August Surgery buddies

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

Ooh. One last thing post surgery is that if you have a really accommodating and willing helper like I do it can be easy to just sit still for hours since getting up hurts but pay attention to the clock or ask them to since you are supposed to get up. My dr said every two hours at least and walk around. To prevent blood clots.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

I haven’t tried this yet but I just got another idea for a gadget that will come in very handy if it works like I think it will. A coffee mug warmer. For the broth and the cream Soups for full liquid for sure. And maybe even the purée and soft stage since everything is supposed to be real moist. But At least for this Soup stage because it just cools off so fast. The more I think about it this may not be as helpful for everyone with tiny tummies since you can only eat like 3 bites early out anyways. I am a little different since they didn’t operate on my stomach. Supposed to keep my portions small but I physically can eat more.

Edited August 13 by ShoppGirl

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

I posted this as another thread but has anyone tried to vacuum at a week post op? I have a light vacuum and it’s cordless so no bending. Just lifting it off the charger in the wall and then the expected pushing and pulling. I can probably just tell my hubby it’s really bugging me and I shouldn’t and get him to do it but I hate to ask him to do everything. I am kinda itching to get back to some sense of normal to be honest.

[draikaina8503 71]

Today begins the clear liquid only diet. I got this! (At least, I'm going to keep telling myself that lol)

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

1 hour ago, draikaina8503 said:

Today begins the clear liquid only diet. I got this! (At least, I'm going to keep telling myself that lol)

Just one step at a time and yea. You’ve got this!!

[Pepper_No_Salt 49]

9 hours ago, draikaina8503 said:

Today begins the clear liquid only diet. I got this! (At least, I'm going to keep telling myself that lol)

Same here. Yesterday was 2 Protein Shakes and I could have 2 cups of Soup. Today starts the two days of Clear Liquids before Friday. I was getting snippy last night but I just keep reminding myself that it's the diet right now. I'm looking forward to my chicken Soup broth for lunch!

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

1 minute ago, Pepper_No_Salt said:

Same here. Yesterday was 2 Protein Shakes and I could have 2 cups of Soup. Today starts the two days of Clear Liquids before Friday. I was getting snippy last night but I just keep reminding myself that it's the diet right now. I'm looking forward to my chicken Soup broth for lunch!

I was a little snippy on the pre op diet too and mine was 16 days long. Surprisingly I learned that I got more accomplished being the squeaky or snippy wheel. Sad but true.

[Mandalynne 11]

Well my surgery got pushed back to 9/4 because of some covid issue at the hospital. So I’m going to have to start my liquid diet all over again.
I hope everyone is doing well, both pre-op and post-op!!
@AndreaJD and @Singingbarista, how’s it going? Well wishes for everyone!!

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

2 minutes ago, Mandalynne said:

Well my surgery got pushed back to 9/4 because of some covid issue at the hospital. So I’m going to have to start my liquid diet all over again.
I hope everyone is doing well, both pre-op and post-op!!
@AndreaJD and @Singingbarista, how’s it going? Well wishes for everyone!!

Wow. I’m so sorry. I know that has to be a let down. But better they know ahead of it instead of figuring it out after. Trust me. You do NOT want to have a cough immediately post surgery and I’m guessing fighting anything while trying to recover would be a bad thing anyways. I coughed like two times and even shallow coughs hurt so bad I am contemplating skipping my yarn group tomorrow even though they have been my cheering squad through all of this but it’s a pretty small room we meet in and you never know if someone is coming down with something. I do not want to be coughing or sneezing anytime soon.

[Hiddenroses 104]

Hello everyone! I see that the mid-month surgeries will be starting, some as of today! I'm am a week and a day post-op and have to say - I'm SO tired of being on a liquid diet and am absolutely counting down to this next Monday when I get to start purees. I'm telling myself I'm excited about purees, anyway - but I think I'm more looking forward to being able to have intake that isn't 'room temperature'. I've struggled to enjoy my pudding (sugar free, made with Protein shake) because while cold it starts out nice and thick but as it begins to warm it gets slimy and watery

I had things I wanted to respond to from the many posts I've just caught up on and by golly I'm going to try to tag multiples in this post and see if it works! *Please* forgive me if this is long; I'm a writer (unpublished but working on it - fantasy for anyone curious - so overwriting tends to be my worst tendency!)

