Bad Day

I had surgery about 2-1/2 weeks ago and after the initial pain of healing stopped I felt terrific!  All last week life was wonderful!  Then Saturday I felt just ok, Sunday I felt blah, and today I feel terrible.  I can't even really describe what feels terrible - it is just my whole body.  I'm exhausted and my stomach just feels awful. The thought of any food makes me want to barf.  I had a Carnation Instand Breakfast this morning to force myself to get some protein and with every drink I just knew I was going to barf.  Right now I'm just drinking water and hoping like heck this passes. 

Me personally I went thru and still do with ups and downs emotionally. I'm 10 wks out and hormones are still going crazy! :( I've realized I used food a lot for emotional support. I knew I was an emotional eater but never thought it wasthat bad. I've come to realize now that it is. I have to force myself to eat many times as nothing looks good and I honestly get soo tired of eating meat all the time. I'm a carb and sweets Lady so when nothing looks good I make myself drink a shake as we have to eat too live now which I tell myself this before I eat. Idk about the not feeling good I had lactose problems but I always recommend talking to nut as I don't diagnose myself I always feel better hearing it from a professional. Hope this helps. Sry I got a little winded there. Hope you feel better soon!!  Dee

I feel for you, trust me!  I will be six weeks out tomorrow and weeks two through five were horrendous.  Some have nausea and some don't.  I had really bad nausea and any smell and thought of food made it much worse.  So here is the encouragement  I received and remember this will pass eventually. First, my doctor prescribed anit-nausea medicine for me.  I tried Zofran but that didn't work and someone suggested Phenegren (sp?) which helped more but made me sleepy.  Second, concentrate on water intake since this does help with nausea.  You really want to stay hydrated. Third, you are coming down from MAJOR surgery and after week one you probably aren't on as many pain meds....so your body needs time to adjust.  Also, anasthesia stays in your body for awhile.  Once I stopped certain meds my energy was better but I really didn't eat at all.

My progression was simliar to yours.  Felt better good after week one then just went downhill.  Like most will tell you, important to communicate to your doctor.  If you need to cry, just do it.  I am not a crier and I think I cried everday for about two weeks.  I still have some nausea but now it is due to the fact if I don't eat consistently.  It does get better.  Just take it slow and use this time to recover.  Also, I still struggle with protein drinks so that is my concentration now.  My doctor told me however to focus first on water and then everything else.  Hope this helps and hang in there. 

Thank you so much for your reply.  I am not a crier either but I find myself on the brink of tears a lot lately.  I guess I just thought "Hey!  This was easy!" after having such a good 2nd week and did not take into consideration that I'm still not healed and that it is going to take a while.  It really really helps to hear from people on this forum that I'm progressing normally and shouldn't freak out.   I'm just gonna do what I gotta do and look forward to the day it all feels better.  Thanks again!

I remember having some good days and some down days. Some days I couldn't even go into the kitchen cuz any food smells made me nauseas. I think this is still part of the healing, and to be honest, I still have days like that, but not as often and not as intense. You are still healing, and hormones are trying to regulate themselves. Focus on walking, following your surgeon's food plan, getting in your protein and liquids, and resting. At 2 1/2 weeks I was still napping 1-2 times a day. You'll gradually start feeling better, and for me, at around the 5-6 week mark, I woke up 1 day and felt amazing. I had basically an overnight transformation - hang in there - it's gets so much better.

Remember that many hormones, like estrogen, are fat-soluble, and many others are associated with the digestive system. You've disturbed both, and those physical changes can trigger emotional and mental changes too. It's a major surgery, and 2.5 weeks out is still really recent. I was still sleeping 10-12 hours a day at that point and felt just completely worn out. Exhaustion at this point is very par for the course, as is a general crappy/lethargic/depressed/whatever type of feeling. You're literally starving to death. Things are tough. 

There's nothing wrong with returning to a liquid diet. Be absolutely sure you have enough liquids in, then work on getting the required grams of protein in. Its one of the few things that's really going to help you heal. Try a few different protein drinks and see if anything appeals to you. Keep trying. I went through a LOT of different proteins before I found some that I liked, and I have to change it up a lot to keep from getting sick of them. If only water is working, try some Isopure diluted with water and a lot of ice and work on sipping it all day. If you're feeling real nausea that's preventing you from getting protein or eating, call your surgeon and see if he will prescribe you Zofran or another anti-nausea for you. It might help. Actually, it's worth calling your surgeon and nutritionist anyway, and tell them how you're feeling and what you're going through. Part of their job is to provide post-op support of just this type.

Basically, give yourself a little slack. Try lots of liquid and rest, and bear with it.