Post-Op Gas

LMD,

Each day will get better with maybe a bad day in between. Your body will tell you when you do too much.

Icemantoo

Walk, walk, walk, walk and then walk some more.  I had abdominal surgery twice (unrelated to my kidney issue) and both times I walked as much as I could post-op, both in the hospital (which got pretty boring after a short time) and even more when I got home.  With any kind of operation, the surgeon pumps gas into the incision(s) he opens in order to widen out the space he's working in.  Unfortunately, some of that gas remains inside after we're sewn up.  But walking on a consistent basis helps work that gas out.

Not to excess: to the kitchen counts. Also do your breathing exercises.

Depending upon type of surgery-open or Lap-gas may have been pumped into the abdominal cavity to inflate it for better visibility of the organs. That can put pressure all the way to the throat until the body resorbs it. 

Anesthesia stops the intestinal track from top to bottom.  That, plus no food for a day or so, takes time to get to get everything moving again.  In that case, let 'er rip.

Walking, sitting up-right to eat and drink fluids, and even "marching in place" while seated can get your ab muscles along with your lungs pumping.

Food that goes down easily and in smaller amounts helps with getting nutrition.  Yogurt, juice, bananas, nutritional supplements like Ensure, chicken-noodle soup, or even broth.  Avoid bubbly sodas or other carbonated drinks for the simple reason that "gas in-gas out" is the complication.

My first surgery left me unable to eat much.  But then the stress weight I'd lost all came back. 

Your husband will get better; it just takes a little time.

Good Luck and Hugs

donna_lee

JerzyGrrl said:

COMFORT FOOD, definitely

Definitely go for comfort food, even if it's just consumed as a bite of two. I remember the first couple of days home, I kept forgetting that I was sitting up in front of a plate of food because I was indeed supposed to be eating the stuff. But it's not as though I suffered from malnutrition, not by a long shot. The more processed the food, the less I seemed to enjoy it -- Not to mention the less familiar / comfort-y (A friend was kind enough to bring me assorted groceries, including a brick of frozen chopped spinach... I ate everything except the spinach, which is still taking up valuable real estate in the freezer).

OK, this might be considered blasphemy by some folks, especially given the great job the Abbott folks have done in promoting the wonderfulness of Ensure for 45 years, but I'm not really a fan.  Here's the ingredients list for the original milk chocolate flavor from Abbott's website:

• Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Sugar, Milk Protein Concentrate, Canola Oil, Soy Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali), Corn Oil.
• Less than 0.5% of: Nonfat Milk, Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate, Cellulose Gel, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Cellulose Gum, Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Carrageenan, Potassium Hydroxide, Turmeric, Liquid Sucralose, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Acesulfame Potassium, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Chromium Chloride, Red 3, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Sodium Selenate, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Molybdate, Phylloquinone, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D3. 

I'd vote for my favorite quick at-home-DIY chocolate pudding instead:

• One c milk (I can't have dairy products, so I use unsweetened soy milk), 2 T chocolate powder, 2 T corn starch, 2 T sweetener of your choice (or use a ripe banana), and 1 t of vanilla (if you remember, but not necessary).  Blend it all together (especially if using the banana).  Just stirring it together? Whisk a wee bit of milk into the powdered stuff (and maybe forget about the banana), then add the rest of the milk.
• If you can get Bird's (traditional, NOT instant) Custard Powder, use 4 T of that instead of the corn starch, with or without the chocolate powder. Bird's Custard is my chicken soup (and -- for you Whovians -- fish fingers are of course optional).  
• Put it (mixed well) in a larger-than-you-think-you'll-need microwave-safe dish and zap it twice, stirring well in between:  2:30 plus 2:30 works in my microwave, 3:00 and 3:00 in others.  If you don't have a microwave, stir it on the stovetop over medium heat until it thickens. 
• For quick bread pudding: Toast two slices of bread, cut it into cubes (or tear it into chunks), let it soak in the uncooked pudding, then cook it all, and there you have it. Add cinnamon and/or soaked raisins if that's your thing. 

