July 2020 Surgery anyone?

[Rose57 7]

20 hours ago, Solo4ever said:

I had surgery July 24th, and I lost weight the 1st week, stalled for almost 3 weeks and then started losing finally. my dietician had me add a little carbs into my diet like oatmeal. my body does not like the zero carb thing at all. when I got my vcarbs up to around 50g a day it broke my stall. i eat about 600 calories a day, make sure i get atleasr 50 to 60 carbs, min 60 Protein. and i lose about half a pound a day, some days it stops for a few days, and then starts again. hang in there...the stall will break... don't do too much either...too much activity and not enough to burn will prolong the stall. have patience...you'll start losing again.

When that happened to me I’d take a few sips of liquid and it would pass

[kellym1220 473]

Day 6 post op - I feel good! It's been more than 24 hours since my last prescription pain med and I'm not even sure I will need Tylenol today. No problems drinking, big sips okay, multiple sips okay...no gulping! One thing that has happened is that the swelling in my knees, ankles and feet, that I have had off and on for years but got really bad this year, is gone!

I have not really started exercising yet, other than walking around the hotel and the house, but I am actually looking forward to going for a walk outside as soon as I finish my Decaf coffee with Caramel Premier Protein in it, And the best news of all? I'm down 9.5 pounds since surgery, 12 pounds from highest weight (the week prior to surgery), I only lost 2.5 pounds during my very short pre-op!!

I'm very eager to start on pureed foods, but my doctor requires two weeks of full liquid post op, so I shall do my best to comply! I'm adding gene-pro to everything except Protein shakes...that seems like overkill!

I hope everyone has a great day and quick healing for those who are still in the healing window!!

[Motivated54 6]

On 08/05/2020 at 07:33, kellym1220 said:

Day 6 post op - I feel good! It's been more than 24 hours since my last prescription pain med and I'm not even sure I will need Tylenol today. No problems drinking, big sips okay, multiple sips okay...no gulping! One thing that has happened is that the swelling in my knees, ankles and feet, that I have had off and on for years but got really bad this year, is gone!

I have not really started exercising yet, other than walking around the hotel and the house, but I am actually looking forward to going for a walk outside as soon as I finish my Decaf coffee with Caramel Premier Protein in it, And the best news of all? I'm down 9.5 pounds since surgery, 12 pounds from highest weight (the week prior to surgery), I only lost 2.5 pounds during my very short pre-op!!

I'm very eager to start on pureed foods, but my doctor requires two weeks of full liquid post op, so I shall do my best to comply! I'm adding gene-pro to everything except Protein shakes...that seems like overkill!

I hope everyone has a great day and quick healing for those who are still in the healing window!!

So awesome that you are doing so well! I’m day 8 post op and having a very similar experience. Only thing holding me back is the sutures healing and some abdominal muscle soreness. Just curious, have you cheated on anything full liquid or mushy yet? My doc has me on Clear Liquids until day 14 but I’m actually starting to get hungry. A cream Soup or a pudding just sounds so good I feel like my stomach can handle it but I’m a rule follower. Hope all is well!!

[WishMeSmaller 1,273]

2 hours ago, kellym1220 said:

Day 6 post op - I feel good! It's been more than 24 hours since my last prescription pain med and I'm not even sure I will need Tylenol today. No problems drinking, big sips okay, multiple sips okay...no gulping! One thing that has happened is that the swelling in my knees, ankles and feet, that I have had off and on for years but got really bad this year, is gone!

I have not really started exercising yet, other than walking around the hotel and the house, but I am actually looking forward to going for a walk outside as soon as I finish my Decaf coffee with Caramel Premier Protein in it, And the best news of all? I'm down 9.5 pounds since surgery, 12 pounds from highest weight (the week prior to surgery), I only lost 2.5 pounds during my very short pre-op!!

I'm very eager to start on pureed foods, but my doctor requires two weeks of full liquid post op, so I shall do my best to comply! I'm adding gene-pro to everything except Protein shakes...that seems like overkill!

I hope everyone has a great day and quick healing for those who are still in the healing window!!

My ankle swelling went away post op, too! Isn’t it great?! Happy healing!

[kellym1220 473]

1 hour ago, Motivated54 said:

So awesome that you are doing so well! I’m day 8 post op and having a very similar experience. Only thing holding me back is the sutures healing and some abdominal muscle soreness. Just curious, have you cheated on anything full liquid or mushy yet? My doc has me on Clear Liquids until day 14 but I’m actually starting to get hungry. A cream Soup or a pudding just sounds so good I feel like my stomach can handle it but I’m a rule follower. Hope all is well!!

