I just put up the following on the Post Op forum, so excuse any redundancies. The following information was so helpful to me that I want it recorded in my permanent journal.
I just got off the phone with a very dear friend of mine who is a natural Healer. She is studying for her pharmacy degree, but has long been knowledgeable in homeopathic medicine as well. I always call her when I have a health question and she is always able to soothingly offer advice and explanations for why things are the way they are...
Anyhow, my wonderful friend explained some things to me that I didn't understand about surgery & anesthesia and the healing process. Some of you may already know this, but I didn't, and having this newfound information is such a relief to me that I wanted to share it with my Hystersisters.
When the anesthesiologist puts us under, essentially what happens is that all of the nerve endings stop sending signals to one another. Because of this, our brain doesn't automatically understand what has happened at the surgical site. The bowels, which under normal circumstances are constantly chugging, are also temporarily unaware of what is happening. The bladder is not able to utilize the muscles that enable urination, which is why a catheter is necessary. All of the nerve endings are reconnected again after surgery, and need to send the proper signals to the muscles and organs to ensure that they do their jobs properly and in coordination with one another. This is the reason why all the nurses and doctors are so obsessed with whether or not we are "making gas" and urinating after surgery. This is also one of the reasons why gas is painful and BMs can be excruciating (other reasons might be because the bowels were operated on, moved, or, in a laprascopic surgery, gasses are pumped into the abdomen).
As we recover, our bodies not only have to internally heal from all of the sutures, stitches and surgical procedures, but the surrounding organs need to begin their normal processes again in a new environment (things are now missing or are "changed" and are swollen because of that). The bowels need to rev up again and the bladder is irritated from the use of the catheter (and possibly being moved during surgery). This takes TIME. This is why our doctors tell us a minimum of 6-8 weeks recovery, and even longer to feel completely up to par.
All these reasons are why we need to be especially kind to ourselves during our time of healing. We need to be gentle and not push ourselves beyond our capabilities or expect to feel better right away (or, even if we do feel better right away, why we need to make sure we continue to take it easy). We not only need to drink plenty of fluids, but we need to eat healthy foods. Diet, age, weight and general health will all affect our recovery. My DH pointed out to me yesterday that as long as I am on pain medication I cannot accurately listen to my body's signals (of course we will feel better with pain medication). When our bodies need no pain medication to get through the day is when we know that we can trust what we are feeling.
My dear friend also recommended several things to help soothe the digestive process, naturally and gently. Some of these are as follows:
1. drinking several cups of hot decaffeinated or herbal tea a day (the warmth helps stimulate the bowels)
2. drinking several glasses of water per day
3. eating a salad a few times a day (lettuce has benefits even apples don't have)
4. using different homeopathic remedies to aid your recovery (this of course should be discussed with your doctor, but, generally speaking, I've never had a doctor object to my use of homeopathy and I have had several doctors encourage it). The ones my friend recommended to me are arnica montana, and staphysagria (not to be taken together). She also recommended something called Liquid Liver by Enzymatic Therapy.
Some other things that have helped me are eating soft foods (I love jello), eating a few apples a day (I slice them up without the skins and sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on them), eating high fiber foods like hot oat bran, and drinking metamucil once or twice a day (I personally found gas pills to be too invasive and painful). I also try to avoid foods that are high in fat, as these are harder to digest, though I do indulge in the occasional cupcake and toaster strudel .
All of this information helped me understand the healing process more fully. I hope that someone else might glean a bit of knowledge that is useful to them as well.
Good luck to all my Hystersisters, and may you have a happy, healthy recovery!
s ~ Clementine
P.S. Where is everybody today? Is everyone out enjoying the beautiful weather while I lay abed?
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