Hey everyone!

Just got back from the hospital today after receiving my magic sleeve powers on Tuesday 8/28. My only fear going in was that they were going to peep inside and find that my liver was too gigantic and slippery to proceed with the surgery, at which point I would have promptly yanked the IV from my arm and lowered myself onto the nearest corndog in defeat. I stayed very faithful to the food and calorie intake as prescribed by the 2-week pre-op diet to make sure I did all I could do to avert disaster.

What I didn't do apparently was drink at least 64oz of water during those days to ensure I was properly hydrated for the moment. The surgery went well, but they IV'd the crap out of me afterwards and when I hopped on that scale yesterday I had gained 14 lbs of water since the surgery!

The team didn't seemed bothered by it, though they would have preferred that I were hydrated to begin with. Looking back I think I focused way too much on the weigh-in going into surgery and became paranoid about not shrinking my liver enough that I loss track of the water.

Just thought I'd throw that out there so people can avoid my mistake.

A few other takeaways:

- I was so delirious and distracted after the surgery that I didn't even question when one of the nurses gave me apple juice as a first drink attempt. What resulted was intense and completely avoidable. Nothing like the choke-dump combo to start things off!

- I'm finding that room temperature to hot fluids are the way to go. When I sip something ice cold I feel like my pipes seize up and the drink takes the slow elevator down to Sleeveville.

- That GERD feeling is so real. I just get this vision due to the sounds and the pressure that everything I consume is falling into a natural geyser. I found that rocking myself to force a burp was the only way to survive—reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and made me wish I had practiced my burping skills in high school. I also had a family member pound my chest and my back at the same time after a hard swallow so I would burp like a baby. It triggered many a cardiac alarm in the hospital, but I didn't care. It was worth the relief.

Edited September 2, 20187 yr by John Kitsu

It doesn't matter if you were hydrated. Everyone gains water weight from the IV fluids you get before, during and after surgery. That was just them trying to bully you. I drink a ton of water every single day and I still gained about 14lbs in water weight. Never weigh yourself after any surgery. It will disappoint you.

6 hours ago, iluvbears42@yahoo.com said:

It doesn't matter if you were hydrated. Everyone gains Water weight from the IV fluids you get before, during and after surgery. That was just them trying to bully you. I drink a ton of water every single day and I still gained about 14lbs in water weight. Never weigh yourself after any surgery. It will disappoint you.

Thank you, @iluvbears42@yahoo.com! I had no idea about the water weight that occurs. Good to know this is normal and not because I went in pretty dry and jerky-like.

Congrats on a successful surgery. The weight gain post surgery is a bummer, fortunately I had read other posts of people ranting about it so I knew what to expect. What helped me with the burp relief post was looking straight up stretching my neck and taking deep breaths. Sometimes through my nose worked better but sometimes through my mouth was. It would let that know feeling in my chest escape and I felt much better after. Good luck on your recovery!!!

Awesome, @J San! And thank you so much.

Just tried it after taking in some water and it did help. Good to have it in my back pocket along with the Shaq shimmy I've been doing up until now to get those gases going.