To start with, since I think this will affect pretty much everyone - I had an amazing revelation a couple of days ago that made PERFECT sense. Colace / Docusate is a stool softener, NOT a laxative! A friend of mine is a research junkie about medications (I am about almost everything BUT that) and shared a video to me of a Pharmacist talking about the absurd cost for Docusate / Colace considering what it IS. Miralax and Senna are laxatives, all Colace / Docusate does it provide lubrication to your stools so they will be easier to pass. I'm pretty irritated about this, honestly, because whileI can see the purpose of Colace/Docusate if you're severely constipated it won't actually get things 'Moving'! Literally >. I can attest to this being true because during my liquid diet the only times I had stools were when I took Senna - (obv check with your doctor/pharmacist, but seriously this helped me SO much because post-op I was again at 5 days without a stool, took some Senna, and bam.)

To @AndreaJD and @Singingbarista , our Multi-care Clinic twinsies - How's it going?! This is your week!! I'm so excited for you both and hope your surgeries go great. You've both been wonderfully helpful and insightful in all the support you've offered and I'm eager to hear from you on the other side of the adventure! @AndreaJD - I just love your attitude SO much. Yes; we are certainly in a marathon for the next few months and NOT a sprint! I'm also rethinking my approach to food and looking forward to exploring new recipes. I find myself reading and re-reading my dietary instructions. I get a bit overly excited for my family's meals, savoring the smells and almost a bit resentful when they are NOT excited about the variety of foods that are available to them to eat. My fella says he wishes I'd stop vicariously trying to 'eat' through him - and I told him that's just tough, lol. I'm going to keep right on suggesting all of the available items like a waitress at a diner selling the food until I can eat a better variety myself!

To @Justarwaxx and @Mandalynne- Today is your day!! I have you both in my thoughts and hope everything goes well for you! @Justarwaxx - Welcome to the forum, I'm so glad you joined us!

@Mandalynne - Oh I'm SO glad to hear that my mentioning the Finch app helped someone! I'm rather ND myself (in case you couldn't tell from my rambling responses lol) and for me, Finch has been almost as life-changing as this surgery. Everything always felt overwhelming and scattered, with me constantly struggling to 'get on track' with endless efforts of organizational methods, then I would slide right back 'off track' for however long. My friend code on there is YJAMJAC79Y if you want to add my to your 'Tree Friends' lol - no offense taken if you don't! I can't believe they said only ONE day in the hospital for your surgery?! Surely they will keep you longer than THAT - it's pretty invasive! Please give us an update once you're situated and feel up to doing so! Also, I'm SO with you on enjoying the smells of food cooking! I keep looking at some blueberries and strawberries that are sitting in the fridge and literally pushing my Mom and fella to enjoy a popsicle for me, lol. I can't WAIT until I'm off this room temperature everything!! Update: I'm so sorry your surgery date was postponed!

Hey there @draikaina8503 - Greetings, fellow nerd-friend! Your response about playing D+D & WoW resonated with me! I, too, am a gamer and nerd! ❤️ I have tried so many times to revisit WoW but it just is NOT the same now that I don't have all of my old friends and guildies from the 2007-2015 era around I have played WoW since 2004 on and off, and now have somewhat given up and just play Sims4. I love being able to create story and be immersed in my gaming, and always felt guilty to move into the territory of roleplaying storyline with folks when I never knew how long I'd 'stick around' on a given revisit to the game.
But here you are, only *two days* away from your surgery! I hope that everything goes smoothly for you and that they aren't stingy with the pain relief. Ice packs have been SO helpful for me, as I previously stated, and making yourself get up and walk as soon as possible will help alleviate the gas pain.
I had them get me a fresh ice pack each time before I went walking and would hold it pressed to my surgical area while pushing the stupid IV pole with my other hand. Remember, too, it's the act of walking and NOT the speed! You'll almost certainly feel the burps start to rise up and the relief that comes with that is as Shoppgirl said - it feels like a rainbow after a storm once the tooting and burps begin. Also; I appreciate you sharing that you're going through this as an individual with Au/ADHD; I'm on a wait list right now for testing and your mention reminded me that I need to follow up on that!

