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Surgery is 6-23-2015!! Can anyone make sugg. on what you thought was really helpful?

dmk_129

dmk_129

Member
My surgery is right around the corner. I am scared/happy/hopeful/really nervous all at the same time! If anyone has any suggestions on items I should have around the house that were handy to have right away==Please chime in and let me know. I am horrible at preparing for things! I will keep everyone posted on how it is all going. Nisey and I have surgery within a day of eachother=hers is 6-24-2015. She has been just the greatest! Cheyenne has been so helpful also. Thanks to everyone who has given me support. I am reading a lot of posts on this forum to learn as much as I can prior to my surgery.

I dont know many people here so please stop and say hello and give any pointers you can please!! They will all be greatly appreciated!

Dee
 
Hi dee, I have a few things in my house already. I have ice cube trays to freeze portions of chicken broth or whatever you want to eat after surgery. I.e. Beef broth, etc. I have cans and cans of chicken broth, get some little medicine cups to sip your water in. Measuring cups and spoons. Can opener. Protein shakes for later. Sugar free jello. Oh, Chapstick for hospital, slippers, nightgown, robe, neck pillow, tummy pillow. That's all I can think of for now, lol. I hope this helps you a little bit. Let me know some things I could get too, okay? Talk soon :)
 
Dee, One of the things that I did was take soft stretch pants with me to the hospital to wear under my hospital gown. After the operation the nurses work to get you walking the halls and the last thing I wanted was for my back end to be hanging out. The laparoscopic incisions in no way touched my stretch waistband so it was very comfortable.

Cheyenne
 
Thanks Nisey and Cheyenne for the helpful tips!! I need to make some nice soft scrub pants with a drawstring waist to wear to the hospital. Bought some soft flannel=I thought it would feel good and be kind of pretty too. The hospital gowns are never too great! yup=dont want to have any bun shows! This weekend I have to clean the house too--wont get the attention it needs for a while after surgery! Nisey you had some great ideas! You are a good prepper I can tell! I bought some baby food containers where each hole is 2 oz. Found them on Amazon and thought it may be helpful in portioning foods and freezing. They are made of silicone so I think you can bake and freeze in them! Pretty cool item I thought! I also bought a baby food grinder that is electric on Amazon called KIDCo. I thought it would be helpful for the puree stuff. I need to get some medicine cups=great idea. Boy am I having trouble with constipation=even just on this preop diet. Not fun. I took Correctol and Miralax last night. Havent had a normal poo in a week. owwww!

Thanks for the great ideas! I sure appreciate all the help I can get!!

Dee
 
I went to the party store and bought 2 oz cups with covers (the ones I use to use for Jell-O shots ). Also my digit food scale is the best thing ever I also purchased a package of plastic mini spoons (like for fancy party tasting spoons) and they made taking very small bites a lot easier. Have some Greek yogurt, small cans of v8 juice, and low fat cottage cheese ready at home. Where it is warm weather you may want to get propel water And freeze it for little flavored cold treats

Don't forget to have your chewable vitamins ready at home too. (Love flinstones)
 
MLE=Those are GREAT suggestions!! Thanks for the tip on Flintstones vitamins==Got them on my list to get tomorrow. I am getting some Propel=that freezing it sounds good. Maybe something cold will feel good. I will freeze some like you suggested. Do you freeze it it the bottle until slushy or do you freeze it in little cups or maybe make popsicles? How did you do it? Got a digital scale =Check. Gotta get a little spoon of some sort==I was a speed eater... Not gonna happen after surgery!! Got Greek Yogurt=Check. I have the Chobani 100 kind. It has 12 gm protein and 15 gm carbs and 0 fat==is that too many carbs? Man I DO love that stuff. Cant have it until full liquid stage though. Any suggestions on the Calcium supplement? Is a liquid best for at first?

Dee
 
Hi again. I would freeze little Popsicles of propel in ice cube trays. Small spoon was a huge help (I often pull them out still) to remind myself to eat small slow bites.
You will be fine. I did wake up next day and had the "oh shit what have I done" moment but then calmly told myself "no don't 2nd guess the decision you spent a lot of time prepairing and researching before hand so just move on". And I haven't had the "oh shit what did I do" thought again But know it is normal to have that moment at some point
Also remember this is your time to be selfish. Put yourself, your health/recovery first on the priority list.
 