Little bits of comfort food -- macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, noodles, custard, "porridge" (oatmeal cooked in milk with brown sugar -- or maple syrup, vanilla and nutmeg) go a long way, even in bite-sized amounts. But definitely when recovering from the surgery, one should for sure eat, definitely for sure walk, and not get food delivered to them if they're capable of getting up and walking to the table to eat a meal or even sample a bit of food.

Oh, and drinking water helps, too. It gives the kidney(s) something to do instead of feeling sorry for themselves, not to mention it makes everything run more smoothly.  And... It gets you up and walking just a little bit more!

• If you can get Bird's (traditional, NOT instant) Custard Powder, use 4 T of that instead of the corn starch, with or without the chocolate powder. Bird's Custard is my chicken soup (and -- for you Whovians -- fish fingers are of course optional).  
• Wouldnt recommend Fish Sticks - definitely need fingers.
• And a nice cup of tea is essential to full regeneration. Its the Tanins, you know.
• Water is good. Seems to have gone out of favour on this site for some reason. I get throught at least 2 pints of San Pellegrino every day.
• And if you could have your life scripted by Steven Moffat or Niel Gaiman, that would also be useful.

JerzyGrrl said:

COMFORT FOOD, definitely

Definitely go for comfort food, even if it's just consumed as a bite of two. I remember the first couple of days home, I kept forgetting that I was sitting up in front of a plate of food because I was indeed supposed to be eating the stuff. But it's not as though I suffered from malnutrition, not by a long shot. The more processed the food, the less I seemed to enjoy it -- Not to mention the less familiar / comfort-y (A friend was kind enough to bring me assorted groceries, including a brick of frozen chopped spinach... I ate everything except the spinach, which is still taking up valuable real estate in the freezer).

OK, this might be considered blasphemy by some folks, especially given the great job the Abbott folks have done in promoting the wonderfulness of Ensure for 45 years, but I'm not really a fan.  Here's the ingredients list for the original milk chocolate flavor from Abbott's website:

• Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Sugar, Milk Protein Concentrate, Canola Oil, Soy Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali), Corn Oil.
• Less than 0.5% of: Nonfat Milk, Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate, Cellulose Gel, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Cellulose Gum, Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Carrageenan, Potassium Hydroxide, Turmeric, Liquid Sucralose, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Acesulfame Potassium, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Chromium Chloride, Red 3, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Sodium Selenate, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Molybdate, Phylloquinone, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D3. 

I'd vote for my favorite quick at-home-DIY chocolate pudding instead:

• One c milk (I can't have dairy products, so I use unsweetened soy milk), 2 T chocolate powder, 2 T corn starch, 2 T sweetener of your choice (or use a ripe banana), and 1 t of vanilla (if you remember, but not necessary).  Blend it all together (especially if using the banana).  Just stirring it together? Whisk a wee bit of milk into the powdered stuff (and maybe forget about the banana), then add the rest of the milk.
• If you can get Bird's (traditional, NOT instant) Custard Powder, use 4 T of that instead of the corn starch, with or without the chocolate powder. Bird's Custard is my chicken soup (and -- for you Whovians -- fish fingers are of course optional).  
• Put it (mixed well) in a larger-than-you-think-you'll-need microwave-safe dish and zap it twice, stirring well in between:  2:30 plus 2:30 works in my microwave, 3:00 and 3:00 in others.  If you don't have a microwave, stir it on the stovetop over medium heat until it thickens. 
• For quick bread pudding: Toast two slices of bread, cut it into cubes (or tear it into chunks), let it soak in the uncooked pudding, then cook it all, and there you have it. Add cinnamon and/or soaked raisins if that's your thing. 

Little bits of comfort food -- macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, noodles, custard, "porridge" (oatmeal cooked in milk with brown sugar -- or maple syrup, vanilla and nutmeg) go a long way, even in bite-sized amounts. But definitely when recovering from the surgery, one should for sure eat, definitely for sure walk, and not get food delivered to them if they're capable of getting up and walking to the table to eat a meal or even sample a bit of food.

Oh, and drinking water helps, too. It gives the kidney(s) something to do instead of feeling sorry for themselves, not to mention it makes everything run more smoothly.  And... It gets you up and walking just a little bit more!

Have you actually tried fish fingers with custard?

Even the Scottish girl seemed to think that was strange.

