A week and a half out and feel crappy

I hate cottage cheese. cant stomach it.

 

I am finding low fat greek yogurt with protein powder works for me. i am stomaching the creme soups, again I add extra protien powder and getting my 2 protien shakes in a day.

i am eating too fast and also not drinking enough water. keep at it, it is a long journey and dont punish yourself too much but try to get your protien intake higher.

Thanks for the advise. I'll try to get in as much as I can. At least I can tolerate the soups and milk.

try harder to get in your protein, you need it to heal.

Laurie

God at a week and half out I was the same, I couldn't get enough of anything in, liquids were torture for me, it gets easier and easier, I was told by my nurse do to what I could each day, and I would see it would get easier and easier. She told me it is normal not to be able to get it all in at first, not to stress and worry and just keep trying. I skipped pureed foods, hate the texture, then went to soft foods and that is when I started feeling better, at about week and half I broke down crying because I was to tired and weak, living on liquids is torture in itself. It gets so much easier with time, just don't be too hard on yourself and do what you can.

Thanks. It can only get better right?

In the beginning I bought SF pudding and added unflavoured protein powder to it and that was my snack.  Have you tried The Source Yogurt -Vanilla flavour-it really isnt that bad.  I was never a fan of yogurt but I don't mind this one at all.  Read the labels as all yogurts are not the same-the one I buy has 9g of protein and low fat/sugar.  You can also add non flavoured protein powder to it as well to up your protein.  Good luck!  Protein is essential in your healing and your overall health.

Thanks. I'll try that. I do make some sugar free pudding at home as well.

In the first two weeks I focused on water more than anything else, and that was ok by my nurse. I still can't drink plain water so Crystal Light, Dasani Drops etc are essential. The worst thing you can do is get dehydrated, it can really wreak havoc on your system. So while the protein is for sure important, try focusing on water for one day and see if you feel any better. I'm still only able to get about 750ml in a day which isn't nearly enough but every day I try to drink more. Listen to your body - if you have a headache, sip your water. If you're having a lot of pain, take a pain pill and rest for a bit, then try getting up and walking around. You might find you're sleepy because your body is healing inside, plus trying to get rid of the incision infection so there is a lot of work going on that takes energy. Water can only help aid with that. I had pretty bad pain the first little while too, then one morning I woke up and suddenly felt a lot better. It just vanished overnight. Try taking hot showers to see if that helps any residual gas pain, that really helped me. Try having cream of chicken soup, so you're getting some protein from food there if you're not a fan of the dairy options. And for sure, if you have a nurse coming for your antibiotics, let her know and see what her advice is. 

I hope you feel better soon!!

Thanks for that. I manage to get in some liquids but, I'm sure it's not enough. I do manage to eat my three meals a day, oatmeal, soup and soup but, it's the in between meals that I'm struggling with. I see the surgeon in the morning so, i will update you on what he said.

Where you still having pain a week and a half out because, I'm in so much pain. When they discharged me from the hospital, they gave me no pain meds as the surgeon who had me never gives pain meds on discharge because non of his patients usually need them. It annoyed me so much because for one, i hate pain meds and meds in general that i avoid them like the plague nut now that i need them, i have none.

If you're able to, try and see your regular doctor in regards to pain meds if your surgeon won't prescribe them when you see him tomorrow. I was still taking Percocet on day 10, even if it was just one to sleep at night. I think by day 7 or 8 my pain was mostly gone (except for some at night) but I definitely took advantage of the 30 tablets of Percocet I was prescribed - in the first four days I was still taking them about every 4-6 hours during the day. I felt like a giant baby, like maybe I was feeling so much pain not because my body hurt, but because I wasn't being very strong. But if you hurt, you hurt! My Mom reminded me that because of the size of my abdomen they had to go through a lot to get to my stomach, and even just cutting through the muscle will be sore. I would have been a mess if I didn't have those Percocet to take the edge off so I could actually get up and walk around, sit at the table to eat meals. I would have been in bed all the time. Even if he only gives you Tylenol 3's, it's better than nothing. I know doctors are really concerned about people getting addicted to pain meds, and I share that concern, but after MAJOR surgery if someone is having pain it seems crazy to me to just let them suffer on the off chance they get addicted. At the very least a t3 prescription might give you a bit of relief. Good luck, it sucks being in pain. Hopefully you're able to get it sorted!