Hydration As a New Post-op

[southernlady]

Question guys: After surgery do they leave an IV in for hydration and medication purposes? Or do they want to promote PO fluid intake specifically? Maybe they're concerned about folks ambulating with IV poles, etc. Was just curious.

Mine stayed in until the release paperwork was signed. Yes, they wanted me to get as much as I could by mouth but there is more to the IV pole than just hydration. I just drug mine along with me when walking.

 

[Sandy]

They left mine in but it wasn't for hydration purposes. It was left in case they needed to administer meds. They wanted me to get as much as I could by mouth.

 

[Will2014]

Ahhh...thanks Southernlady and Sandy!

 

[brooklyngirl]

I think I had mine in from Mon- Thurs morning and I was released Thurs afternoon. I did, however, have to drink a certain amount of ounces before they would release me.

 

[Joycie4smiles]

My hydration trick for early post-op days:
My husband took 8 8 ounce water bottles and labeled them with 8AM, 10AM, 12PM, 2PM, 4PM, 6PM, 8PM, 10PM. Then he filled them with different things- Crystal Light, G2, water with lemon. I knew I had to finish each one by the time labeled on the bottle, but I wasn't faced with the entire 64 ounces in one container which was overwhelming to me. For some reason, psychologically it really helped me to have the bottles individually and have them all ready at the beginning of each day.

Thanks for the tip. I go in for my ds Monday! I'm gonna use this!

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

I bought a double lined stainless steel mug and stainless steel cup so I can make sure to have liquids available at various temperatures during the day. I'm also using measured out bottles like in this thread, just pull one out and dump it in the cup and sip until it is time for the next one! I think this will be much easier to keep track of than measuring fluids in the moment and marking them down. Thanks for the ideas everyone!