Most of what I remember that first day post-op is how uncomfortable that damn hospital bed was. It was hurting my lower back to sleep that way, but I couldn't roll over on my side. No matter how many adjustments I made to the head and the foot of the bed, I could not get comfortable. However, the pain from the surgery was not as intense as I had expected, it felt more like someone had beat me up... and I guess in a way they had.
The nurses on my floor were very nice, but most of them were somewhat uneducated about my procedure. Many times I had to explain to one nurse or another what I could or couldn't eat. Even the dietician who came to visit said that I could drink 100% juice because it had natural sugars. WRONG! I had a terrible time with juices. Without being too graphic, I felt like I was still on the bowel prep for about 5 days after surgery. In fact, I lost 15 lbs. that first week alone.
The second day, they had me up first thing in the morning to do a leak test of my new pouch -- essentially a quickie upper G.I. I had to drink a full
8-oz. cup of barium while they took xrays of my new pouch. I thought, "my new pouch can only hold about 2 oz. right now, how do you expect me to drink this entire cup?" But it went down fine, and the test was negative for leakage. Soon after I was returned to my room, a nurse came to take me for a walk. It was only down to the end of the hall and back, but it was exhausting. Every couple of hours I'd get up and try to walk a little further. By the time my friend, Michael, came to see me that afternoon, I was walking a lap through every ward on my floor. It was amazing; the more I walked, the better I felt.
A nurse discovered, on that second day, that my morphine pump was leaking on the floor. Although I wasn't getting the full effect of my pain management, the pain I had was bearable. However, they did change the pain meds to something else -- I don't remember the name -- and for the rest of my stay I felt no pain at all.
On the third day, the hospital discharged me and I was ready to go home.
I was scheduled to be released at 4:00 p.m. Chris and Michael were to pick me up -- but Michael wasn't ready when Chris picked him up, my valuables were kept at the facility across the river, the pharmacy was unable to fill my prescription until I got my wallet from across the river, so we were stuck there until 7:00 p.m.
Once home, it was difficult to sleep -- being on my back is not my preferred way to sleep. But by Friday (remember surgery was on a Monday), I had already stopped taking the pain medication. It was another week, though, before I felt comfortable enough to lay on my side. What a relief that was! My first small step to feeling "normal" again.
Starting Over -- A Journey of Relearning
Learning how to use my new tool is quite an experience. Having this procedure is like being reborn, you must treat your new pouch like a newborn baby. The first three weeks post-op, it is suggested that you be on a clear liquid diet (clear liquid essentially means any non-dairy liquids). Then you move on to soft/pureed foods, and eventually easy to digest solid foods.
The mainstays of my diet during the first few days back home were sugar-free Jello and broths. Do you know how sickening those things can get after just a few days? After the first week and a half, I couldn't stand it any longer, I had to move myself onto soft/pureed foods. My first soft-food "meal" was a quarter cup of KFC's mashed potatoes and gravy. Oh... my... God... was that ever tasty. The one pint I picked up at the drive through lasted me four "meals." Also, I picked up some cans of vegetable soup and chili, and pureed them in the blender. It was still a little like having broth for a meal, but it tasted SO much better.
By about 2-1/2 weeks out I was eating some solid food -- tuna, soft cheese or peanut butter on a cracker, protein bars, non-blended chili and soups. I moved myself through the diet stages faster than recommended by my surgeon's office. But, at my one-month follow-up, Dr. Ikramuddin didn't seem to be upset. He said he thought I was doing really well to be eating like I was.
The big part of this journey is learning what I can't eat. For instance, I know now that I don't handle cream very well. On two occassions I have become sick after eating spinach-artichoke dip because of the cream in the recipe. Also, creamed soups make me feel a little nauseated. And, as I mentioned before, high-sugar content, such as in juices, gives me diarrhea. How I eat, too, is very different. If I eat too much or too fast, it comes right back up. Slowly and chew, chew, chew -- my tiny little meals [are supposed to] take me about 20 minutes to eat.
Another "new rule" of my diet is: don't drink with meals. In order to feel satiated by my meals, it is important that food stay in my pouch for 1/2 to one hour after eating. Drinking with meals, or right after, causes food to be easily washed through, decreasing satiety and increasing food intake.