1) Don't go crazy eating and drinking the week prior to surgery. Keep your meals light and any alcohol consumption low. Overeating or overdrinking will cause the liver to swell which will make surgery more difficult. It's ok to indulge, but don't go overboard.
2) Get some light exercise in every day, even if it's just walking. It will actually help you for when you have to get up and walk after surgery.
3) Hydrate! Make sure you get enough water and electrolytes so your body will be ready for post op. The first 18 or so hours you are only allowed ice chips, not water. Suck the ice chips slowly. Don't chew them and take a spoonful at a time.
4) Clear liquids: the first few days, you are allowed to have broth, popsicles, gatorade, apple juice, even Jello. Pick it up early and have it ready to go before you go to the hospital. If you have company coming in to help you post op, make sure they have everything they will need as well.
5) Recruit friends to be ready to help. Make sure they understand what you might need and have them waiting in the wings if you need assistance. Make sure you have contact info for all of them in advance and make sure anyone staying with you has access to that info.
6) Doctor's information: Make sure you have your regular doctor's number, the surgeon's number, and anybody else that you might need for emergency contact easily available, and I do not mean on your phone. Write it down.
7) Pain meds. This is a painful surgery. Don't think you're tough enough to go without the meds. Fill the prescription and be ready to use it. I really only needed it to be able to sleep, but everyone is different.
8) Protein shots: Get yourself stocked up and use these. The clear protein shots count as clear liquids and if you boost your protein levels, you will heal faster. Shoot for a minimum of 90g of protein per day. More if you can do it. I was doing 130g of protein when I was healing.
9) Emotions will be all over the place immediately after surgery. Make sure you have someone you can talk to and that you trust implicitly. This person should understand you as well as you understand yourself. Better, if you have that kind of person in your life. They should be able to listen and talk with you without offering advice. Someone that cares enough to just listen and be there when you need them to be. If they have had the surgery as well, that's all the better. They will have a better understanding of what you will be going through.
10) Get out, have some fun, and relax while you can. The healing takes a while and you're not going to be yourself immediately. It takes about a month to regain your strength to where you really feel like yourself again.
For all of you getting ready for your surgery, good luck. For those who have had the surgery already, you know where I'm coming from with all of this.
Do Svidanja!
No comments:
Post a Comment