My doctor only had clear liquid through day 2, so I’ve been on full liquid, including strained Soups and Greek yogurt, since day 4. (It could have been day 3, but I wasn’t up to much on day 3!). I am also a rule follower, so I totally get it! But I can’t imagine 2 weeks of clear liquid diet! Strained cream of chicken with added GENEPRO Protein made with 1% milk has been my go to for one meal each day.

[Napua 42]

clear liquid post op depends on what type of surgery? sleeve not as restricted as bypass?

[Motivated54 6]

On 08/05/2020 at 10:37, kellym1220 said:

My doctor only had clear liquid through day 2, so I’ve been on full liquid, including strained Soups and Greek yogurt, since day 4. (It could have been day 3, but I wasn’t up to much on day 3!). I am also a rule follower, so I totally get it! But I can’t imagine 2 weeks of clear liquid diet! Strained cream of chicken with added GENEPRO Protein made with 1% milk has been my go to for one meal each day.

Well.... I reached out to my nut and she gave me a thumbs down on moving to full liquids. Looks like I’ve got another 5+ days of clear liquids. So bummed! But oh well! At least I don’t feel like I’m starving.

[kellym1220 473]

1 hour ago, Napua said:

clear liquid post op depends on what type of surgery? sleeve not as restricted as bypass?

It's all the surgeon and nutritionist's preference. Different doctor's have different requirements...it's crazy. I saw a post about someone "shopping" their doctor for a good post op diet!

[Repeatingthoughts 77]

2 hours ago, kellym1220 said:

It's all the surgeon and nutritionist's preference. Different doctor's have different requirements...it's crazy. I saw a post about someone "shopping" their doctor for a good post op diet!

wow, that's crazy...

I personally had a 2 day pre-op liquid diet. However, I did more than 2 days.

Edited August 5, 2020 by Repeatingthoughts

[Pandemonium 515]

This is gonna be TMI and nasty, since it's all about Constipation.

30 days post-op and yesterday was the absolute worst day I've had.

I can't recall being in as much pain and discomfort in all 43 years of my life. My post-op constipation has been ongoing. Generally there's been 3-4 days between bowel movements and every bowel movement has taken a lot of effort. Yesterday...yesterday was a whole new world of suffering. I was on day 4 since the last BM and woke up knowing I was backed up and I was going to have one at some point soon. Except 5 trips to the bathroom yielded nothing but straining and discomfort. I ended up going home early because I was so uncomfortable. Came home and downed 60ml of milk of magnesia and prayed it would work fast. It didn't. Ran to the store for Miralax (which my surgeon wanted me to avoid for the time being) and an enema kit. Drank the Miralax, despite knowing it wasn't going to actually do anything right away, but would hopefully start the process of helping going forward. Called my primary care because I was in so much pain and was pretty much told to drink MoM and start on Miralax and definitely use the enema to hopefully break things up and make it easier. Waited a couple of hours to see if I could pass anything on my own or if the MoM was helping. Nothing but liquid and blood from hemorrhoids for my trouble. Finally gave in and used an enema. Met with even higher levels of pain as I expelled the liquid, but nothing else. Spent 20 minutes on the toilet in agony and tears, on the verge of asking to be rushed to the ER. I could not physically stop straining to pass what was blocked. I was finally able to get it to pass and was horrified by what had finally left my body. I am 99% certain I was on the verge of a fecal impaction based on what finally came out. The diameter was about 1.5" and probably a total of 12" in length. I ended up having one more loose movement about 45 minutes later which may have been from the MoM or remnants of the enema...not sure. Then followed 8 hours of added agony in the aftermath where extra strength Tylenol did very little to ease the discomfort. Sitting down? Hurt. Standing up? Hurt. Lying down? Hurt. Went to bed around 10pm. Fell asleep around 1am when the pain finally started to subside.

No BM this morning. Mixed Miralax in with my Breakfast Protein Shake. Not sure if I should do more MoM today or not. Need to go to the store and get Benefiber since the Celebrate powder clearly doesn't have enough Fiber in it for me. But the worst thing is that I am genuinely afraid of trying to go to bathroom now. I can't go through that again. I would gladly take the pain from the first two days post-op back if I could get rid of this constipation. I really hope that I can get past this.

[INEEDABUDDY 46]

1 hour ago, Pandemonium said:

This is gonna be TMI and nasty, since it's all about constipation.

30 days post-op and yesterday was the absolute worst day I've had.

