6 days Post surgery....not nearly as bad as I thought, experiences and some advise to pre ops.
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elifusa
Posts: 45 Member
Hello all,
Thank you to all of you with whom I've conversed with on what to expect via surgery.
Considering I had my abdomen cut open and my stomach removed, the pain wasn't that bad for that long, I was completely off codeine two days after surgery. I do get twinges if I'm not careful getting up and down, or cough.
I was up and walking about two hours after surgery and have kept consistent with my walking..very important yall, and the whole breathing into that breathing apparatus to make sure you don't get the pneumonia.
My incisions are freaking TINY! One is even in my belly button, I will have little to no scarring at all. I've seen a few folks who've had the procedure done and I think my surgeon was an artist.
No nausea, no constipation, not a lot of gas, there is one thing however.....that is tough....
I am having A VERY HARD TIME not gulping water. I love water, like a lot. So I am finding that sometimes I gulp and it hurts. I'm a bit afraid of stretching the pouch, so I am really really trying to be good that that.
Also, I can not stress...really..stress how absolutely disgusting crushed vitamins taste like. I thought I could muscle through it and not buy any gummy or chewables, or liquid vitamins. EF THAT!!!!! It's probably the worst taste I've ever had in my mouth, if I go to hell...that is what I will have to eat.
There is nothing that can mask the taste of that nastyness...until you can swallow a full pill, I beg, no implore you, beseech you GET THE LIQUID/CHEWABLE stuff, just make sure you are getting the vitamin and minerals you need...
I haven't really experienced feeling full yet, I don't expect to as I'm still on a liquid diet.
FYI, you say some pretty hilarious things while on anesthetics.
I apparently asked my surgeon to preserve my stomach so that when I get buried like a Pharaoh, I'll have all my internal organs in beautiful vials next to me. Proper Egyptian style.
I am a total weirdo people.
Thank you to all of you with whom I've conversed with on what to expect via surgery.
Considering I had my abdomen cut open and my stomach removed, the pain wasn't that bad for that long, I was completely off codeine two days after surgery. I do get twinges if I'm not careful getting up and down, or cough.
I was up and walking about two hours after surgery and have kept consistent with my walking..very important yall, and the whole breathing into that breathing apparatus to make sure you don't get the pneumonia.
My incisions are freaking TINY! One is even in my belly button, I will have little to no scarring at all. I've seen a few folks who've had the procedure done and I think my surgeon was an artist.
No nausea, no constipation, not a lot of gas, there is one thing however.....that is tough....
I am having A VERY HARD TIME not gulping water. I love water, like a lot. So I am finding that sometimes I gulp and it hurts. I'm a bit afraid of stretching the pouch, so I am really really trying to be good that that.
Also, I can not stress...really..stress how absolutely disgusting crushed vitamins taste like. I thought I could muscle through it and not buy any gummy or chewables, or liquid vitamins. EF THAT!!!!! It's probably the worst taste I've ever had in my mouth, if I go to hell...that is what I will have to eat.
There is nothing that can mask the taste of that nastyness...until you can swallow a full pill, I beg, no implore you, beseech you GET THE LIQUID/CHEWABLE stuff, just make sure you are getting the vitamin and minerals you need...
I haven't really experienced feeling full yet, I don't expect to as I'm still on a liquid diet.
FYI, you say some pretty hilarious things while on anesthetics.
I apparently asked my surgeon to preserve my stomach so that when I get buried like a Pharaoh, I'll have all my internal organs in beautiful vials next to me. Proper Egyptian style.
I am a total weirdo people.
