Two Weeks Post Op

Well, I can say that two weeks out, I feel a thousand percent better than I did even a few days ago. There were days where I questioned what I had done.

I began a new lifestyle on July 5, 2012, when I joined Weigh****chers. I was 360 pounds, my heaviest ever, and absolutely miserable. I was going through my prerequisites for surgery and dragging my feet, not 100% committed to surgery, but knowing that changes needed to be made.

I excelled on WW. By my scheduled surgery date four months later, I had lost 55 pounds. My brother, a physician, even asked me to postpone surgery because WW was going so well. But, I was still in so much pain. I had degenerative arthritis in my back with a herniated disc impinging on a nerve root. My knees are bone on bone. I shuffled around like I was 80, and not half that. So, surgery was still on. And, I must say my family was so supportive. I have six siblings, and five are physicians. So, I valued their input and they respected my research and understood that I needed a permanent solution to my obesity and resultant pain.

Well, fast forward to today. I am only on one of my pain meds, and not the five I used to take, including morphine! I took the month off work, so there is minimal stress in that regard.

Because of my sedentary lifestyle, an IVC filter was placed so I am on Lovenox shots for awhile.

I am down 20 pounds post surgery. I had my 2 week follow up and everything went well, but I have a few questions for you guys. Oh, I am past the pureed and onto soft foods now.

1. I am desperately trying to get in my fluids, but it is a struggle. I carry a bverage with me around the house and force myself to drink, but wanted to see what suggestions you guys have.

2. I get these god awful "hunger pains" every 2 hours or so. They go away after a few bites, but my appetite sucks. The only things I crave are fruits and veggies, so I have to eat protein pudding, shakes, etc. to get everything in. Do these hunger pains go away?

3. My nutritionist keeps reasserting that it should take 45 minutes to eat each meal. But, my meals are so small, I can only drag it out to 20 minutes or so. Then I am bored to the point where I do not want anymore.

4. I have diarrhea about 4-6 times daily with god awful smelly gas, which has gotten better with me cutting my dairy intake (cheese, yogurt, milk, etc). No solid poops yet. My doctor did not have much to say about this, other than this is why I should take a few weeks before returning to work.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like you're about on schedule. Things will get a little more normal the further out you get.

1. I still carry a diet cranberry juice around with me every where. It's constant and you might as well work towards the habit. I found diet cranberry juice early but that first year I had to dilute it by 1/2 in order to drink it.

2. Every 2 hours is about right. Our dietitian works with us and she just says to plan your grazing and snacks, make them protein rich and low carb. Carbs can also create terrible gas, so don't aim for a balanced diet any time soon. Stick to low carb. You can also be sensitive to sugar alcohols. They can cause gas. I have to keep to Splenda and Truvia.

3. That 45 minutes thing sounds like RNY rules. Just take it slow and easy.

4. You may still be lactose intolerant. Good for you for realizing what might be going on. Try some Lactaid milk and see if you can handle it. Also, try the lactaid pills...is that what they're called?...can't remember for sure.

I went back to work at 2 weeks, but only half days, and needed to be home for bathroom purposes about that time. It gets better. Hang in there.

--gina

 

Thanks for the sugar free juice suggestion. I picked some up, along with every flavor of crystal light imaginable. Something has to take. My carb intake is very low, and my gas has gotten better, so I am hopeful that things are straightening themselves out. I think that by the time I return to work I will not need excessive bathroom time. I have to keep reminding myself that it has only been 2 weeks. 

Great report!  Good for you for sticking to your guns and good for your family for sticking by your side.

1. Learned on this board a long time ago the importance of getting all your fluids in.  It gets easier as time goes by.  At first, it was painful to take an normal swallow of any liquid.  Someone here recommended using a toddler's sippy cup which forces  swallows to become sips and that saved my life.  Don't forget warm fluids like tea, coffee, broth, bullion or even soup - sometimes it is easier to swallow warmed liquids.

2. Not sure about the "hunger pains".  Remember having intermittent pain early out but starting on Nexium or Prilosec resolved that.  Otherwise, eating every two hours, or WANTING to eat every two hours, seems to be the way lots of us DSers rock and roll.

3. Taking 45 minutes to eat is total malarkey.  At your stage my meals consisted of about 2 bites of whatever.  HOW can you stretch that out?  RNYers are instructed to chew and chew their food into a pulp or liquid before swallowing and that might take a while - but you are not an RNYer so you don't have to pay attention to that nonsense.  Eat like a normal person - that's one of the benefits of having a DS - you get to eat NORMALLY for the rest of your life.

4.  Loose stools post op are to be expected.  The more carbs (sugar, flour, starchy foods, fruit) you eat the more gas you will produce.  If milk sugars (lactose) cause you gas then cut them out of your diet.  A big culprit for gas and diarrhea often has nothing to do with the DS but with sugar alcohols in sugar free or no-sugar-added foods.  Look on the nutritional label for sugar alcohols and try to avoid them altogether for a while and see if that doesn't help.  Sugar alcohols end with the letters "itol" so watch out for ingredients such as manitol, malitol, xylitol, or maybe the worst one of all, sorbitol which is actually sold over the counter as a laxative.

Thank you for the support regarding the 45 minutes to eat thing. You are exactly right - I literally eat two bites of something and I am done. Turning that into a 45 minute event would be impossible. Thanks for the sugar alcohol info as well. That is not something that was mentioned to me so I was no****ching out for that. I am taking Nexium twice daily, which is helping the pains some. Tums also seems to help. I never had GERD or any gastrointestinal issues pre surgery, so the sharp pains and what they are/mean are new to me.