64oz's

How do I get the 64oz's of fluid in daily without popping? My Dr keeps stressing get your 64oz's of fluid, I'm so afraid that I'll bust my staples. I mean do I just dran****il it hurts or what? I'm sorry if I sound loopy but I'm really scared of getting a leak.

Your staples are titanium, you're not going to burst anything :)

I had a hard time drinking, my Dr said to drink as much as I could but not too push too hard the first week. I sipped every 15 minutes and I found that eating ice chips actually worked better for me then drinking water only. Drink as much as you can, but don't push yourself over your limit. Take small sips every 10-15 minutes. If leakage was an issue they would not tell you to push fluids :)

It will take time. Just keep sipping. You just had surgery & you're healing. 

I'm a week out and I don't think there's been a day I've got 64 oz of pure water. (Maybe 64 oz of liquids total, but my Doctor stressed 64 oz of water!) They also told me that it might take a week or two to actually get up to 64 oz. There's actually a point at the end of the night where I cannot drink anymore, and I feel it in my chest! So that's where I usually stop. As long as you are making water your top priority for now, everything should work itself out!

I wouldn't drin****il it hurts.. who wants to hurt? :)  

I found it easier the first few days to break it down by what I needed hourly, warm broths went down easier than anything else. You can do it :)

My surgeon told me to get 14-20 oz the day of surgery, 36 oz the second day, and then to add 6-8 oz per day until I reached 64oz. Has worked great for me. I was only on clears for the first 5 days. Today is day 6 and I've advanced to full liquids and I'm starting my protein shakes back today. So far so good. 

64 ounces sounds like a lot at first...but it's not.  I routinely drink 100-120 oz. of water per day and have been since I was just a few months out.  

I had to get up extra early to start sipping water.  I would sip up until about 10 minutes before meals and would wait 30 minutes after. And I would keep on drinking until 8:00 at night.  

You do not drin****il you hurt.  Water flows right through so it shouldn't be a problem.  You won't get a leak from drinking water.  You won't be guzzling it like you used to but there's no reason you can't get in this much water.  And it's VITAL you do - drinking is more important than eating the first few weeks.  

Getting enough water after surgery is CRUCIAL.  If you don't, dehydration can put you back in the hospital.

Try drinking out of small Dixie cups.  Plan to drink an entire cup every 15 minutes, but sip it slowly.

Use a shot glass. Fill with water/approved liquid and sip slowly until gone. Repeat every 15 minutes. Set a timer if you have to. 

psychoticparrot

It gets easier as time goes on. It was very hard for me in the beginning to get much water in at all. After a few weeks of healing and getting used to your new stomach, things get a lot better.

Drinking liquids like water won't fill up your stomach like a balloon. Instead, think of the liquid passing through your stomach like fluid pouring through a funnel. You take a drink, the funnel slowly fills up but is also allowing a slow flow of fluid to empty out of the bottom. Don't worry about popping your stomach with fluids since it is open on both sides. Just keep sipping and you'll get there.