I made it! 3 Days Post Op. Questions and worried about diet pace..

[lagoveride 7]

I have some things I would like to share and some questions that maybe more seasoned sleevers could answer.

Ok. So on the 24th I went in to get sleeved at Mount Saini in NYC (lost 20 pounds in 10 days of pre op diet . When I awoke I was in a bunch of pain, but once I had the pain pump of dilauden up to speed I was feeling ok. I woke up in the surgical recovery area where all people who have any type of operation go.

They did not have a room ready for me so I ended up staying the night in this area. Which was kind of good because I was getting the best care. Eventually I was able to get up and start walking and I even went to the bathroom to do number 1 (which i was told was a very good sign).

My surgeon came by the next morning and said ok your incisions look good and you seen to be doing well. ( I think he was talking about my lung capacity and vitals being back to normal.)

He started me on what he called Stage 1 diet. The nurse brought a tray with 1 bowl of chicken broth, 1 bowl of green Jello, 1 low calorie gatorade and a cup of lipton hot tea with a spenda)

_Now at this point I was not told how to sip or what pace I was supposed to try and consume these things. I was worried because with the pain meds I was on I would not notice if I pushed it to far and also I had no clue and went about sipping the broth in somewhat large gulps. Strangely enough I was able to handle this. I know Fluid can go through you a lot faster, but I fugured because of the swelling I should not be able to tolerate this much fluid.

Has anyone heard of anyone being able to do this so soon?

Before I knew it I finished the hot cup of tea and the whole bowl of chicken broth in like 5-10min.

Ok so after this I was finally put into a private room in a wing of the hospital that only houses patient who have had some sort of abdominal surgery. ( which is kind of funny to see all these people roaming the hallways trying to walk the gas out) lol

Anyways. I spent most of my time here walking the halls and within the first few hours the nurse took me off the pain pump and started me on 1 crushed oxycodone mixed with a little gatorade every 4 hours. I would not need this, but the large incision where my stomach was pulled out from is the number one thing at this point giving me pain. As far as the gas goes I felt some floating around, but I did not have much pain.

After about 30 more laps of walking I went into the room to attempt some sleep. At this point my shoulders did not hurt but had a really hot burning sensation. Could this have been some of the gas getting stuck in my shoulders????

I was not able to sleep much in the bed and ended up sleeping in the chair in my room which was not so bad except i woke up with the worst neck pain, but what could I do I am a side sleeper and the large incision is still painful to this day. I think its the stomach muscle under the incision, but you get my point.

Ok so yesterday my surgeon comes up to my room. looks at my incisions and says I am healing better than most people and that he want to start me on the puree stage which he called stage 2...

Now this confused me because the packets of information I got from his office talked about Clear liquids post op until day 5 then full liquids then puree then soft foods etc..... all with time lines for each stage.....

I expressed this to him and he said well if you chew up a soft food enough or blend it enough it will become a puree food. He said to eat a puree died for the next 3 weeks and then meet with him and the nutritionist.

Has anyone ever heard of starting the puree stage on the 2nd or 3rd day post op??

He then told me that I was able to suppliment my Protein with shakes when needed, but he wanted me to try and get my protein in from purees as much as possible and to do about 60 grams a day for now.

He then left and later on a tray filled with gerber baby food jars and some drinks were brought in. I finished about half of 1 jar which was carrots.

later on in the day I was released. I was given a prescription for oxycodone to use crushed up every 6 hours in order to kill the pain i have on my large incision. ( I hope this will go away soon... If someone could chime in on this that would be great. )

So last night I was about to finish 3oz of apple sauce from a 4oz jar. ( I am still worried about being to tell when I should stop) I was told by a friend that some people do not feel the restriction until more heavy solid foods and a rule of thumb would be to measure and never eat anything over 4oz. )

Fastforward to today I am still on the pain meds which makes walking around a lot easier. I take about an hour to finish a protien shake, but I can feel that I am able to drink bigger sips without getting that refluxy feeling from drinking to fast. I am going to listen to the doctors orders and incorporate as much puree everyday as I can. I just do not know if I will meet the protein goals yet.