As a result of my opening the different pages of this thread in different tabs I feel SO much more able to handle making a response all in one go like this! For anyone having trouble tagging you have to do the @ symbol, then start typing the name of the person you want to tag with a capitol letter. It will bring up a list at that point and the more letters you type the shorter that list of names will get - you can then tap on the right name (or click, if you're using a mouse - hope this helps!)

I actually just noticed by combing through that @Pepper_No_Salt is also an 8/16 surgery ! You and @draikaina8503 are indeed surgery twins, just like you said! I bet you're starting to *really* feel it now! Or did they not get you scheduled back for the same day? I am SO glad that you got that issue corrected - I was mad on your behalf when I saw that it was cancelled!

Hello and welcome, @Farhad , and congratulations on your surgery! Which one did you have, if I missed it, and how are you doing? I hope your pain is being managed well and that are having a good recovery. It sure is wild how quickly we fatigue now, isn't it? I learned around days 5-7 post-op that standing and doing anything that requires movement side to side causes me a lot more tenderness than when I slowly walk forward for the same amount of time, and couldn't for the life of me understand why. I guess it just makes a difference on how the incisions are pulled or tugged. I've got staples that I sure HOPE they take out Thursday because I'm SO tired of them pulling and feeling weird as a rough surface on my skin.

To @Onemealplan - Thanks for your post and all of your great reminders that this journey will be very individualized experiences. We can see similarities but I've also definitely noticed how varied some of the doctor's orders for pre and post-op are. I was feeling jealous of @ShoppGirl for her ice chips, but then again she ALSO had a much longer pre-op diet than I did and we both were going in for a SADI surgery. My doctor ordered me to start with the Vitamins as soon as I got home from the hospital, and I was here worrying about how I didn't re-start my Calcium until yesterday because even though I ordered Bariatric calcium because it was STILL three big pills, so I reordered a chewable and it just got here yesterday. I will say the chewy fusion style Calcium ones are tasty and felt like a brief reintroduction to flavor town, lol. I also appreciate what you said about the difference between physical and mental hunger - that's 100% true for me. The 'idea' of food sounding nice to me I've been treating as a craving for flavor, and I've taken to trying to sate that with different flavors of Water beverages and a rare sugar free candy like a jolly rancher. I don't know if I'm supposed to allow myself those or not, but so far thankfully haven't had any negative consequences for having the occasional one. The visit to flavor town is certainly a welcome break from this shake monotony.

Welcome and congratulations to you @Greekmom4! I'm taking the Prilosec as well and am right along with you, today I am 8 days post-op. Have you been experiencing nausea still? I'm not sure if it's due to my type of surgery but I've not had much nausea in a while, thankfully. Granted, I am trying super hard to alternate sipping water/sugar free Gatorade/Propel every 15 minutes and a bit of a 30g Protein Shake every 15 minutes most of the time when I'm not napping - which seems I can never really do, because whenever I go to get flat or semi-flat I feel the settling in my chest of burps that will only come up if I sit upright fully and/or walk. I have been fortunate (I guess??) to be able to meet my protein goals for the past several days; the 30g Protein drinks are SUPER filling and feel a little heavy, especially felt very heavy at first.

