Abscess repair surgery 2 weeks ago

My husband had a ileostomy one year ago due to UC and perf, lots of commplications septic shock etc. He had an ongoing abdominal abscess that would not resolve thru perc draining, this went on for almost a year while he got strong enough to have surgery. 2 weeks ago he had a 3.5 hour open surgery to see what was wrong, they found 2 pin hole perfs in his small bowel which were resectioned and repaired and also a tiny abscess on his stomach, this abscess was removed. He had a large insisional hernia and lots of scare tissue on his belly, muscles were all unattached and bunched on either side of his belly. This was repaired as well. Surgery went really well and he came thru is strong. His RBC is low again though even with iron infusions prior to surgery.

Here is my question: he had a morphine epidural for 3 days after surgery, he was in hospital 7 days total, he came out of hosiptial feeling and sounding very strong, now a week later he is loosing his appetite some, has a slight pain right side when he takes deep breath and just doesnt seem as well. He is not needing any pain meds nor does he have a temp. We thought maybe he got dehydrated after hospital, he usually needs and takes quite bit of salt on a daily basis and missed that for quite a dew days, does this sound right? Do you think the morphine gave him quite a high and would it last in his system after if was stopped?

What is normal for one to feel after a major abdominal surgery? thanks

thanks Cathy.

the concern though it that the first week after surgery he was and appeared stronger and hungrier than he does now. If he was like that way all along we wouldnt think too much more about it other than just normal recovery. so that is why I wondered if the morphine over 3days made him feel really quite good and now this is more normal. Does that make sense?

He is out walking every day not far but out and yesterday he went out for a short drive.

thank you. Yes he said his output is liquid however not frequent running to empty, ie normal amount of output but liquid.

He has upped his salt intake back to the what he took prior to surgery and says he is feeling better today. B12 was not checked since spring, it was fine then. His Furetin sp (iron) though was very low and that is why he had 2 infusions prior to surgery. They told him to have it checked again in 4-6 months.

He spoke to his surgeon and she said she needs blood work to diagnose, suggested waiting a couple of days to see if there is improvement.

What is normal for 2 weeks after this type of surgery? He is not needed any pain meds, sleeping well. His voice gets quite weak though off and on and this plus irritability caused us concern which is why we thought dehydration.