But that list of chemicals in the Abbotts product is much stranger and scarier.

Steve.

Steve.Adam said:

Custard

Have you actually tried fish fingers with custard?

Even the Scottish girl seemed to think that was strange.

But that list of chemicals in the Abbotts product is much stranger and scarier.

Steve.

Can't remember the last time I had any sort of breaded / fried fish product - fish fry, fish sticks, fish fingers, or "fish and." So I've definitely not had the custard combo, although my reaction was similar to the little Scottish girl's reaction.

However, if I ever were to be given the choice of either bottles of Abbott's to chug or fish fingers and custard, I'd choose to be with the Doctor.

I don't do Jello, either. Shortly after my surgery, when they brought The Tray, I picked up the hospital's version of what there's "always room for" and heard myself say, "If they want me to have sugar water, why the @#$& don't they just give me sugar water without all the extra &$*# in it?" Oops. Not my usual way to speak, so I did my best to maintain a lower quieter profile while the effects of the drugs worked their way out of my system. 

And I definitely had lots of tea, although I'd brought my own

Steve.Adam said:

Custard

Have you actually tried fish fingers with custard?

Even the Scottish girl seemed to think that was strange.

But that list of chemicals in the Abbotts product is much stranger and scarier.

Steve.

• Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Sugar, Milk Protein Concentrate, Canola Oil, Soy Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali), Corn Oil.
• Less than 0.5% of: Nonfat Milk, Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate, Cellulose Gel, Natural & Artificial Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Calcium Phosphate, Sodium Citrate, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Cellulose Gum, Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Carrageenan, Potassium Hydroxide, Turmeric, Liquid Sucralose, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Acesulfame Potassium, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Chromium Chloride, Red 3, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Biotin, Sodium Selenate, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Molybdate, Phylloquinone, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D3. 

donna_lee said:

Yikes, I didn't mean to live on Ensure...

or is that why they give it to the old people in care facilities?

Just a thought.

donna-lee

The reasons they give it to people in care facilities is because it takes staff time and effort to provide food that's appetizing in appearance and taste for a variety of diets AND to encourage people to consume it AND to monitor that they have actually eaten it AND to document for each and every person.  Way less time and energy to just nag folks to drink their "milk shakes" as a sort of insurance against them possibly not eating enough. Also, people are more prone to getting decubitus ulcers (bed sores) if their diet is poor, so they push Ensure, just in case.  I know it sounds as if I'm being snarky, but I'm just telling it like I've seen that it (unfortunately) is at many locations. 

I'm not a fan of Ensure, but I have read enough accreditation survey reports where the facility got dinged because their nutritional documentation was definitely not even close to "best practices," so I get what they're trying to do at the care centers with their "milk shakes."  Back in the '70s when Abbott introduced Ensure, it was marketed as something for people who couldn't otherwise eat an adequate diet to not become malnourished. 

That malnourishment thing was then, but this is not 1973.  Nowadays, they're marketing it to seniors (often initially through their physicians as freebie mini bottles) as a way to "Always Be You" (whatever that means), with their website filled with photos of active seniors gardening, dancing in the surf wearing filmy clothes, holding hands with a loved one while gazing out to sea, and doing some serious running.  They even offer recipes using Ensure (Turkey Chili with Cornbread Topping! Artichoke Spinach Dip!) and encourage seniors to take the "One Ensure a day for a healthy change" for 24 days challenge.

Sigh. Life is too short to eat or drink icky stuff. 

Not to mention, if you have a friend or loved one in a care facility, hang out with them and visit at mealtime so they're more prone to eat the real food (Or, better yet -- Do what I do and swing through their favorite drive-thru to get them something that's guaranteed to get eaten all up [subject to their ability to swallow, etc] ).

Jerzy

1. My wife bought me a whole box of the stuff when I first went into surgery in 2013. It still sits, untouched in the pantry. I dont know why she hates me so much.

2. Fish Fingers and Custard. Nah. Eat the fishfingers in a sandwich with chips (fries), pickled onions and tomato ketchup. Have the custard over rhubarb as a dessert (or forget the whole thing and make Tiramisu)

3. LMD828 I assume your husbands gas is getting better. We seem to have got a little distracted.