I actually took this picture just before I left the hospital (1 day post-op). This picture makes me feel very vulnerable. You can see my stretch marks, my obese belly, my six puncture marks from surgery. As you look at this picture, the biggest puncture is the 2nd one from the right side. That puncture is the biggest, most painful, and the one that would give me the most trouble in next few days. Taking regular Tylenol, along with a narcotic (oxycodone) regularly, helped me to manage my pain.
At two days post-op, my vision was still blurry. I was beginning to worry about permanent eye damage (luckily that was not the case). Good news is I was beginning to “pass gas” or in medical terms, have flatus. I know, I know, TMI, but it is an important part of the recovery process. It means that my gut had successfully woken up from anesthesia.
By the end of post-op day 2, I was tolerating about 4 ounces of protein shake in one sitting (over 15-30 minutes) and about 3 ounces of 98% fat-free creamy soup. This also had to be stretched out over 15-30 minutes to avoid excessive gurgling and pain from the volume of liquid that I was consuming.
So, heading into the weekend, I felt pretty good. My pain was manageable and I was tolerating my full liquid diet. For the next two weeks, this would be my “job.” I needed to stay hydrated by consuming a full liquid diet with protein shakes, soup, and yogurt.
