1 week post op- Question for the Vets

Hello all, as many of you know I'm post op now . It'll be a week tomorrow and I'm a little concerned I'm not experiencing the same post op feeling in my pouch as I've read many of you have/ had. More specifically I don't feel that full feeling in my throat like my NUT said I would, I feel it in my stomach but what's more troubling is when I feel it it's more of an intense pain and pressure feeling in my stomach. I think it's my pouch telling me I'm full but I'm not sure i second guessing it bc the nut was pretty adamant about not feeling it in my stomach and her i am living proof that that may not be true. Sometimes in the middle of the day I feel cramps in my stomach and it feels as if im sticking my stomach in like you would if you were trying to fit into something. Like I actually feel like my stomach is moving and constricting or something. Idk if I'm explaining myself correctly but if I am and you understand this..... Is this normal most of the time I think it's just time for me to take the pain meds and that typically resolves it but its really uncomfortable and I only have 3 PILLS LEFT! I dont know if im going to make it the rest of the day with only 3 frickin pills smh. Tomorrow I have my one week check up with my surgeon hopefully hell write a refill for me. Will he? Or will they tell me that's enough pills before I get hooked. I'm on hydrocodene (spelling?) idk maybe I'm just paranoid now. Please let me know your thoughts and if this is normal for a week out. thanks

Also I need to get on a schedule because I don't think my diet is sufficient either. My day usually consists of 1 full bottle/half bottle of water 1 full bottle of protein drink (I hd some slimfast shakes left over from the preop diet) which is only 10g protein smh. Maybe 1/3 can of watered down split pea soup and either jello or jello pudding before bed. That's about it. I think I'll go try the premier protein drinks and go to SAMs club later on to help get more protein in. And then there's the vitamins WHAT A CHORE IT IS TO GET THOSE DOWN.. I didn't get any chewable except for the prenatal ones but those aren't a requirement.  Everything's a horse pill it seems now. What vitamins work for you guys? Do you get chewables? Am I the only one that after surgery swallowing pills isn't the same? When I take them Im the type that needs a lot of water at the same time then when that goes down it feels like a hug lump in my stomach I guess because Im supposed to be sipping...

Although many people don't feel a "full" sensation in their pouch early out (due to cutting of nerves during surgery), some of us DO feel full very early out.  I could feel a definite full sensation from my pouch by the end of week 2.  n the 6 years since my surgery, the only time I have felt "full" in my esophagus was one time when I just ate WAY too much (and ended up vomiting).

People have such widely disparate experiences that first week... so there is no single "normal", but rather a range of "normal".  I don't see anything in your post that I would personally say is outside of that "normal" range.  Talk with your surgeon about these things when you go in for your checkup tomorrow, and verify your meal plan.  You do need to start getting in more protein, but every surgeon has a different post-op eating plan.  

Lora

I am almost five weeks post-op.I didn't think the surgeon did anything to me.I felt nothing meaning like being hungry.I do feel the difference now than I did before. I do feel full.I do feel sick if I do over eat.You have to get used to the full feeling and stop.I mainly drank protein shakes and had some yogurt. Most important is to stay hydrated right now and get the protein shakes in.Good luck.I feel like a science experiment every time I eat something new.

I'm not a vet as I had my surgery last month but I can tell you, I know how you feel. I also agree on the vitamins! I posted that on a FB group i'm part of and practically got ridiculed into thinking it was a mental thing. My surgeon suggested chewables, me being thick headed, I don't use them. I bought the One a Day petites and I still gag on them! Next time i'm out i'm just gonna grab a bottle of chewables.

It also sounds like you have some gas still with the whole "sucking in" feeling. Try taking some gas medicine to see if that helps? Or getting up and walking around the house? 

Also are you measuring out your portions?

Oooooohhhh gas! Duh! Don't know why I didn't think of that lo. Yes I'll have to start walking more. Thanks. I don't measure technically like with a measuring cup but like the soup I'll portion out about a third of it in a separate bowl to eat from. I just drink what I can of the protein drinks. And I'm going to pick up chewables too.

