MSinger

My surgeon allowed me full liquids from POD1 forward, but I really couldn't tolerate them until POD 4. And even then it took hours for me to drink a premier protein shake. I'm learning that just because you are allowed certain foods does not guarantee you'll be able to tolerate them enough to hit your goals. What helped me a lot during this time was a protein syrup called Prostat. It's 15g/oz and 100 cals. It helped me bump my protein intake up so I could focus on getting more fluids. I still drank full liquids, but I did not depend on them to meet my goals. Right now I'm having a hard time with mushies and I'm back to needing an hour+ to eat 3-4oz, which is cutting into the time I have to drink fluids, so I'm back to supplementing for my protein and not counting on the mushies to meet my goals until I can tolerate them better.

Are you on soft foods now, or just eating yogurt along with full liquids? My diet was advanced to mushy foods today and I had my first meal (LF refried beans). Over the last few days on full liquids I didn't feel much restriction and could take my fluids and protein shakes easily and had a few times where I felt legit hungry, but when I tried the beans today I couldn't take more than a few spoonfuls. The restriction will come. As far as yogurt.. there's lots of different types. There is the dense, greek-style that has a good amount of protein, and then there are sugary low protein types that I call "candy yogurt." I haven't dug into my yogurt yet, but I imagine the candy yogurts will not provide much restriction. Something like Fage would probably be more filling. I have also heard some people say that yogurt is a slider for them, regardless of brand. So there's that possibility.

I bought a large tub of isopure unflavored protein powder. It mixes really well with full liquids and soft foods. The problem is that I fill up on soft foods so quickly I'm not getting my protein in, so I was thinking about mixing the protein powder with my water and other fluids. Has anyone tried this? I do have a couple bottles left of isopure protein water, I'm just sick of having the same flavor all the time.

I had urinary retention after surgery too but was not sent home with a foley. I was straight cathed 5 times after surgery - 0/10, would not recommend They wouldn't let me go home until my post-void residuals was under 250cc, and then I had to come back to the ER because I stopped peeing when I got home. Probably a mix of post op urinary retention and dehydration. Anyway, all this to say it's a common issue after surgery. It takes time for anesthesia to work its way out of your system, but your plumbing will bounce back soon. Hang in there!

Congratulations on your progress!!

When I'm full I hear gurgling, feel pressure in my chest, and a dull ache in my left shoulder.

I feel the same way. I live on the second floor, so I go down to throw out my trash, walk to the end of my street and back which is a quarter of a city block, then back up my stairs. I'm exhausted by the time I get back.

My spidey senses are telling me there is something unhealthy about this. It feels like the same happy centers in my brain that fired off when I would overeat are doing the same thing when I watch these videos. I'm thinking this might be a way of succumbing to head hunger without actually eating. Physically, my body wouldn't let me eat the type of stuff I'm watching because it makes me sick to think about it, but let's be real here... my head hunger is what got me as big as I am now (working in conjunction with physical hunger). I chose to eat a pint of ice cream instead of an apple when my stomach growled. I'm worried if I keep doing this it's gonna reinforce my head hunger and once the physical hunger returns it's gonna be bad. I'm not gonna do this anymore.

I am so sorry you're going through this. It's really unfortunate when family and SO's aren't sources of support, but journaling and taking walks are great ways to cope. You just keep on doing you!

Yes, I'm taking protonix. I've had some reflux episodes from eating too close to bedtime so I'm wondering if it's still some residual reflux.

Every morning or whenever I get up from a nap I'm nauseous. I make sure to stop eating at about 6pm so I don't reflux so my stomach has to be empty by the time I wake up, but I still feel gross when I get up. Zofran doesn't seem to help either. Could it be because my stomach is empty?

I'm watching the little Gif recipes that get posted to facebook feeds. I don't get it because if there was a plate of food sitting in front of me I'd never eat it.

I drank 3 premier protein shakes a day. Each one is 160cals, so 480cals/day. The first few days were rough, but since they were low carb it got much easier.

