Tiara's Thread

[hilary1617]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Sorry for your suffering - I'm glad you are getting it addressed!

 

[aaa]

Best of luck.

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

Thank you for posting your experiences @navygrrl and @southernlady , that's what I needed to know!! The surgeon said I could do about 3 days of liquids, then 3 of purees, etc... But if I had any issues to just stay longer in the previous phase.

The surgery went really well! He repaired the hernia, then repaired several other places that looked like they could become a hernia. Hopefully we got all the alternate routes and things will settle down now! He showed me on the imaging in pre-op the problem area and how the PA in the ER interpreted a common occurrence in bariatric patients (a turn where the esophagus meets the stomach due to the staple line) as narrowing of the esophagus, but that's not what it is. He double checked while he was in there though.

I'm on full liquids for several days. So far those are going down well and I was even able to take a few pills in the hospital and they didn't get caught! Here's hoping that's a really good sign we got the right fix done. I stayed overnight to control my pain but the pre-op combo they gave me for nausea worked SUPER good, I've never not been nauseous post op before! And the nurses were really great and supportive. All in all I got awesome care and feel very positive about the whole thing. But I will be taking the diet advancement and activity level VERY slowly. Right now I'm just focused on hydration, walks, and protein when I can get it in. I'm also tolerating things like jello fine so that's a good sign. Thanks for your support everyone!!

 

[JackieOnLine]

I'm glad it went so well and that you are getting excellent care.

He showed me on the imaging in pre-op the problem area and how the PA in the ER interpreted a common occurrence in bariatric patients (a turn where the esophagus meets the stomach due to the staple line) as narrowing of the esophagus, but that's not what it is.

yay!

 

[southernlady]

I stayed overnight to control my pain but the pre-op combo they gave me for nausea worked SUPER good, I've never not been nauseous post op before! And the nurses were really great and supportive.

The preop combo they gave me worked very well, although I refused one of the drugs. They were gonna give me gabapentin and I do not touch that stuff due to a very bad experience years ago.

 

[Larra]

Sounds like a very positive experience! Hopefully this will resolve the problem.

 

[hilary1617]

Glad it went well! Please take good care of you - hoping it is a smooth ride from here on out!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Just a side note: you have already learned that getting Vit K results takes a while. These days, I just nag for PT and INR tests. (I’ve had blood draws for those while being admitted to a hospital for surgery and almost immediately got sent home because my blood wasn’t clotting fast enough.)

My hematologist…because he mostly works with chemo patients and not folks with surgically altered GI issues…is always amazed that he didn’t “fix it for good” last time. At least THIS TIME he ordered me some super strong Vit K, now I just have to find a pharmacy that can/will fill it.

From my last labs, we can see my blood takes too long to clot:

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

The preop combo they gave me worked very well, although I refused one of the drugs. They were gonna give me gabapentin and I do not touch that stuff due to a very bad experience years ago.

Yeah, I can't do any gabapentin either, it spikes my blood pressure for some reason...

Just a side note: you have already learned that getting Vit K results takes a while. These days, I just nag for PT and INR tests. (I’ve had blood draws for those while being admitted to a hospital for surgery and almost immediately got sent home because my blood wasn’t clotting fast enough.)

Thank you!! I'll keep this in mind the next time I start bruising. My Hematologist treats primarily cancer patients too (she's also one of my oncologists) and I feel like sometimes they forget some of us have lifelong conditions that don't respond to the treatments they think up!

 

[ShrinkingMyTiara]

You guys were right on the money with the diet progression. I'm a week out today and still am mostly on liquids with some soft soupy textures. Anything else gets caught in my throat. I hate it!! I can tell it is a different feeling now. more of a slow moving down instead of catching on a shelf, but it still feels awful and isn't a feeling I care to experience. I'm assuming there is a lot of swelling in the area. I loathe purees so I've just been doing really soft, mashed up textures, soups, and lots of fluids. It is so weird, I can't eat scrambled eggs, but I can eat tofu. I can't eat much of any meat texture, it all collects in my throat, even well chewed. I'm a little worried my protein is too low but there isn't really anything I can do about it except continue pushing protein shakes/waters. Everything I drink right now has protein loaded in it, even my coffee. LOL

I came down sick yesterday. Sore throat, coughing, congestion, lots of drainage. Low grade fever. My incisions look good and I don't have any abdominal pain so I don't think that has anything to do with the fever. Covid test is negative today but I'll take it again in two days. I think I just picked up some viral thing in the hospital. I'm not having any body aches or headache so I don't think it is the flu, usually when I get that I can't move at all for days. So I'm just hydrating and sleeping a lot.

 

[JackieOnLine]

I'm just hydrating and sleeping a lot.

take care, I hope you feel better soon!

 

[hilary1617]

Hope you feel better and the swelling goes down soon!

 

[southernlady]

Just keep hydrating and if it continues see your doctor.