3 days post op

Hi everyone. My surgery was March 30th with Dr. William O'Malley in Rochester NY. I feel great now - no real pain (just gas). The first day and night were hard for me due to the gas pains and nausea. I did dry heave several times - but by mid morning Wednesday, I started to feel better. I certainly was motivated to get those gas pains outta there, so I did walk around the halls a lot. The nurses called me the "marathon lady" Today is my first full day home and things are great! Question though - when will I have a bowel movement?

Hi Jo Ann, Welcome home! Walking sure will help that gas stuff. For myself, I had my first non-gas emission on Friday (after my Monday surgery). Since then, I have had diarrhea on a fairly regular basis. To be safe my rule of thumb is that I cannot assume ANYTHING is just gas. Sounds like you are doing just great. Hugs, Mo doin' a happier happy Mo post op dance every day

Welcome back! I am 4-days post-op and also have had some issues with gas. I also find that by walking around gets rid of some of it. I think that I am going to try drinking with a straw as I seem to be taking in air with my small sips and I think that may be what is causing some of the problems. Leslie

Leslie, Most of us have been warned about not using a straw. It's sort of a hard concept to explain but take the liquid into your mouth, then exhale, then swallow, but that is the technique that was explained to me to keep the air out. Hugs, Mo doin' a happier happy Mo post op dance every day

My answer is similiar to Mo's. I had all liquid bowel movements from Sat after surgery on Tues. From the first moment on, I could not assume anything was only gas. Now I am on soft foods whi*****ludes cheese and the consistency has changed. It is no longer in liquid form and almost going to constipation. I was warned that this would happen. Also, I have found Oust to be a very good product for my bathrooms. I am suggestting that we all buy stock. It handles the scent better than anything and might save your marriage.

You know as I read your posts I realize that I have not had any gas. pains or otherwise. But early on, we thought I might be lactose intolerant, and had very bad diarrhea from liquid tylenol, but after that rough start, I gave up dairy and only drink soy products...could there be any relation?

So you're tellin' me that some time I'm going to think I have to pass gas and it's more than that? Is that what you guys mean? Wonderbar! Something to look forward to! LOL My hubby cannot tolerate milk at all, skim milk or skim Lactaid milk. He couldn't stand the soy milk. It all just went through him. I'm hoping milk doesn't have that effect with me as I do love it.

I had my surgery on a Tuesday and my first movement was the following MONDAY, which was the day of my follow-up, and if I hadn't had it I was going to ask about it. It was really painful, like a geode. Now I eat 1-2 dried apricots every day, and I have a movement about every 2 or 3 days. I know people that take benefiber every day but my grandmother always recommended prunes or apricots, and I feel better about them because of that. I haven't had diarrhea at all. Good luck, Jen