OK I have a few questions
I was reading on the main board and theres a post about pain after surgery and they have me scared to death! Some people have told me that its nothing like gall bladder removal and the people on the main board is making it sound horrible. Which is true?
Also.. I love love love watermelon.. am I gonna get to eat it after surgery?
Thanks in advance for all the answers.
Also.. I love love love watermelon.. am I gonna get to eat it after surgery?
Thanks in advance for all the answers.
Surgery date: Aug. 28, 2008. Start weight 489 - Current weight on March 29th 2009 368 - Goal weight 180
Have lost 145 pounds so far.
JenniferI had very little pain,most or it was on my left side were he did most of the surgery from.The pain i had only lasted for a few days i never took pain meds after i got out of the hospital.Some people can take alot of pain and others can't .I had my sugery on June 22 and was just 2 weeks out on July th 4th so i was still on liquid diet and just drank me about an ounce of watermelon juice every once and awhile.I do eaa****ermelon now.
Jennifer, I had a little pain after surgery, but not much at all. I had gas and that was worse than the surgery pain. However, if you walk, the gas will pass. Your taste buds may change. Mine did. I can ea****ermelon, just not much .. about three chunks and that's all. You will do fine. Do not let people scare you. Any pain that you may feel is going to be so worth it ... I promise. This is a great great life.
Hi Jennifer, I don't like to sugar coat things, but there will be pain nothing you can't stand.You can take Liquid Tylenol after you get home too. The GAS in your shoulders and the build up of it across your tummy HURTS(bad to me) Take it slow about eating a bunch of stuff. It was a while before I ate watermelon. It will fill you up fast because of the water. Like Carmen said a little at a time.Try to get protein in,
To me, if it stayed down it was good!!! Mashed potatoes!!!!! yummy. You will do fine.Please don't be scared. I am so excited for you,Losers Bench here you come. Hugs Ellen
To me, if it stayed down it was good!!! Mashed potatoes!!!!! yummy. You will do fine.Please don't be scared. I am so excited for you,Losers Bench here you come. Hugs Ellen
I had surgery on a Tuesday and Thursday I was home cooking three meals a day. I was sent home with loratab, which I did not need to take. I never had any real pain.
As far as watermelon goes, I almost live off of it in the summer. I can eat it just fine, as I can all melons. I only have problems with really dry meats or real sugary foods. I can eat one donut, or a small brownie. I can eat almost anything, but some things I just cannot eat much of...one square of dark chocolate rather than a whole bar. One small brownie rather than my use to be half a pan.
You may not ea****ermelon directly after surgery...believe me, you will not want to eat a lot of things, but gradually, you will be able to tolerate more and more foods. However, Publix keeps the seedless kind year round, so it will be there when you are ready. You won't have to give up ice cream, but you will prefer the low or no sugar added kind...and they have great flavors out there. YOu will be able to eat just about everything that you enjoy now, but just in much smaller quantities. You will also learn to eat new foods, no sugar added foods, and nonsugar varieties of some of your favorites. You will find that switching to olive oil rather than butter is a really elegant and tasty way to enjoy your bread, toasted with a little garlic or rosemary.
I save all the hamburger buns, hot dog buns, etc. that are left over from parties. I open them up and brush them with extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle one of the following, garlic powder, a Mrs. Dash herb combination, rosemary, or poppy seeds over the oil brushed bread. Then I toast it very slowly in a 350 degree oven until the bread is toasted. Then I sit it out to completely cool. You cannot believe how good this is and how much it saves and extends the life of those poor buns. My dog and I buy extra buns so we know there will be left overs for this purpose. These are the kinds of things that you will learn and you will live a life of enjoying food as you have never done so before.
As far as watermelon goes, I almost live off of it in the summer. I can eat it just fine, as I can all melons. I only have problems with really dry meats or real sugary foods. I can eat one donut, or a small brownie. I can eat almost anything, but some things I just cannot eat much of...one square of dark chocolate rather than a whole bar. One small brownie rather than my use to be half a pan.
You may not ea****ermelon directly after surgery...believe me, you will not want to eat a lot of things, but gradually, you will be able to tolerate more and more foods. However, Publix keeps the seedless kind year round, so it will be there when you are ready. You won't have to give up ice cream, but you will prefer the low or no sugar added kind...and they have great flavors out there. YOu will be able to eat just about everything that you enjoy now, but just in much smaller quantities. You will also learn to eat new foods, no sugar added foods, and nonsugar varieties of some of your favorites. You will find that switching to olive oil rather than butter is a really elegant and tasty way to enjoy your bread, toasted with a little garlic or rosemary.
