I had my surgery at 8 a.m. and it lasted about
4 hours (I opted for a permanent ileo). Once I woke up and was with it enough to walk, the nurses encouraged me to take a small lap around my floor that evening. After that, they encouraged me to get out of bed and walk several times a day. It doesn't feel great, but he pain meds make it tolerable. That is why it is so important to keep up on the pain medications. Walking after surgery is good for your lungs, helps prevent blood clots and promotes healing. I never heard anything about
organs sticking together though.
I can't remember when exactly I started eating after surgery. It was as soon as my stoma started outputting... I think a day or so after the operation. My first couple of solid meals in the hospital consisted of things like eggs, oatmeal, muffins, baked potatoes (without the skin), bananas and toast. I remember having a turkey sandwich the first evening and also small amounts of grilled chicken and salmon for a couple of dinners. I have celiac disease too and was surprised that the hospital actually had a decent gluten free menu:). I had no trouble tolerating these foods so soon after the operation. I left the hospital 5 days after my surgery.
Once I got home I ate fairly normally but stuck to low-residue diet for the first 8 weeks. I didn't eat raw veggies, nuts, popcorn etc., but ate most everything else... chewing well and drinking lots of water. I was able to eat chicken, beef and fish, though I would cook beef in the crock pot so that it was tender. If I ate sausage, I would take the casing off. I could eat canned beans and carrots too since they were soft. Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks after my surgery and I remember eating turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. One thing I noticed in the initial months after surgery was that my appetite wasn't the greatest so I kept amounts on the smaller side. Eventually my appetite returned to normal though.
Starting at 8 weeks, I slowly started experimenting with nuts, raw veggies and other fibrous foods a little at a time. Over the course of the year following surgery, I discovered that none of these foods caused me problems, so now I eat just about
everything. Some of the precautions I took after surgery, like peeling casings off of sausage, I no longer have to do. Just be careful in that first 6-8 weeks because your intestines are healing and can be swollen.
The only other issue I had after surgery is that my protein level (albumin) dropped really low. My surgeon had me eat as much protein as possible during that first 6-8 weeks so that my body would heal properly. I drank many whey protein shakes and ate a lot of eggs and meats to get it back up. It took a while, but eventually my numbers returned to normal.
My surgery was on November 8th in 2010:)
Best of luck!
Post Edited (Blueheron) : 10/7/2012 12:32:10 PM (GMT-6)