My surgery was on May 9th and let me start by saying that all the pain that I went through and the discomfort I am going through right now, is well worth it! I have lost 21 pounds from my HW of 258 bs. Looking forward to many more!

Bad news first: I have super tiny veins, very hard to find. Before surgery, the nurse could not find one so the Anesthesiologist came to try to start an IV. The stupid doctor inserted the IV inside of my left wrist. Within minutes, it had infiltrated and had started to swell up. Another Anesthesiologist came with an ultrasound machine and found one vein in my right arm where the IV went. During my stay, the blood draws were a nightmare since many techs poked me several times to find a vein. As a result, my whole arm is black and blue. I could live with that but since yesterday, there is bad tingling in my left hand and my range of motion is almost negligible. it feels like I am holding a live electric wire in my hand, Every time I extend my foreman, an electric shock runs through it. The more I researched this, I found out that this is caused by nerve injury and that the IV in wrist is a no-no. I went to my surgeon today who was shocked to hear that the other doctor tried to put an IV there. So, tomorrow I am going to an ortho hand surgeon for a consult. I am so upset at that stupid doctor and hoping that is just an inflammation that pinched a nerve. I don't want another surgery.

Now to a couple of questions:

How long before the incisions healed and the pain got better? I cannot sleep on either one of my sides.

How long before you were able to eat more than 200 calories? I have found ways to sneek in Protein and had around 30 grams today. I know I need a lot more but that is a start. I am trying to stay hydrated too. Sipping Water all day, drinking some gatorade and even had a sugar free popsicles but calories were not enough to survive.

Thank you for all your support during this process! This website rocks!

Now to a couple of questions:

How long before the incisions healed and the pain got better?

How long before you were able to eat more than 200 calories? I have found ways to sneek in Protein and had around 30 grams today. I know I need a lot more but that is a start. I am trying to stay hydrated too. Sipping Water all day, drinking some gatorade and even had a sugar free popsicles but calories were not enough to survive.

Im sorry about your hand issue, hope it turns out to be minor.

As far as the incision healing, for myself all of mine are pretty much healed except for 1 of them cause it got infected, currently being treated with antibiotics. Pain got better each day, took about a week for pain to stop. It was more a discomfort thing than pain. Im 4 weeks postop tomorrow. So I would say it took about 2 weeks to heal fully.

I was told to concentrate on my protein intake and water and not worry about the calories simply because we wont be eating much anyway cause we will get full with 2-3oz of food/liquids. So no calorie count here. Protein intake was very hard for me the first 10 days postop, it will take time to reach your daily goal. Also water intake I was only drinking 16-32oz daily my first week. Sip dont gulp!

Hope this helped, wishing you a speedy recovery!

Edited May 14, 201412 yr by butterfly2014

I am so sorry about your arm, but thank you for sharing. You sound like you're staying positive!

I'm sorry to hear about your arm, and I too hope that it turns out to be minor and that it works itself out in brief time.

Regarding pain: I had a fair amount of pain in the recovery room, and pain/trouble breathing at home for the first 4 days or so. Then it was like someone flipped a switch and I started to feel a lot better. I was back to work the following week, and fishing inside of 2 weeks.

And like the others said, really focus on getting that Protein in. I drank Isopure protein Water the first week or two. It's nasty, but gets the job done. Homemade chicken broth hit the spot.

Be well…

I had drastic reduction of pain and swollen feeling on day 6 and now I'm day 8 and have very little discomfort. I too was concerned about the low calories and my NUT told me to add some lactose free milk (soy,lactaid, etc) to my supplements instead of Water or use regular versions of drinks instead of low sugar. Like regular carnation Breakfast instead of the no sugar added. I like the choc Core Power drinks and I dilute with soy milk-adds extra Protein and calories and tastes great because they are VERY chocolatey to start with. She said you find what amount of calories feels good to you-so you have energy and aren't light headed. I figured a healing body had to need more calories than the 300-350 I was getting, even though I was getting enough protein.

Sounds to me like someone hit a nerve in that arm. I am a phlebotomist and the nursing staff should have gotten the house doctor to do all your blood draws if your veins are hard to find. I would call your regular doctor and let him know what's going on. Hope that helps

I had an EMT put an IV in my wrist when I had my son (18yrs ago) and went through the vein and to this day, I still have a weird tingly irritated sensation when I rub across my wrist. I hope you get better and that it is just a small hiccup that goes away.

Incisions:

As for incisions, I got the single incision on Apr. 8 and it is still not 100% healed. It leaks a little. My drain incision is healed though and when they removed my drain they did not stitch it closed, they just left it open and covered it with guaze and tape, which freaked me out. So it took a little longer to heal too.

How long before you were able to eat more than 200 calories? I just started eating 300-350 calories last week. It took me a long time. Im still having a hard time getting in my Protein.

Its a process so try and just follow your post op directions and stay positive.

Thank you for alll your replies. An update on my arm: I went to the hand surgeon today. He thinks that my Median Nerve is pinched due to bd inflammation. I have to wear a sling for the next 2 weeks. He also wants me to take ibuprofen after I stop taking Lovenox shots. My surgeon does not allow NSAIDS. I am going to call the office tomorrow and get permission to take that for a couple of days. Followup with the hand doc in 2 weeks. If it does not get better, they will run nerve tests.

Thanks for the responses on pain and diet! I am doing better today.