One other huge concern I have been having is I have yet to make a bowel movement. The last time was like 2 days before surgery so it has been like 5 days already. I was finally about to release some gas about an hour ago which I hear is a good sign.

Anyone have any idea on how long it should be before I get concerned about not having one?

So here I sit 3 days post op. Overall a very good experience. I would love for you guys further along than I am to chime in about some of the issues I discussed.

Thanks.

[sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9527]

[sharedmedia=trackers:tickers:9367]

[Bufflehead 6,358]

My surgeon says if three days go by without a bm, it's time to call in the cavalry -- milk of magnesia (use the smallest dose listed on the bottle). And I know a lot of people just do one dose of Miralax every other day, or a half dose every day, to keep regular.

As far as incisional pain -- I had nasty pain from the site where my drain was. It took just a little over two weeks to completely resolve, and the nurse at my two week post op visit told me it takes some patients up to a month. And some patients have no incisional pain to speak of (LUCKY!). I hope yours goes away quickly.

About moving early to purees -- yes I have heard of some surgeons doing that. Mine isn't one of them, by a long shot, but I know other very well respected surgeons who do.

[lagoveride 7]

My surgeon says if three days go by without a bm, it's time to call in the cavalry -- milk of magnesia (use the smallest dose listed on the bottle). And I know a lot of people just do one dose of Miralax every other day, or a half dose every day, to keep regular.

As far as incisional pain -- I had nasty pain from the site where my drain was. It took just a little over two weeks to completely resolve, and the nurse at my two week post op visit told me it takes some patients up to a month. And some patients have no incisional pain to speak of (LUCKY!). I hope yours goes away quickly.

About moving early to purees -- yes I have heard of some surgeons doing that. Mine isn't one of them, by a long shot, but I know other very well respected surgeons who do.

Thanks for your reply. I took some stool softener. If that does not work I might bump it up to something stronger like what you listed. I did not have a drain, but i have a rather large incision that is giving me all the pain. I hope its pain level goes down so i do not have to take the pain meds. Yea thats the thing I have heard other surgeons move people quickly to puree then back to real food.

[Booth718 9]

What is everyone doing for the gas pain? That's what's hurting me now. I can't seem to get them out

[Taradawn15 148]

Everyone is diff, I believe following doctors orders is good. However that being said make sure to take your time in each phase and remember its not a race. If you don't feel ready then don't move on, stay in each phase as long as you need. I stayed in the soft food phase for 2 months. That's what worked best for me, my doc kept reminding me I could move on, but I took my time and am happy I did. Glad your doing well so far, nd good luck with the rest of your sleeved journey!

[dzylizz 10]

Had my sleeve the same day as you and had to pee already in recovery. My body refused to pee in the bed pan so they had to get me up as soon as I got to my room. I was on a pain pump right way but was still in alot of pain though my whole body. Dr. released my on day 2 since I was up and walking and peeing already. Went home but stupid pharmacy did not have the liquip pain meds in till the following day. I dont think I have ever hurt that bad. Today I woke uo feeling good. No pain meds but I do have gas and have to watch to make sure it is just gas. Also I am hungry today, I haven't been hungry in weeks. So this is kinda hard mentally for me. Other than that just waiting for the weight to start coming off.

[Lizcalle 24]

What is everyone doing for the gas pain? That's what's hurting me now. I can't seem to get them out

Gas x .. that's the best for gas

[JessicaAnn 564]

As far as your diet goes...

I seem to have the sleeve of steel. My doctor had me on purée in the hospital after my leak test, and moved me to mushy/soft food at 2 weeks, and now at almost 4 weeks, I'm on regular food except fruit/carbs/raw veggies. I have zero restriction with liquids, and almost none with purée either. However, I had chicken breast for the first time yesterday and boy did i feel it!! I took one bite too many (and probably too fast) and even though I didn't actually vomit, I felt like I ate a brick and it sat there for a good 2 hours after! You WILL feel the restriction! Before solids, I felt I'd never lose weight because I was never full! But now, I'm 28lbs down since surgery (July 3rd) and 38 down from my pre op diet!

Congrats again on making it to the losers bench!!