Eating

[Snoopy]

  I know this topic has popped up here and there in people's reports on their experiences, but I'd like some more systematic information.
  Granting that everybody's different: 

1)what were people's experiences with eating before/after surgery?

2)how long before surgery did you stop eating/drinking?

3)what foods worked well/poorly before and after surgery?

           Thanks, Snoopy

[sherri]

most surgeons require you to be on a liquid diet 24 hours prior to surgery which means, clear liquids (no coffee) like clear broth, water, jello or things like that. Some make you do a bowel prep but thank goodness I didn't have to. Then you have to be NPO (nothing by mouth) twelve hours before surgery.

I could not eat at all post surgery. I just had this full feeling and food was not appealing. I think it's from the gas they use to inflate the stomach. My bowels were also shifted in order to get to the kidney so it takes time for them to feel normal again. I did make sure to drink a lot post surgery and stay well hydrated. I ate small bits of food. Soft things like yogurt and pudding was good. I found I had a dry cough or scratchiness in my throat for about a week to ten days post surgery. I think it was irritation from the breathing tube. If I ate anything dry it made me choke. After about three weeks my appetite returned slowly. The scale never looked so good and I wish I could get to that number again but I'd probably have to have another body part removed surgically for that. So don't plan on partaking in full holiday meals after surgery. I ate little tastes at Thanksgiving dinner.

I also ate fiber filled foods, like prunes and dried fruit. Coffee does tend to be a bowel stimulant for me so that it helpful to get your bowels back in working order. A lot of donors complain of GI problems post surgery. They will give you stool softeners. I felt like if I pushed on my abdominal muscles I would rip apart. The opioids will also constipate you so the stool softeners help. Suppositories are good to have on hand as well.

Good luck.

Sherri

[Orchidlady]

Pre surgery was actually pretty easy for me. They had no restrictions on what you could eat. My surgery was the first thing in the morning (6AM) so no eating or drinking after 10PM at night. I had actually brought a couple snacks with me to the hospital so I did water and a snack about 9:30 that night. No bowel prep - the surgeon's comment was that they did not believe it added any value to the surgery, and that they already put donors through enough without having them go through that. Interestingly enough, my husband's guidelines and instructions were the same.

 After the fact, when I thought about it, this kind of made sense. There were two things they all asked afterwards when anyone came in the room - "HAve you had a bowel movement?" and "Can I see your incision (I flipped that gown up more often than a Vegas stripper!)". If you have had nothing to eat, and nothing in your stomach - how are you going to have a bowel movement??

Like Sherri, I did not have an appetite afterwards. I was pretty much out of it the first day, Tuesday, so did not eat at all. Where I was at, they brought in your meals at regular times rather than the ala carte that some hospitals do now. I noticed that it was the nurse who picked up my tray and looked at it. Plus they had the "hat" in the toilet (catheter was taken out that morning) so I knew then they were watching my output and my eating. So even though I wasn't hungry, I made sure to eat something - I was afraid if I didn't it might compromise me going home (stupid thought, but I was still under the after effects of anesthesia). Like Sherri, soft foods like applesauce, yogurt or scrambled eggs were the most appealing. I also always ate any fruit or vegetables on the plate. Coffee seemed heavenly for some reason so I always drank that, but milk just wasn't appealing. My appetite was back by Saturday when we were released to go home. In fact, my husband's sister and brother picked us hope for the 2 hour drive home - I was hungry enough by that time, I almost asked her to drive through McDonalds for a double cheeseburger!

We were eating pretty healthy before surgery, so once home we continued with good eating habits. I was not using pain meds, only tylenol, so I never had any bowel issues - even in the hospital. In fact, they had to stop the stool softeners because I was having quite the opposite problem with very loose stools.

Good luck. I am sure others will chime in with more helpful hints!

[Jewels]

Great topic, Snoopy!  It seems just like the incisions are very different across surgeons, so are pre-op eating/prep instructions.  Pre-surgery I had the opportunity to meet with a recent donor and her words of wisdom to me was to do a bowl prep.  Her surgeon did not have her do anything and she suffered for days after surgery because she was so constipated, yet her bowels were not empty.

I was put on a liquid diet the day before (Thursday) so no coffee (I started weaning myself the week before so I wasn't a raging lunatic), only broth, jello, clear juice...Italian Ice was the best - felt kind of filling.  That afternoon I drank magnesium citrate (I do NOT recommend cherry flavor...will never eat anything red again...yuck!)  It took awhile for that to work, but boy, did it ever once it kicked in that evening!  While I was in pre-op the next morning for a couple hours I was still running to the bathroom! 

Really - it wasn't that bad and I think I am glad I came out of surgery "empty."  Although, as Orchidlady mentions, the big question they ask, and for me it was criteria to go home, was either "have you had a bowel movement or have you passed gas."  It took me until Tuesday to "pass gas" (they are so polite! one doctor poked his head in once and said - hey, have you farted?  I thought was great.)  My absolute favorite thing to eat for the 24 hours after surgery were ice chips!  Yum - so soothing for the driest mouth ever.  I would have been happy sticking with ice chips as I had zero appetite.  Because I wanted to go home I ate a little broth, jello (no red!) and italian ice.  By Sunday they said I could have solid food.  Since I had no appetite it was hard but was able to eat things like grilled cheese, toast, applesauce.  I was very nauseous, I think the anti-nausea meds were what allowed me to be able to eat anything.

