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10 Days Post-Surgery

K

Kdragonfly6

Member
I am so grateful to have found this website, I read a ton of threads pre-op to calm my fears. So first of all, thank you everyone! I just wanted to share my experience, 10 days in.

I had surgery 19 October 2020. Waking up in the hospital, not nearly as much pain as I expected and no nausea. Went home the next day, still felt good, albeit a little pain from the gas they pumped into me. Wasn't hungry but tried a popsicle and it went down ok. Next day, tried broth - veggie, chicken, and beef. Hated all of them. Got a bit worried as this was all I could have for the next couple days, along with popsicles. So I "cheated" and made a can of progresso soup and strained out all the solids (wasn't supposed to do that for a week). It tasted weird but went down ok. All food thus far was unsatisfying. And the good drugs had worn off so my incisions were hurting like the dickens anytime I moved, one in particular. I tried very hard not to get dehydrated, because I was told that it was the number one problem people have after surgery, but I found it hard. First three days post-op were awful.

Then I went into the "full liquids" stage, where I could add cream soups, yogurt, and pudding to the diet. I found a good tomato soup that I liked, but quickly got sick of it, now can't stand the smell of it. Yogurt went down ok, pudding even better. But I was SO TIRED of cold foods. I've always preferred warm foods, but with broth off the table and no good cream soups I could find, I was stuck. By day 5 I was completely miserable. Every single night I dreamed of steaks and hamburgers and bagels and woke up angry and frustrated every day. I kept thinking I had made a huge mistake. But what can you do except move forward?

Day 7 I was desperate for warm foods, so I decided to cheat in a big way - I had eggs. I was supposed to wait until day 14 to have eggs, but I convinced myself that they are a similar consistency to yogurt, so I should be fine. Holy hot dogs I was wrong. The pain as they went down my throat was awful, and it lasted for an hour and a half. It's like it got stuck in my esophagus and I had to slowly let it move down, which hurt the entire time. Once it moved down into my stomach, I was fine except i burped for an hour. Does anyone know what causes that pain, or has anyone else experienced it? I'm trying to figure out what it is anatomically that is causing the pain, but I can't figure it out.

I told myself before surgery that there was no way I was going to eat or drink any foods before the doc said I could, but i find it hard to stick to that. I hate to admit it, but I tried eggs again the next day and made them extra runny and they go down much easier now, although they still hurt a little bit. But the pain is worth it to me, I've finally found a warm food that i can somewhat chew that tastes good. And they have great protein. I'm now getting 100g of protein a day, thanks to adding the eggs.

The first 7 days after surgery was the worst week of my life. But I have turned a corner. I have a warm food (even though it's cheating), I'm getting enough protein, I can take the vitamins with no nausea, I could definitely increase my water intake but i'm not dehydrated, and my incisions are more itchy than painful now. I no longer dream of steaks and burgers, and I find that I don't even crave diet coke (i was super concerned about saying goodbye to that). I don't think I've made a mistake. And I'm back to teleworking so the day flies by.

So my big purpose for posting was because I'm also curious - did anyone else "cheat" and eat foods before they were supposed to, and did you have pain with it? I'm hoping I'm not causing damage by eating eggs early, but I'm embarrassed to tell my doctor about it and ask what is causing the pain. Any advice or personal experiences would be appreciated! Thanks again everyone!!
 
Hello
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had such a rough time. I found the first month post op was the worst. I couldn’t tolerate the lack of chewing. I was on a liquid diet for a month before surgery too. I struggled with brain hunger. I didn’t cheat. I was too afraid of developing complications. My suggestion would be to call your bariatric team asap! Don’t stand in your way of getting help by being embarrassed. I’m sure the team has seen it all. Talk to them about what you are eating. They can reassure you or may give you other suggestions for how to cope/ what to eat. You are so early in the game. This is the worst part. It gets better!! Don’t do anything to jeopardize your health and wellness. Believe me when I say if I can do it so can you!!!
 
I'm sorry to hear you have been struggling. I can only echo what Matia and Diane said, please call your doctor. I doubt very much you are the only one to have jumped the gun on the foods they are eating so the doctor is probably use to hearing this from some patients. The important thing is to let them know where you are hurting. They may even have suggestions for you on other things you can eat/drink that would be satisfying and hold you over to the next food stage. Please update us on how you are doing. Feel better!
 
I too cheated somewhat at day 7 or so I took regular cans of Campbells Beef sirloin burger and veggies and a can of bean and ham put each one into my nutri bullet and pureed them - by day 10 or so I left them a little lumpy - man it was good - warm flavorfull and satisfying
not really sure if it was cheating - I did make them so you could have drank them from a straw - it was just what I wanted
I am in week 5 right now - I never have had any pain what so ever from eating and swallowing - you should e mail or call doctor about that
At 14 days doctor said I could have refried beans with melted cheese - that is very good
 
I was warned that eggs are a pretty common food to cause pai. As they are a higher risk to cause gas. I surely wouldn't be eatring any solids so early in the game, mostly because you don't want to risk any leaks or popping of stitches.

I am 7 weeks post and I still get cramping after almost everything I eat and it lasts for about 10 mins. Its not horrible pain but it is an annoyance. Everybodys body takes a different amount of time to adjust. But your barly out of surgery and really should be giving your stomach more time.
 
