april 12th was surgery. i had been told to be there by 8:15 for a 9:30 surgery however when i got there after waiting an hour they told me there was a mix up in the time. my surgery didn't end up being til about 12:30. i was posting up til the time i left to go to the hospital about being nervous. when i got there i wasn't nervous at all and i had thought i'd start balling my eyes out once they took me back to the OR. i didn't at all i was fine. i remember being wheeled back and having to get on the ice cold operating table. seen my surgeon and everyone else in there and then next thing i knew i was being woken up. i kept hearing the nurses say to me how such a wonderful patient i was, wasn't whining or complaining and saying the surgery went great. all i remember saying to them was "pain". i wasn't in a lot of pain but just uncomfortable. shortly after i guess they gave me something and i was fine. after that i remember being woken up in my room seeing everyone and going back to sleep. i slept probably until 2 or 3am. i woke up with horrible gas pains. i had hardly any surgery pain. in fact when i tore the ligaments in my knee and tore my meniscus i thought that pain was far worse then the surgery. i remember getting up to try and pee and i couldn't but i was dry heaving walking to the bathroom i guess from the anesthesia. they gave me an anti nausea med and i was fine. i felt bad calling in the nurse every hour or so to get me out of bed to go pee. but the entire staff was nice. i had not a single complaint. everyone was helpful morning and night staff and they took their time with you and didn't get aggravated. for the 2.5 days i was there i walked and walked and walked. gas pains didn't get any better. they ended up giving me dilaudid and once they gave me that through IV i was asleep within 2 minutes. that drug is like magical lol. i didn't use my pain pump but maybe 4 or 5 times. cause it didn't help with the gas pains. i asked my surgeon when he came to see me if i could take gas x strips he said they won't work and he doesn't recommend them. i am half tempted to take them since i can only burp a little and it hurts when i do. no BM either but dr said tomorrow i should be able to. we will see. was sent home with tylenol with codeine. took it once just to relax and go to sleep. parents keep waking me up every 2 hours to walk around so i don't get a blood clot or anything but all i want to do is sleep just ONCE like 4 hours straight lol.

i have been able to get in maybe 12oz of water today. i can take decent size sips but too nervous to keep sipping and don't know how long i should wait until the next sip. any advice on that i'd appreciate. also what can i do about this terrible gas pain!

As long as the liquids don't make you uncomfortable, you can sip every couple of minutes..... the reason everyone says "sip sip sip" is because it seems that MORe people have trouble with liquids than don't, so all the advice is geared to those of us who have trouble..... if you aren't having trouble, drink more.... the more you drink and better hydrated you are the better you will feel.... i was like you, I never had any issues with liquids! 

Glad you're back!

I agree with Lithia, I was kinda wary of drinking too much, but it never hurt me. I was so afraid of getting dehydrated though, I've been one time and it was about the 2nd most miserable I've ever been, so please don't  stop sip, sip, sipping! If it is not uncomfortable keep on!! I did and for the first 10 days I only ate 3 times, but I drank SO much. Even now I can drink normally, almost gulp, if I wanna! Glad you're back!

My surgeon told me to get a 1oz. medicine cup and to try to sip 1oz. every 15 minutes for a total of 4 ounces an hour. But I guess if you can drink more, that's okay too.

 Glad you are home and recoverying so well. I too had horrid gas pains...I burp constantly I aske don here about gas-x strips and also talked to my doc and went and got some...they helped me tons! So you may want to give them a try.

I have no problem with getting in fluids at all not from the moment I woke up which I am so happy about. I was told to sip 2 of those medicine cups in 15 mins. and go up from there as the days go on. By probably the 4th day home I was getting in all my fluids.

sip sip sip walk walk walk, post post post and rest when you can... :]