Once I got home I had zero appetite and I was nauseous all the time.  I stopped taking the pain meds because I thought that was causing it. Stool softeners are a must, along with the prunes and dried apricots (which I can't seem to eat any longer as I associate it with the nausea I had.)  But...be careful not to over-do the stool softeners as they will kick in!  10 days post-op I was so sick and nauseous my surgeon had me come into the ER for chest x-ray - there was still a large amount of "free air" from surgery and that was causing me to feel so sick.  I also had lingering shoulder and chest pain from the air.  CAT scan was next to make sure there was no new free air being caused from some kind of leak.  That was scary as the thought of emergency surgery didn't sound so good.  Thank goodness it was just leftover air. I had to spend the night to be monitored and get re-hydrated.  At least I knew most of the nurses and they welcomed me back with open arms.

Finally, a little over 2 weeks later I actually felt hungry.  At about 3 weeks I could eat more normal amounts of food.  It was probably 4 weeks until my bowels were acting normal again (I never realized how much to appreciate this!)  Loosing 14 pounds was nice...still have kept off about 10 of it and it seems to be my new "normal."

Wow - sorry this is so long...at least on this site we know there is never "too much information!"

Good luck!!
Julie

[dodger]

I pretty much agree with all the above.  My taste and smell was really messed up for about a month.  Still don't drink coffee, and I was a coffee hound, and don't miss it either.  Was very nausious for several days to a week.  No food or liquid after midnight, took the bowel prep.  Surgery wasn't until noon and then ran late so was getting dehydrated and really hungry by the time the IV's went in.  I just couldn't eat hardly anything, or drink after surgery.  I had gas and little else, I found that probiotics worked best for me instead of anything else I took.  It took until about a month later for my appetite to be closer to normal.

I had really wondered what I had gotten myself into more than once, haha

One thing no one else has mention, I was very burpy every time I ate and drank, even water, for at least 4-5 months.  I had never been that way before and now 6 months later it has subsided.

I recently had some other surgery, not abdominal, but with general and a breathing tube, that was about 3 hours long.  I had different anesthetic with the patch behind the ear, what a difference.  I was eating and drinking right away.  No bowel prep, stopped eating at midnight, but ate light the 24 hours previous, but could still drink until 4 a.m. with surgery at 8 a.m.  It was a night and day different experience.  I ate light for the following few days.

I had a lot of anxiety from the March surgery going into this last surgery as I was dreading the recovery.  So, if you talk to the surgeon, and anesthesologist about recovery concerns, you hopefully can feel better than I did after that first day at least.

Best wishes,  Janice

[rdr321]

After surgery I did not have too much problem.  Before the surgery I think they told me wrong or I misunderstood. Because I did not eat anything for about 36 hours before I went to the hospital. 12 hours before I went to the hospital they told me to drink something I forget the name maybe magnisium citrate. It made me blow out everything (out my butt)and then some. By the time of surgery. I had not eaten anything in about 50 hours. The nurses at the hospital asked me why I did not eat for so long. I thought I was not supposed to. I did not want to eat anything for 2 days after sugery. I only had nasea once and I got the nurse to give me medicine right away. On the third day I could not put enouph food in my mouth. My stomach had shrunk and I could not fit very much at a time. At the hopital you could order what you wanted. I ordered plain rice, plain veges and Ice cream. In the morning I ordered pancakes and Ice cream. I did not want anything spicy. The first week and a half home I could not stop eating. My body was craving. Especially chocolate ice cream. I was not sensitive to foods after the 4th day like I have heard others say.
   My diet before and after is vegitatian. mostly Brown rice, sweet potatoes, vegies, tofu, seasame seed butter, and chocolate ice cream one day aweek
   Rick

[shelley]

Reading others' responses, I'm thinking I was more on the nausea end of the spectrum.  Tremendous nausea post-surgery, and the only foods I could manage were broth or soda crackers.  This kept up for 5 days or so, then let up enough so I could have small portions of stuff, which I felt obligated to try to be high in fiber:  bran cereal, prunes, nectarines, whole grain bread, oatmeal.  Plus as much water as I could handle.  I stopped taking pain meds on the 2nd day because I thought they were the cause of the nausea.

Just when I thought I was coming out of the woods nausea-wise, it all started again worse than before.  The reason was that I had gotten a urinary tract infection.  About 10 days after surgery I was back to soda crackers and water, which lasted about 4 days and then got better.

Once I could eat again, I ate small portions of high fiber foods like before, but still had 8 days of constipation before a suppository fixed me right up. 

I guess what I'd say to someone with extreme nausea is: don't freak out; soda crackers, apple juice and broth and hang in there, it gets better.

