What helped the most for post surgery adjustment?

[Dave0168]

I feel I'm pretty well prepared for my surgery in 10 days except for the mechanics of eating and drinking post-surgery with my new plumbing.

I know about the small sips and bites but beyond the standard baby utensils and small plates was there anything else that helped you transition to the new norm of smaller bites and sips beyond the obvious painful reminder when I might (and probably will) forget?

 

[cris]

Eat alone. I know it sounds funny, but having people around makes you want to talk, swallow that bite too soon, and eat too fast. Being able to eat and only think about the food helps. If you need to have lunch meetings, just do coffee instead. Slow drinking with others is easier than eating. Breathe out before a sip. When you breathe in you prepare yourself mentally for chugging the whole bottle. If you breathe out your body wants to breathe again, so the sip will be shorter. Eat with a timer. Every 30 seconds take a bite. It is a lot longer than you think it is. All bites should be the size of your thumb nail. Put your fork down out of your hand in between bites. Eat soft foods. Anything that takes more than 10 seconds to chew and become liquid in your mouth will probably not sit well. I still can't eat meat. Cheese, eggs, bean burgers and yogurt are the only real protien I eat. No matter how much preparing you do, you will have to learn your body all over again. Things you once loved, will make your stomach turn over. But I must say, everything that has happened good and bad is so worth it. Get ready for the best thing...and I mean the BEST thing that is about to happened in your life.

 

[Dave0168]

Eat alone. I know it sounds funny, but having people around makes you want to talk, swallow that bite too soon, and eat too fast. Being able to eat and only think about the food helps.

That's good advice, I had not thought about that but now I see that this is true!

 

[southernlady]

And instead of baby stuff, just use smaller plates. Most of us have salad plates at home. Use those. Smaller utensils is an unnecessary option. I just used my regular silverware.

 

[Larra]

I agree with @southernlady. No need for special utensils, just use regular silverware and don't load it up. Use a small spoon instead of a soup spoon, use salad plates, etc.
And if you can't finish what's on the plate or in the bowl, that's ok. Don't push yourself to eat beyond what feels comfortable. It's always a mistake.

 

[Sandy]

The good news is that you are going into this already realizing that you will have to take small bites and small sips. Your body is going to let you know, in no uncertain terms, that a sip was too big, or that "one more bite" was one too many. Just pay attention to what you are doing and you'll know. Also, don't be alarmed if you find that 2 or 3 bites of food is all you can manage in the beginning. That's not unusual at all.

I also agree with @southernlady and @Larra that children's dishes and utensils are not necessary. A salad plate works just great for a long time.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Honestly there really isn't one thing you can do to prepare for the change. It is just different but just know that you won't be able to eat much or probably feel like drinking much for a while...but you know that you have to focus primarily on staying hydrated early on. You have enough stores that the lack of much protein intake will be okay.

The 30/60/90 goal is a great goal and remember it is not a must it is a goal. 30 g protein by end of 30 days, try for 60 at the end of 60 days and 90 at the end of 90. Again, it is only a target and you are not a failure if you don't hit those targets. Just small bites and try different things.

The absolute must is liquids. 64 oz a day minimum. I really struggled getting mine in early on had several trips to the ER for fluids (and at 3 weeks I had a kidney stone that bough me 3 days inpatient as they wanted to rule out ulcer and or leak) because water and virtually everything including protein drinks tasted horrible (I still can't do protein drinks they make me gag but if you can they are great for double dipping..protein and liquid).

One thing that really helped me around 2-3 months was nibbling on sunflower seeds and various nuts during the day and sugar free grape krush packets that I add to my water (I still drink that today - it was a God Send for me). It did two things. Really helped me get my protein in and it made me thirsty. I can only drink when thirsty and it was that way before the DS. I

You are going in with the right attitude so you will do well. Best wishes for a complication fee surgery and quick recovery.

 

[southernlady]

I didn't have to eat alone...dh was only 5 weeks ahead of me.

But eating alone...only if you can not handle being around food. Meals should be a time to be social or with family, not cut yourself off.

 

[Elizabeth N.]

I didn't have trouble with small bites/sips, but don't remember why. What other adjustments are you thinking about?

 

[Dave0168]

These are great, exactly the stuff I'm looking for to give me confidence that I'll make it through this

I didn't have trouble with small bites/sips, but don't remember why. What other adjustments are you thinking about?

The bites and sips are the thing that concerns me most. Although I know I need to do this, it seems so foreign no matter how much I practice it pre op.

 

[Barbara]

@DSRIGGS what is grape krush? Is it a protein? Where do you buy it?

 

[DSRIGGS]

@DSRIGGS what is grape krush? Is it a protein? Where do you buy it?

I live in Central, IL and I get it at Dollar General 6 packets for a dollar. It is water flavoring with zero calories and no protein. It is not a protein supplement but flavoring to make water palatable. I love it. They have orange and strawberry flavors as well, I believe.

 

[DSRIGGS]

These are great, exactly the stuff I'm looking for to give me confidence that I'll make it through this


The bites and sips are the thing that concerns me most. Although I know I need to do this, it seems so foreign no matter how much I practice it pre op.

These are great, exactly the stuff I'm looking for to give me confidence that I'll make it through this


The bites and sips are the thing that concerns me most. Although I know I need to do this, it seems so foreign no matter how much I practice it pre op.

No worries on the bites and sips. You will not be able to do more than that initially. Your body just isn't going to allow it and believe me you won't feel like gulping anything. I am not going to lie, you aren't going to feel like doing much of anything the first few weeks after surgery other than resting, so prepare yourself mentally for that and the fact that you are going to feel like,"holy hell, how can I survive on this and what did I do to myself". Believe me it will pass and you will be fine, so the most important thing is figuring a way to stay well hydrated. That and healing is job number 1.

There is no practice that will prepare you. That being said, you will take the small bites and think can I ever eat normally again. You will. I am the exception to the rule but I ate a 10 oz steak, baked potato and corn for dinner last night.....but early on I could barely eat an oz of cream of wheat (with half and half).....and no, early on those few carbs are not going to hurt you if that is all you can get down.

 

[brooklyngirl]

Everyone is a little different, but I found it very helpful, and still do, to put the fork or spook down between bites. And eating with people and/or eating while doing other things makes me pace myself more than eating alone. You'll have to experiment with things like that.

Drinking is something that I never imagined would be hard, since I was always a person who would drink tons of water everyday, but it was the hardest thing for me post-op, and while I can drink lots of fluid without a problem now, plain water is still a struggle. Since that's the most important thing after surgery, I would suggest having some flavoring options in the house, as well as some insulated bottles (who's volume you know) so you can keep drinks cold as you sip and so you know SPECIFICALLY how many of those you need to drink per day to reach 64 ounces so you don't lose track or fall behind. I'm 20 months out and I still do the fluid math with my 16, 20 and 32 ounce thermoses everyday!

 

[southernlady]

Echoing the fluid options. Some like it very cold, others, room temp, and others hot...we all differ. So if one temp isn't sitting well, try another.

And Scott is right about the carbs early on...we eat SO little in that phase that the few carbs we get won't hurt us. BUT what will get us is the "comfort" that carbs give. They don't call things like mac & cheese or mashed potatoes "comfort food" for nothing. As dh's NUT told him (and she understood the need for protein) was stay as close to the animal as possible. IF you do have something like cream of wheat, make it with milk/heavy cream not water. And if you can avoid them, do so. Focus on getting dairy carbs mostly.