Home but not well

As the others have said, don't worry about food or even Sykes at this point. Sip water, water and more water. At 5 days out I was sipping water, decaf tea and maybe a little diluted white grape juice. A couple of days later I added chicken broth and tomato soup with cheese melted in it,

Hang in there and don't set high expectations, you just had major surgery.

Don't feel like a failure! I'm 13 days out and I'm having a bad day too. I can't seem to regulate my body temp (hot then cold), I'm nauseous and don't feel like drinking water. I've called the dr and he doesn't feel like I'm in danger of dehydration.

So you aren't alone, and you are not a failure! We're in the same boat, and we just have to do the best we can.

Ginger tea was recommended to me and it helped quite a lot. I also got my doctor to call in a prescription for Reglan, and anti nausea drug that helped. I only needed it for a few days but it worked wonders. This should pass fairly soon for you.

Don't worry about nothing coming out the back end, when there is nothing going in the front end!

Just make sure you are hydrated. Have you tried peppermint tea? Hot cold or lukewarm, it is an herb that settles stomachs. We used it extensively when my youngest son was little.

Sweetie, you are in NO WAY a failure! You are forging the way ahead to all of your dreams. You just can't see the light at the end of the tunnel right now, as you said, but that doesn't mean the light isn't there.

I am really proud of you, my friend, for doing everything you should, which is sipping and walking. That is what we have to do, no matter what, and you are doing it in spite of how you feel. That is admirable!

~Lisa

Wow, it took 10 days for me to have a BM. Sounds like your newly altered guts are raring to go! Get some Gas-X strips for the next time you get gas. I burp constantly (I hate it) so that may last a while. I also tend to produce lots of gas in my stomach which never finds its way out the other end so the Gas-X is a must for me.  One thing that works wonders for me is crystallized ginger. All it is basically is small pieces of ginger root coated with a bit of sugar. It stops the nausea instantly. You should be able to find it at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, Mother's, or Henry's. Try it. It's been a life saver for me.

Don't worry about food. I had the same 'I need to get food into me' mentality and this causes a lot of unnecessary discomfort. At 4 weeks out I finally had to take a step back and start out like I was just out of surgery. I am limiting my food significantly and I feel way better. The burping and gas in my stomach has been siginficantly reduced.  I was just pushing it too fast. The tempation is there, let me tell you, and I was particularly feeling the need to eat because I just can't get those shakes in but it just isn't worth it. I was so miserable these past 2 days that I know I had to just stop and start over. So, it's back to liquids (something else I'm not doing terribly great with) and softer foods.  Don't push your recovery and you will feel much better. You can only do what you can do. If you can get plenty of liquids in you, I think you are going to feel way better. Just get some of that ginger I mentioned and see if that helps with the nausea.

 Thanks Sandy.  That helps.I'm going to forget about food and just focus on the liquids (not protein just clear liquids).  The doc likes me to drink apple juice for the sugar.  So we'll see.  So far it's holding good.  I'll get my husb. to get me some ginger tomorrow.  I'm guessing the surgeon will tell me not to take the gass x because he WANTS it to pass.  But I'll check.

Just hang in there - I went through the same thing you are. I was great in the hospital and then when I got home all hell broke loose. Just make sure you concentrate right now on hydration. I was back in the hospital a  week later to get rehydrated. I couldn't keep down anything including water. I was also very nervous and anxious after the surgery. Just remember you had a very, very serious surgery and it will take your body time to recover. You still have to work the anesthesia out of your system, etc.. Freeze snapples (they don't crack in the freezer) and they are like slussies, freezer pops, ice cubes (I sucked on ice all day long), etc.. Just worry about this for now and the food part and vitamins will come later.

I hope you don't mind my butting in as I'm not a DSer, but the dehydration is the most important
thing.  Test every once in a while by pinching a fold of skin on the back of your hand;  if it stays up in a fold, you may becoming dehydrated.  If that happens, no amount of water by mouth can cure it.  You will HAVE to have IV fluids.  So stay on top of it.  If your blood gets too thick due to dehydration, you will pass out and you could kill yourself when you fall.  Either that , or scare the dickens out of your DH.

Best wishes,

It won't get rid of all the gas but it will make it tolerable. I can't imagine the surgeon would want you to suffer. My surgeon said take Gas-X for gas. I think it is pretty standard advice from surgeons because why go through all that pain? It doesn't accomplish anything. You've established that your new rearranged guts work. Why do through any more pain than you have to?

I think you'll like the ginger for nausea. Works like a charm for me.

Simethicone, the active ingredient in Gas-X, is powerful medicine that breaks up the surface tension of trapped gas and allows your system to deal with it naturally. Gas-X acts in the stomach and intestines to disperse and reduce the formation of trapped gas bubbles. The Gas-X defoaming action reduces the surface tension of gas bubbles so that they are more easily eliminated.

So it is still passing.

Taken from the net