Hi everyone! I have a question re. staying on the plan while having surgery. I am scheduled for a hysterectomy with bladder lift June 7. I will have to stay in the hospital for 5 days and will be laid up for 6-8 weeks. My hubby has already agreed to make all my meals and bring them to me at the hospital. Has anyone else stayed on plan while undergoing major surgery and extended hospital stay. Any suggestions, tips and hints you can offer? What about the iv - don't they use "sugar water" in them? How/what do I tell the hospital so they don't give me a hard time? Yikes, I am freaking out a bit! Help!!!

Last year I had two separate foot sugeries. Each surgery meant that I had to be on crutches for 4 weeks. The surgeries were done back to back, and my husband and I took a vacation in between them. I too was concerned about gaining back some of the pounds I had lost. I thought I would just aim for maintenance, but I actually ended up losing about another 5 pounds over the 3 month recoup. It was VERY important to me to not use the surgeries as a reason to gain. At first I did not feel very hungry due to the pain meds and the lowered activity. I stuck to my meal plan, but allowed myself a few treats occasionally. I make jewelry, so I kept busy working on some new designs (busy hands help with the munchies). I looked at the surgeries as just one more step to the new me! I have also had a hysterectomy and recall that after 3 weeks, I was able to do quite a bit of walking. I also felt like a new person after my hysterectomy --- it was so liberating to not have T0M!
Congratulations to you on losing 64 pounds! I know you will in time come out of this feeling great and ready to reach your goals! I'll be looking for your posts!

Have you talked to your IP coach or dr about this yet? I personally would consider not doing the IP while I healed. Your body needs complete nutrition following surgery, IMHO. I know that following surgery your body will need more zinc, vita A, C, E, selenium and L-glutamine just to restore the cut cell structure and keep your immunity high for healing. Our diet can seriously impact all of those.

What do they give diabetics in their IV? Maybe they can do the same for you??

Generally they give normal saline through an IV depending on your hydration status. They would give some sort of dextrose if they were trying to "pull" water from your cells. If there is any weight gain it would probably be from having your fluids run fast during surgery. That's typical. After a few days you should be getting rid of all the excess water through your urine.

That is awesome about your husband bringing your foods to the hospital, what a guy

I would ask the doctor about the diet that you are on and make sure it will be able to be followed during recovery. Wound healing relies on protein which you may be getting enough of but a multi-vitamin wouldn't hurt if your not already taking one.

thank you everyone for the feedback! I spoke with my coach and dr who both stated that bringing in my own food should not be a problem. Sometimes people have some food restricitions that the hospital can't possibly accomodate. I have to talk to the hospital staff about possibly only using saline in my iv rather then glucose, or using a diabetic-type replacement. As well, I can continue to eat the food as I have been eating, because it is actually a healthy diet - combined with the multitude of vitamins and supplements I take daily! I am so excited about this new chapter in my life! I fluctuate between happy, scared, angry, sad, then happy and excited again! lol! But mostly I am feeling happy and excited! Hoping that if I work through all these emotions now, I won't go overboard after the fact! lol!