Had surgery Monday, 10/3/16, discharged from hospital yesterday, 10/7/16. Feeling...

Hello All, 

Since being sprung from the hospital yesterday, I am having difficulty with the 60x60x60 requirement. I had some complications with my surgery, so don't know how generalizable my situation is to anyone else's, but I was hoping to get some advice here. 

I had intra-abdominal bleeding after surgery and required two units of blood on Tuesday. I was permitted to begin taking ice chips on Wednesday, and had IV fluid support until Thursday evening. I started with pureed food on Thursday morning. Now that I am preparing the food myself, I am feeling afraid that there is no way I will be able to get 60 grams of protein a day, much less than 60 ounces of water.  

My discharge instructions are for me to eat pureed food 3x per day, and then to drink "sips" of water for a total of 60 ounces. Based on what I could tolerate yesterday, I took in about 20 ounces of water and my urine is dark this morning. The last thing I want is readmission to the hospital.  

My first question for you--how many milliliters are in a sip? Whether I drink 5 mL or 10 mL, it is slightly uncomfortable, and I can definitely feel it going down.  Is this normal?  The twinge subsides quickly, and I am not nauseated. Is there a guideline for how many mL every how many minutes to achieve the water goal? 

The next question--the protein shakes that i drank before surgery are not on my diet list.  I feel like they are my best shot at reaching protein goals. Is there any reason I shouldn't be using one per day to supplement my protein intake?  

Thank you for taking the time to read this.  I look forward to your experienced opinions and advice. 

Lory

It is highly doubtful you'll get 60 grams of protein from solid food right now. If it were me, I would add a shake. Get more protein, and more fluids.

You really, really need to drink more. Try hot, cold, flavored, whatever. Sugar free popsicles and jello can help. Do it one drop at a time if you need to. Whatever it takes.

Thanks, Grim.  I'm on the job!  Didn't think of jello. And i will add the shake---of course these questions come up just as I'm discharged home and it is the weekend, right?  I'm a little chicken to make executive decisions on my own. Thanks for the advice and the focus.

Lory

Hi,

I can't wait until you start feeling better. I had surgery on 9/26 and was disharged on 9/28. I wasn't allowed Pureed foods until 10/04. The most important thing is for you to sip and stay hydrated. I'm still only at 40 grams of protein a day. It takes me 6 hours to drink one protein shake and mostly because Im not hungry but I soon realize that I need my protein as part of the healing process also. Everyone is different, but time is on your side. Don't feel pressured to drink that much, because you'really not going to be able too. At this point everything is easier said than done, especially for those behind the scenes. Good luck and Be well!

Thanks, Elle--

I appreciate your feedback and advice. When you say "sip" how much is a sip for you?  For me, it could be 2 mL or 20 mL.  I guess what I'm trying to figure out is--how much is too much when you are trying to get the water in?  I'm not hungry either, and it is HARD WORK to get protein and water in!  I was told specifically to eat pureed food for my protein requirements.  Is there any reason that you can think of that I should not use a protein shake?  Thanks again for taking time to answer me--i so appreciate it!

Lory

Hey Lory,

Don't over think this process. You are just out of the gate. Sipping for me is not going to be the same for you because each one of us is different. My surgeon told me that I should sip on my one ounce of liquids for 15 minutes during my first week out, it took me less than 10. I took my time. I had popsicles, protein shakes, crystal light in my water. By day five I was drinking 45 ounces and documenting it. Please incorporate your protein shakes and follow the dr.''s orders to the best of your ability.  I knew I was over drinking when it tried to come back up. I said no more. Again do you, and take your time. Overthinking=Frustration. We don't want that. Keep me posted and Be well.

Elle,

Me, overthink??  Thanks for the reality check. ;)

Lory

What the doctor should say is "try" to get 60 grams of protein a day becsuse initially most people can not. Focus most on getting in your fluids because you do not want to become dehydrated, that could land you back in the hodpital. Like everyone has been posting sip on protein shakes if you can tolerate it and for your water, I don't believe it matters how big uour sip is just keep trying to drink as much as you can, all day. Try testing the water at different temps to see what you can tolerate. Overtime you will ne able to drink and eat more.

Thank you, Kyzze.

I just blended some popsicles with a gatorade-type thing.  It's a little like those Icee things from when I was a kid.  Tastes great and doesn't hurt going down! The last thing I want is to end up back in the pokey. 

Lory

The basic advice that we had on the water was to try to consume an ounce (28ml) in 5 minutes, so pour up a shot glass (or one of those little medicine cups they give you at the hospital) and sip that down over 5 minutes. That would give you about 12 oz per hour, or five hours or so of sipping in between your meals, sleeping and other activities to get your water in. Some may have trouble getting it in that quickly while others will have no problem with it; do the best you can but that's a good reference.

Most of us can't get in our protein requirements without liquids for a while. Our program was similarly soft foods from the start, but liquids were also used as needed to get the protein in - we did what we needed to do to get it in, though their general finding was that we would do better overall as we used more real food. I typically only had one protein drink per day, two occasionally depending on what else I was trying, menu-wise, bu****ing 90g within a couple of weeks. Again, some will have more problems than others on that - YMMV. 

At this point, it's mostly testing the waters to see what works, and what works can change week to week (or day to day.) Dehydration will get you back in the hospital a lot faster than low protein, so that is usually the emphasis.