Mum does. Do you think it would be wise to stay in Hospital the full 5 days after surgery to make sure I rest? I know me and I know I won't be able to resist cleaning the house;
7 I am taking 7 weeks off work all up. This is a purely vain question but do you think my weight will have dropped a fair bit from the 110kgs I currently am and how did you handle questions around how you went about losing the weight?

Thank you so much if you have managed to make it this far. :cheers:

Best Regards.

Hi Xena
I was sleeved 15 days ago. It is fresh in my memory. Lol.

1) I was in quite a bit of pain, but the pain left after a week, and improved significantly every day. Day 1-4 was the worst. The morphine helped a bit. The gas pain is quite painful. I am now relatively pain free, a bit sore in my stomach thats all.

2) I did not feel different after surgery except from the pain and being weak and only able to drink small amounts. My stomach did not feel different, and it still doesn't. In fact I find it hard to believe that most of it is removed. But I can tell when I drink that it does not have room for a lot.

3) I did not have a drain. I did not see anyone else have a drain either. Perhaps it is common in Norway to leave out the drains.

4) I was weighed at first consultation, and the day of surgery.

5) I was up and walking the first day on the evening as we all was forced to as a prevention against blood clots. However it was quite painful. It was easier to walk day by day, but at day 15 I still don't have very long walks because my stomach hurts a bit when it is wobbling from walking.

6) I would indeed rest as long as possible. I was in hospital for 3 days. Regarding house cleaning your pain will tell you how much you can take. You should also ask your surgeon if you have any limitations.

7) I think you will see some weight loss in that time. In 15 days I have lost 8 kg. Expect that your weight will be stalling for 2-4 days in a row, and don't worry, It will start again. I have been open about my surgery and told people. I find that they wish me the best, and are sharing the positive experience with me.

Good luck

If you are going out shopping for the day it so is not going to hurt you to enjoy one. It would not do your weight loss any good to make them part of your every day diet but as a treat sure, everybody has to have a life :) Sip slowely and just be a tad careful of anything with a high sugar content as it is a while since you have had it, it can make some people feel a bit ikky in a big hit, but I have not heard of anybody feeling that way from a smoothie or frappi so you should be fine :)

If you are looking for something on a regular basis that is yummy but not evil and have a local dome try their fruit smoothies they are very yummy and less than 100 calories.

Oh when ordering anything like this always ask for it in a takeaway cup and finishing one doesnt happen for many people :)

applesauce

Hi everyone. I am four days post-op and enjoying my low cal soup/liquids phase, but I was just wondering whether it's okay to have smoothies and frappes? I have a real sweet tooth and have been craving something sweet and delicious for the past month, and thought I would treat myself to something nice this week. I know that anything which will go up a straw is okay, but there hasn't been much mention of creamy "naughty" things like ice cream smoothies, or even fruit and dairy frappes. So are liquids higher in fat/sugar okay or could they somehow damage or do something bad to my stomach?

Thanks heaps everyone x

cos im worth it wrote:

Spinner its so nice for you to acknowledge your anaesthetist.! I used to be an an anaesthetic nurse & I ended up marrying one! Seriously I dont think the majority of patients (for any type of surgery) realize how important their role is. Sure we all acknowledge the surgeon, & the brilliant skillful work they perform, but it is actually the other bloke that keeps you alive & wakes you up at the end of it all! ( I actually cringe when they're referred to as the "gasman"!)

Here Here!
I have a tremendous amount of respect for anaesthetists and have seen them go well beyond the call of duty. I had one sit with me in recovery for an hour after I came round because, knowing that I was allergic or immune to almost all painkillers he wanted to make sure I was ok & to keep me company until I could cope with the pain well enough to go back to the ward. And he is just one example. I have never met one that treated me with anything but consideration and compassion, also, in my experience, an anaesthetist will always talk to 'you', whereas many surgeons will talk to the nurses rather than the patient.

I also try and tell people whenever I get the chance. No matter how good or 'nice' the surgeon might be, when you are in the theater his absolute focus is on whatever bits of meat & bone need fixing. The anaestheologist is there wholey to look after you. To make sure that you come out of there alive & well. To my mind he or she is the most important person in that room and due every ounce of respect and appreciation you can give.

Gee, if you havent already contacted your Dr, I think you should now. That doesn't sound like the sort of problem your Doctor would want you to ignore.

Let us know how you are Jenna.

