EsoKev

I was sleaved 11 days ago, and I've been having diarrhea (about 4 wattery BMs a day). My surigical team keeps everyone on Clear Liquids for two weeks after surgery. I called them over this weekend because I was so frustrated, and I was told to take a little benefiber with my liquids. That's doing nothing. Anyone else experience this after surgery? Sorry about the rant, but I'm just tired, annoyed, and feeling lots of other emotions.

Best thing I did before surgery was to have a medication management appointment with a PharmD. He took about 45 minutes to go over EVERY detail about my current medications and gave me instructions. It was actually a requirement of my program, and I'm really glad that it was. If you are on multiple medications, I would definitely suggest seeing if this is available to you as well.

Hi all,

Admittedly feeling frustrated here. Overall, I've had a smooth recovery aside from a few ups and downs. I'm going on 10 days post op and have an abundance of energy and am seeing progress. My team has me on a clear liquid diet for the first two weeks post op (realize this might be different than some programs but it is what it is and I'm following it to the letter). That being said, I'm having several small bouts of diarrhea a day. It's not like flu or explosive, but it's concerning to me. I was actually expecting to be constipated.

I was slightly dehydrated at my last check-in appointment and had to get fluids. My surgical team doesn't seem all that concerned and suggested that I add a tiny bit of soluble Fiber in the AM and PM to try to bulk things up, which I started today. Anyone else care to share how they dealt with this (if they did)? It's just s little disheartening to be feeling so great and yet be having to deal with this.

I saw my surgical team yesterday and was told I'm progressing nicely, though I had to get IV fluids because I was showing some signs of dehydration and come back next week to ensure I'm not dehydrated still. They also said I no longer need to sip since I'm not having any pain, but I just need to pay attention to what my sleeve tells me in terms of STOP. I should be able to get more fluids this was now that I don't need to wait the dreaded 15 minutes per ounce. Should be interesting to see how today goes.

I went from not being able to go at all after surgery to having the Sh**ts during my post-op liquid stage. It sucks, and I hope things settle down. I've got three more weeks of liquids. Ugh.

Are you able to drink more than 1 oz. at a time, or is that as much as you can handle? By 6 days post op, most doctors will let you increase the increments to 2-3 oz. at a time. That lets you get the Water in much more quickly. But, only if you can handle it. I would drink my little cup, then stare at the clock for 10 minutes before I could drink another little cup. Made me crazy. It was much easier when the doc. said I didn't have to stick to the 1 oz. measure.

I'm about 6 days post op now and I'm exhausted. Making sure I get my 64 in a day is a lot harder than I thought though I have been successful at it. 1 ounce every fifteen minutes feels like a fulltime job. I really hope that things normalize at some point and I can just carry a water bottle with me and drink that way. Sorry for the rant but this is just exhausting. Crushing pills is starting to wear on me too. Forgive the rant but I'm just mourning things that I didn't even think about before... The ease of simple tasks like drinking Water and take medicines. Reassurances warmly welcome d.

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Thanks for the responses all. Doc gave me the thumbs up and said it's technically "crushed" since you chewed it :-) I'd rather be cautious.

My team is very conservative. Clear Liquids only for two weeks after surgery followed by two weeks of full fluids.

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Had your doc cleared your for solids?

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This might seem stupid, but I'm going to ask it anyway. I'm 4 days post op and was given narcotics. I haven't used them because my pain hasn't warranted it. Instead, I bought children's chewable tylenol and have only had to take it twice since getting home. Just now, I realized that all of my meds are liquid or crushable. Are chewable medications off limits? I feel sort of stupid just assuming they were fine for someone so early in recovery.

I'm a little over 48 hours post op and I have this too. I really feel like crud right now and hope it gets better.

Thanks all. I'm getting discharged today. I won't lie. The recovery has been much worse than I expected.

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Nauseated and sip, sip, sip. My pain has been fairly significant but easily controlled. I'll be going home tonight or tomorrow. Lots of burping, which hurts!