I never had the full feeling in my throat unless I over ate.  I can feel it in my pouch that I've had enough.  Early out as I recall I just wasn't hungry at all and water even made me feel full in my pouch.

At one week out I wouldn't stress about getting the required amount of protein (per your NUT and surgeon) just keep working toward increasing your protein intake.  What I believe is MORE IMPORTANT is getting in enough liquids to keep yourself out of the ER for dehydration.

I agree as far as protein intake is concerned.  Thanks 

Dr. M will refill prescriptions--I have heard it from people at group. Not sure about Dr. L though. Never hurts to ask! It seems to me they do a lower strength amount on the 2nd one. I only used about 10 of my pills total after my surgery and so I don't have first hand experience in the refills, only what others have shared. And maybe suggest Tramadol as a script if he's not keen on more Vicodin (which is what I had). 

For me, it is less about being full in my throat and more about my sternum or above. I just get this 'feeling' and I know...one more bite will do me in!! I am guessing you are still on liquids...Lowe does 2 weeks liquids post-op right? If so, you want to be sure you're going slooooow with the shakes and don't feel the need to do a thick one like Premiere. They are great...my husband has one a day still and he's heading into 14 months out, but they filled me up WAY too fast. I found the RTD from Isopure (glass bottles at The VItamin Shoppe) worked best. I love passionfruit and grape the best. Do NOT like the coconu****er or green (whatever flavor it is) at all. But you might love those. Ask if they have any open bottles for samples. They are 4.19 each and 40 grams of protein in a 20 oz. bottle. I use them as a breakfast and a lunch and they really do fill me up, even now, 6 months out!

You changed your name on the site!! I recognized your photo though. :)  I went 100% chewable for months because they FILLED ME UP! Keep in mind, you need 2,000 IU of calcium a day, no more than 500 at a time of calcium citrate, so you are talking two large pills 4x a day, 2 hours  apart and then well before your iron at night. I bought the Celebrate chewables. If you are coming to group Dec 4, I will bring some for you to try, but I am 99% sure Victoria has some in her office (Uptown) and you might want to ask about that. I also buy the Celebrate vitamin sticks which you add to water like crystal light and it takes three for your multi and calcium a day PLUS one more dose of calcium. But when getting water in was tough...it was worth it!  The variety pack has three flavors; Wild Cherry, Cranberry-Grape and Citrus. I will go to McD and get a large unsweetened tea and add a Citrus, stir it well and voila...tasty Arnold Palmer. I also add the Roadside Lemonade and voila...35 grams of protein in an easy to drink way (be sure to get NO ICE if you add protein powder!)

I would skip the split pea, jello and pudding until you can get your protein in. My goal was 30g a day in the first month, 60 grams a day by the end of the second month and 90 grams a day by the end of the third month. There were days I did better, but I made sure I never did less than those amounts.

Are you walking? I found the more I walked (usually half a mile at a time), the better I felt!  I could do just over 2 miles twice a day by a few weeks post-op. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions. :)

Diva- my first and now my second week post op is similar-- I don't feel a "full" feeling, but instead, I feel a pain in the stomach area.  I've just figured that that is what being full is, and I go by that or sometimes I will get a hiccup or two and that also lets me know I'm full.  I have chalked it up to my stomach still healing up where they sewed it back together-- and that in my mind, when it is stretched, that is what I am feeling.  

I make sure I measure -- for real, measure with the cups they gave me -- so I know for sure I am not overdoing it early on.  Whether I feel full after two of the cups (they allow me three if I want, but I haven't wanted to pu**** yet) I quit eating and wait awhile-- inevitably, 10-15 minutes later, I get "the feeling of pain" and I know that is full.  On the same note-- the "painfulness" of the feeling is decreasing everyday and I'm thinking it will just change into a sincere full feeling.

I get upset tummy from vitamins and the calcium Tums they told me to do everyday too-- I'm also hoping that will decrease after my tummy heals up as well!

BigTMoe

Congrats we're neck and neck in our journey. Darn I didn't keep any of the cups from the hospital.