Elle Jay

Hi Elle Jay,
Somehow I missed your post after surgery and didn't welcome you properly into the Wrapped Club! I'm glad to hear you made it through surgery and are doing well.

The shoulder pain is mainly due to diaphragm irritation because of surgery, with gas making it a little worse. I found that the more I walked, the better my shoulder felt, and visa versa. Try to get up and walk around as much as you possibly can. I know that pain is really annoying!

Be sure to remember to chew, chew, chew your food, and never swallow anything that doesn't chew to a complete liquid/creamy consistency. I had trouble with anything but overcooked pasta.

Best wishes,
Denise

So its been nearly 3 weeks since surgery and I have hardly updated at all so here goes...

The surgery went really well. I stayed in the hospital for 3 days and went home on deer hunting opener (wasn't sure anyone was going to pick me up since my whole family hunts!). Everything went well at home. My mom and boyfriend took turns staying home with me and making sure I wasn't doing things I wasn't supposed to.

The two weeks I was sore and ate very little but that went away. After my first post-op checkup my doctor let me move into what he called the "second food category" which consisted of cottage cheese, cooked veggies, mashed potatoes, non-pureed soups, etc. At this appointment I was done 13 lbs. and had little energy.

The next week, I was feeling better and stayed home by myself most days. Spent most of my time watching Disney movies and feeling like a kid again. 2nd post-op appointment, doc said everything looked like it was healing properly and allowed me to go back to work. Down 16 lbs but eating more and had more energy. No changes in diet from previous.

This week I am back at work 4-6 hours/day and we finally finished moving out of the old house. I overdid it this weekend helping haul stuff from the old house. We had to move a car that doesn't run and being a farm kid, I jumped up on the trailer and started helping without thinking about it. I've been paying for it for days. Work is exhausting and after 4 hours all I want to do is sleep. I work in an office and do very little physical work but sitting up straight in a chair is so much harder than it sounds!

I was given the ok to drink coffee this week which has been fantastic. I don't think I could have come back to work without being able to drink it! I can only have 1 8 ounce cup a day and haven't even been able to drink half of that but its nice to taste it.

Gas and bloating are getting pretty awful and still don't have regular bathroom habits. I am taking softeners and miralax daily so I'm not sure I want to throw an anti-gas pill in the mix right now... just been dealing with the pain.

I have still been taking Omeprazole since surgery and was told to talk it until I run out of what I have - which will be on Friday so we'll see if the reflux has stopped.

Overall, I feel good and am glad that recovery is easier than expected. Even with this being the only positive place on the internet for this type of surgery, I think I was still extremely worried about something that was a lot easier than expected.

For anyone thinking about having surgery, don't be afraid. If you have a good surgeon and a good support system at home, this isn't nearly as extreme as it sounds.