water, water, everywhere, but how much to drink?

i am drinking water b/c I know it's healthy, but is it any different after the sx? ie how much should "drink lots of water mean" the normal 8 glasses a day and why are we drinking so much- I get the resting part and the walking part...

.. that the post-oppers are to drink as much water as they can for a few reasons:

1) It will help flush the anesthesia out of your system.

2) Keep you from getting dehydrated.

3) Help push any post-op meds out of your system (pain killers).

4) Help you to flush water out of your system.

I am sure you could drink juice as well.

Amy is right! Also, your body is healing and building new tissue...water is critical! It helps move your bowels...avoiding constipation, which is unpleasant enough under normal conditions, but VERY uncomfortable after surgery! Your bladder also gets handled a great deal during surgery...think of the drinking water/peeing as bladder exercises. Flushing all the stuff out of your body while working your bladder is very helpful to getting it back to normal.

You want everything to be working smoothly and be well lubricated...water is fuel for the machine to heal itself!

Karen

drinking the water does wonders. My urine was brite red immediately following surgery. I would watch the nurses empty it out of my catheter bag and pour it into the toilet. I decided to flush my system out by drinking loads of water. (this in addition to the IV fluids). I appreciated watching the color change from red to its normal tone. You can make a huge contribution to that by drinking the water.

I drank water like a fish when I first came home. It did everything everyone before me said it did. I slowed down on the amount of water I was drinking; but when my water intake slowed down, so did I. I think I'm going to start consuming a lot more! It can't hurt.