Recovery Stories :)

lindata · 11-03-2007, 07:34 PM

So, taking Lizzie's idea another step, I was thinking it would be good to post our recovery stories here, maybe the first few weeks following surgery.
Linda

Longhorn · 11-03-2007, 11:57 PM

Well . . .

First Day: I got home from the hospital at around 1:45. I was sore but upbeat. The worst pain was in my left shoulder. I spent the day in my La-Z-Boy with a pillow under my knees and another on my stomach. I frequently dozed, hung out on this board, and sipped Propel and protein beverages. I took Tylenol with codeine every 4 to 6 hours. I had a slight fever of about 99.2. I slept in my bed but woke up a lot. It was painful to turn over but I could get comfortable enough to sleep on my side with my body pillow under my belly and between my knees.

Second Day: The pain in my shoulder had lessened but I was more sore around my incisions and my abdomen became bloated. I kept up the Tylenol and walked around. Late in the afternoon, my husband gave me a back rub and that seemed to help get the gas moving. I couldn't stomach any more whey protein so I switched to low-carb SlimFast. By evening, the bloating was mostly gone. My fever went up to 99.9. I slept better the second night.

Third Day: I was pretty sore when I woke up this morning and a little discouraged. However, as the day went on, I started feeling remarkably better. The pain in my shoulder is only an occasional twinge. My belly feels better and my fever is gone. I took regular Tylenol this afternoon. I was awake more and able to move around better, though I still took it easy. I had more SlimFast, Jello with added powdered egg whites, Propel, a couple of SF popcycles, and water. I'm taking the prescription Tylenol before bedtime.

And that's it so far. :)

edeva3 · 11-04-2007, 02:21 AM

I had a surgery on the 1st of Nov and seems like the shoulder pain is the worse. My port and other cuts are not that bad that I can't manage. The first day I was energized and scars hurts a lot but the second day was better with scars but my bood pressure and hart rate went so down that I was just sleeping and cold all day! I had to stay in hospital another night.Today - the 3rd day is getting better until shoulder pain got back and start killing me. I walk a lot and take the gas relief but even thought its still really bad. I have also a rush on one of my scars and its so itching!!!! Otherwise I am pretty good and wondering if I will be able go to work on Monday!

Sades · 11-04-2007, 02:36 AM

I was banded on 1 November as well... my surgery was at 2pm and I was put in ICU at about 4pm, feeling so much pain that my first thought was what have I done to myself !!

The sisters in ICU kept trying to reassure me that this would pass but as I'd never had surgery before, I had no idea. My sister came to see me at that time so she sat by my bed until about 6.30pm. By then I was starting to feel a little better because they had given me pain killers. By about 9pm the drugs were doing their job. My bad was in pain so I couldn't stay in bed, so I was moved to a nice comfy chair and I slept in it all night (if you can call it sleep when the nurses are at you every hour :D). The next morning I was feeling reasonably good, still having back pain. My surgeon came to see me and he said that everything went really well, including the X-Ray and of course that made me feel good. Things turned in the afternoon though and I was feeling bad again... got more pain killers and was moved to a room on one of the wards (again my sister was with me... good to have family around). She left and came back later with another sister and my niece so we sat around chatting, even though I was still feeling off. After they left, I couldn't settle at all... in and out of bed all night. My surgeon couldn't get back to the hospital in time so he called me and said I could go home... boy was I happy. 2 nights in hospital was more than enough. Got home Saturday morning and the first thing I did was lay on my bed... lovely! :notagree Didn't get to snooze much before I had a visitor and then another visitor and then more visitors... like the support but was exhausted by the end of the day... but still no sleep. I think I slept about 4 hours or so. I have had pain and swelling on the stomach but very little of anything else. Haven't needed pain killers or nausea meds since Saturday so I'm happy. Can't wait for the pain to subside and get back to a normal feeling. I know this is like an epic but hey once I get started, you can't shut me up !!! :biggrin1: :biggrin1:

lindata · 11-04-2007, 11:12 AM

Edeva, what kind of job do you have? I think I'd be able to do a sit down job, but I don't know ... I'm a SAHM but my parents are here to take care of my son so I can recuperate. I'm very lucky.

I'm still having shoulder pain. I'm glad to know other people are as well - well, not GLAD but you know what I mean - glad to know that it's gas and nothing to be worried about. Walking seems to help me a lot. I seem to get gas everytime I take a sip of anything.

It still hurts to get up and down but once I'm sitting or standing and walking it's not bad. It takes a while to straighten up while walking and for it to not hurt.

Hope everyone's recovery is going well.

Linda

lindata · 11-04-2007, 11:17 AM

Sades, I had never had surgery before either and I was quite terrified of the "unknown." I was in hospital for my recovery too and I totally get ya about the nurses popping in ALL THE TIME. I couldn't believe it. I have a 3 year old son and thought hehehe I get to stay in the hospital overnight and get a good rest for once in three years - boy, was I wrong. I was sharing a room with a really old lady who had to be moved every so often, then our call buttons weren't working and they had to do maintenance on it between 1:00 and 2:00 in the morning, all the while turning on and off the lights. That's why I wished I had an eyemask. Then woke us up bright and early at 6:00 a.m. I kept walking to the nurse's station the next day asking when can I go home? I'm very glad to be home now!

