Briarrose update

[myachingback]

Great Advice!

[QUOTE=Suzy]Next time someone asks what you might need (or if you get a chance to run to the store.) have them get Shell some ensure drinks. I had NO appetite AT ALL due to the pain meds and that helped me get the nutrients I needed.

Glad she is hangin in there and improving! Suzy mentioned ensure, you may also consider Adkins diet drink, it has a lot less sugar and is really truely actually tasty when cold! I can't have sugar and for me this is great. Also might want to add some Benefiber to it which will help keep things running smother.
Have not had time to keep up with y'all lately, seems all I have time to do is eat, excersize, and groan!
I Send My Best Wishes For A Speedy Recovery,
Chris

[loves to skate]

I just googled Miralax and copied this caution. Most important fact about MiraLax
Unless your doctor directs otherwise, do not use MiraLax for more than 2 weeks. Sustained, frequent, or excessive use can upset the body's chemical balance, and can lead to dependence on laxatives. My Dr. recommended a stool softener instead of a laxative such as senecot or colase. Senecot caused me much abdominal pain so I switched to colase which worked without the pain. Do whatever your Dr. tells you to do or what works for you. Sally

[JoAnn5]

I'm sure the companies have to print cautions just to cover themselves. My doctor prescribed Glycolax for me before the OTC version called Miralax became available. Doc said that it was so gentle that i could use it every day from now on if i needed to. Of course i don't need it any longer since i rarely take pain meds now, but i keep some on hand in case of occasional problems. My 88 yr old mom was also prescribed it after her broken hip surgery. Just use it sensibly i think.

[briarrose]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for the suggestions about drinks and fiber/laxatives. I was given Boost in the hospital (I guess word got out that I wasn't eating) and I try to drink one of those a day. I've been taking Benefiber for a couple of weeks thanks to the suggestion of myachingback awhile ago and it helped me tremendously before the surgery. I've doubled up on that and I'm taking Miralax once a day to keep things as regular as possible. I also have some senekot here and may take one of those a day as well.

Eating is still a big problem. My husband gets really frustrated with me because I barely eat anything. Last night, I actually ate a decent sized meal, but then threw up later. It was discouraging for both of us. It's also really frustrating because I've lost about 10 to 15 pounds in my legs/arms/chest/butt (I'm happy about this) but gained it all in my stomach. I'm afraid to measure how large my waist is, but it's really upsetting. It has to be at least 4 to 5 inches larger than what it was and I've never had a stomach, always an hour glass figure and now I'm the opposite. Will this go away? This sounds awful, but I'd almost rather have a crooked spine than an unnaturally large stomach. I guess I'm bloated, but I don't really feel that way. I'll probably have my husband by me some Gas-X today. Maybe that will help. Has anyone else had this stomach problem from a posterior surgery? Did it eventually go away?

Thanks

Shell

[Susie*Bee]

Shell-- you poor thing! What a struggle you're having with food! Don't worry right now about the swollen abdomen. I think lots of people are swollen after this surgery... I was. And that's why they tell you to take lose fitting clothes to wear home from the hospital. There has been major trauma to your insides, and that long time of being on your stomach during the surgery. I feel fairly confident you'll regain your lovely hourglass figure after awhile. Sorry you are losing so much weight though. Just keep at it, taking baby steps. And it's actually better for you, especially right now, to be a grazer... eating small little meals, several times, rather than trying for the traditional sized meal. That may help you keep it all down better too. Hugs, Susie

[Sherie]

Shell

Glad to hear you're doing better. Sheena had a very swollen abdomen in the hospital, she looked to be 5 months pregnant but it all went away probably within 2-3 weeks. She lost about 10 lbs too and has gained all that back and looks great now. Her appetite returned to normal at about 2 months. Don't worry, it will all straighten out with a little time.

Take care

[Geish]

Hi Shell,
I found that when I got home I had a hard time eating too. I would get maybe 1-2 boost/ensure drinks down me a day, about a half a drink at a time. I would also eat maybe a half a yogurt or maybe a snack sized chunk of cheese through out the day...that was it for the day! I wasn't eating much at all. I just couldn't eat more than a few bites at a time and I was done. Even when friends brought over beautiful meals for my girls and me I just couldn't eat. My appetite finally returned in full force at around 4-5 months post op. Prior to that I found I could eat maybe half of what I would normally eat pre surgery at a sitting, but that wasn't until close to a month or so post op. It will get better, it just takes time. I lost close to 15 pounds and my face looked a bit cadaverous if you ask me. I eventually gained most of it back, most of that in the last month and a half. Now I look like me again. I am also going to guess you are bloated and don't even realize it. I have no doubt once your internal system gets somewhat back to normal your waist will go back down, probably smaller than before since you lost so much weight.Keep your chin up and stay strong!
Alicia

[myachingback]

Might help?