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lol. Thanks for sharing elifusa. I'm just starting to shop around for all of the required vitamins and supplements. Thanks for the tip on liquid/chewable vitamins. I have the Vitafusion Gummies for Multivitamins and Vitamin D but I don't think we are supposed to have them in early recovery and I also refuse to crush pills so I'll be looking around for other sources. Thanks for the heads up.0
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Cute post! Makes me wonder what I might have said while under.0
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Re: weird. I got the surgeon to take a picture of what he took out. Perhaps it can be a framed picture in my Egyptian tomb.0
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Ha ha ha. He totally didn't. It has to be sent off for testing. I really wonder what it looked like though. Oh well.0
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Oh also, this is weird, did anyone else feel this? The first day or so, I could feel my insides all moving around if I shifted from side to side. Was the most bizarre feeling ever. Of course it could have been the awesome morphine.0
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Glad you're doing well Elif!0
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my surgery is after 2 weeks from now.. and yessss, i'm egyptian and i have the same idea of asking my surgeon to keep what he removed in a jar hahahaha… i'm very excited yet very scared!!
can u plz tell me some examples of what u have in ur liquid diet?0 -
my surgery is after 2 weeks from now.. and yessss, i'm egyptian and i have the same idea of asking my surgeon to keep what he removed in a jar hahahaha… i'm very excited yet very scared!!
can u plz tell me some examples of what u have in ur liquid diet?
MeGaga,
the best way to see other's food choices is to add a group of friends who have their diaries open (mine is open to friends). My pre-surgery liquid diet was 9/23-9/30, and it was pretty boring; 4 protein shakes per day with lots and lots of sugar free popsicles and chicken broth.
Rob
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Me Gaga Habibti,
The clear liquid diet or the full liquid diet? Also feel free to see what I have in my food diary. Many of the foods I am using you can find easily in Egypt.
Selam
Elif0 -
More great news by the way. Saw my surgeon, I am cleared for all activity. He is amazed at how fast I am healing, Frankly so am I and can't believe the weight loss results, 43 pounds in twoish months. But it's really important to note I was at a high level of physical fitness prior to surgery and I followed everything to the T.
The only restrictions I have a week out are I can't lift more than 20 pounds at this point. Took a nice 3 mile walk/jog yesterday felt fine! I am back to work on Tuesday..so I was only out of work a week. Pretty amazing. I've already dropped about 4 pant sizes...wholly crap. Why didn't I do this sooner?!0 -
LOL - so true about anesthesia! You do say the craziest things!
My sister was in the room while I was coming out she said I kept saying something about a pile of money. She kept asking me where it was and I wouldn't tell her in English - LOL! She said I would look at her and speak in Spanish (I'm bilingual) and then say in English you have to do what I just told you to do to find it - LOL!
I have no memory of this!0 -
Elifusa: Sounds like you are having a great journey thus far. Glad to hear that your recovery is going so well.
As for the anesthetic talk, that is too funny. I am now wondering what I said. 
Keep up the great work, and 4 pants sizes. Wow. 0 -
I agree with you about the vitamins! They are disgusting I have completely replaced all with chew able variety's. My recovery is very similar to yours. I am 3 weeks out. Good luck with everything!0
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I am having my op in 2 weeks,started my pr op diet today! I am excited and scared! and now I am worried about what I might say under anesthetic! Hilarious! its made my morning!0
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After getting into my own room after surgery, my daughter said I "shussed" them....mom age 83 little hard of hearing said "did she just shhh' us?" uhh we are not at a family reunion guys pipe down...we laugh about it now and have made it a joke.
Ohh yeah, turn off TV and watch Netflix...no "Outback" commercials...helps with the head hunger.
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oh yeah about those sucky vitamins...I also take the Caltrate 600+D3 chocolate truffle, told my surgeon on my last post-op visit, taste like tootsie rolls, he laughed...I chew one after the nasty Flintstone Iron out of my mouth. I'm going for gummies next.0
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Firstly congratulations. Exciting road ahead. I got to see my stomach, nearly twice actually. They showed it to me in recovery and I was like,,,"right then". A day later the nurse asked me if I had seen it and did I want to see it again before it was disposed of? I assured them I could survive without seeing it again. The little scientist in me would probably want to take it out and really have a good investigation. But it just looked like a long thin pinkish thing. I think I expected it to be balloon like but of course it was just a deflated bit of tissue. Much smaller to look at than I anticipated. I did wonder how it had managed to fit so much food in re surgery?0
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Oh, now I really want to see my stomach!!
I am using the powdered vitamins now. I puked the first time, I think because I drank them on an empty stomach. Now, not so bad. I've ate them like a pixy stick, in yogurt, and in water, sometimes with a splash of crystal light - the little liquid flavor enhancers.
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