Monday, December 14, 2009
Day 3 and more questions for you professionals out there!
Thanks for all the great advice ladies. Much appreciated. I got in about 30 oz of liquid yesterday and only about 10 grams of protein. Today I expect to do better. I am moving around the house a bit more, doing some light laundry, but not lifting anything. I am also doing my breathing contraption thing. Did you guys go home with one of those too? To help expand your lungs? I can only get up to 2000 ml, but I will keep at it. The pain today is tolerable. I have not taken anything today except a .25 Xanax and my Prozac. I more than anything don’t want to let myself fall into a depression, especially since I am feeling a bit remorseful at the moment. The Lortab Elixor tends to be a depressant too. So I am only going to take it as I need it. Now I am starting to feel very bloated and gassy. So, I am letting it rip girls! Warning: Funny but gross: when I had gas the first day I came home, well, let’s just say it was a PF (like a PB…if you catch my drift) Sorry had to share. Anyway, since then nothing. Must have been all the IV fluids in my body. OK, so I have one really weird thing that I am noticing. My tongue is kind of coated and white. Like it has a film on it. And whether I brush or not, it is still there. Does anyone know what this is and what I can do to get my normal pink tongue back? I also feel like my stomach is very distended and bloated and sticking out as if it is being pushed from the inside…is this gas? Not in my shoulder, but in my upper stomach. Also burping a lot. Normal?
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They pump gas into your abdomen so they can work easier. Many times it pushes up against your diaphram and that causes pain (especially in the shoulder). It doesn't always bother people with pain, but it is there. Even if you don't have pain you might want to try using GasX. It will help your body absorb it faster. For me the gas pains (refered pain) was awful so taking care of it before it hurts might be helpful.
ReplyDeleteAlso you probably know this but 10g of protein won't help much. I got scolded for going under 50 the first week. I think that was one reason I healed slower at first. Now that I am hitting my 60 each day (or more) I am healing really quickly! And of course the faster you heal the faster you go back to work. I was even told that if I continue to heal fast I can have my fill early!
The gas will go, but it does take a while. I know the first few days I was low on protein too until I got to mushies, by then I had some appetite back and it was easier.
ReplyDeleteThe tongue thing - I don't know. It may be a little dehydration or from pain killers. I always feel like I have cotton mouth when I'm on painkillers.
It will get better. :)
Congratulation on your surgery, Linda!! I think the Bandster Convention sounds like a great idea!
ReplyDeleteCatherine
hey there Linda, you're doing good.
ReplyDeleteI had a breathing contraption and forgot it in my hospital, but yep, I had it.
I was also like you- I felt like crap after the surgery for a while, just tired and blah. And I worried about depression too, and yes, those lortabs are def a depressant!
I had a weird coating on my tongue and I also found that the smell of my body changed for about a month. It was a very amonia-y smell and it wasn't pleasant. It smelled like old person's BO. I can't think of any other way to describe. But also meaty.... I never mentioned it on my blog, tho. It went away after a month and I knew it was the surgery, but still, weird!
My surgeon had no interest in my protein levels for the first 2 weeks. It was just clear liquids (broth, water, juice, popsicles, etc). For me it was nice not to have to get anything other than water in as that was what I needed most. Honestly, I wouldn't worry much if you slack off during the recovery period re: protein for the first 2 weeks. It's two weeks and your body will lose fat and muscle regardless of how much protein you try to consume in the early days of the process, so a little more muscle lost over a two week period isn't gonna do any damage.
I did do the lung thing for a few days, it was fine. The tongue issue, I have no clue, I haven't experienced this. The bloated stomach is totally normal. You will have swelling at all your joines too from all the fluids. That stuff seemed to go down by the wk 1 mark for me.
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