You may want to try yogurt, it will put "good" bacteria back in your system. If you don't like it try the Fiber 1 yogurt, my wife says it is less yogurty tasting! Something else you may try is acidolophus sp? capsuls. It does the same thing but is in a capsul. If you have trouble swallowing a cap; with liguid in your mouth look down then swallow! The cap floats and that makes it work in your favor. Wow I'm waxing intelligent here, you'd hardly know I was partially lobotomized!
Only kiddin, Great you are doin good!!!
I'm pushed for time,
Chris

[Singer]

Hi Shell,

As others have said, the swollen stomach and the lack of appetite are completely normal and resolve in time. I looked pregnant for at least 2 months afterwards. Try not to push the eating thing. What helped me was eating soft, bland things like cheese, yogurt, pudding....I also craved peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. Your body has taken a beating and just can't handle digesting full meals yet, but as long as you get calories and some protein, you're fine. Also, just to warn you, Senakot gives lots of people upset stomachs -- it did me.

[briarrose]

Thanks for the encouraging posts that my stomach will eventually go back to normal. I can't wait! Thanks to everyone for ensuring me that the swollen abdomen and lack of appetite are normal. I'll probably be on here a lot worrying about all sorts of things.

I threw up again today and it was a few hours after eating. I guess it could be from the pain medicine. I also tried to cut back on the pain medicine, but I quickly learned that I still need this same amount for now.

Thanks again!

[Chihuahua Mama]

Hi Shell, honey

I hope you round a corner very soon where you feel like you can hold food down and sleep well, and nobody's telling you what to DO! It will come.

I'm wondering what your pain levels are now and what type pain meds your taking and how often. Also, can't you ask the doctor for something that PREVENTS upset stomach or vomitting? I remember a drug that could be taken in a suppository form, a few years ago, but don't recall the name.

Ask your doctor - call the office and tell them - don't just "accept" what's happening when you know it's not right.

Take care, and I'm thinking of you.

[JoAnn5]

another (yet another....lol) thing that you might try is Activia... It helps regulate things with a good bacteria for the digestive tract. Something smooth and soothing like that always helps my heartburn. Could be your pain meds are tearing up your tummy, so just try to soothe it and make sure you don't take them on an empty stomach. The swelling will go away eventually, i think we all had it too. Between that and not being able to wear a bra... because of the clasp irritating the incision.... i was NOT a pretty sight for 2-3 months... but i couldn't have cared less...lol

[briarrose]

I will definitely look into Activa JoAnn. I have actually been wearing front close sports bras since I left the hospital on Wednesday. They have about 6 clasps in the front and it doesn't irritate my incision. It's not the greatest thing, but I knew I would have to wear something.

Thanks for the thoughts Susan. I know your surgery is going to go well. My big thing to tell everyone now is to have some sort of pain management plan set up. I had never been on narcotics and never had a surgery so there was no way of knowing what would work for me. My pain is manageable, probably at around a 6 when I'm walking around and 4 laying down. I'm currently taking 2 percocet every 5-6 hours that has 10 mg of oxycodone in each pill (the one they were giving me in the hospital only had 5. I'm still baffled by this). My surgeon only gave me 60 pills so I'll be out on Tuesday but I do have vicodin here but I don't even want to go down the road of trying it when I know the higher percocet works. I'm reluctant to call me doctor because of the hard time he gave me in the hospital about pain meds. When I was discharged, he said he couldn't order this percocet over the phone; the prescription could only be picked up at his office. I'm not going back until the 16th. I'm going to have my husband call the office this weekend and see if something can be figured out. I feel like my doctor doesn't want me on anything. It's really frustrtating. I'll have to ask about anti-nausea meds too. Thanks

Shell

[loves to skate]

Hi Shell,
My Dr. would only mail me a prescription for the oxycodone (percocet,vicoden - all different names for the same thing), so you need to get a call into his office right away even though it is Saturday so you can have that prescription in hand by Tuesday. I know that is part of Massachusetts state law that a prescription for a controlled substance cannot be called into a pharmacy. Also, pharmacies don't keep controlled substances in stock, so it takes another day to get the prescription filled. If you have vicoden at home, you can always take 2 of those to be equavalent to 10 mg. percocet if it isn't possible to get a prescription in time. In the hospital you were probably getting a longer acting oxycontin (12 hours) in addition to the short acting 5 mg.percocet (3 hours). Can your primary care Dr. help you out in a pinch? Unfortunately a lot of Dr's don't like to write prescriptions for controlled substances since a lot of people abuse them. I hurts those of us who don't abuse them and really need them. I had to take oxycondone for 2 1/2 months post-op and had no appetite until I was finally off of them. Good luck! Sally

[sccrm08]

Shell,

I think you need to call your Dr. or you may end up needing to go to the ER on Tuesday for pain meds. I tried to just stop taking all the pain meds I beleave it was Percocet, and Valum and My pulse went up to about 120. When I called my Dr. he told me he did not want me off the pain meds yet and he wrote another RX which we needed to go in and pick up but he kept me on them full strength for 3 months and slowly cut back for 4 weeks, until I was off. He never made me feel like I should not take them, I was in a bigger hurry to come off than he was as I have family members who abuse perscription drugs and they make me very nervous to take. My Dr. felt the pain should me minimal after the surgery if they can keep it under control with the meds.

Best Of Luck