Hospital Day 5: Training

16 Sep 2011

I couldn't face the veg broth breakfast today (that was so delicious yesterday) and a cup of peppermint tea. Just had a sip of the tea then poured myself a glass of water instead for breakfast.

By lunchtime my tummy was not feeling so fragile, so when the ubiquitous veg broth arrived I took it all. I must drink plenty of water today, as my last drip was not working and they removed the last drip from my hand (yippee).

Another lady came today and took some blood to see if the indications were OK for discharge. She said 'I need some blood, where can I take it?', 'Next door?' I suggested. Chuckle over she did her Vampira act and said the results would be back later in the afternoon.

I settled down for a nap.

My first really good nap was disturbed after an hour by the same lady who took the blood, to say she had now come to remove the drainage tube connected to my bottom-left wound. She asked me to breath in and hold, and I felt a small tug, exhale, then breathe in again and hold, another small tug and it was out. It felt strange, but not painful.

I am now completely free of all surgical attachments and I can now shower whenever I like. This was a real godsend, as I really felt grubby by this stage, and my hair looked like nothing on earth.

The male nurse came about 1:30pm to change all my dressings. Oh well, I guess I will have to shower tomorrow morning, before my discharge instead.

I then had the interview with the Doctor of Nutrition, this was a hoot! When she came in she wasn't looking at me, she was looking at her notes, 'good afternoon Miss...., Miss.....', 'it was not that kind of surgery' I interjected. Well she howled, and throughout the interview she kept breaking into fits of giggles, and apologising saying she could not get 'it was not that kind of surgery' out of her head. Good thing I didn't tell her my best jokes :)

She explained that my eating would be in three phases:

Phase 1
Three more weeks of liquids only, avoiding carbonated beverages and none containing sugar. Clear broths and thin soups, but steer clear of mushroom soup. When I asked why no mushroom soup she said it was because many patients complained of severe flatulence afterwards. I said, 'well I live alone', and she was off with the giggles again. She also recommended plain yoghurt, but blended with a little apple sauce (the low or sugar-free variety). Protein drinks, some have nice flavours, like strawberry etc. I could also blend Quark until it thinned, and blended bananas as well.
Note: Quark is popular in Germany and is like a cream cheese, but flavoured like yoghurts.

Phase 2
Three to four days of semi-solids. Quark I could eat unblended now, and fruit yoghurts without having to strain the fruit out. Chicken (which breaks down very easily) could also be eaten along with a tablespoon of mashed potato and a vegetable of choice but boiled until very soft.

Phase 3
This was the start of the long term eating habits. Some foods I like I could not have, such as a steak, as beefsteak is very difficult to break down, but ground or minced beef was OK, so cottage pie was OK. No fried eggs, but boiled, poached or scrambled are fine. Pate was fine, but I must check the labels carefully and find the ones with the lowest fat content. Black tea was now permitted, as was light coffee, such as a latte. On cereals, she said try to find the ones with low sugar content (so basically all the Kelloggs brands are out, as they tend to be loaded with sugar). I enquired about chocolate, and she said if I must have some, then only one square.

She also talked about vitamin supplements. She told me that I must daily take 200% of the normal recommended daily allowance (RDA), due to lower absorption. Chewable Centrum multivitamin was good, and I should be tested by my GP twice a year for a couple of years to see if there was any signs of anaemia and if I needed an iron shot. I would also need chewable Calcium + vitamin D3 and I had already found this combination in a product called Calcimagon. B12 was also required, but in the form of a three-monthly jab by my GP.

I was given a five page detailed document on all the above, plus tips on exercise, and a chart on the RDA for all vitamins I needed, and a section containing a table of  Complications, the tell-tale signs, the cause, and how to avoid them.

On the subject of bread she said I could have brown toast, I asked if this was white bread, toasted till it was brown, or that yukky, geeky brown bread toasted? More giggles :)