[Snoopy]

  Thanks for everybody for their helpful, informative posts.
  As I posted in another thread, one of the anaesthesiologists today told me that--unlike what most posters seem to have been told--I needed to fast only for 6 hours before the surgery, and could drink (water only) for up to 2 hours pre-op.  I wonder if this relates to the fact that my surgery is scheduled for the day after a 25-hour Yom Kippur fast?  I'm planning to break my fast with lots of water and easily-digested foods, such as an omelette. 
  When I met a surgeon today, I asked him if there were any "do's or don'ts" foods for before the surgery, and he said no.
  Tomorrow, I'm going to buy prunes, dried apricots, prune juice, and applesauce to take to the hospital for after surgery.
   Finally, I am very pleased to report that my BMI is now 30.0, precisely where I was told to get it.
             Thanks again, and be well, Snoopy

[Fr Pat]

Dear Snoopy,
       From what I have read here and there, it seems that there is an honest difference of opinion among good surgeons/hospitals about what food/drink restrictions should be required before different types of surgery. Some seem to put a lot of emphasis on having the digestive tract as empty as possible before surgery, while others seem to believe that the possible benefits are not worth the inconvenience to the patient. So I would tend to trust and follow whatever your surgeon/anesthesiologist recommends.
   best wishes,
      Fr. Pat

[lawphi]

I had minimal nausea, which was cured with burping or closing my eyes the first few hours post surgery.  I think the 24 hour clear liquid is key.  I ate a lot of sorbet without pulp, as it tricked my stomach into thinking it was full and ending any hunger pain. 

A week before the surgery, I ate lots of greens and lean protein.  My final meal was greek yogurt and fruit, as it would have to sit in my stomach until everything got going. 

I had liquids the night of my surgery and did fine.  Cheese grits and croissants were my first meal the next morning.  I had a club sandwich for lunch and salmon for dinner. 

I would highly recommend eating prunes once cleared for soft foods.  I found them to instantly comfort my stomach.   

[bergstromtori]

I had my surgery on a Tuesday.  The day before I could eat until 5:00 pm and then I took the bowel prep.  I was also told no liquids after midnight.  My surgery was scheduled for 7:00 am but was pushed back to 9:00 am.  The empty feeling really didn't bother me. 

I have a sensitive digestive system and have been diagnosed with IBS.  Turns out the IBS is a diary allergy and I am usually fine as long as I stary away from ALL diary.   I had a lot of nausea problems on the Wednesday which was taken care of with Zofran.   I had only ice chips for three days and finally had clear liquid on Friday.  Saturday morning I was able to have full liquid, but that was mostly dairy so I had a soy boost and a V8. 

Saturday evening I was released from the hospital.  I ate very small meals for the next couple of days.  Now, five weeks post op, my diet is back to normal.  I eat a little less than I did previously.  I dropped 8 pounds in the first two weeks, but have stayed the same since.

Very excited to get back to a good exercise regime next week!  Swimming pool here I come.

[Snoopy]

  Well, now that I'm on the other side, I can report on my experiences with eating.
  After breaking the Yom Kippur fast Sat. night with an omelete and rolls, I went to the hospital.  My surgery was scheduled for Sunday at 2 pm (to allow my "partner" time for a last, heavy-duty dialysis treatment), and they told me to eat just before 8 am, which would be just before the 6 hour pre-surgical limit.  When I said, "Oh, whatever, I'll just fast overnight and continue like that into surgery", the nurse said firmly, "No, that's too long. We want you to eat at least something before 8".  Since the breakfast tray arrived after 8, it's lucky that a small slice of pound cake providentially happened to come my way just before 8.
  On Monday, the first day after surgery, I ate some of the dried apricots and (unsweetened) applesauce I'd brought to the hospital (along with lots of prunes), and later drank a very small glass of prune juice.  This was in response to countless posts about prunes helping avoid constipation.
  But in the end, my stomach was sort of apathetic about the whole business.  No constipation, no gas pains.  Actually, if anything I ended up with a situation better suited to bananas or rice, but what the heck.   I don't know whether having avoided the bowel prep had anything to do with missing out on the constipation, but in any case I'm happy with how things turned out.
  By the way, after surgery nobody on the staff ever asked me a single question about any aspect of digestion.  Certainly, it had nothing to do with my getting out of the hospital.
  Finally, my discharge letter notes that my glucose went from 84 mg/dl on the morning of the surgery to 110 on the morning after (normal:  70-100), which I assume is due to the dried fruit I ate in trying to avoid the constipation.
  Since I came home, I've been eating more normally.  I'm never actually hungry, but I can eat when I have to.  I'm paying a lot of attention to drinking enough water, and to avoiding foods high in sodium (ie, I've cut tons of foods out of my diet).
  Your mileage may vary.
     Be well, Snoopy
 

[bergstromtori]

Wow Snoopy,
I can't believe how different our recoveries were.  Both the plastic surgeon and the transplant team were really concerned with my stomach being empty and with me not getting solid food for three days.  Geez, maybe there should be some sort of national forum to figure out what is the right answer?
Thanks for sharing and congratulations!