1 month and 1 day Back to work today

It has already been one month post op.  Back to work today.  So far so good and pain free.  Next step 6 week appointment and okay to excercise...can't wait.

Kelly

Hi Kelly,

Congrats on being back to work! I am in the early stages of getting approved for Surgery in Guelph.  I am wondering how to and when and even IF I need to tell my employer about the surgery. The job I have there are many personalities and I am not sure management would approve or even like the fact I was going this route to acquire a healthier me....not that I need their approval...BUT I sure don't want this to be a flaw on my work performance...SO my question is...did you tell your employer what type of surgery you were having? I am thinking I may just tell them I am having a hernia surgery or something? I have enough support from my family and friends...and I have always kept work and home life quite separate... Any thoughts?

Darlene

Hi Darlene,

I received short notice about my surgery and told my employer the 27th of March that I needed up to a month of starting April 16th.  I did not tell the specifics because my boss is male and I am also not to sure if he would understand the history up to my operation.  I indicated it was a digestion issue.   The letter then give you does not specify anything so you really do not need to tell them...completely optional.

I told close work colleagues, but again it is a personal choice and you have no obligation to do so.

Hernia operation sounds like a good alternative if you do give a reason.

Hope this helps,

Kelly

If you say "stomach surgery" then 90% of the time people do not ask follow-up questions.  If they do well then you can decide how much to tell them.

Wow congrats Kelly! I'm a week away from surgery! I have surgery in Guelph next Thursday, May 22nd. I'm hoping to be back to work in a Month - if not sooner. I did tell my employer about my surgery (in reply to the last poster), but you definitely don't have to. My case manager let me know that all my information is strictly confidential and is not shared with my manager.

Kelly, are you finding it tough to keep food town? on solids yet or still the mushy stage?

Hi Linsie,

I am at soft foods.  Pureed diet was very hard for me and soft is much better.  I can eat two ounces of meat, chewed a lot. (Having lobster for lunch).  Chicken is the hardest for me to eat, but others indicate it is meat.  I think it really depends.  I find breakfast the hardest and still have a shake, as oatmeal was hard for me, and eggs do not seem to agree anymore now that I am on Soft foods (on pureed scrambled eggs saved me)

The easiest for me is fish - lobster, shrimp and salmon.  Also greek yogurt is awesome.  I also bought Unjury cheese sauce (21G protein) so I can also eat Mac and Cheese (noodles cut up really fine)

So soft food is okay and easy to eat, just hard to also eat the veggie and starches with it.  So for now just eating the protein.

In terms of work I hoped to be back earlier but sitting down for long periods is hard.  I also had pain right up to Saturday so if you can take the month you should, it helps.

Good luck with your surgery hope all goes well.

Kelly

Thanks Kelly! I hate all seafood...so i'm totally screwed at that part. With the pureed foods (I believe that's week 2 and goes for 3 weeks right?), you can eat scrambled eggs? Do you find you're hungry or not really? Pureed stage scares me a little, because on the "menu" that I received from my clinic, there's not much on there that appeals to me. But if i'm not too hungry, just eating those protein rich foods in minimal amounts won't make me tired of them that quickly, so here's hoping! I could understand sitting would be tough, I had my gallbladder removed and it was tough to sit for quite a while. I'm a little nervous, mostly about the food afterwords though. That mac and cheese idea when i'm on soft foods sounds good! it's a good cheese sauce?

Hi, 

I survived on Unjury protein shakes with milk = 33g protein, Greek yogurt (strawberry pres choice 0% MF), soup with unflavoured protein in it (21g protein) and scrambled eggs, St Hubert BBQ sauce with 1 ounce of chicken shredded also seemed okay, but chicken for me after a few tries was just not sitting right.

I too am a picky eater.  Eggs were hard and I could only get down one scrambled.  

I suggest you stock up on protein powder - Unjury is awesome and comes in many flavours.  You need to order it online though.

Pureed meat, potatoes and sweet potatoes were gross and I could not tolerate them.

On pureed I was able to get 70-80 grams protein a day using the shakes also.

I should also mention that I became lactose intolerant after surgery - so when you first make a shake with milk if you feel sick switch to Lactose free which is what I use now.

The cheese Sauce is really good surprisingly enough!!  Unjury is awesome.  I use the vitamins from Unjury also and only need one Multi a day (includes B12 and Iron) and two Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D * 2 a day.  All chewable and really taste good.

Regards,

Kelly

Compared to Opti fast pureed is better, but in all honesty I was so happy to get to soft stage.  :)

Hope this helps.

Kelly.

I was just reviewing Guelph's booklet since I've got two more weeks left on the full fluids. The current info is:

• 1 week on clear fluids
• 27 days on full fluids
• soft food/regular foods

There's not much info on the transition from soft foods to regular foods, though. It's worded more as a see how it goes, and proceed carefully.

Glad to hear you are doing well, keep up the good work!