Water after Surgery

[Apex617 1]

Hi all,

New poster, but long time lurker here. I have a gastric sleeve scheduled for next week on 8/27. A week into the 2 weeks pre-op liquid diet, woo!

I'm struggling right now thinking about Water post op. This week, I found out that my job is not going to be easy to be sipping water all day. I say just found out because I only started on 8/3. My surgical team tells me that I need to be drinking "0.5oz of water every 3-4min" a day to get to 64oz. With my job, we aren't able to do that. It is a health inspecting position, and we aren't really allowed to have drinks with us especially in food establishments due to code. In addition, constantly drinking water while talking with an operator and inspecting the establishment (temperatures, measurements, etc) would not really work. The inspections typically range 1-3 hours, but can last much longer depending on establishment.

Of course I can drink while driving, in between inspections, etc. But getting the 64oz a day, at least on most work days, is not going to be realistic based on the requirements they set in terms of drinking rate and drinking before/during/after meals. I messaged them about my concerns, and it isn't going well. They now want me to take 6-8 weeks off, which again is not going to happen because this is a brand new job. I'm able to get the 2 weeks off (that my surgical team and I agreed upon) due to having sick leave that followed me from another state job.

I'm nervous. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to meet the hydration requirements, and the more I think about them the more I think that they can't honestly expect every single patient to be able to drink that small amount every 3-4 minutes. I know there are others that have jobs more active or restrictive than mine that still go through the surgery.

Does anyone have any advice or words to share? I'm afraid at this point, but I've come so far and want to finish. But I don't want to get sick and end up in the hospital, or not have weight loss due to not getting the water they require.

Tony

[Lanie992 168]

I am almost 3 months out and I still haven't been able to get 64 oz per day. I only get about half that. Hopefully no one judges me but I just can't sit and sip Water all day either. I feel hydrated and haven't had any issues yet. But I know it is not optimal. when you are further out from surgery -- you will be able to drink more than just a few sips at a time.. I am hoping sometime soon I will be able to get more down, but it is just not happening right now.

[BigSue 1,320]

For me, that 1/2 ounce every 3-4 minutes only applied for the first couple of weeks. After that, I was able to drink larger amounts, so I don't need to sip constantly. I still can't chug a whole bottle of Water in 5 minutes, but it's no problem for me to drink 6-8 ounces in 15 minutes.

How many inspections do you typically do in a day? If you are doing four 2-hour inspections and can't drink any water during the inspections, it will probably be a problem. But if you'll only be restricted in drinking water for a total of four hours in the day, you can probably get enough if you make sure you drink as much as possible the rest of the day.

Is it possible for you to take a break every hour during the longer inspections? I have to imagine there are times you need to excuse yourself to use the restroom during these inspections, right? And I would hope nobody has a problem with it, so I doubt they would have a problem with you taking a water break. How open are you about the surgery? If you don't mind telling people, you could ask your boss if it will be ok to take water breaks during the inspections. Or see if your boss is willing to assign you to shorter inspections for a few weeks. You could tell people at the inspections that you just had surgery and you're under doctor's orders to take a water break, and I bet they'll understand.

[Apex617 1]

1 hour ago, BigSue said:

For me, that 1/2 ounce every 3-4 minutes only applied for the first couple of weeks. After that, I was able to drink larger amounts, so I don't need to sip constantly. I still can't chug a whole bottle of Water in 5 minutes, but it's no problem for me to drink 6-8 ounces in 15 minutes.

How many inspections do you typically do in a day? If you are doing four 2-hour inspections and can't drink any Water during the inspections, it will probably be a problem. But if you'll only be restricted in drinking water for a total of four hours in the day, you can probably get enough if you make sure you drink as much as possible the rest of the day.

Is it possible for you to take a break every hour during the longer inspections? I have to imagine there are times you need to excuse yourself to use the restroom during these inspections, right? And I would hope nobody has a problem with it, so I doubt they would have a problem with you taking a water break. How open are you about the surgery? If you don't mind telling people, you could ask your boss if it will be ok to take water breaks during the inspections. Or see if your boss is willing to assign you to shorter inspections for a few weeks. You could tell people at the inspections that you just had surgery and you're under doctor's orders to take a water break, and I bet they'll understand.

Thanks! I spoke with my supervisor after I posted this and it looks like I can have water with me during the inspections. I wouldn't be able to have it with me at all times to be able to the sip every few minutes, but would be able to have it set off to the side and could take a drink here or there. With the exception of food places though, those I would not due to code. The inspections vary quite a bit in the time it takes. Some of them take 45min, some take 3 or more. I'd say on average 1-2 hours is what I'd be looking at. I'm in training now so my schedule is a bit wonky, but once I'm on my own I'll be able to schedule what works best for me. Some of that time is report writing too, and I can sip while doing that.

