Happy Thursday. I am enjoying a nice Fall day with the sun shining, leaves crunching underneath my feet, and pumpkins on porches. I still mourn the loss of summer although I do love Fall. I am taking a train ride this weekend and am looking forward to the Fall colors as we ride country side.
I shared in my last post that I would talk more about recovery from Bariatric Surgery. I remember at my most desperate point in early 2017 when I started thinking about bariatric surgery and I thought about how it would be easy. It would force me to eat right and small amounts and then I would be forced to lose the weight.
I quickly realized though as I started the process, this is no easy journey. Bariatric surgery is meant to be a tool, not an easy fix all. In previous posts I have mentioned some of the requirements before surgery and soon I can share more about this. I will also share more about the surgery itself and my decision to have a gastric bypass vs. the gastric sleeve procedure which is newer with less complications.
Today though we will talk about recovery. I had my surgery on May 30, 2019 at 8:30am. I really struggled to wake up from anesthesia. I now remember fondly a nurse yelling at me in recovery to breathe as she grabbed my shoulders to wake me up. I vaguely remember going to my room although later learned it was in a whole other hospital building! My husband and son were waiting for me. I also remember thinking how grateful I was to be alive. I later though saw the picture my husband texted family members of my attempt to wake up! Not flattering at all…..
The pain was not terrible and the nurses and CNA’s were amazing at making sure I was comfortable. I had quite a bit of nausea and that is completely normal. The medications are very helpful as well as getting up and walking which I did on my first day. I was done with surgery and ready to get on with my new life.
My first sip of water and sugar free lemonade was the best thing ever. The goal after surgery is to just get enough water in not to get dehydrated. They have you drink about 2 tbsp. at a time for the first few days and you write down everything you drink. The second day I started my protein drinks. The water great, protein drinks not so great. They made me so nauseated at first. My dietician and surgeon though told me to at least get water in and everything else would come later.
The goal to recovery is to be patient. My pain went away quickly and I was up moving around in just a day or two. The nausea is a different story. At least it was for me. The good news is I did not feel hunger or even a desire to eat for a few days. The first few weeks is really a liquid diet that is very limited. Everything tastes different after surgery and the chicken broth that tasted good one day was terrible the next day. The struggle is real to get all of your fluid in and at least half of your protein drinks.
After a few days, I started surviving on strained soups and Top Ramen broth. I also could have yogurt without fruit. I was still not feeling hunger at all, however head hunger. My head was telling me to eat and I would crave all kinds of foods at different times. I remember the first few days of the broth, all I could think about was Rice Krispies. I would get tired of a particular broth too after a few days and switch to something else.
At one point maybe about day eight, I started realizing I was going to starve to death. Not really, however that is how I felt. That head feeling that I was going to go mad from not eating anything but strained broth and yogurt. Sugar free pudding made me nauseated, so I was really limited. I had my first real melt down in tears, yelling and shouting that I was going to starve to death while my family watched. Yes, it was quite dramatic! The struggle was real though to me. Again, no physical hunger at all, just the head hunger and feeling like I should eat.
My husband and son came home after shopping with every kind of yogurt and soup you could imagine. They tried so hard to take good care of me. I felt so bad because I ate the yogurt for a day, then it made me sick and I avoided it. That is what recovery is like. One day is better than the next, sometimes moment to moment or encounter to encounter. I was not required to track calories at this time although I did using my app. My goal was about 800 calories per day during those first weeks of recovery. On average though I was only able to do about 200-300 for several days.
As my stomach started to heal and the liquid phase was coming to a close, I went back to see my surgeon and learned about the soft food phase which starts at around week 3-4 post op. I was ready to try something more solid after those first two weeks. It really was a day by day process though because you never know what is going to go well and what will be absolutely terrible. Next post I will share more about the soft food phase and the regular food phase.
I am now almost five months post op and my food choices are so much broader. It gets easier and easier every day. I will never regret this surgery because I needed it greatly and it has already saved my life. That is the way I look at it. The prep work to get to surgery though did prepare me for the post op days. I really want people to know though it is not easy, but it is possible especially with good supports in place. I used books, games, talking with family, and funny TV shows to self soothe those first few weeks.
Until next time, I wish you all wellness and happiness. For those that have signed up through e-mail, my first newsletter should be coming out on Monday. The newsletter will have some tips and tricks I’ve learned for Holidays and gatherings as well as some recipes for Fall. Take care.
Mandy