Justmykidsmom

Stop drinking 30 minutes before you eat... take 20 minutes to eat your meal... no water for 30 minutes after your meal. I realize that the "rules" vary from program to program... I'm finding that as I read the boards. But I thought this one was pretty standard. How much pre-op education did you have to have prior to your surgery?

Dumping syndrome is actually a metabolic problem and your bodies response to too much sugar (or sometimes fat) Symptoms of dumping syndrome include profuse sweating, fast heartbeat, nausea, vomiting. You are not dumping... protein does not cause it. #1 are you chewing enough? You should be chewing your food to the consistence of applesauce before you swallow it. #2 You should be taking dime sized bites... teeny tiny. Too large of a swallow can cause your food to have a problem getting into your pouch in the first place. #3 are you following the 30/20/30 rule? If you already have fluids in your stomach and then try to eat you can get that full feeling. When I first started eating (post op day 4) I also felt that immediately full sensation... like there was a door that my food had to get through .... and one bite was enough. It sounds weird but try taking a deep breath and holding your arms over your head when you get that feeling... it works for me. Good news... at day 9 I hardly have that feeling anymore when I eat. Each day you should be able to get a few more bites in. Itsn't it amazing that we went from being able to eat a WHOLE lot of food and needing to eat less..... to being worried that we aren't eating enough. LOL

