constipation

Hi LIW,
I'm posting this with hope that if it helps someone it's worth it,
There is always so many post on the post op board regarding constipation and I was lucky enough to have no problems here, my Dr is a very careful and conservative man and he won't let any of his ladies have any solid food for "3" days clear liquid diet only as his reason is that the bowel is slow to wake up after surgery and doesn't process solid food so it builds up and goes hard ( sorry sounds Yucky) I know pain meds are also a factor and we need those, Anyhow hope I'm able to help as I suffered severe constipation pre surgery and since I'm regular as clockwork
Best wishes all
Wendygai

The difference in your case was that you were already suffering from severe constipation before you had surgery. Did you have a condition such as fibroids or endo that caused constipation - thus was alleviated after surgery? In your case a 3 day liquid diet was probably the right thing to do.

Most patients don't need 3 days of a clear diet and many actually do better if solids are introduced within 24 hours, so the best thing to do is listen to your own doctor who has the whole picture regarding a particular patient

Sounds like you're doing great now! best wishes!

Sorry ,I wasn't suggesting not to listen to your own Dr , just different Drs have different ideas , I know after not eating for a while we tend to eat more than we should and can overload a system that's already functioning slowly.
Again I appologise ,just thought our own experiences can help other sisters

Wendygai

I sure wish I would have seen this post preop as I had a terrible time post op with food being introduced before I had good bowel sounds. Asked to be switched back to a liquid diet and things got much better for me. I had endo and adhesions on my bowel, and surgery was 4 hours. No one ever listened to my bowel sounds before food was introduced on Day 2. I paid terribly for that. Great advice. On Day 3 things slowly started waking up. Small meals and lots of walking was what helped.