6 day Post Op

Hello everyone!

Thought I'd check in and say hello.
I had my surgery on May 4 and while it wasn't super dramatic, there were some unexpected things :)

First off, everyone at the hospital was amazing... knowledgeable, kind, gentle and professional. So that was great.

Surgery went perfectly, nothing notable; they did fix a hiatal hernia that I never knew I had, and incidentally, is the only area I am still having some pain. To be honest, I am a planner and I like to have my possible outcomes laid out before so I know what I am getting into.. and duh, not once did it occur to me to look into these hernias (although I know are super common) and what's involved, how it's repaired, how it heals, etc. It's on my to-do list! haha

So the other unexpected part for me was my reaction to the anesthesia. OMG. They were finding it hard to bring me out of it and I was in recovery for about 4 hours longer than they anticipated. Once awake, the nausea killed me (took about 20 hours for that to pass) and my blood pressure skyrocketed.. like scary high.

They gave me some medication to lower the blood pressure... which meant I was peeing like crazy literally every hour and a half. Standing and going to pee set off the nausea... which set off dry heaves... BUT... I have to say there was a good side to this! The dry heaving actually got out most of my gas pretty quickly! hahahaha! No lie!

In any case, all back to normal eventually and released the next day at 10:00 am. Now I am home, bruised and laughing at the craziness of what I just did to my body, but optimistic and still confidant that it was a good choice.

Now I am struggling with everything. Struggling to get in enough liquid. Struggling with getting in the protein drinks. Struggling with the taste of everything, even toothpaste tastes gross. Struggling with the monster bariatric vitamins. Struggling to remember even my own usual every-day medication. But.. I love troubleshooting, so I'll find a way to get it all flowing well.

Did a very low key tour of a garden centre with my Mom, went for a walk around the 'hood (took that one a little too far) and putzing with my seedlings for my veggie garden, and all the while being able to do some laundry and tidying; it's kinda nice being home during the day! haha

Next I just need these Steri-strips to fall off - I was told not to peel them off, and just let them loosen, but man! Several showers and they are still stuck tight and really gross!

So... according to my fitbit scale, I am 23.3lbs down since I started optifast, until today. My usual (always slightly tight) pants are loose and, well, yay!

Oh, and because I am so damned sick of the chocolate and vanilla Premiere Protien drinks (even with added flavours) I put in an order with Premiere Protien in the US and am picking up several other flavour options this weekend. I'll review them if anyone is interested ;)

Take care,

Airy

Can you let me know where you found the other flavored shakes please?

There are a few options, if you go to amazon.com rather than amazon.ca you can ship them to a pick up point like blue water shipping or whatever border town is closest to you. The other option is Walmart in the states carries the different flavours in four packs for 7.47, I have gotten caramel, strawberry, cookies and cream and banana (last two are my favourites) but have not found the peach. This is probably your best bet to taste them all and decide what you like. If you find you like them the best deal is Sams club. You get 12 for 16.66 and they have the extra flavours, even buying a membership if you're going to drink them longer term it is worth it. They also have the clear protein drink which I bought for variability but thought was not good. Happy Shopping.

Same, I really thought I had everything planned out perfectly before surgery. But now i'm 8 days post op and i'm not getting enough protein, not getting in my vitamins, my water intake is not good. I hate the taste of almost everything (my toothoaste too). I had my first dumping situation yesterday because of the smooth move tea the nurse told me to take and that ruined my whole day. Even now my stomach is really sensitive. I wish I could fast forward 2 months to when I have a better handle of everything.

Sounds like you're doing okay, I wouldn't load up on too many shakes as you may not want them later, I was so happy to say goodbye to mine. Usually if the steri strips haven't come off when you go for your 1 week follow they'll take them off.

Very happy to know that all in all you are ok! Congrats!

Airy, glad that you are home and it sounds like you are doing well. Very few are able to get in all of the protein in the first few weeks. Hydration is very important so always have some fluid near you and small sips every couple of minutes. It will get better. You are doing great. You've got this.

Your doing great! The first week is the worst, it will just keep getting better from now on. Anesthesia and I don't get along either, I was the first surgery of the day and didnt get out of recovery till late afternoon. The dry heaves were the worst but after reading your post maybe that is why I didn't have an issue with gas. I'm 9 weeks ahead of you and have been feeling great. It's amazing the difference 2 months makes. Hang in there and enjoy the ride!

It won't be long before all of this will be a distant memory and you will be moving forward. Trust me when I say that every day it gets a little better.

I remember people saying when I had my surgery and thinking "yeah yeah yeah", but it's true.

Sip your water, sip your protein shakes. Maybe try some soup or something just to help break up the monotony. I remember my first sip of mushroom soup. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was such a treat and it counts as liquid.

Try some flavouring to your water. I found that helped to get down the pills.

Are you splitting your pills? I bought a pill splitter and it helped immensely. I also took liquid calcium and multivitamins for the first month. It really helped. I also got into chewables eventually and that was good. Now I just take the full deal. I still struggle getting the multivitamins down. I hate the smell and the taste of them. Yuck.

Good Luck. It does get better.

Hey there, wow, it sounds like a bit of a rough start, and I hope that is the worst of it for you. You sound super positive, which really is half the battle. Congratulations on all your lost weight so far, and your loose pants! Isn't that a great feeling?! You'll be giving them away in no time as you struggle to keep them up. :)

It really sounds like you have a great handle on this. The changes in taste and adjusting to a new way of things does take a lot of getting used to, and things will keep changing for a while. I'm coming up to 9 months out, and my new normal resets regularly!!

Thanks for the detailed post. It's helpful for all of us... especially those just starting out.