Is everyone else feeling as good as I am?

Seriously, I was thinking I would be miserable for weeks. I am feeling so much better than I could have hoped. I feel like cooking for my wife and doing small things around the house. We've been walking every day. I am thinking of returning to school for an hour a couple of days this week.

I am kind of over my food plan. I eat every two hours, getting 1/2 cup of milk or yogurt, 1/2 cup of juice, 1/2 cup of soup, 1/2 cup of juice, 1/2 cup of soup and then 1/2 cup of milk or yogurt. I am really ready to chew something.

My only real complaint is the gas, but it seems to be working itself out. I don't like that I have staples. I guess I just assumed I would have stitches. lol We never discussed it. I am nervous about having them removed, as I have never had them before. I'm down 5 pounds since surgery, so all else is just small potatoes.

Is anyone else just surprised by how well you feel?

 Glad to hear you are feeling so good!  Move as much as you can and keep on sipping :)

Don't worry about getting staples removed, it really is not as bad as you would think.  I am a nurse and I work in Ob/Gyn office and when ladies come in to get their csection staples out, they would be so worried about it, then I start removing them and they always go "is that it? That's not bad". I hope you have the same experience.  Is there a reason why you had an open procedure-just curious...

Unfortunately in my experience, it just took time for my gas to go away, even the gas-x didn't help all that much...

Like you, after the first two days post-op(I was in a lot of pain those first 2 days), I felt good and was surprised by it.  When I was 5 days post op my mom and I went to a big farmer's market and walked around for several hours-she was really amazed too.

As far as your food plan, it seems like that is a lot of juice.  I guess if it doem't make you dump, then it isn't a big deal but juice does have quite a bit of sugar.  I am only allowed sugar free, uncarbonated and decaffinated liquids since having surgery.  But I know every surgeon and their post op diet is different...

Keep up the good work and welcome to the loser's bench!

Well, the juice I get is a probiotic juice, but the recommendations are very different here. They don't want us on protein shakes or anything processed. We have a very natural eating plan in place. The post-ops I have met here are really successful. I have decided that I am just going to follow their recommendations as long as it works.

 I have been feeling pretty good too, although a tad tired, but I am also almost 46 years old and my surgery was 'open'.
 I am really curious about your post op eating plan. Would you share it please? Thanks!

Sure. As of now I am "eating" 6 times a day. 1 DL = 1/10 of a liter or about 1/2 a cup.

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Breakfast: 1 DL light milk, yogurt or välling. (That is like an adult baby formula and it's just NASTY. I tried it once. Blah!)

Snack: 1 DL probiotic juice or meal replacement shake

Lunch: 1 DL soup, blended smooth

Snack: 1 DL probiotic juice or meal replacement shake

Dinner: 1 DL soup, blended smooth

Snack: 1 DL light milk or yogurt

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Thursday I move to:

Breakfast: 1 DL milk, yogurt or välling, 1/2-1 piece of crisp bread with soft cheese

Snack: 1 piece of smashed fruit, apple sauce, pear, banana (They said baby food worked well here.)

Lunch: 1 DL light milk 10 minutes before eating. 1/2 DL potatoes or pasta. 1/2 DL fish or meat, mixed or mashed. 15-30 grams of well cooked, mashed veggies. Sauce of light milk and bullion, like a gravy. Swedes are ALL about their gravy. OR a 5-8 month baby food meal. lol

Snack: 1 DL light milk or yogurt and 1/2-1 crisp bread with soft cheese.

Dinner: Same as lunch

Snack: Same as previous snack
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Three weeks after that I move on to slowly adding solids, but the premise is much the same. It's very interesting because it is based on the Swedish diet which is quite different from the US diet. We very rarely eat out and processed foods, though increasing in popularity, are the exception. Meat has gravy, usually of milk, bullion and mushroom soy sauce or some thing similar. Potatoes are a huge part of meal time and the nutritionists feel that they should be a part of our diet as well. The whole goal is to get us eating what everyone else eats in smaller portions.

The hospital food was difficult for me because I am not really used to some Swedish staples. They had lättfil for me for breakfast (it's also a breakfast option for me now), which is like a cross between yogurt and buttermilk. I do not like it. The nurse found me some plain vanilla yogurt instead. For snack they gave me unsweetened orange juice. For lunch, I had fish and shellfish soup. I seriously almost vomited. I was able to eat about half by holding my nose. It gave me my first and only, so far, dumping symptoms. Then they gave me a meal replacement shake, which would have been fine, but it was apricot. I sucked down as much of it as I could.

I have been having Cream of Wheat instead of the välling for breakfast, which my NUT agreed to. My soups have been a mix of homemade, canned and instant, super blended. It hasn't been hard, but I am ready to bite something. lol

Yes.. I felt really good too ....

and the only thing that I have added to my diet that is processed.. is a protein drink called Isopure... its a fruit flavored thing.. kind of like gatorade..  i put it on ice.. when I am craving pop at around 8pm...  it has 15 g of protein.. so gives me a bit of boost there too..  every so often my brain thinks it misses coke...lol..

other than that.. I too,  am cooking up storm...  my family thinks they are in heaven...lol...

I had staples when I had my csection for my daughter.. and previous poster was right... it was more itchy then it was painful....

i just had glue.  i have felt great also, i left the hospital friday and went to walmart on saturday...lol  i have been walking and shopping etc,  i still have major gas and would love to have a BM  but otherwise alot better than i imagined!

The gas is the worst! My wife said, "Well, aren't you just a ball of freshness?!" lol We laugh about it, though. Last night she said, "You know, when I am talking to my mom, it's okay, but if I am on the phone, they can still hear you burping from the other room."

Amber, thanks for sharing that info about your diet--it is cool that they focus on a lot of natural foods and that they want their patients to eat the same types of food as the rest of the family-very logical and cost-effective!  I have never been a big fan of using many artificial sweeteners just due to the fact that they are full of chemicals, I think the american diet includes way too many preservatives and chemicals-I am trying hard to limit my intake of them when I can....I am too early post-op to give it a try yet, but I am curious to see if my body with ever tolerate very small amounts of agave nectar and/or honey in the future when I need to sweeten something.

I actually had a very tiny bit of honey tonight in my yogurt and I had no reaction at all.