What follows may be TMI for many people, but as I know I have readers looking for info on the post-op experience from the BPD-DS, I may get a bit personal!
I had purchased the 60 day DS kit of vitamins and recommended supplements from Vitalady before the surgery, but whenever I tried to take them I threw up. The chewables have gotten me through as I healed but I am trying out the "real" stuff this week. I have 4 packets to take each day, they need to be taken with food in my stomach (I learned that lesson the hard way when I waited too long after dinner to take them the other night.) Since they are capsules and tablets of all sizes and shapes, it does take many, many sips and swallows to get them all down. Difficult to manage. Then comes all the burping and stomach discomfort. Everyone says it gets easier and I am counting on that but I really miss the ease of the chewables!
My doc had me go back to the lab to re-test all the areas where I was low, especially the potassium and I am all good now! In fact, I went in on Saturday morning, sailed through the lab quite quickly, walked over to radiology and lucked into a walk-in appointment for my mammogram. Wow - what a great difference having smaller and less dense breasts makes for that particular annual event!
I am adding (I can't believe I am saying this knowing how hard it is to take all the stuff I am taking now) a pro-biotic to my regimen to try to get my bowels in order. I know that all the diarrhea I have been experiencing is not good for maintaining my good nutrition levels and I have read that the pro-biotics can help. I am not sure what is causing the bowel issues. I keep my dairy pretty low. I am afraid it may be the salads which is sad because I so enjoyed having them. I promised myself I would not have one this week to test it out - so we'll see.
Otherwise, I am tolerating meats much better, I even had some thin slices of rare skirt steak the other night. Eggs still make me gag as do homemade protein drinks. I need to be VERY mindful when I am eating to go slow. I usually violate this when I am eating at my desk at work - I get pain from stomach to throat which feel like the food is stuck. It takes 15-20 minutes to subside. If it happens at home I can lay down which helps.
My portions are still in the 1/2 cup per meal range so I rely on high protein snacks to boost my protein up to the 100 g range each day. I will post some food logs later in the week to show what I am eating and how it all adds up.
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