Out of Surgery

[Sin 0]

Well as some of you may have known my girlfriend, Hotpink_bubbles, was schedueld to have her surgery on Monday. Well everything went along great, the surgery was done fast and flawlessly. Her mom and I stayed the night with her at the hospital, her dad had to work in the morning, so he couldnt stay. The nursing staff was very helpful, they checked on her every once in a while during the night, giving her medication for her nausia.. even though she didnt have any . Aside from that, everything went as planed, except for Casey having a minor fever durring the night, but we believe that was only because it was so horridly hot in the hospital. Yesterday we brought her home from the hospital, we had to wait a little while longer because her potassium was low, and they needed it to get up before they could release her. Aside from the gas pain, casey hasnt really had any problems. She wants to know what some of you guys do to kind of relieve the gas pain. She's been using those disolving Gas-X strips, but from what I can see, they havent really been doing the job that they say they should be doing. She's been drinking all of her fluids and what not, and she's been eating sugar free Jello. Also, she was wondering about a kind of Offbrand sugar free Crystal Light that she bought. Well the one that was orange flavored says that it has Citric Acid in it, and at the hospital, they told her that she couldnt have any or alot of citric acid. Well she tried to call the hospital to ask them, but she got her doctors voicemail or an answering machine or something, i dont know, i know she didnt talk to a real person. And also about taking her Vicodins aswell. Well they're Hydrocodones, which is a generic version of Vicodin. She was wondering if you guys knew of an easy way do take them, even when she cuts them up, she gets a weird feeling in her stomatch. And from a few "experienced" friends, i know that crushing up Hydrocodone isnt really all that good of a thing. And by experienced, i mean people that pop pills for non-medical reasons. From what he told me, is that if you crush it up, its like taking 7 Vicodins at once, because Hydrocodones are made for Time release. Aside from that, she's been having a slight tickle in her throat, and she's worried about coughing to hard and causing the band to slip, so she's also wondering if anyone has any good techniques for that aswell. Thanks alot LBT, you've all been a great help. Take Care,

Sincerely,

Matt and Casey.

[beversman 0]

Yes, dont let her stay sitting or laying down. walk walk walk walk walk

The gas she's feeling is not in her digestive tract… it is in her abdomen surrounding her internal organs (from where they inflated her stomach to do the surgery) so really, honestly… Gas-X wont help THAT gas. Now if she eats and feels gasy, it WILL help that.

What will help is WALKING.

Definitely, look into getting the liquid pain killers…. That’s why I got after my surgery.<O:p</O:p

<O:p</O:p

Coughing will not make her band slip as long as she isn’t doing it 24/7… so let her know it is ok to cough. Although it will probably hurt a bit for a few days.

ive never heard anything about the Citric Acid.... I stuck to Water and chicken broth after surgery though. She needs something with nutrients in it. Nothing better than chicken broth.< /span>

So, get her up and make her move. She is NOT going to feel like it... but she will thank you later! It will cut the recovery time in half.

[travelgirl 3]

Walk, walk, walk, walk. Also, when she gets tired from walking, have her sit in a rocking chair and rock, rock, rock. That keeps that gas in there moving around, and keeps it from settling in one place which is what causes most of the pain. It will eventually find it's way out, but meantime, keep the old body in motion, and lots of people swear by heating pads or those therma-care sticky heat Patches.

Good luck!!!!!

[tonya66 13]

I had horrible gas pains from my gall bladder surgery, they had to dope me up with morphine, but nothing worked as good as walking. Even if its just up & down your hall, she needs to walk. She won't feel like it but that is the only thing to get your body to absorb the gas, when she starts walking, she'll start (passing the gas, and burping) feeling better, promise. It can take up to 4 weeks or longer to get rid of it all, so the more she walks, the better.

PS - What a sweet carring boyfriend you are!

[Surby 1]

I tried EVERYTHING for the gas, but walking was the only thing that would even begin to help......... it's just an endurance game! Tell her to hang in.... in about a month, she'll realize it's SO worth it!!

[Hopeagain 2007 0]

What everyone else said.....walk walk walk. Also, I tried eating the juice from a can of navy Beans. It seemed to help. I even asked my Dr. and they said to get on the floor on hands and knees and arch butt in air and rub belly slowly in clock wise motion. Sounds CRAZY I know! Can't say if it worked or not because I later drank the bean juice which did the trick. The Dr.'s office told me that none of the gas meds would work. For the coughing, they told me to hold a pillow over my belly for cushion when coughing or even sleeping. Try some no sugar added bryers fruit pops, they're great!

[Elisabethsew 50]

Walking and getting off the Vicodin ASAP are the two best things she can do. Tell her to try holding a pillow against her belly and then trying to bend over a little every few minutes that she walks. Extra-strength tylenol worked for the pain for me on Day 2 so I never went back to the Vicodin.

As far as coughing goes, and I'm an RN, she HAS to cough to help clear the lungs of the effects of the anesthesia. NOT coughing could lead to an infection. She can splint her stomach with the pillow and cough. Deep breathing is also encouraged.