Soft Foods, Stitches & Working Out

I am officially onto "soft foods" - yayyyy!!!!  I have passed my 3 week post-op and am heading into 4 weeks post-op.  According to my post-op information guide from Dr. Almanza, I am now able to introduce the following:

3^rd to 4^th Week Post-Op (Home Soft Diet):

·     Blended meat and poultry (the texture of baby food), soft poached eggs

·     Canned and/or jarred baby foods that are low in sugar and higher in protein (meat and chicken) are acceptable.

·     Low fat cottage cheese, sugar free puddings

·     Unsweetened applesauce, pureed canned peaches (not in syrup), mashed ripe bananas

·     Blended soft cooked vegetables, or overcooked and mashed with a fork

·     Oatmeal, grits, farina

I am naturally very excited about these "new" foods, as I had said before, I am getting tired of having no texture.  I have been enjoying scrambled eggs with some feta cheese and mixed shredded cheese as well as hard boiled eggs made into an egg salad and everything has gone down without any problems - sleevie approves!  I did try canned tuna with regular mayo and it sleevie did not like it....at all.  I'm not sure if it was the mayo or the tuna fish, but I felt like I had swallowed an orange, my stomach/esophagus area felt very, very tight and it was a very long 45 minutes speckled with nausea.  I have switched to non-fat mayo that I have been using in egg salads, but I will not be testing the tuna/mayo mix anytime soon.  Lately I have been eating slow-cooked chicken, tofu, potato, carrot and sweet potato and those have all been approved by sleevie.  As far as the baby food goes.....yeaaaaa, not so much.  I've managed to eat a few teaspoons of pears, but that is all I can manage without gagging and that's just barely.  I can't bring myself to eat the baby food I bought, the thought makes me want to gag and I don't want to trigger sleevie into a full out vomiting session.  I have tired oatmeal, but not really all that much.  One morning I made my usual scrambled egg, oatmeal and a tablespoon of mango for breakfast.  After I had eaten my egg, I enjoyed the mango (mmmmmmm, so good!) and then I had the teeniest little bite of oatmeal and that was it, I was done.

Breakfast - Eggs with cheese (purple), mango (pink) and oatmeal (yellow)

Which brings me to.....I know when sleevie is full!!!!!  This is an exciting discovery for me because I have been preoccupied (and obsessing a little) on figuring out when I am full so I don't overeat (and stretch sleevie).  I have noticed as I start to get full, I begin to burp.  After each burp sleevie gets "tight".  If I continue to eat, things get extremely tight, to the point where it feels like it could be hard to breath (I know it's not, but that is how it feels) and the food seems to sit right where my "adam's apple" is.  Then I endure about 45 minutes of uncomfortable, nausea-filled times.  So there it is, my warning sign is burping - subtle at first then more insistent. 

It has almost been two weeks since I started using the fucidin cream on my incision sites which are looking a lot better.  I think they are taking a longer amount of time to heal, but that could be because I am not getting in enough protein (I'm trying, but it's hard!).  So far so good though.

2 weeks post

3.5 weeks post

3.5 weeks post

2 weeks post

2 weeks post

3.5 weeks post

Working on my fitness

Hit the gym for the first time today and it actually felt really good, mentally, even if it was "just" cardio.  I went on the reclining bike for 30 minutes at a gentle level....level one.  Hey, it was my FIRST day!!!  LOL.  Physically it was ok.  My legs felt a little shaky afterwards,  but as soon as I had breakfast that went away.