5 months post op Duodenal Switch
I had my first surgery on 10/29/14. All went great and had my first post op appt on 11/5/14. On 11/8/14 I had the worst pain in my life. On 11/9 I was rushed into emergency surgery and the surgeon removed a liter of blood clots thats was flowing freely in my stomach. I was placed on the ventilator for 2 days in ICU, just to have emergency surgery again on 11/12. I was bleeding to death internally. I almost died both times. I had a total of 4 surgeries in 6 weeks. Now the problems Im facing are not being able to really eat. I drink, but no where near enough. I still have stomach pain, and now I have a hernia that will need to be repaired soon. I am down 110lbs. Does it get better?? I still get dizzy when walking alot, I dont have all my strength back yet, does it ever come back? Whats some of the best things to eat? I'm loosing my hair from lack of protein, but I cant drink protein shakes or much meat. I wouldnt do the surgery again if only I could turn back time..
If whey protein shakes aren't cutting it for you, try switching to egg protein shakes. There is no aftertaste, which is what was an instant deterrant for me. The hair loss is not from lack of protein yet. Telogen Effluvium occurs about 3 months after surgery, lasts a few months and stops, with new hair emerging that has pushed out the old. This is normal.
Fatigue and nausea will continue until you are well hydrated. You may need a trip or two to the ER for an IV until you can drink 64oz on your own each and every day. This is mandatory and it's hard, but try different flavors and temperatures. Everything wet counts. Once you get hydrated, it definitely starts to get better.
Valerie
DS 2005
There is room on this earth for all of God's creatures..
next to the mashed potatoes
I'm sorry things are so hard for you. I tell people the first three months are hell, but it sounds like you've had it much, much worse than normal and I'm sorry.
If I were you, I would start again at the very beginning of the process (sip, sip, sip & walk, walk, walk) and build up from there...
Calories: if I don't eat more than about a thousand calories I feel pretty muddy headed and certainly don't feel like walking. I learned not to go to bed if I hadn't met this goal, although it seems like lots of other people on these boards lived happily on 800 calories or less.
Pinch the back of your hand -- if the skin stays pinched, you are dehydrated. If your pee is dark, you hare dehydrated. Your stomach is only a few ounces now and you are upside down on your water intake so 64 oz is not enough for the next 8 hours if you want this to end. So you are either going to have to pound it constantly with liquid (and probably feel pretty sick from doing that) or go get an IV and feel pretty much better in a few hours. Personally, I would recommend the IV, although knowing myself, I would have probably struggled through drinking to excess.
Don't worry about diet or approved foods or anything but getting some energy into you. Health First. On my early rough days watermelon was my savior. (it's both a food and a water!) Gatorade, (sugared or not) might help you feel better quickly.
Broth. If nothing else, boil a chicken or some beef (or both) and drink the liquid. Besides watermelon, this is my safe food, although I'm pretty sick of it by now. I can no longer handle anything but home made, princess that I seem to have become. :-)
I would also add chia seeds (soaked) and fiber pills. Having something inside your body to soak up all the digestive juices always helped me. Start slowly. I take yummy gummy fiber pills because I use the sugar as a gateway drug to get me to start taking my other vitamins. (It's the only sugar I allow, so my body is motivated!)
For food, try everything. I found that I couldn't just eat the same thing every day like I could before surgery. What was yummy on Monday was impossible to choke down on Tuesday. I liked moist, high fat / slow cooked beef the best. Nuts, especially pistachios are manna from heaven. Bananas and other fruits, although some consider a ds anathema, are recommend on rough days.
Some of the weirder things that have worked for me: Cheese fondue, Jewish chopped liver or foie gras, Salmon with a cream sauce (anything with a cream sauce), Bagel spread, Thai coconut cream/chicken soup broth, Chinese foods (especially beef with broccoli in the beginning, although I only ate a spear or two of the green stuff.) The meat from Indian dishes. Eggplant parmesan, Unagi and Sashimi (Japanese eel which is cooked and sushi without the rice). Steak, especially a good cut, on the rare side cut into pea sized bites with mushrooms dripping in butter is almost always a real boost for my body. Overall, my diet is much richer now, except for the days I fall back to broth and maybe some jerky.
Eggs, chicken, too many artificial sweeteners, any sugar alcohols, raw veggies, anything with flour were bad although I'm doing better with the first two now. Most would make me quite bloated.
My guess is that you will soon be able to turn the corner and start getting stronger every day. At six months I feel better than I did before the surgery, but it has been a winding road to get there and I didn't have the troubles you did. Just keep hammering on the basics and I think things will turn around quickly.
August 2014 - DS @ Mexicali Bariatric Center / Ungson.
It took me one and a half years to lose 165 pounds.
Weight: High=314, Goal=155, Current=131