Congrats! Hope you have an easy recovery

I was wonderig what's going on! I've had a mirena since new years this year, had gradually improving spotting for the first two months, and since then I had only light spotting at the time of my period. 2 days after surgery my period came back, did my string check. It was lighter than my periods were prior to getting the mirena, but still heavy enough for pads and lasted 3 days. Then it went away for two days. Then it came back for three days. Ugh.. I think I need to actually buy a full pack of pads. Haven't had to do that in a while

Definitely go to the ER. Hopefully they can rule out a clot, but this is not something that can wait.

Congrats! Hope you have a speedy recovery

I'm POD8 today and I'm currently able to drink full liquids at about 4oz/hr. I was having a very hard time the first few days where it would take 3hrs to drink 4oz, and since it took so long it cut into the amount of time I had to drink water. There is a concentrated protein syrup that I purchased called Prostat which is 15g protein, 100cals, 0 sugar. It's clear with no dairy and was pretty easy to digest. It was easier to meet my protein goals since it's such a concentrated dose (1oz), and I found I was able to spend more time on drinking fluids. I'm just taking it once a day now to bump up my protein count, but it was really helpful for the first 4 days after surgery. Just thought I'd pass this info along. Hang in there.. hopefully it'll get better for you soon!

Talk to your PCP about this normal TSH level the surgeon's office is talking about. Have you had any recent labs drawn? Maybe they checked your level then, but it seems like you would know since you're pretty knowledgeable of your levels. As far as the colonoscopy/bleeding, I agree with what you're saying and wouldn't feel comfortable with going through surgery without that issue being figured out first. Again, I think you should talk to your PCP and see what they have to say. Good luck!

I'm a week post-op and my stomach looks very much like your before pic. If I had the after pic you're rockin now I'd be ecstatic. Congrats on your success!

Congrats and hope you have a smooth recovery!

Good for you for being honest with yourself. Going into with the right mindset is just as important as completing the eval, pre-op diet, etc. Even if things to 1000% perfectly it's still a rough recovery, and going in with ambivalence can make things much worse. Surgery is and should be a last resort. If you feel you are able to do this on your own, I think it's definitely preferable than permanently altering your digestive anatomy. Plus, if things don't go well, or you reconsider, at least you know surgery will always be an option. Good luck!

Over the last two or so days, I notice my throat gurgling when I consume full liquids. My guess it's gas, because I can hear my intestines firing off as well. There's no nausea, and only slight stomach pressure, nothing too bad. Is this something that's normal? I just want to make sure it's not a sign that I'm eating too fast/about to regurgitate.

Right.. you don't know a person's medical history. You don't know what happened to them during their operations, their medical history, special needs. That is the job of their medical team. You did acknowledge this, but are ok with giving out promises that nothing will happen as though you do know. I don't get it, and as someone who has seen scenarios like this play out very badly I'd never recommend it, but hey, it's the internet. People can also be extremely ignorant about their own health matters. Maybe they have a non-communicative Dr, maybe they are in denial, manipulative.. whatever the case, there is a surprising lack of understanding. I haven't been on this board for very long, but the complaints on people asking for permission to eat stuff they shouldn't is a constant complaint on here. I'm starting to think part the problem is posters willing to answer questions and give promises they'll be ok when these folks should be referred back to their care team. I feel like this board can be helpful if people stuck to clarifying issues that are within a person's plan of care, not telling people they'll be ok if they skirt around this or that rule. But my impression is the "help" will continue, as well as complaints of the type of questions that get posted to this board.

As far as your activity.. you are still healing and on a very low-calorie diet.. so do what you can. It's typically recommended to be up and moving at least every 4 hours in order to prevent blood clots. I'm just doing laps in my apartment as I live on the second floor and don't want to get stuck going back up. It may seem like contradictory advice, but you gotta get plenty of rest and stay active. So do what activity you can and make sure it's no more than 4hrs since the last time you've been moving, but make sure you rest afterward. Hopefully, you'll be able to tolerate more, go longer distances, need less time to rest, and seeing gradual improvements from one day to the next.