Post-Op Week 1: Figuring Out Fluid Intake

May 29, 2011

Once you're out of the hospital and left to your own devices, the first thing you need to figure out is making sure you're getting in the fluids, protein and vitamins your body needs to ensure a smooth recovery. 

I can't count how many times I've seen posts from people who needed to go back to the hospital for an IV due to dehydration within the first week or so after surgery.  The advice I see from the veterans time and time again is that this situation can be avoided if you plan ahead, so that's what I've intended to do since I was pre-op.

I listed out the instructions my surgeon gave me for staying hydrated in the post I wrote about the day of surgery, but now that tomorrow is my one week surgiversary and I've proven to myself that I can handle more than 1oz every 15 minutes (more on that in a minute), I think I'm ready to tweak that rule a bit.

Just to recap, here's what my intake has looked like since I came home from the hospital:

I came home on Wednesday and did 1oz every 15 mins starting around 5pm until I went to bed just using water.
I did it all day on Thursday, including one 30g protein shake.
I did it again all day on Friday, including two 30g protein shakes.
I started it yesterday (Saturday), but had to head out for my son's 5th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's, so while I kept my protein shake and diluted juice with me, I wasn't religious about the 1oz every 15 mins while I was there.

Last night I tried a sugar free pudding and was able to get through 3/4ths of it spread out over an hour, so that told me I could probably handle more than just 1 oz of fluids every 15 mins.

This morning I got up, made a protein shake and decided I'd forgo the 1oz rule for a bit and see how I did with just taking sips of the protein shake without measuring and timing them out.

Where the other days a 12oz shake would take me 3 hours, I was able to get through the one this morning in a little over an hour just by taking a few more sips than I would have if I were drinking it prior to surgery.  I'm still working on finding that sweet spot where you know the volume you can handle in one swallow without your new tiny tummy protesting, but I will say what I know so far is more than I thought I'd be able to handle, so that's a plus.

NOTE: I should probably note that my surgeon uses a 40F size bougie, so if yours uses a smaller one, your mileage probably will vary.

I tried the same with the 2nd shake later on, but wound up switching over to water because I still felt full from the first one and only actually got through half of the 2nd one.  I've been so focused on constantly drinking that I didn't give myself enough time to feel "hungry" (hasn't happened yet), so it's become clear that I need to work in some non-drinking time in order to do that.

For dinner I had about 6oz of chicken broth (I recommend Better Than Boullion) and that filled me up pretty well.

I've just been sipping water whenever l feel like it since then, so I'm probably not getting in as much as I would be if I were paying as close attention as I was before.  Before I let myself slip into thinking that I'll be fine if I don't stay on top of this, I decided that now's the time where that advice about having a plan that the veteran VSGers always respond  with could come in handy.  While I'm meeting with my surgeon on Tuesday and will probably get some diet guidance from him, I'm sure he won't have a problem if I take a proactive approach and then present it to him for approval and/or tweaking.

Based on lessons learned thus far, this is my fluid intake plan going forward...
 
1.) Have a 12oz, 30g protein shake first thing in the morning when my stomach is empty
2.) Partially fill my 32oz Nalgene bottle with 14oz of water (w/ grape Propel powder) and try to finish it before lunch
3.) As lunch time approaches, I'll back off the water for a half hour to 45 minutes to allow room for the 2nd shake
4.) Another 12oz, 30g protein shake for lunch.
5.) Wait the obligatory 30-45 minutes once I'm done with the lunch shake to start back with the water
6.) Finish any remaining water from the original 13oz, then wait a bit before having my final 20g shake for the day.
7.) Refill my water bottle with another 13oz and try to finish before dinner
8.) As dinner approaches, back off the water for 30-45 minutes to allow room for broth, pudding, whatever
9.) Half hour to 45 mins after dinner, finish any remaining water and then refill with the final 13oz for the day

Let's do the math: 
12oz (shake) + 14oz (water) + 12oz (shake) + 13oz (water) + 13oz (water) = 64oz for the entire day.

I think this is a do-able plan for me and I hope it is for you too, Dear Reader.  I sincerely do hope these posts help some folks out there; I know I had an insatiable appetite for every piece of information I could learn about the experience prior to going under the knife, so I have to think there are others out there who would have liked to have this info going in too.

Anyway, here are the new alarms I just set up in my phone (damn, there were a lot of those 15 minute suckers in there!):

9am Protein Shake
10:30am Finish Shake
11am Drink 14oz
12:15pm Stop Drinking
1pm Protein Shake
2:30 Finish Shake
3pm Drink 13oz
4:15pm Stop Drinking
5pm Drink 13 oz
 
This is actually kind of fun

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