MLE= Thanks so much for your suggestion on making little ice cubes. I will try that!! Headed out to get the final supplies today. This is it!! I am going to get some little spoons. I think that is a great idea. I am VERY likely to wake up and think-Oh shit what have I done!! He He! Great way to sum that up. Made me laugh! I can just see that! My biggest fear is that people I worked with will see me naked!! Probably stupid!! Oh well. You are right ==This is the time for me. I will take some time for myself and RELAX!!

Thanks for your thoughts.

Dee
 
dmk_129 said:
MLE=Those are GREAT suggestions!! Thanks for the tip on Flintstones vitamins==Got them on my list to get tomorrow. I am getting some Propel=that freezing it sounds good. Maybe something cold will feel good. I will freeze some like you suggested. Do you freeze it it the bottle until slushy or do you freeze it in little cups or maybe make popsicles? How did you do it? Got a digital scale =Check. Gotta get a little spoon of some sort==I was a speed eater... Not gonna happen after surgery!! Got Greek Yogurt=Check. I have the Chobani 100 kind. It has 12 gm protein and 15 gm carbs and 0 fat==is that too many carbs? Man I DO love that stuff. Cant have it until full liquid stage though. Any suggestions on the Calcium supplement? Is a liquid best for at first?

Dee
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Ok Dee and Nisey, how we're your surgeries? Hope everything went Super!

Dee in answer to your question about calcium. I love the Viactiv caramel chewables. It's in a purple box with a pink plastic lid. They sell it most places but I buy it from WalMart. They have light caramel and dark chocolate. The light ones are my favorite. You chew it but it melts in your mouth to a liquid. Yummy! My nutritionists recommended it to me. You take 2 a day.

Looking foward to hearing from you both!

Huggs,

Cheyenne :cool:
 
Hello everyone. I felt pretty good yesterday and was released form the hospital but might have to go back in today. Continuous nausea since about 5 am. Throwing up about every half hour. Cant even keep water down.

Dee
 
Just sip fluids. DON"T use a straw! small sips and sitting up straight will make you notice fluids going down. I have my surgery on June 15th. I'm eating soft foods and am starting to eat small bites of meats. Fish is the easiest and tuna. Cottage cheese and eggs are also easy. Have you put any kind of flavoring into your water? Again small sips and a few seconds in between will make you more aware of what your feeling when swallowing. Let me know if I can help!!!! Stay focused and try not to rush, it will all be worth it in the end!
 
dmk_129 said:
Hello everyone. I felt pretty good yesterday and was released form the hospital but might have to go back in today. Continuous nausea since about 5 am. Throwing up about every half hour. Cant even keep water down.

Dee
Click to expand...


Hope you are doing better Dee. If not I think you should get to the emergency.

Keep us posted!


Cheyenne
 
Hello everyone==Have hit a few speed bumps in the road along my recovery but feel a little better today. Had my surgery 6-23-2015 as planned. Went home 6-24-2015. Got really sick with bad nausea and vomiting. Back in the hospital 6-25 to get out again 6-29-2015. I had a left lower lobe pneumonia starting that required some antibiotics. Seems to be resolving well. No more fevers since then. Am doing my I.S. like the respiratory therapist said=was all along!! Some of us have all the luck. Having a little trouble getting the water volume up. All things considered I think I am doing OK. I have a huge bruise on my upper arm from them taking my BP with that very tight cuff. It hurts. If it doesnt feel better soon I should maybe get checked to make sure I dont have a clot there or something. It makes it hard to lay in bed at night because the left upper arm is so sore and swollen. Tomorrow is my dietician appt on 7-2-2015. She is such a nice lady.

Well Nisey ==I hope you are doing great!! Sounds like your surgery went off well! Good for you my friend!!

Thanks everyone for all the support here!

Dee
 
Hi dee, I'm sooooo sorry you had such a hard time. I feel terrible. I hope things get a lot better from here. When I had my surgery on 6-24-2015 when I went into recovery my heart went into Afip. It was fluttering uncontrollably. They couldn't get it under control. Come to find out I'm on heart medicine for the rest of my life to control it. Eventually I will have to be on blood thinners. Everything else went fine. I had a little nausea in the beginning but not bad. I slept more than anything. Now I have diarrhea again. On that note lol sweetie. I'm glad you're doing better :)
 
will try the Viactive Calcium chews. I looked for them but they must have been out. The Caltrate D I have tastes like chalk!! Yuk!! Great suggestion!!

Dee
 
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