Summer 2018 Surgery Buddies: POST-OP Discussion

[Cat B 30]

I am finishing up my 2nd week and have low energy. I am sleeping half the day. My calorie intake is about 300 a day. I just recently bought Vitamin B12 supplements that I supposed to have started last week. I am hoping it will give me a bit more energy. I am drinking my liquids. Struggling with the Protein Shakes. So over them! I guess our energy levels vary from person to person.

[Cat B 30]

Thank you for explaining to us what your Surgeon explained to you regarding the energy. I walked for over an hour a couple of days ago. BIG MISTAKE on my part!!! I barely made it back home. I had no energy at all! I was so out of it the next day. I move around a little bit and then I am ready to drop. So now knowing what is going on in there makes me understand how important it is to take it easy and not push it.

[Lioness815 44]

22 hours ago, skylw6 said:

HI Sandi,

I am 8 days post op and finding energy comes back little by little. I would say be careful not to over do it. Like an idiot I had appointments I couldn't cancel on day 6 post op and walked almost 7000 steps mostly outside in the heat. Needless to say I felt wiped and dehydrated the next day. Its taken my three days to recover from that.

I asked the surgeon about they energy at the post-op and this what they explained to me. My cuts are laprascopic so they said I have little cuts on the outside but big ones on the inside. 50% of our energy is going to healing from our major abdominal surgery. The other 50% is keeping us alive and doing our body functions. When we go for walks that 50% of energy keeping us alive and running our bodies is cut even further. Then you add the lower caloric intake to the equation. Thats why they say short walks because you will burn your energy quicker and run out sooner.

I was worried too but this made perfect sense to me once explained. I hope this helps!

Thanks for sharing.

I had been doing 45 minutes on the treadmill a month or so before surgery and I tried last week to get back into the swing of walking. I made it to 6 mins at 2 miles an hour and had to quit. I was wiped.

I thought I was just out of shape.

I think we do take for granted that once our small incisions heal that our bodies are done with the process.

[insta_adventurer 1,046]

I am nearly 3 weeks and do believe I have hit the dreaded 3 week stall. I know this is normal- so I’m doing my best to not let it get to me.

Challenges I’ve run into? Finding things to wear to work. Nearly every pair of pants is too big, so I’ve been wearing dresses and skirts. The dresses are a bit loose- but dresses can’t fall down so it doesn’t matter.

I’m also in a constant battle against Constipation and have to take colase and drink Smooth Move tea every night. It sucks, but I’m sure this will get better as my diet gets more varied.

I am averaging between 400 and 500 calories a day. Still relying on Protein Shakes to meet my Protein goals.

I am down 27lbs since surgery, 65lbs since starting the process in January, and 103lbs since my heaviest in October 2016.

[somegirlsrbiggerthanother 7]

I had my surgery on 6/20/2018. My surgeon stitches the INSIDE of the stomach to avoid Hernias. Anybody else has this stitch in the stomach? It gives a dull pain, but sometimes it can be sharp.

[Frustr8 7,886]

Hadn't heard of it but it sounds neat and tidy, I'm all for tidyness, you know!

[J San 1,072]

That's what I had done. I think it may be the norm these days, but who knows. Dissolvable stitches on the inside and surgical glue on the incision on the surface of the skin. 3 out of the 4 scabs have come off and all the glue is gone. There is one, the biggest one that's like a dimple, I can see the end of the stitch. It's sticking out of the incision about an 1/8 of an inch. Pretty cool

[mikerobe 18]

5 days post op (sleeve) down 17 lbs since surgery date. I didn’t think I would lose the weight this quickly. I am having no problems drinking the liquid diet or Water. Again I am surprised I can drink as much as I can. Anyone else surprised about how much they can drink?

[amalicea 13]

3 days post and can’t keep anything down two sips of Water and it wants to come back up. Completely miserable but this will pass and excited to see some results

[sentaric 54]

1 hour ago, mikerobe said:

5 days post op (sleeve) down 17 lbs since surgery date. I didn’t think I would lose the weight this quickly. I am having no problems drinking the liquid diet or Water. Again I am surprised I can drink as much as I can. Anyone else surprised about how much they can drink?

I had my sleeve July 30, doing really well. Yes i am surprised about the amount of liquid i can sip. But i still take it easy and just little sips all day

Im down 12 since my surgery date

Edited August 6, 2018 by sentaric

[PTARMT 13]

I really felt I could drink more as well. I wasn’t paying attention to how often I was sipping and I really didn’t feel full.Needless to say I started coughing and threw it up. I’m much more cautious now 😊. Be careful

[PTARMT 13]

Amalicea,

Plain Water kind of upsets my stomach too. Someone recommended adding Crystal Light Pure drink mix (has stevia). I have no idea why but it has helped.

[mercmerc 144]

I feel like i can drink a lot too!

[Cat B 30]

During my first week I did not have any problems with nausea or getting any fluids in. My problem was I felt so full I didn't want to drink anything. I had to force myself to drink just a little bit. This week has been better with getting the liquids in just struggling with the Protein Shakes. I have been drinking non fat milk to help get the Protein in. Even so, I can only drink maybe 1/2 cup or close to a cup and then that pressure in the stomach starts. So I am just going to start keeping it at 1/2 a cup every 30 minutes. That pressured feeling actually hurts!

[mercmerc 144]

Anybody have pain that comes and goes in small incremental cycles on right side? I have my biggest incision under but its like a dull pain sometimes...