how big are the sips?

So, I know post op the plan is sip, sip, sip. I was just wondering how big is a sip? Is it more like a slurp? Also, my surgeon said that all meds have to be crushed for 4 weeks. Is the sip enough to swallow the crushed pill? Thinking of talking to my pharmacy, as someone suggested, because some of my meds are available in liquid form and one is disolvable.

About an ounce. I used shot glasses and drank one every 15 minutes while awake.

I think that I did an ounce every five minutes, but that can vary with how much inflammation that you experience in your stomach and how well water goes through it - some will have a lot an have a hard time moving much water through (your body will tell you!) and others won't have significant inflammation and things will move through more easily.

I never got into the crushed pill thing - docs vary widely on their requirement for that, but I think that most who do mix them in with their fluids or semi-fluids (yogurt, pudding, etc.) But a small sip is all that's needed to down a small to medium sized intact pill - I think that you might have difficulty rinsing your mouth with a small sip if you didn't mix the crushed pill into something.

They gave me little cups that were 1 ounce. I would line them up like shots. I was able to swallow small pills the day after surgery. Talk to your team on the crushing but my guess is your doc has a reason for his rule.

I was surprised by how easily I could drink water. I could take normal sips right after surgery, just not gulps. It depends greatly on how your body responds to the trauma of surgery.

start small but do what is comfortable. my pain med was liquid. maybe crushed pills could go into flavored water to not taste so bad. gl. diane s

Another vote for an ounce.

I never had to crush any pills and never had problems swallowing pills. Ask your surgeon for the reasoning.

I didn't gulp. Sipped. I did, however, take my one med and it was a capsule. Had no problems with it and a small amount of water. It was approved by my surgeon. All surgeons have different rules and requests.

I agree, talk to a pharmacist.

Best of luck.

-Jan

You may need to take slow sips the first couple of days. But many, maybe most, can drink just fine a couple of days after surgery. You won't be drinking fast, mind you. But they can drink a bottle of water in ten minutes or so.

If you get uncomfortable, slow down. If there is no discomfort, you're ok.

I couldn't drink a bottle of water in 10 minutes for ages after surgery. I could do it now if I was realllly thirsty. But then, you drink nearly twice as much liquid in a day than I do...you're super-human, Grim! lol