Any suggestions for surgery

Hi everyone. Going in for surgery in a couple hours. Any last minute suggestions. Should I walk a lot after surgery or rest. What did you do to keep yourself busy. Will I be ok in the plane ride home. Will drinking tea cause bowel movements. When can I have my delicious Tim hortons decaf coffee again. I'm sorry so many questions. But you guys are my life read right now.

angela from Canada

The nurses got me up and walking the morning after my surgery - it does help with moving the gas and it actually felt good to get out of the room for a change of scenery. The nurses can always walk with you and they will to start, but if you can move around ok, you can take a walk on your own. My dr also has a goal for his patients to get walking a mile 4 weeks after surgery. So I would say you need a balance of rest and walking bc the more movement you can get the better you will feel in the long-run   As for the coffee, you can have little amounts of it right after surgery, as long as it's black and decaf (artificial sweetener is ok).  I was told 60ml every half hour, but you want to make sure you get your water in as dehydration is one of the biggest issues that can send you right back to the hospital.    Not sure about the plane ride, but even after 6 days in the hospital I was feeling every bump in the road we drove over. Bring a pillow for your stomach to hug, might help.    I had my iphone to keep me busy, otherwise I took advantage of my time off and slept when I wasn't walking about or sitting in the chair out of the bed. :-)

Best wishes!!

They had me up and walking the evening I had my surgery.  Not far, but I was encouraged to walk often.  It seems doctors are different in their requirements, but I had to pass gas before I could have anything to drink and they said walking was the best way to do that.  It still took me a couple of days to accomplish that, so I was up walking often to help my innards work that gas out.   Just to alert you, sometimes our tastes change.  I loved coffee prior to surgery, but now can't stand it.  It just doesn't taste right.  That's the only thing I've noticed that tastes different, and I'm very disappointed!  I watched tv and slept a lot of the time I was in the hospital.  Rest.  Don't think you need to be doing anything productive, you have to let your body heal.  I had no pain from the surgery or incision sites, so I was able to move around relatively easily.  I just had to guard the incision sites when I showered to try to prevent them from getting too wet.  I hope you have an easy recovery these next days and wish you the best of luck.

Hi,

I was walking the same day as surgery also. My plane ride home was not bad at all but I had surgery on the 6th and flew home on the 13th I had to change planes twice but I had no issues I was a bit wiped out when I got home but think that is to be expected.

Best of luck,

Trish