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Hope it went well!

I'm not supposed to have it either, though I think it's BS. They've disproved a lot of the myths about coffee over and over again. That's one thing I will be bringing up with my surgeon at my follow-up. I can see not drinking it prior to surgery and during the initial healing stages (MILD diuretic and acidic) but not on a long-term basis. The latest literature doesn't support needing to give up coffee.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/caffeinated-drinks/faq-20057965

https://www.livescience.com/55479-does-caffeine-cause-dehydration.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/01/13/262175623/coffee-myth-busting-cup-of-joe-may-help-hydration-and-memory

Looking good!!! And today is another day. Just keep pushing forward :-)

Of course, all of the things that are running through my head right now are not helpful:

1) Your bowel movements will never be regular again

2) Your surgeon will use a large bougie and you won't lose weight

3) Recovery is going to be hell.

Help bring me back down to earth please :-)

I went through a period of horrible kidney stones in my 20s (I'm 40 now) where I was passing at least two per month (hello medical bills). I later found out that it was due to a medication I was taking. All of the suggestions that @Creekimp13 made are right on point with what I was told by a nephrologist. One thing that could be helpful is to strain your urine (I know this sounds gross) and catch the stone when it passes. You can have it analyzed to see exactly what it's made of to determine a more customized dietary plan. The calcium citrate should help keep the oxalate from binding to the Calcium.

Congrats! One step closer!!!!

My surgeon is very adamant about doing an EGD. It helps not to go into surgery blind. I thought the whole thing was rather funny. I'm normally very claustrophobic and anxious, but one of the nurses said something that just seemed to help me relax a ton - "We're NOT going down your windpipe." For some reason, that immediately put at ease. The meds didn't put me out entirely, but it didn't hurt. I remember a lot of burping, which I didn't expect at all. I even watched my little pink tummy on the monitor. The nurses and doctor were amused by how lucid I was.

In less than a week I will be sleeved! I've got my fridge stocked with all of the essentials, my medications all changed to liquid, my living quarters set up to be conducive to someone who just had surgery, as well books and a netflix/amazon/hulu queue list to keep me busy for quite a while (I took 2 and 1/2 weeks off). I still have some final questions...

1) "Practicing" not drinking with meals and sipping is very different than living it after surgery. The idea of only being able to sip Water seems so bizarre to me. Did you get used to it?

2) Caffeine has been very difficult to give up for me (I only drink coffee black, not soda or anything else). I found all of the other rules to be fairly easy to follow. I've cleared my house of it and greatly reduced, but I know I'm going to be dealing with some caffeine withdrawal. It was the one demon I just couldn't seem to rid myself of :-) Anyone else just deal with the headaches for a week? It sucks, but it is what it is.

3) How drastically did your tastes change after surgery?

4) Anything else you think I should know.

This board has been so amazing in helping me navigate this process. Thank you everyone!!!

My surgical team uses a low carb/keto approach instead of the liquid diet. The had me at no more than 60 grams net carbs per day. They've found that the patients seem to be able to handle it better than the liquid diet, and it has the same effect on the liver. You just have to do it longer than a liquid diet. I'm surprised by how good I feel on it (once I was past the initial stages of getting used to it). However, I don't think it's all that sustainable as a permanent lifestyle, though I'm sure some will disagree with me on that.

It's called FMLA interference, and your coworker could find herself in a heap of trouble. Google "FMLA interference."

http://www.employmentlawdaily.com/index.php/2015/07/16/five-common-fmla-mistakes-by-employers/

14 hours ago, Tealael said:

Put on your favorite music and dance your way into your new life... Nervousness is completely normal , I refused to sleep the whole night before surgery and instead binge watched my favorite movies. I was exhausted and deliriously happy by time I was rolled into the OR.

SAFE JOURNEY !

I'm totally going to do this! There's no way I'll be sleeping the night before surgery. Only 10 days away for me!