I save all the hamburger buns, hot dog buns, etc. that are left over from parties. I open them up and brush them with extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkle one of the following, garlic powder, a Mrs. Dash herb combination, rosemary, or poppy seeds over the oil brushed bread. Then I toast it very slowly in a 350 degree oven until the bread is toasted. Then I sit it out to completely cool. You cannot believe how good this is and how much it saves and extends the life of those poor buns. My dog and I buy extra buns so we know there will be left overs for this purpose. These are the kinds of things that you will learn and you will live a life of enjoying food as you have never done so before.
Jennifer,
You are going to be fine. The biggest complaints that we have with our patients after surgery is nausea and the gas pains, which we have medicines for both. I am sure that Dr. Mathews also has a standard protocol for these also. You can probaby talk to our sweet MicheleLuv regarding their post-op procedures. Out of the hundreds of patients we have done since I have been the coordinator for our program I have NEVER seen a patient doubled over in pain due to the surgery itself. It is usually the gas or nausea that really causes them the pain, and at the time we say "YES" to drugs...lol :) Just remember that every person has different pain tolerances. I talk about this weekly in my pre-op classes. I tell my patients that some folks could stump their toe and be in awful pain, but then their are some folks who could cut their toe off and be ok. You know yourself best, so if you need pain meds let them know. The gas pains can be bad, but the more you walk the better you will feel. Also, if you sit up in a chair it will help. When you first come back from recovery you will feel as if you have an elephant sitting on your chest and tummy. This is from the gas that is used to blow up the belly so that the surgeon and the team can see better.
Regarding watermelon, we let our patients eat it after 6 weeks, but again follow your surgeons dietary guidelines. The reason we wait to incorporate it back in the diet at that time is because of it being stringy and the seeds. I like Karla (Skydancer) have eaten my share of it this summer. I cut it up and put it in the fridge and take it out a little at the time. It is so refreshing since it is cold and it is so hot out. I think it was Loretta (Elle) who dumped on it pretty bad. Some folks do dump on natural sugars. I tell my patients that we do the same surgery (RNY) on all of our folks, but everyone has different tolerances with their diets. It is a trial and error thing.
I hope this information will be helpful.
Take care.
Stefanie :)
You are going to be fine. The biggest complaints that we have with our patients after surgery is nausea and the gas pains, which we have medicines for both. I am sure that Dr. Mathews also has a standard protocol for these also. You can probaby talk to our sweet MicheleLuv regarding their post-op procedures. Out of the hundreds of patients we have done since I have been the coordinator for our program I have NEVER seen a patient doubled over in pain due to the surgery itself. It is usually the gas or nausea that really causes them the pain, and at the time we say "YES" to drugs...lol :) Just remember that every person has different pain tolerances. I talk about this weekly in my pre-op classes. I tell my patients that some folks could stump their toe and be in awful pain, but then their are some folks who could cut their toe off and be ok. You know yourself best, so if you need pain meds let them know. The gas pains can be bad, but the more you walk the better you will feel. Also, if you sit up in a chair it will help. When you first come back from recovery you will feel as if you have an elephant sitting on your chest and tummy. This is from the gas that is used to blow up the belly so that the surgeon and the team can see better.
Regarding watermelon, we let our patients eat it after 6 weeks, but again follow your surgeons dietary guidelines. The reason we wait to incorporate it back in the diet at that time is because of it being stringy and the seeds. I like Karla (Skydancer) have eaten my share of it this summer. I cut it up and put it in the fridge and take it out a little at the time. It is so refreshing since it is cold and it is so hot out. I think it was Loretta (Elle) who dumped on it pretty bad. Some folks do dump on natural sugars. I tell my patients that we do the same surgery (RNY) on all of our folks, but everyone has different tolerances with their diets. It is a trial and error thing.
I hope this information will be helpful.
Take care.
Stefanie :)
You'll get all sorts of answers regarding pain - mainly b/c we all tolerate it differently. Don't worry yourself about it - it's not worth it, and the surgery is SO WORTH it. Personally, I had very little pain after surgery. We were sent home with liquid Lortab for pain, and I think I took it once, and that was the first night, and I was more afraid of the pain than anything, lol. (This is coming from someone who'd never had ANY kind of surgery-no childbirth, nothing, and I was nearly 40yrs old, lol.)
Watermelon was a staple for me that first summer (my surgery was in February). I, too, could eat very little, but it satisfied my sweet/salty cravings very well.
Watermelon was a staple for me that first summer (my surgery was in February). I, too, could eat very little, but it satisfied my sweet/salty cravings very well.
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