Home from surgery!

Hi again everyone.  Just wanted to let you know that I got home yesterday from my surgery.  Had a small complication, where my mesentary (?) membrane was a little thicker than normal, so the procedure was longer than expected.  I'm so glad to be home.  The hospital never lets you really sleep, between giving you meds, checking your vitals, changing your IV, etc.  Right now I'm only sleeping about 2 hours at a time and hopefully that will increase now that I can have some real peace and quiet.   I did have some questions/concerns...did anyone else come out of the hospital feeling horribly achey all over?  My doctor thinks I may have caught a cold while I was there, but I'm thinking it was the upper GI test, where I had to lay flat on that machine and sip that yucky stuff.  My back, shoulders, and legs are really achey.  I felt better the day I had surgery than the last two days. I can't quite get a grip on what/where my pain is coming from.  My incisions aren't bad, but I've got a lot of gas and chest/stomach aches.  I'm sure everything is still swollen, but I'm worried about drinking too much at a time.  I've got little medicine cups/shot glasses and baby utensils to use, so I think I'm alright if I just keep up with them.   Any suggestions on how to get my protein in?  I'm having a hard time with the Champion Nutrition shake mixes.  Plus, I bought Any Whey to add to other foods/liquids, and that's got a taste to it too.  I'm getting closer to my liquid goal for the day, but not my protein.  I'll take any advice!   Other than that, just trying to be careful taking my regular pills.  The vicodin prescription I got at discharge has some pretty big pills.  I've been cutting them into quarters in order to take them.  Any words of wisdom on that would be appreciated to.   Oh, and I found out that smelling whatever my husband is cooking/eating for dinner makes me nauseous.  AAACK! 

Congrats and welcome to the losers bench! The anethesia can make you feel sore as will the air that was pumped into you. Walk around when you can. i did laps around my house for 15 minutes at a time. Try to crush your pills and put them into applesauce, yogurt. Don't worry about getting in your protein yet. It will come in time. Get your liquids in first. When I was first out of the hospital I had the same problem with smells from food. Also, my hearing was supersensitive. Weird but it went away.

Welcome Home!!!  One day at a time... walk, sip, walk etc.. rest... or so Ive been told ;-)

Congrats and glad to hear thatb you made it through ok. The first few days home are tough.  You feel like cr*p AND have to adjust to your new stomach AND deal with all of the questions people who know youhad the surgery will have for you - can get a bit tiresome....... But...hang in there....it does get better. Make sure that youspend some time periodically moving around a little.  It will help with disspelling the gas that you have left over, help get things moving and it will also help with your overall healing process. As for protein....you need to do the best that you can becuase that will help with your healing process as well.  I am not familiar with the brand that you mention, so I am not sure that that is one for body builders, or WLS patients, how much protein is in it, etc .  You do not indicate if the taste is the problem, or just getting it in (as in lack of hunger). But, what I did was, I followed Dr Clark's sample diet for the 1st week or so.  It really helped me out.  I measured everything (still do from time to time) and that also helped me out. I started the morning with a protein shake.  I would sip on it from the time I got up until 830. For breakfast, I would have yogurt - Kroger has a carb master that is high in yogurt.  Then, I would add a tablespoon of plain protein powder to boost the protein in it.   Then, I sipped water for the remainder of the morning. Lunch, I would have broth and would add  a tablespoon of protein powder to it.  Or I would add it to some applesauce. Then, I sipped water (or protein drink) the reaminder of the day. Dinner (same as lunch) In the evening, I would have a protein drink, or protein shake. But...it's important to find a variety of protein in case your favorite is discontinued (that happened to me) and to avoid boredom. The Vitamin Shoppe also carries 6 ounce Protein Bullets thathave 42 grams of protein in them.  I personally do not care for them.  They are too sweet for me.  But...alot of people like them.  Also, if you like coffee, several of the Farm Fresh stores carry AchieveOne protein drinks.  They are coffe flavored protein drinks in a Starbuck's type bottle.  And if you have access to the Navy Commissary, the one here in Norfolk is carrying Isopure protein drinks in the bottle.  You can buy them individually and if youlike them, The Vitamin Shoppe carries them by the case (not sure price, but might be cheaper). But...make evey meal and every drink count............ welcome to the loser's side - sit back and enjoy the ride.......................

Welcome home & to the loser bench.  Pretty much everything you are asking is normal.  Just keep taking small sips on the liquids.  It is important.  The walking will help tremendously with the aches & pains, a lot of it is cause by laying around so much, the air they pump into you and the anesthia, the anesthia is a big factor in the back & shoulder aches.  The sleep issues will get better.  A few suggestions, if you have a recliner, use it, sleeping propped up helps a lot.  I have a waterbed so I was couch bound for about a wee****il I could move more comfortably.  What a found after my gall bladder surgery was that using a body pillow to prop up my tummy helped to because there didn't seem to be as much pull on it if I was laying on my side.  As for the protein, keep trying different ones until you find some you like.  A lot of the websites will sell samples, they are helpful because then you can try a little and not waste money on big jugs if you end up not liking it.  Cutting or crushing the pills is the best to do especially this early out.  The nausesousness with food is normal too.  It will all get better and then you will look back on it and realize it wasn't so bad.