I can't recall being in as much pain and discomfort in all 43 years of my life. My post-op Constipation has been ongoing. Generally there's been 3-4 days between bowel movements and every bowel movement has taken a lot of effort. Yesterday...yesterday was a whole new world of suffering. I was on day 4 since the last BM and woke up knowing I was backed up and I was going to have one at some point soon. Except 5 trips to the bathroom yielded nothing but straining and discomfort. I ended up going home early because I was so uncomfortable. Came home and downed 60ml of milk of magnesia and prayed it would work fast. It didn't. Ran to the store for Miralax (which my surgeon wanted me to avoid for the time being) and an enema kit. Drank the Miralax, despite knowing it wasn't going to actually do anything right away, but would hopefully start the process of helping going forward. Called my primary care because I was in so much pain and was pretty much told to drink MoM and start on Miralax and definitely use the enema to hopefully break things up and make it easier. Waited a couple of hours to see if I could pass anything on my own or if the MoM was helping. Nothing but liquid and blood from hemorrhoids for my trouble. Finally gave in and used an enema. Met with even higher levels of pain as I expelled the liquid, but nothing else. Spent 20 minutes on the toilet in agony and tears, on the verge of asking to be rushed to the ER. I could not physically stop straining to pass what was blocked. I was finally able to get it to pass and was horrified by what had finally left my body. I am 99% certain I was on the verge of a fecal impaction based on what finally came out. The diameter was about 1.5" and probably a total of 12" in length. I ended up having one more loose movement about 45 minutes later which may have been from the MoM or remnants of the enema...not sure. Then followed 8 hours of added agony in the aftermath where extra strength Tylenol did very little to ease the discomfort. Sitting down? Hurt. Standing up? Hurt. Lying down? Hurt. Went to bed around 10pm. Fell asleep around 1am when the pain finally started to subside.

No BM this morning. Mixed Miralax in with my Breakfast Protein Shake. Not sure if I should do more MoM today or not. Need to go to the store and get Benefiber since the Celebrate powder clearly doesn't have enough Fiber in it for me. But the worst thing is that I am genuinely afraid of trying to go to bathroom now. I can't go through that again. I would gladly take the pain from the first two days post-op back if I could get rid of this constipation. I really hope that I can get past this.

I AM SO SORRY FOR YOU! Have you tried anything natural like prunes. Apple sauce, Smooth Move tea ? PLEASE KNOW THAT THE PRODUCTS YOU ARE USING STRIPS YOUR BODY OF NATURAL FLUIDS. You have to take in more fluids. Fell better

[BigSue 1,372]

5 hours ago, Pandemonium said:

This is gonna be TMI and nasty, since it's all about constipation.

30 days post-op and yesterday was the absolute worst day I've had.

I can't recall being in as much pain and discomfort in all 43 years of my life. My post-op Constipation has been ongoing. Generally there's been 3-4 days between bowel movements and every bowel movement has taken a lot of effort. Yesterday...yesterday was a whole new world of suffering. I was on day 4 since the last BM and woke up knowing I was backed up and I was going to have one at some point soon. Except 5 trips to the bathroom yielded nothing but straining and discomfort. I ended up going home early because I was so uncomfortable. Came home and downed 60ml of milk of magnesia and prayed it would work fast. It didn't. Ran to the store for Miralax (which my surgeon wanted me to avoid for the time being) and an enema kit. Drank the Miralax, despite knowing it wasn't going to actually do anything right away, but would hopefully start the process of helping going forward. Called my primary care because I was in so much pain and was pretty much told to drink MoM and start on Miralax and definitely use the enema to hopefully break things up and make it easier. Waited a couple of hours to see if I could pass anything on my own or if the MoM was helping. Nothing but liquid and blood from hemorrhoids for my trouble. Finally gave in and used an enema. Met with even higher levels of pain as I expelled the liquid, but nothing else. Spent 20 minutes on the toilet in agony and tears, on the verge of asking to be rushed to the ER. I could not physically stop straining to pass what was blocked. I was finally able to get it to pass and was horrified by what had finally left my body. I am 99% certain I was on the verge of a fecal impaction based on what finally came out. The diameter was about 1.5" and probably a total of 12" in length. I ended up having one more loose movement about 45 minutes later which may have been from the MoM or remnants of the enema...not sure. Then followed 8 hours of added agony in the aftermath where extra strength Tylenol did very little to ease the discomfort. Sitting down? Hurt. Standing up? Hurt. Lying down? Hurt. Went to bed around 10pm. Fell asleep around 1am when the pain finally started to subside.

No BM this morning. Mixed Miralax in with my Breakfast Protein Shake. Not sure if I should do more MoM today or not. Need to go to the store and get Benefiber since the Celebrate powder clearly doesn't have enough Fiber in it for me. But the worst thing is that I am genuinely afraid of trying to go to bathroom now. I can't go through that again. I would gladly take the pain from the first two days post-op back if I could get rid of this constipation. I really hope that I can get past this.