I am 9 days post-op.... here is my story: Day before surgery... I have to eat a "light" breakfast and then liquid only for the rest of the day. Like a crazy person I decide that I would work (I am a Surgical Technologist) because I need the money and I will be off for 6 weeks soon enough anyway.... if I get too lethargic (from not eating) I'll just go home. It was a pretty light day at work so I thought I would get to go home early for sure. Well... they let everyone else go. I started feeling pretty light headed around 3:00 (don't get off until 5) and not only can they not let me go....but there was no one to relieve me at 5:00 either!!!! I thought I was going to cry. I went in to relieve a colleague that gets off at 3:00 and I was close to tears because I couldn't think, I was shaky and lightheaded and they expected me to scrub in on this major spine surgery without the possibility of relief ::::::sigh::::: She took one look at me and felt sorry for me and agreed to stay. Bless her heart! Tip #1: Avoid working on the day before surgery when you have to liquids only... it's not worth it! Day of surgery: I was scheduled for 8:00. I was pretty happy about this because I wouldn't have to deal with the no eating or drinking thing for very long. Well.... I got bumped to the 10:30 slot. I got so dehydrated that they couldn't get an IV in me. Tip #2: When they say nothing to drink after midnight... they mean midnight. Don't have a glass of water at 7:30 and go to bed. Set your alarm for midnight and get up and drink as much water as you can... so that you aren't dehydrated in the morning. Surgery done and back to my room: First let me say that I don't remember ANYTHING about surgery. I don't remember leaving pre-op. I have no memory of PACU and My husband says he was in the room with me for several hours after I got to the floor. (I don't remember that at all) I was pretty out of it on surgery day. I do remember them getting me out of bed and trying to get me to walk. I took about four steps out of my room and was so nauseated that I started retching right there in the hallway. about face back to the bed. LOL They gave me anti nausea and pain meds through my IV for the rest of the night and left me alone. TIP #3: Tell anyone who wants to visit you in the hospital (other than immediate family of course) not to bother to come on surgery day. You won't be up for visitors yet and you may not remember them being there anyway. Post op day 1: Once I got that anesthesia out of my system I felt much better. The program that I had my surgery through is pretty intense. They get you out of bed at 6:00am and make you walk... then they give you your breakfast of jello, herbal tea and chicken broth and put you in a recliner. You are not allowed to get into your bed until MIDNIGHT. Yes, of course they let you snooze and relax in your recliner... but you must get up and walk the halls every 2 hours. Tip #4: Take your pain meds. Even if you think you can "take it" and do without the pain meds... reconsider. You should take them at least post op day one and two. Pain can manifest in many ways and one of them is nausea. It's hard to stay hydrated when you can't drink water. My hospital had a hard and fast rule... if you don't get down 4 16oz bottles of water .... you don't get to leave. The more you move ... the faster you heal. If your pain keeps you from wanting to move... then you need meds. Post op day 2: I felt 100% that I was ready to go home. It was an awesome day. I had visitors. I had a spa treatment (one of the great things about my bariatric surgery program... I had a facial and a manicure in my room post op day 2 LOL) I walked the halls. I got bored. Then I got REALLY BORED. Tip #5: Bring something to do that doesn't require focus. I couldn't read or surf the internet because my vision was a little wonky (maybe from the pain meds I don't know) I didn't have anything else to do. I would have given anything for a deck of cards so I could at least play solitaire. Post of day 3-5: I felt great... again following all of the rules at the hospital made things a piece of cake. I was released to go home at about 12:30. My girlfriend picked me up and took me to her house while we were waiting for my prescriptions to get filled. (I felt so great I made a mothers day card for a friend) We picked up the scripts and then went home. I still felt that I needed the pain medication and decided to follow the longest dosage (when they said every 4-6 hours... I did the 6 hours) I started feeling a little crappy around 4:30 or so. I took my pain meds and went to bed. I didn't wake up until around 2:00 am and I just wanted to retch. I was so nauseated. I thought maybe it was because I no longer had an IV and I wasn't getting enough fluids. So I tried drinking more water... still felt like crap. Woke up in the morning still feeling nauseated. I couldn't drink anything without wanting to throw up. I couldn't even brush my teeth. I thought it was really weird that I was feeling so great and now feeling like crap. But, I brushed it off and figured I'd ask my doctor about it when I saw him the next day. That night I was feeling so bad that my friend who is a paramedic offered to come over and give me an IV. I gratefully accepted because I knew I was pretty dehydrated. It made me feel a little better. I took my pain meds and went to bed. The next day I had to go to my post op class. I didn't want to be sleepy through it, so I didn't take my pain meds. I was a little tender, but it was not horrible...but then something amazing happened. The nausea went away. I feel really stupid that I didn't put two and two together sooner. Tip #6: If you have a new symptom... don't just live with it... ask yourself why? and call your doctor. I dealt with 2 days of extreme nausea and risked re hospitalization for dehydration for NOTHING. I just needed a different pain med. Day 5-9- So, now I'm on my way to a new life. My abdomen is healing (and itching) I learned that after your steri strips fall off... if you keep your scabs moist (just use antibiotic ointment once a day) your scars will heal better. I am eating and able to get down about 1/2 of what they told me to eat... but it's getting better every day. I am still not able to get in the 4 16oz bottles of water a day that they want me to drink... but I try. I've already lost al most 15 pounds..... very surprising and exciting. (don't weigh yourself for at least a week after surgery or you will get a shock LOL A few days post op I was heavier than when I went in LOL) More Tips: 2 oz containers (like they put condiments in) will be your best friend. Anything you make will be too big for you to eat. So I make a regular sized meal and split it up in the little cups so I can have instant meals later. Be prepared to not have a BM for at least a week... and then when you do it will probably be a hard one (even if you had nice soft stools before) They will be small amounts... but painful coming out. Be sure to ask your surgeon preop what stool softeners he approves of. Premier Protein shakes from Costco are great... but don't let your kids try them. It was expensive enough to buy them for me... and now my sons want them because they taste great and they want to bulk up LOL Out and about and didn't plan for a meal? Chick Filet has a great kids meal that has grilled chicken nuggets (4 or 6 piece) You can ask for fresh fruit instead of waffle fries. I got the 6 piece and had 3 meals out of it LOL when you first start eating protein... make sure it's very moist. It's hard to swallow if it's not. A great way to make dry chicken/turkey moist is to spread it with a low fat cream cheese mixed with whatever spice you like. Okay, it's 1:00 am and I need to get to bed. So, Hopefully this post was helpful for you pre-ops and I can't wait to see you on the other side.

Hello all, My name is Cary. I'm 44 years old and I'm about 3 weeks pre-op. I'm having my surgery on the 25th of April. I'm excited and a little scared... but I can't wait! Nice to "meet" you