Linda

lindata · 11-04-2007, 11:24 AM

oh yeah, it also hurts to cough. I can't quite get a bit enough cough going to be effective - and it also hurts to laugh hard.
Linda

Longhorn · 11-04-2007, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindata

Sades, I had never had surgery before either and I was quite terrified of the "unknown." I was in hospital for my recovery too and I totally get ya about the nurses popping in ALL THE TIME. I couldn't believe it. I have a 3 year old son and thought hehehe I get to stay in the hospital overnight and get a good rest for once in three years - boy, was I wrong. I was sharing a room with a really old lady who had to be moved every so often, then our call buttons weren't working and they had to do maintenance on it between 1:00 and 2:00 in the morning, all the while turning on and off the lights. That's why I wished I had an eyemask. Then woke us up bright and early at 6:00 a.m. I kept walking to the nurse's station the next day asking when can I go home? I'm very glad to be home now!

Linda

This is one reason I was glad not to stay in the hospital. I remember how little rest I got after my first child was born! I've been in the hospital a few times and I've never rested well, and just when I would get to sleep, someone would come in again. Once my room was near the nurses station and all I could hear was the nurses laughing and talking, day and night! I asked them to quiet down but it didn't help much.

I live out in the country and I didn't have one visitor. I could watch what I wanted on television, decide if I wanted to take a phone call, hang out with my laptop, and sleep when I wanted. It's been really nice!

RxTracy · 11-04-2007, 02:13 PM

I only could get 4 days off work so I am hoping that is enough. That is how long I took off for Gall Bladder surgery and I did ok (desk job) so we will see. Fingers crossed.

Sades · 11-04-2007, 02:24 PM

Ah yes hospitals... was well looked after but have felt 100% more relaxed since being home. Had a pretty good sleep last night, first one since the surgery.

lindata · 11-05-2007, 01:29 PM

Day three and my shoulder pain is still very intense. I even had to take pain meds for it. Anybody else still getting this?

Longhorn - I'll definitely be staying home if I ever get the chance to go through somethingl like this again!

What's everyone's post-op diet like? I'm only supposed to have 3 meals, 2-3 ounces per meal of liquids, and water in between, but I'm so hungry that I'll be having a few snacks as well.

Linda

sconie · 11-05-2007, 02:30 PM

I was banded on Nov. 2nd so I'm 3 days post-op. I haven't had any of the shoulder pain (which I'm relieved about since I had it when I had my gallbladder removed and it HURT!), but I do have some pretty extreme bloating in my upper abdomen. It just feels like a huge gas bubble just under my xiphoid and is painful sometimes but mostly just uncomfortable and annoying. I had to sleep last night on the couch sitting up because otherwise it was too uncomfortable. So far the incisions are painless, although I do feel some "tightness" where my port is which feels wierd if I move fast. I go back to work on Wednesday for a 12 hour shift (I'm an ultrasound tech) so I'm hoping that I make it through....

I couldn't stomach the whey protein mix (YUCK), so I'm basically drinking water, Crystal Light, and Slim Fast. I'm also eating SF Jello and had a low-fat yogurt last night (no chunks), but could only get through 1/2 of it without feeling nauseous. Oh, and I had a little pudding this morning and that tasted good to me. That having been said, I'm hungry and my stomach is growling a lot. I didn't expect to be hungry so soon, but since I know there is nothing I can do about it, I'm trying to ignore it. I'm going to go for the chicken broth tonight and maybe another Slim Fast to take away the hunger pains.....If anyone has any other ideas about what to eat, I'm pretty open. Big hugs!!

Longhorn · 11-05-2007, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sconie

I was banded on Nov. 2nd so I'm 3 days post-op. I haven't had any of the shoulder pain (which I'm relieved about since I had it when I had my gallbladder removed and it HURT!), but I do have some pretty extreme bloating in my upper abdomen. It just feels like a huge gas bubble just under my xiphoid and is painful sometimes but mostly just uncomfortable and annoying. I had to sleep last night on the couch sitting up because otherwise it was too uncomfortable. So far the incisions are painless, although I do feel some "tightness" where my port is which feels wierd if I move fast. I go back to work on Wednesday for a 12 hour shift (I'm an ultrasound tech) so I'm hoping that I make it through....

I couldn't stomach the whey protein mix (YUCK), so I'm basically drinking water, Crystal Light, and Slim Fast. I'm also eating SF Jello and had a low-fat yogurt last night (no chunks), but could only get through 1/2 of it without feeling nauseous. Oh, and I had a little pudding this morning and that tasted good to me. That having been said, I'm hungry and my stomach is growling a lot. I didn't expect to be hungry so soon, but since I know there is nothing I can do about it, I'm trying to ignore it. I'm going to go for the chicken broth tonight and maybe another Slim Fast to take away the hunger pains.....If anyone has any other ideas about what to eat, I'm pretty open. Big hugs!!

I had the bloating, too! I thought maybe it was a reaction to the whey protein powder so I switched to SlimFast. The bloating went down but it could have just been a coincidence. I'm going to wait until my stomach isn't so swollen before I try the Unjury again. This has happened to me before a few years ago and I took chewable Lactaid to try to prevent it. Time will tell.

I have enjoyed the sugar-free popcycles. Other than that, I'm eating everything you are except I haven't had any pudding. Oh, I also like the Diet Snapple Peach Tea.

My third day was the turning point for feeling better so you're almost there! :)

Sades · 11-05-2007, 03:07 PM

Day 5 for me and my swelling has come down, only a little around the port area. I'm feeling better each day. I'm sick of fluids already but couldn't imagine eating real food yet. I have 2 cups of chocolate protein drink, 2 cups of clear soup, glass of apple juice and water throughout the day... maybe I need to have something more interesting now... any suggestions?

Longhorn · 11-05-2007, 03:36 PM

Are you allowed to have sugar-free popcycles? They melt in your mouth but still seem more substantial than liquid.