Wow, that is horrible -- so sorry you had to go through that. I hope the worst is over. May I ask why your surgeon wanted you to avoid Miralax? Mine has repeatedly said to take Miralax once per day. It makes me nervous because the bottle says not to use it for more than 7 days. I didn't use it at first, but when I went to my first follow-up, they gave me an info packet on the post-op diet and there was a page in it about how to make and give yourself a homemade enema, and I said "Nope" and bought a big bottle of Miralax on Amazon Prime. I am just using it every other day. They told me to avoid Benefiber until at least 6 weeks out and the don't recommend Metamucil or Citrucel at all because they form a gel and can get stuck in the pouch.

[BLUV 10]

If this helps my doctor recommended Smooth Move tea. Use at bedtime. And stool softner pill for Constipation. Hope you feel better soon

[Pandemonium 515]

52 minutes ago, BigSue said:

Wow, that is horrible -- so sorry you had to go through that. I hope the worst is over. May I ask why your surgeon wanted you to avoid Miralax? Mine has repeatedly said to take Miralax once per day. It makes me nervous because the bottle says not to use it for more than 7 days. I didn't use it at first, but when I went to my first follow-up, they gave me an info packet on the post-op diet and there was a page in it about how to make and give yourself a homemade enema, and I said "Nope" and bought a big bottle of Miralax on Amazon Prime. I am just using it every other day. They told me to avoid Benefiber until at least 6 weeks out and the don't recommend Metamucil or Citrucel at all because they form a gel and can get stuck in the pouch.

I can't say for certain why my doctor said no Miralax (even though the handbook HE wrote specifically talks about it for constipation), but I suspect it was about hydration and avoiding laxatives that require you to drink even more fluids. His post-op instructions are very strict and strenuous. Right now, I am still supposed to be only sipping 1 ounce of Fluid every 15 minutes. For the 10 or so days, I have been gradually increasing the pace just to get more fluids in me because with that rate, I was maxing out at 54 ounces of fluid in a day. I'm now hitting 64-68 ounces, with no discomfort or ill effect. Thus why I feel a little better about starting in on some Miralax for a little while to hopefully help out. Granted, I can feel myself dehydrated today, so I've been sipping away at Pedialyte today (I suspect the MoM yesterday is the primary culprit for the dehydration). The handbook specifically mentions fiber chewables or Benefiber for Constipation. Given that I am still on liquids (again...doctor's orders and his strict regimen), I opted for the Benefiber powder to mix into my Protein Shakes. Today's the first day of adding that in and so far no irritation or anything. We'll see if it helps.

On the plus side, I did have a BM a couple of hours ago. It still hurt, but that's because of persistent inflammation from yesterday, but was small and loose, which was a VERY welcome change of pace. Now if I can just keep them that way.

[Solo4ever 26]

49 minutes ago, Pandemonium said:

I can't say for certain why my doctor said no Miralax (even though the handbook HE wrote specifically talks about it for constipation), but I suspect it was about hydration and avoiding laxatives that require you to drink even more fluids. His post-op instructions are very strict and strenuous. Right now, I am still supposed to be only sipping 1 ounce of Fluid every 15 minutes. For the 10 or so days, I have been gradually increasing the pace just to get more fluids in me because with that rate, I was maxing out at 54 ounces of Fluid in a day. I'm now hitting 64-68 ounces, with no discomfort or ill effect. Thus why I feel a little better about starting in on some Miralax for a little while to hopefully help out. Granted, I can feel myself dehydrated today, so I've been sipping away at Pedialyte today (I suspect the MoM yesterday is the primary culprit for the dehydration). The handbook specifically mentions Fiber chewables or Benefiber for constipation. Given that I am still on liquids (again...doctor's orders and his strict regimen), I opted for the Benefiber powder to mix into my Protein Shakes. Today's the first day of adding that in and so far no irritation or anything. We'll see if it helps.

On the plus side, I did have a BM a couple of hours ago. It still hurt, but that's because of persistent inflammation from yesterday, but was small and loose, which was a VERY welcome change of pace. Now if I can just keep them that way.

I went thru exactly the same thing. I now take dulcolax daily, papaya enzymes after every meal, 1 meal that is oatmeal daily, and i bought a reusable ****** bottle and literally do a warm Water enema about every 3 days and im almost normal. sometimes i have 1 BM a day, sometimes its every other. im 6 weeks post op. Hang in there, and I agree, of all the things that are difficult about this journey- the constioation has been the worst part!