Finally - to @ShoppGirl - I was rereading and realized that of COURSE your journey was different than mine, not only because we have pre-surgery differences but also because they took out your Gallbladder as well! I'm so glad you're starting to get some relief due to the burping and such. I agree, the post-surgery bowel movement made a world of difference. See also above where I discussed learning the difference between the Colace and Senna/Miralax! You're a go-getter, that's for sure! I personally wouldn't recommend vacuuming today even though I know you're SO eager to get back to being productive. You may have already done it lol - I wouldn't be surprised! Thanks for the reminder to get up and move; I took longer writing this big response post than I should have and even though I have my ice pack in my lap I know I'm way overdue to get up and move around a bit. I enjoy you your sterile strips, I've got a total of 12 staples and they tug and pull obnoxiously, plus I can feel where my body is trying to push them out and HATE it. Thursday can't come soon enough!! Wishing you the best and so thankful for your continued interactions and support

Edited August 14 by Hiddenroses

[Hiddenroses 104]

11 minutes ago, Mandalynne said:

Well my surgery got pushed back to 9/4 because of some covid issue at the hospital. So I’m going to have to start my liquid diet all over again.
I hope everyone is doing well, both pre-op and post-op!!
@AndreaJD and @Singingbarista, how’s it going? Well wishes for everyone!!

Oh my gosh, I hate that for you! That's so uncool - seems like you're taking it well. I guess if nothing else you can reward yourself with a little cheat-treat perhaps before you restart the liquid diet, and at least you'll know what to expect from the liquid diet and feel SUPER knowledgeable by the time the surgery happens!

[Greekmom4 38]

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I spoke with the nurse today and she suggested I add Protein Water to help get me to 60 grams and my 48 oz of water. Once I get there I can start to add some puréed food. She also said it will help me start to lose more weight.
@ShoppGirl I did not think I would try a vacuum at this point. I can’t even bend over to open a kitchen drawer. I’m lucky though I have 4 teens that have been super helpful with anything I need.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

5 minutes ago, Greekmom4 said:

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I spoke with the nurse today and she suggested I add Protein Water to help get me to 60 grams and my 48 oz of Water. Once I get there I can start to add some puréed food. She also said it will help me start to lose more weight.
@ShoppGirl I did not think I would try a vacuum at this point. I can’t even bend over to open a kitchen drawer. I’m lucky though I have 4 teens that have been super helpful with anything I need.

That’s brilliant to reward your reaching your Fluid goal with purées. I am so looking forward to them, omg!! I already have my Walmart cart ready to go.

PS, I came to my senses about the vacuuming. Momentary insanity I think. 😂

[Hiddenroses 104]

@Greekmom4 - Yay! I'm so happy for you to be close to purees! I don't get to have that step until Monday. Do the shakes not treat you well? I'm pretty burned out on them and they are admittedly a little pricy but getting down two of the 30g Protein Premier/Equate/Ensure has been the easiest way for me to meet my protein goals. Premier has a crazy amount of flavors and I'd put them in the lower-mid-range price point. I really like the strawberry and as a long time coffee lover I will say the Caramel mixed with Decaf coffee was a nice morning 'perk' that made me feel a little more like a normal human. The banana one was ok, to me. I splurged and got their variety pack first off of Walmart. It's pricier that way per shake but at least lets you decide what flavors you like before committing to a four pack (or more) purchase of a given flavor.

Also - 1000% agree on the bending! That's one factor I hadn't considered because I haven't had previous major surgeries - not to have things on the FLOOR that I need, lol. Thankfully my fella has been pretty patient about getting things for me that are out of reach.

@ShoppGirl - I'm really glad you decided not to vacuum! I know how frustrating it is and must be for someone who seems so on top of things as you are, but try to be gentle with yourself! Recovering from either a gallbladder surgery OR bariatric surgery is a LOT, and you're doing both! Enjoy having that support person - and remember, I'm sure there are times when he leans on you, so it's totally ok to lean on him during this process. You'll be feeling like a million bucks and able to be Superwoman again before you know it!

[AndreaJD 76]

Hi, August buddies! I'm so sorry for those going through delays. That would suck and I would be so mad! After all.we go through to get here!

More pain today as expected due to the nerve blocks wearing off, but I just move slowly and take my meds as needed. Had just the hint of nausea so I took a Zofran and its gone now. @ShoppGirl, I had some good toots, too, and I'm fairly sure all the gas is out now. That gas pain is no joke!

@Singingbarista, I hope you get to go home today and had as good a hospital experience as I did.