My team just made me really nervous. They made it seem like I need to do that precise sipping all day forever and that if I don't get the 64oz, I will definitely get dehydrated and fail. I'm going to be off the first week after surgery, and then work from home the second. So by the third week I should hopefully be able to tolerate a bit more drinking at a time. My guess right now is that I should be able to get at least 40-50oz.

[STLoser 1,085]

After the first 2 weeks (I had surgery July 23rd), I have been able to drink pretty normally. I can drink about 16 to 20 ounces in an hour or less.
Honestly, I never have counted how much Water I'm getting, but I've always drank a lot of water, and even though it's less right now than before surgery, I'm still drinking plenty, and I know I'm well hydrated.
As long as you can drink every so often like your supervisor said I bet you'll be fine!

Sent from my moto g(6) using BariatricPal mobile app

[rjan 163]

I was never sipping every 5 minutes like that, and I had no problem getting my Water in. (I'm a naturally thirsty person, so I've never had trouble with drinking enough water.) For about two months after surgery, I definitely had to take much smaller swallows than normal. But I could still down a cup of water in 5-10 minutes pretty soon after surgery. I think at two weeks out, you'll be just fine with water breaks every hour or two.

[tarotcardreader 196]

On 8/20/2020 at 12:51 PM, Apex617 said:

Hi all,

New poster, but long time lurker here. I have a gastric sleeve scheduled for next week on 8/27. A week into the 2 weeks pre-op liquid diet, woo!

I'm struggling right now thinking about Water post op. This week, I found out that my job is not going to be easy to be sipping Water all day. I say just found out because I only started on 8/3. My surgical team tells me that I need to be drinking "0.5oz of water every 3-4min" a day to get to 64oz. With my job, we aren't able to do that. It is a health inspecting position, and we aren't really allowed to have drinks with us especially in food establishments due to code. In addition, constantly drinking water while talking with an operator and inspecting the establishment (temperatures, measurements, etc) would not really work. The inspections typically range 1-3 hours, but can last much longer depending on establishment.

Of course I can drink while driving, in between inspections, etc. But getting the 64oz a day, at least on most work days, is not going to be realistic based on the requirements they set in terms of drinking rate and drinking before/during/after meals. I messaged them about my concerns, and it isn't going well. They now want me to take 6-8 weeks off, which again is not going to happen because this is a brand new job. I'm able to get the 2 weeks off (that my surgical team and I agreed upon) due to having sick leave that followed me from another state job.

I'm nervous. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to meet the hydration requirements, and the more I think about them the more I think that they can't honestly expect every single patient to be able to drink that small amount every 3-4 minutes. I know there are others that have jobs more active or restrictive than mine that still go through the surgery.

Does anyone have any advice or words to share? I'm afraid at this point, but I've come so far and want to finish. But I don't want to get sick and end up in the hospital, or not have weight loss due to not getting the water they require.

Tony

it really is like that u pretty much sip the water or Protein Shake 24/7. im only a few days post op. It probably gets better for some. its not because the not drinking stalls its because if you dont u will have to go to hospital for an iv fluids which nobody wants to do (covid)

[tarotcardreader 196]

On 8/20/2020 at 3:09 PM, Apex617 said:

Thanks! I spoke with my supervisor after I posted this and it looks like I can have Water with me during the inspections. I wouldn't be able to have it with me at all times to be able to the sip every few minutes, but would be able to have it set off to the side and could take a drink here or there. With the exception of food places though, those I would not due to code. The inspections vary quite a bit in the time it takes. Some of them take 45min, some take 3 or more. I'd say on average 1-2 hours is what I'd be looking at. I'm in training now so my schedule is a bit wonky, but once I'm on my own I'll be able to schedule what works best for me. Some of that time is report writing too, and I can sip while doing that.

My team just made me really nervous. They made it seem like I need to do that precise sipping all day forever and that if I don't get the 64oz, I will definitely get dehydrated and fail. I'm going to be off the first week after surgery, and then work from home the second. So by the third week I should hopefully be able to tolerate a bit more drinking at a time. My guess right now is that I should be able to get at least 40-50oz.

workplace cannot deny medical necessity items. this is also true for diabetics who need water to prevent ketoacidosis. consider talking to human resources instead of boss.