I'm home!!!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I was home. Sugery went well, took almost 5 hours due to some adhesions from past sugeries, Kinda freaked my husband out, but he was okay. Recovery went great. Thank you to both Wendy's for coming to see me. That was the highlight of my day. You guys are so great. Having lots of Gas pains, but i'm dealing with it. Burping lots still not passing gas out the other end, but i'm having bowel movements, so Dr. Baker let me go home. Got here around 10:45-11:00. Had to come home with oxygen to sleep with, not sure why pulseox is dropping into the 80's when i'm sleeping but it happened the whole time I was in the hospital, so I guess Dr. Baker will address that When I follow up with him on the JAn  9th. Thanks for all the well wishes and can't wait to see you all at support group next month.

Michelle

Hi Michelle,

So sorry I didn't get up to see you, but by the time I helped Lauren clean up it was pretty late and needed to get home.

Glad to see you're doing so well. Hope your recovery goes well!


Welcome to the loser's bench

We have plenty of time to see each other. I'll be at the next meeting, can't wait. Have a Happy Holidays.

Michelle

Glad you got to go home so soon! 

Did you get to go watch your daughter?  (You were right - Jamfest was great!)

It was almost ALL DAY - but it was great!

I home last night around 11pm. Feeling okay, slept good. Had to go home on oxygen with my cpap. Guess i've been having low oxygen saturation for awhile but didn't know it, so when I sleep I have to have it. I took a risk today and went Turkey Jam, cheer competition. It about an 1hour away, sat there for 4 hours and drove home another 1hour, slept the whole way home and for the next 3 hours, ate lunch then slept another 3, just now getting up. I should have stayed home but it was one of those things  you just couldn't miss. I did okay, just sat there and watched, probably would have sat at home the same, but oh well, wont be leaving for long outing again soon. Have lots of gas pain, but had a bm before i left the hospital so he let me leave. burping just fine, just can't get it out the other way, did a few times right before i logged onto the computer, so maybe we are making progress. Here's what i ate today, tell me if I'm on the right track. here's my menu don't laugh, lol.

breakfast
1 tsp oatmeal with a tad of slenda
1/2 tsp of sf jello
had to force that jello down really didnt' want it

30 min later had about 1 oz of orange juice

sipped on crytal light all day, not sure how much in each sip, but going measure tonight when hubby gets here.

lunch
2 tsp of fat free cream of chicken soup (so delicious) I was actually hungry I think

1 hour later started sipping my crystal light again,

Dinner
1 tsp  of soup and 1tsp of sf yogurt.

I hope that is okay, going to keep a journal, i know i need more fluid intake but i feel like i'm forcing that in.
 

I'm
Talk to you soon
Michelle
 

Glad you got to go to Turkey Jam!  I wish I had seen you there and I'd have said hi! 

I hope your gas pain goes away soon. 

So you wanted to know about your diet.  Here it goes...

When you type tsp are you meaning teaspoons (tsp) or tablespoons (tbsp)?

Also, it's never really too soon to be thinking about protein.  What are you planning for that?

If the jello didn't want to go down, I wouldn't force it.  I would never force ANYTHING down that wasn't doing me much good.  And let's face it... jello really does nothing good for you other than fluid at this point.  It may have been easier to just quit eating without the jello since it didn't want to go down and gotten whatever fluid that jello would have given you in it later when you were drinking.

It's not likely that you were actually "hungry".  The portion of your anatomy that releases the "hunger hormone" ghrelin that TELLS you you're hungry has been severed.  It won't be working for a while.  In fact, for a lot of us, it never works again.  (In other words, some of us never get hungry again.)  In SOME post-ops, the body does eventually find a way (whether it was the way they were cut or some other inexplicable reason) to produce ghrelin again.  (In other words, eventually SOME post-ops do experience hunger.)  However, studies show that RNY post-ops typically experience between 70 and 80% LESS ghrelin production than non-ops.  (In other words, IF you are one of the ones where hunger does return, it will undoubtedly NEVER be like it was pre-op: it will be much less.)  Note:  this does NOT have ANYTHING to do with "head hunger" which can manifest itself with symptoms that mimic real physical hunger. 

