Day 49 post-op.
Dinner last night: part of my Wife’s pie
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Rain: 0
This will be my last daily post, as from here on I will post weekly on a Monday.
Today it is 7 weeks since I had entered hospital to be operated on.
I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) which is a major surgery performed on the stomach, to surgically remove a large portion (approximately 80%) of the stomach and to create a ‘sleeve’ with the remaining portion.
Recovery was initially quite rough – particularly when I was in hospital – but healing commenced gradually once I was discharged on day three, although I still found the first two or three weeks quite challenging.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, with some instances of unexplained pain in the soft area under my left ribs.
I have been attending Dietician appointments every two weeks since right before surgery, and she has guided me through the various post operative dietary stages of: clear liquids, free liquids, purée, soft foods and now moving towards incorporating normal foods back into my diet – with the emphasis being on a high protein menu.
I have been having better results this week with eating more normal foods – rather than the pureed food – and now seem to be able to have between four and six ‘mouthfuls’ of a meal, instead of just 2 teaspoons full.
Today is also the day for my telehealth review with my Surgeon.
Unlike every other telehealth appointment that I’ve ever had, he doesn’t designate an actual time, just calls whenever he “has time” – which does not thrill me a whole lot I gotta say!
He ended up calling at 5:47pm.
We discussed how my recovery was going, the intermittent pain I was having, and how my eating plan is going.
Curiously enough, he didn’t ask how my weight was going.
He said that he thinks to investigate the pain – as well as the liver lesions he saw during doing the surgery – that I will need to have another CT scan with contrast to investigate the pain area, and for the liver either an ultrasound or an MRI, depending on what he thinks after re-reviewing his surgical notes.
He wants to do another follow-up in 6 weeks to go through how I am feeling then, and also to review the results of the further testing.
Apparently his Receptionist will send me the forms I need, so hopefully I won’t have to chase them up to get them…
