Post Op Advice

Well, my surgery is right around the corner - July 28th. Emotionally I am so ready for it. Realistically, I think I'm ready for it but I guess I'm curious about what others have experienced post op. Was it really painful? What foods were tolerated better than others? I'll be on a soft diet for at least 2 weeks post op. Was there anything that you encountered that you didn't plan on that you've figured out how to handle? Any advice or helpful hints anybody can give me would be most appreciated. Thanks

Congratulations on your upcoming surgery! I had open RNY almost 7 weeks ago. I had a little incident where I woke up in recovery before the pain meds kicked in...that hurt...BUT my head was still loopy from being knocked out...so it's like a bad dream that only lasted a few minutes. After that, the pain meds did a great job. If I allowed the pain meds to wear off, it was more soreness than pain....just uncomfortable. I didn't plan what I was going to sit on or sleep on (when I got home) very well. When I came home, the sofa was too low...the bed was the right height...but I couldn't lay down...so at first, I was just sitting in a wooden kitchen chair. I was soooooo tired and really couldn't stay in the kitchen chair. So, hubby put a recliner in the living room for me and I lived in it for nearly two weeks. Crushed ice is a Godsend after surgery. Word to the wise: beware of letting chunks of ice melt in your mouth. I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep with ice in my mouth and woke up choking on it running down my throat or because I just dumped the ice all over myself. I even fell asleep with a spoon full of broth in my hand and poured that all over me. Sugar-free popsicles are wonderful too. The easiest soft foods that I ate early out were: refried beans with a tsp of sour cream, cream of wheat, regular oatmeal, fat-free ricotta w/ 1 tbsp of spagetti sauce, protein pudding, SF jello and mashed potato w/ a little gravy. If you eat cream of wheat or oatmeal, eat half as much as you are allowed because it swells a little in your pouch. My favorite "rut buster" was the broth from won-ton soup. I tried yogurt and tomato soup early out and dumped...but others do just fine with it. Carb Countdown Chocolate milk is awesome and had 12g protein per serving!! That's all I can think of right now. Oh, and walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk! I wish you the very best of luck, much success, no complications and a speedy recovery! ((hugs)) Pam

Hi Treresa The pain is not that bad,I was in more pain from laying on my back than from the surgery.I ate tons of jello and drank broth and ice chips the first few weeks.Energy is a big problem.I was so weak and had to force myself to walk and I slept a lot.It is worth it Treresa because i was 598 lbs and I was living in Hell.That was almost 20 months ago and today I weigh 274 and I feel great.So much has changed for me and I have done things I've only dreamt about.The first month was hard but the pay off was and still is all good.Don't be scared of having this surgery be scared if you don't have it.Your journey will be a ride you'll never forget and you have all of us to help you.........steve

Theresa, There is a support group meeting tomorrow night at 7 pm at St. Agnes, you really should go and talk to other post op's. Dr. Singh is supposedly the guest speaker for it. I too had Dr. Averbach and am very pleased with my success thus far. There was minimal incisional pain, I had more when getting up and down and trying not to use those abdominal muscles which are tender for about 2 weeks and then even that is pretty much gone. Everyone had a different tolerance level for pain so it may hurt and expect it too. Use your PCA and the best advice I can give you is walk. Make a commitment to yourself to get out of bed fast and begin walking it helps to aleviate the pain casued by the gas inside and the sooner that moves the better you will feel... I promise. As for what food is tolerated, everyone is different. There wasn't anything that I couldn't eat except Breakstones cottage cheese doubles. It made me very ill 2 days post op and I have no desire to try it again. Make sure you puree your meats, I did a lot of refried beans and cheese, tuna fish, scrambled egg with cheese and egg salad during those first 2 weeks. Start doing protein shakes before surgery so that you get use to them and it never hurts to power up on protein before surgery. If you have any questions please email me, I am coming up on 4 months this weekend. Good luck and I hope this helped some.

Thank you all for responding to my question. I've tried to anticipate everything, but as Roseanna Roseannadanna said..."there's always something"...hehe. I love the support and encouragement that this board gives out I'll keep everybody updated about what happens next week...thanks again!