It is awesome that you are keeping a journal and measuring everything.  Those are 2 GREAT behaviors to start (and keep up) for long-term success! 

(We would never laugh at the post-op plan!  We have ALL DONE IT!!!)

I've gotta go to bed now!!!
Wen

Your the greatest for advice, i'm so glad I found you, lol.

On my menu, i'm meaning tablespoons, tbsp. Not sure why i typed it wrong, lol. I haven't really thought about getting in alot of protein until I start my pureed diet on Tuesday, then i'm going to try and do eggs for breakfast and see what pureed meat I can tolerate, we only eat turkey, fish and chicken so I hope those will settle well with me. Then I can do one of them for lunch and dinner. Any good ideas for a pureed menu? I have no clue. I see Dr. Baker and Courtney on Jan 9th.  So i'm hoping i'm in the right direction when i go to see them.

I'm doing much better on gas pain today, actually passing gas both ways, lol. Thank goodness. My stomach muscles are very sore, You can tell i've been using them alot, whether it was to get up and down, problems with my breathing or the excessive coughing I have going on. Going to call my PCP about getting a couch suppressent called in. Is over the counter stuff okay to take or should I just rely on my dr's to give me prescriptions? Not coughing up anything, just a presistant cough. Didn't sleep well because of it, but nothing I can't handle.

I actually feel pretty good today, going to venture Walmart in a little while. Need to prepare for my foods next week.
Talk to you soon.
Michelle

I would not see your PCP about ANYTHING (that I can think of) this soon post-op.  If you have a persistent cough (not related to spirometer coughing that you have to do), I'd call Dr. Baker and ask what to take/do.  It's probably nothing - but so soon after anesthesia, you can't be too careful about post-op pneumonia.  I'd give Dr. Baker an email or call and ask him what he thinks - just to be safe and sure. 

My pureed stage consisted mostly of refried beans.  In fact, I ate pintos & cheese so much that I got made fun of (in a good-natured way) on here over it.

I did eat some RAZOR THIN sliced deli meat though that.  I mean paper thin that you can see through.  You can puree that and it's wonderful!!!

Any kind of bean was always a good choice for me.

If you scramble an egg with cheese 2% cheese melted in it, it gives it a creamier texture than scrambling the egg alone would.  Also, be sure to NOT overcook the egg (or anything) because that texture would NOT be good.  If you like medium cooked eggs where the white is barely done and the yellow is runny... that's a great texture that would probably do well. 

To be honest, I focused on fluids more than meals that early out.  I have to admit that I barely got in 2 meals, much less 3 meals and 1 snack.  I had a hard enough time getting in the fluids that soon post-op.  So I focused mostly on that.

If you get dehydrated, you will feel like you have had the worst flu EVER.  You won't EVER want that to happen - trust me.  So I focused mostly on fluids - especially after I got dehydrated post-op.  (I haven't let that happen again.)

Don't fret over the food.  Just take it one meal at a time.  (I really STILL take it one meal at a time some days even now.)  You can do it!!!

Venture to Wal-Mart???  I knew when we saw you the other day in the hospital that you were bouncing back fast!  I told everyone you looked so good that I thought you may throw the covers off and come down to join us at group!  LOL 

Don't over-do it!!! 

Wen

Honestly, i was kinda sad I didn't come down and see everyone. I wanted too, lol. Not sure if the nurses would have let me, but man i should have asked, lol. I haven't gotten my pain pills filled. Don't think I'm going to need them. No unusual pain at all. I'm so excited.

I will definatley work on my fluids, I don't want to get sick if I can help it. I work from home so I'm going to try and work a few hours each day until I get up to 5, thats all I do on a good day.

Refried beans and cheese sound yummy, have never had them before, but theres a first time for everything. Maybe if I can do a good breakfast and dinner I focus on my fluids throughout the day and night. That should get me through.

Thanks a bunch
Michelle

Yay!!! Sounds like you're doing great!  I'm so glad I got to meet you the other day.  It sounds like you're on the right track with everything, just keep the fluids up as Wendy said.  Take care of yourself, girlie!