Freshly minted DS

Hi All,
     I've been lurking the boards for several months but now I have my DS - the. Surgery was Monday the 15th, time   to get the benefit of all the pro's experience . Hopefully, as I go through my learning phase I will be able to help other newbies. Surgery was laparscopic at the Clinic - 5 hours and a 75cm common channel length (at least that was the plan). They sent me home on Wed night.

      Trying to get in all my liquids and start protein.

Question 1: I have a JP drain that drains but also leaks out the sides into the dressing. Any thoughts on how to handle that? The nurse and associate Doctor were not concerned, that it would tighten up over time. It appears healthy so I am going with it for now but get frustrated with the wet dressing. Follow up with the Doctor in a week.

Question 2: Just curious - anybody show weight gain right after the surgery? The nurse said it was more or less expected. The implication that it was a byproduct of the liquids introduced during the surgery. I just hadn't seen that on the boards so I thought I would ask.

Congragulations on your new DS! I had surgery on March 19th so can relate a little to your journey. I had the JP drain but my did not leak. As the wound starts to heal it will heal around the drain too so the leak will go away- just not sure how long that will take tho.

When I came home from the hospital I was up 2 lbs and it took me about a week before I started showing any loss but then after 3 weeks I was down 20lbs. They were flushing fluids like crazy thru me because my kidneys had stopped functioning for  several days. I was then at a stand still for almost a week while everything adjusted and caught up then I was down several more lbs. I haven't weighed in the last few days. Still trying to figure it all out, getting my protein in, bathroom issues!

Again, congragulations!

Sharon

Welcome to the dark side!  : )

Congrats, an exciting time for sure.......

Congrats.  Annoying as it is, that drain will be gone in no time.  Just keep sipping the fluids.

If you have a woman in the house, get some maxi pads to use as bandages.  They absorb the leakage so much better than the standard bandage.  It should subside very soon either way though.

For the weight gain, it's probably the liquids you've been pumped up with and will drop very soon.

Congrats!

Drink those liquids and good luck!

Congratulations!

Nevermind whether or not you have a woman in your household. Men can buy maxipads too! Yes, they will sell them to you. And Val is right, they work great for drainage and are soft, clean, and far less expensive than anything that is labeled as a "medical" product.

Yes, the fluids they pumped into you at the hospital make the scale go up. As you recover, your body will shed those fluids and your weight will go down.

Larra

Thanks for all the good thoughts and advice. Working hard on liquids and protein. I can hit the 64 0z liquids (barely) but have been only able to get to 30/40 grams of protein. Tough to get it down. I had strained cream of chicken soup with added dry fat free milk and that was good but a half a cup was enough (10grams/protein). Each day brings some new issue to address but for 4 days post op I think I am doing OK. (Well in my brighter moments.) I have some abdominal pad bandages that seem to work well for absorption but I'll remember the maxi pad advice if they run out.