Hi. I jumped the gun by one day pretty much every rotation. However, I wasn't allowed eggs/puree until week 4 so I waited a long time for anything solid. I did not have any pain though. That seems like something you really need to speak to your surgeon about. You don't want to accidentally end up with permanent damage over some scrambled eggs. I would suggest following the plan your program set out for you, especially since you are having pain. During my full liquid phase, I went to a local restaurant and got lemon rice soup pretty much every day. So maybe you can find a soup locally that you like? Or if you have a favorite soup, you could make a batch for yourself. Homemade is SO much better than canned. Good luck.
 
I usually started with the next phase the day before it "officially" would have started, but I don't think there is a hard rule that means you are in danger if you do something a little bit ahead of time. That being said, there are some specific foods to avoid, especially hard foods, foods with seeds and things like that which could get caught in the staple line before you are healed well enough. That is important. The other thing to consider is if you do eat foods too soon that make you vomit, that could also put a lot of strain on your healing stomach. If you decided to eat pureed or soft foods early, try very small amounts at a time and wait to see how things feel and how your body reacts.

Of course, the best thing is to wait out each phase because in the grand scheme of the length of this lifelong journey....it is a very, VERY short period of time to have a little food inconvenience.
 
Kdragonfly6 said:
I am so grateful to have found this website, I read a ton of threads pre-op to calm my fears. So first of all, thank you everyone! I just wanted to share my experience, 10 days in.

I had surgery 19 October 2020. Waking up in the hospital, not nearly as much pain as I expected and no nausea. Went home the next day, still felt good, albeit a little pain from the gas they pumped into me. Wasn't hungry but tried a popsicle and it went down ok. Next day, tried broth - veggie, chicken, and beef. Hated all of them. Got a bit worried as this was all I could have for the next couple days, along with popsicles. So I "cheated" and made a can of progresso soup and strained out all the solids (wasn't supposed to do that for a week). It tasted weird but went down ok. All food thus far was unsatisfying. And the good drugs had worn off so my incisions were hurting like the dickens anytime I moved, one in particular. I tried very hard not to get dehydrated, because I was told that it was the number one problem people have after surgery, but I found it hard. First three days post-op were awful.

Then I went into the "full liquids" stage, where I could add cream soups, yogurt, and pudding to the diet. I found a good tomato soup that I liked, but quickly got sick of it, now can't stand the smell of it. Yogurt went down ok, pudding even better. But I was SO TIRED of cold foods. I've always preferred warm foods, but with broth off the table and no good cream soups I could find, I was stuck. By day 5 I was completely miserable. Every single night I dreamed of steaks and hamburgers and bagels and woke up angry and frustrated every day. I kept thinking I had made a huge mistake. But what can you do except move forward?

Day 7 I was desperate for warm foods, so I decided to cheat in a big way - I had eggs. I was supposed to wait until day 14 to have eggs, but I convinced myself that they are a similar consistency to yogurt, so I should be fine. Holy hot dogs I was wrong. The pain as they went down my throat was awful, and it lasted for an hour and a half. It's like it got stuck in my esophagus and I had to slowly let it move down, which hurt the entire time. Once it moved down into my stomach, I was fine except i burped for an hour. Does anyone know what causes that pain, or has anyone else experienced it? I'm trying to figure out what it is anatomically that is causing the pain, but I can't figure it out.

I told myself before surgery that there was no way I was going to eat or drink any foods before the doc said I could, but i find it hard to stick to that. I hate to admit it, but I tried eggs again the next day and made them extra runny and they go down much easier now, although they still hurt a little bit. But the pain is worth it to me, I've finally found a warm food that i can somewhat chew that tastes good. And they have great protein. I'm now getting 100g of protein a day, thanks to adding the eggs.

The first 7 days after surgery was the worst week of my life. But I have turned a corner. I have a warm food (even though it's cheating), I'm getting enough protein, I can take the vitamins with no nausea, I could definitely increase my water intake but i'm not dehydrated, and my incisions are more itchy than painful now. I no longer dream of steaks and burgers, and I find that I don't even crave diet coke (i was super concerned about saying goodbye to that). I don't think I've made a mistake. And I'm back to teleworking so the day flies by.

So my big purpose for posting was because I'm also curious - did anyone else "cheat" and eat foods before they were supposed to, and did you have pain with it? I'm hoping I'm not causing damage by eating eggs early, but I'm embarrassed to tell my doctor about it and ask what is causing the pain. Any advice or personal experiences would be appreciated! Thanks again everyone!!
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First of all, I am sorry you are having a hard time. I didn’t like the broth from a box so I made my own vegetable both and bought cubes that dissolve in hot water.
I followed my eating plans and didn’t cheat because this a lifestyle change that I must adhere to and Adjust to. I was also scared to eat anything not on my current plan. I knew my body was healing from major surgery and was scared about causing damage.
I would recommend you call your surgeons office and discuss some of the challenges that you’re experiencing. Did you have a psychological consult? Are you working with a registered dietitian? I have an RD that works closely with me. We have virtually appointments once per month and she looks at what I’m eating and recording in my Bariatastic Ap.
 
Congratulations on your surgery! I’m sorry about your troubles. I am 7 days post op. I have been sticking with all liquids-and it’s getting old. For the first few days I only had the protein shakes and protein water. I started with broths the past couple of days in addition to the protein drinks. I have not liked the boxed broth, or even the homemade bone broth I made before surgery as much as I like broth made from bullion cubes. I am actually scared to eat real food out of rehospitalization. I know my body isn’t ready yet, and I have to remind myself that the digestive tract is healing still, and I could cause serious damage by accelerating my diet too quickly. I hope you’re able to find some things that you can enjoy, and remember the hardest part of all, this is a marathon (healing from surgery and weight loss) not a sprint, so please take care of yourself. You deserve it!
 
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