3 days post op- Question

TxChick50 · January 15, 2007

Had my band done on Friday. Felt great on Satuday and still feeling pretty good. No gas so far and not a lot of pain. However, since late Saturday night/Sunday morning, everything seems much tighter. Having a hard time getting anything done. Drank 3 Protein Shakes during the day on Saturday, only got one down Sunday. Not worried about dehydration yet but it this keeps up..... Is it just late swelling or something? Can get 1 or 2 sips of Water down and then it hurts in center or chest (around the band?). Took me about 5 hours to get down 8 ounces of Protein Drink yesterday.

thanks for any info.

Sivan · January 15, 2007

I had a similar experience. I got banded on Wednesday. Thursday I was eating broth and Jello and had a bit of gas bit there was no problem. By Friday afternoon, I couldn't eat a thing, I felt nauseous and had gas pains, and just a few sips of anything made me feel like the center of my tummy was going to explode. Saturday I just took it easy. Last night I did explode - from the wrong end - yuk. Now I'm eating yogurt and low fat soft cheese. Tonight I blend a bit of cooked potato into my Soup.

I have been reminding myself that as relatively uninvasive as this surgery is, it's surgery. We had something put in our bodies that is a foreign object. We've had holes poked through our innards. And our happy little stomachs are confused. But most of all, we went through general anesthetic that we would have had, had it been a major operation. It can take up to two weeks to recover just from that. I spent more time with the anesthesiologist before the op than the doctors. He made sure that I knew my recuperation time was in a large way dependent on how fast my body threw off the effects of the anesthetic. Thursday I was still pretty drugged when I felt so good (no wonder they want someone else to dirve us home). And I'm pretty sure that's where the nausea came in the next day.

I drink when I can. Little bits of Water, juice, whatever. I eat about four mini meals a day. If I still feel a bit hungry, I wait a couple of hours to eat anything more. Yesterday I had a bit too much of the low fat cheese, so now I'll get the smaller size single serving container (I still have the urge to finish evrything on my plate). I'm looking forward to mashed up fish, next.

Keep going. It only gets better. there's lots to lookk forward to.

bigdaddynomo · January 16, 2007

I'm one week out from banding and as I got to feeling better started pushing fluids and the shakes. Next thing I know I have the bloat and the pain and nausea. I even gagged a couple of times and could not get anything to come up. I called the dr. and they said I was gulping large amounts of air and not sipping and to slow down to no more than 6oz/hr. Go figure...they want you to get 100 grams of Protein a day and 64oz of liquid. Not much time to do anything else. Since I started slowing down and sipping I have not had another episode. Just stop everything it took me about 12 hours to settle down and get back to just Clear Liquids like Water. Then I eased back up. Watch the shakes they might be just too much this early.

Sivan · January 16, 2007

Thanks so much, eldonh. After your reply, I made a very light, 1 cup fruit shake for Breakfast and it took me about an hour to sip down. I feel satisfied and not too bloated or nauseated.

I was also wondering about sipping 2-3 liters of Water and 100 grams of Protein a day. I'll have to be hooked up to my sippy water bottle at work.

Sivan

bigdaddynomo · January 16, 2007

Just try to limit the amout per hour to about 6-8oz. Since I started keeping the volume per hour down I've been just fine. Good Luck.

juliegeraci · January 16, 2007

You are probably really swollen. I would sip as little as possible throughout the day. You will be fine.

TxChick50 · January 16, 2007

Thanks all. I'm feeling a little better today. The doc's office said to stick to warm liquids as that would help the swelling go down. Boy, I don't know how we're supposed to get so much Protein down when it's so hard to get anything down. The basically told me not to worry about getting enough Protein for the next few days, just get enough liguid down that I don't get dehydrated.

I'm know I'm going to be fine in a few days, just getting over this rough spot!