Hello All -

So I had my DS surgery with Dr. Keshishian in California on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 (forgive me if I'm not doing this right, I am counting my surgery day as "day 1"). It was to be done laproscopically, but I had a lot of scar tissue from previous surgeries, so he did have to cut into my lower abdomen area. When I awoke, I was in a lot of pain and vomitting from the anesthesia. The first day was not good for me. It was many hours before they made me get up to walk (and it was a very short distance).

My second day was a little better, but I was still out of it most of the day and didn't want to press the morphine button that much - in fact, I only pressed it once on this day, and it was the last time I needed it. I did get up to walk a few times and had some of the liquids. I still had not passed any gas on my own and I had that infamous shoulder pain from gas. Around 11:30p this night, I was given milk of mag to help with this, and it did the next day. Doc checked on me several times throughout the day. I showered on this day, which felt so good to do.

Third day I awoke feeling much better, even though I didn't sleep very well - was up at least once every hour. I passed a little gas early in the morning, and my shoulder pain went away - yay! On my breakfast tray was plain yogurt, grape juice, and a few other things I didn't peep into. I had some of the yogurt and grape juice, and water - and oh my was it good! I only ate just the tip of a teaspoon, so it wasn't much. I definitely didn't want to get sick. My doc said it was ok for me to drink protein water, so I also started drinking on this (I was able to finish most of this by nighttime). Lunch was more of the same, and I was given the "ok" to be discharged later in the day. I took a couple more walks, worked on my breathing mechanism, and showered. It was a few more hours before I was officially discharged. I was given an abdominal binder to wear and they put it on me, and i thought it would help with moving around, but for me it really didn't help. Because I am 5'2, it was really uncomfortable when I was sitting, so I did take it off at hotel. Once we got back to hotel, I continued to sip on my protein water, and it just felt so much better being out of the hospital environment - know what i mean? I did sleep a lot better, but not through the whole night.

Today, fourth day, I feel good. I am using my 1/2 cup measuring cup so that I know i need to drink that amount of water each hour, and it's working really well. I still have pain where my incision is, but it is tolerable. I took a pain pill this morning around 5a, and so far, so good. Also taking pepcid to help with stomach acid.

Every day is getting better. And, the nurses at the hospital, for the first two nights were excellent! I wasn't weighed before surgery, so I don't have a SW, but I will stick with 220, which was my weight the day before. On day 2, they weighed me, and I was 222 - nurse said not to be discouraged that it was from all the fluids they gave me. I also didn't take my measurements, and I am ok with that too LOL. For me, all I need to know is that I was wearing a size 16 pants and size XL shirt. I'm not all that bloated like I thought I would be, which is a plus.

Take care and will post more as my journey continues.

Congrats on your surgery and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Sorry it turned into more than you expected, but so glad you had Dr. K doing the procedure.

Congrats! Thanks for sharing your DS story. I’m having surgery with Dr K at the end of the month so it’s great to hear how much he checks up on his patients. Take care.

Thank you so much for this! I’m having my DS surgery in September so I’m always looking to hear about the experiences!

You are all welcome! Since i have posted, i hve been very tired. I am struggling to get my fluids in, and i am hungry!! Lol i am ready for real meat. I know i am probably far from that but i am getting hunger pains. I cant wait to be moved to soft foods. What did u eat during his stage?

I am having loose stools, but i guess that is to be expected. Today alone, i’ve gone to bathrrom 4 times... and its only 4:30p.

I can’t wait to be in my own bed. Tomorrow morning i will call dr k’s ofc for my follow up appt... and i hope that dr gives me the ok during the visit so i can move my flight home up from friday.

Praying you get the green light to head home. It has been so much better being at home, my friend.

The bathroom routine was certainly more than I expected, and I hope it settles down soon! I just remember other DS'ers saying to Never trust a fart. Never has a truer thing been stated!

You and I are so alike! I'm not hungry but was daydreaming about the texture and taste of a BLT, and that isn't even a favorite of mine!

I don't know if you are experiencing this but everything just tastes weird. Too salty, too sweet, too bold... I feel like I'm just taking in nutrients to stay hydrated.

Stay strong my friend!!!

20 hours ago, mjctexas said:

You are all welcome! Since i have posted, i hve been very tired. I am struggling to get my fluids in, and i am hungry!! Lol i am ready for real meat. I know i am probably far from that but i am getting hunger pains. I cant wait to be moved to soft foods. What did u eat during his stage?

I am having loose stools, but i guess that is to be expected. Today alone, i’ve gone to bathrrom 4 times... and its only 4:30p.

I can’t wait to be in my own bed. Tomorrow morning i will call dr k’s ofc for my follow up appt... and i hope that dr gives me the ok during the visit so i can move my flight home up from friday.

I ate everything pureed. Pureed tuna fish, chicken, turkey. Also scrambled eggs went down well.

Thanks for sharing your story! I didn't start feeling better until 3 moths out! but so happy I am ok now! good luck to you!!

I am now 13 days post op. I feel good. Yesterday I weighed in at 203 - not bad at all. I had my first follow-up last Wednesday, 7/18. Everything checked out fine, and I was given the green light to move to soft foods. And, because shrimp is easily digestible, I was also given the "ok" to eat this - and I had no issues with it (had it for lunch and dinner that day). It feels so good to be eating real food again. My current goal is 30g of protein per day, but I've been getting closer to 40 and going to take in more protein water to get it even higher. Per doc's instructions, I will start lifting 5 lb weights for my arms to build some muscle. I've been getting in my water a lot easier now - meeting my 64 oz daily goal.