My Post-Surgery Experience – Days 3 to 8 Post-Op

Feb 01, 2014

This post is a follow-up to “My Surgery Experience (including some helpful tips)” that I posted yesterday.

My surgery and hospital experience was much better than I ever expected.  My first evening home (Day 3) and Day 4 were the hardest.  I was really struggling both physically and emotionally.

My Mum and Dad had come to look after me (for which I am forever grateful), and my Mum had warned me that sooner or later I would probably have a big cry.  As usual, she was right!  Day 4 was it.

I deal with emergencies for a living so I’m very used to pushing through whatever needs to be done and then breaking down once the action is over.  I went into surgery with the attitude that I was going to be calm, maintain a sense of humour, and be a low maintenance patient – which really saw me through.  Once the dust settled it all hit me.

I had been sent home with a brochure on what and how much to eat during each phase.  I wasn’t coming anywhere close to meeting the guidelines and it freaked me out.  Everything I drank felt like a ball of cement going down and settling in my new stomach.  I tried drinking the fluids at different temperatures and with or without Crystal Light.  Nothing worked.  30ml of water felt like I had eaten a 20 pound turkey.  I had met my “surgery twin” in the hallways of the hospital as we were both doing our walking, and on Day 2 she was already on Full Fluids* and couldn’t wait to progress.  It felt like I was failing by not getting in enough nourishment or protein.

I called the Centre and asked them if this was normal and I got the same answer to every question: "everyone is different... come in if it doesn't feel normal". But how was I to know what "normal" was supposed to feel like?

I was extremely frustrated, exhausted, and worried that I had made a huge mistake.  I felt like I had painted myself into a corner I couldn’t get out of – it was too late to turn back.  I was questioning if I could really do it while knowing that I no longer had a choice in the matter.  I think a part of me was also mourning the loss of my former life.  The last thing I wanted to do was eat, but the thought of not being able to down a medium pizza, 10 wings, and a litre of diet coke depressed me to no end.  It was a rough couple of days.  To add to the depression I hadn’t lost a single ounce since my pre-surgery weigh-in (I weighed myself again on Day 7 and had mysteriously dropped 7 lbs almost overnight).

Worried and emotional, I turned to this forum.  I got the advice I needed to hear from veterans who had been in my shoes.  I needed to chill out and just let myself recover in my own time.  It helped relieve a lot of pressure I had been putting on myself.  On Day 6 I saw my family doctor and he said the same thing. 

Since then each day has been getting better and better.   I’ve been able to eat* and drink a little bit more each day, and my emotional state is much better.  I feel like I made the right decision in having the surgery… it was the one I needed to make in order to change my life and build a happier and (most importantly) healthier future.  It’s far from easy, but I know it will be worth it.

*Please note: I am through Humber.  The guidelines I was given when leaving the hospital indicated that I should move from Clear Fluids to Full Fluids as soon as Day 2.  Other Centres expect Clear Fluids only for the first 2 weeks.

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