Good luck - Carrie

Im 8 days post op. I coughed alot last night and woke up this morning and coughed up a lil blood.Should I b worried??? my body is going through so many changes and hate calling my Dr. 10x a day :-)

Spinner its so nice for you to acknowledge your anaesthetist.! I used to be an an anaesthetic nurse & I ended up marrying one! Seriously I dont think the majority of patients (for any type of surgery) realize how important their role is. Sure we all acknowledge the surgeon, & the brilliant skillful work they perform, but it is actually the other bloke that keeps you alive & wakes you up at the end of it all! ( I actually cringe when they're referred to as the "gasman"!)

sounds like I got away so lightly I can't believe what some people had to go through .. woke up in my room ( can't remember recovary ) no pain and no pain pump ..no drains no catheter ..after 4 hours i got up and walked to the toilet , toradol injection IM once on the first night then pain stop once after that and I havn't had a thing since .. I must remember to thank my anaesthetist and surgeon again for their great work

I had the op 7 days ago - I am just taking paracetemol now to take edge off gas pain.

Morphine was freely available post op - Unfortunately I was 1% of the population allergic to the stuff and after having tons of morphine pumped into my system for pain relief, had to undergo loads of narcon (naloxone) to reverse the effects, thus increasing my pain and discomfort. the nurses were a little strained in the ITU trying to figure out what to do, but hey, all is well now.

FBS
XX

All I got for pain in the Good Old US of A was Morphine through my IV - I hate Morphine! To make matters worse I was in some pretty bad pain in the recovery room and it seemed like the pain medication wasn't helping. After about an hour of moaning I lifted up the hand that had the IV (that was under the sheets) and my hand was three times normal size - the vein blew out. They restarted the IV, then I actually got some relief, although I was worried about the 4 or 5 syringes of Morphine sitting in my hand, but the recovery room staff didn't seem to care. Roughly 20 hours later they booted me out of the hospital and it was just me, my family, and a bottle of liquid Vicodan. The first day or two at home was rough, then the gas pain hit. In my case it felt like a heart attack, right in the center of my chest and it happened several times a day for 2 or 3 weeks! I'm about 8 weeks out now and doing fine. I have found I can eat a small meal with my family, although I haven't tried steak yet. I'm glad I did it, but twice now I have gone several days without losing weight and have had some low blood sugar issues. I have lost between 68 and 70lbs (30.8 and 31.8kg) so far! I started walking about 3 weeks after the surgery, but I haven't been in a couple of weeks due to rain. I can't wait for it to stop (50 degrees and rain is not a good time for walking!). I used to be one of those people that was always hot, now it seems like I'm always cold. I have alot of energy now, and that's a good thing. I know my wife likes it, at least I'm not asking her to get things for me anymore.

Not everyone has a pain pump in Australia, it is a decision of the anaesthetist and the surgical team, I didn't have one but I did have the option of a lot of different analgesia. i was determined not to have the narcotics as I have used them previously post op and felt my recovery was delayed.
I am fine now, back to work tonight for the first time . Yep, I took the whole 4 weeks off I was given, I figure at my age I can do as I please,and I did!!

The shoulder pain is caused by the anseptic gas that they use when in surgery. It not what I would call very painful and generally goes away after a couple of days.. by moving around it helps the body break it down to expel... mine lasted about 2 days... as with the pooing problem i found that a gente laxitive bout over the counter works well... believe me once you start on solids and the body gets use to the meals it should all come back into shape.....

thats why they advise to ensure all foods consumed is nutrious... if there is nothing to break down then there is no waste! (pardon the pun)

jane

Hey Mendez

The low carb diet does the same thing as putting us Aussies on Optifast. To Shrink the liver. Maybe they can't trust us to stick to a food diet so they give us a liquid one.

As far as the hospital goes that is so mean. We wake up here in hospital with a personal pain pump. Available every 5 minutes if we want and yes I pressed it the first night quite a few times although I was still too groggy I'm not sure how much I used. And the bed you go to the theatre in is the bed you stay in so no having to move until you have to. They do make you get up soon as they dont put a catheter in but by that time pain is under control.

Sometimes I think it would be cheaper for peoples to fly over here and have the op and have a holiday at the same time.

I didn't take any optifast or anything of the sort as I don't even know what that is.

All I was asked to do is go on a Low-Carb (All meat, chicken, fish and vegetables no fruit or bread or pasta or rice, etc.) Diet for a Week previous to the surgery and that was it. Lost about 5kgs during that period. This was supposed to make my liver smaller.

My only real complaint about the whole thing was that right after the surgery my pain medication was not passing to me and the hospital didn't notice for about 8 hrs so at the very beginning I was very miserable. I was sent to the Intensive Care Unit for the first night (which implicated a change of bed and that was a very painful experience). I woke up feeling much better and much happier and the pain began to go away.They sent me back to a regular hospital room.

Hi Lauren,

I find that De-Gas is really good for issues like this, it keeps the bowels nice and happy.