Out patient surgery prep

Preparing for your spouse to have an out patient surgery is it’s own extra complicated preparation. Usually the appointment is scheduled way farther out than it should be. This means that you get the wonderful opportunity of watching your love be in Horrific pain. I am used to doctors pushing my diagnosis off and scheduling appointments so far in advance knowing he is hurting. My whole life this has been my story for me. Watching the love of your life be treated poorly by the medical system. He has been having attacks since Nov. we brought up the pain to his general practitioner in January and then February we went to the E.R. We still didn’t have an answer and needed more scans so I searched for a GI doctor and did everything I could to get him the sonnets appt. GI doctors are booking out until September, I was able to get him in April 19th. That was still a month from his er visit and this was just a new patient appt. Luckily we had an incredible GI that got all the tests done before we left for the month. We found out he needed surgery in the second week of may and surgery was scheduled for June 5. When it comes to someone else you can’t feel what they are feeling so it’s on them for whenever the pain is bad enough they should stop. I am just spending so much time wondering what he feels like and it breaks my heart. I have been the most irritated about the position I am in when my spouse is sick. I have officially been angry that I couldn’t fix this for him & have been watching him just suffer. I’m on the other side of the pendulum: the caregiver.

On Monday, Mike is had a cholestectomy, his gallbladder removed. I had been waiting so eagerly for this surgery because I am desperate for him to feel better. It distracted me from prepping for it because I was just focused on this is what is going to fix the pain. This is what is supposed to make my husband himself again.

The Thursday before, I realized, wait, oh my goodness, it’s time to get the house prepped for after surgery! I need to go to the grocery store & get the prep medicines! I started thinking through what each hour would look like post op. I am sharing this because of this reason and making sure that everything is linked up and easy to find!

I knew I wanted to make sure we had our bedroom set up for his main sick “spot” but with family coming I am also planning on his sick spot to be in the Livingroom. There are some things I want each spot to have so that if he is there he can reach his essentials without solely relying on me.

I moved our big recliner chair into the bedroom so when we came home that first day he can have some independence since he was sore, he had a hard time getting out of bed & sitting up was hard. I had blankets on the chair and squishmallows to hold against his stomach if he sneezes or coughs. I’m also made sure there was a heating pad in both places. I want each place to be set up really nice for him.

I’m also prepped for a few days of clear liquid diet, very bland, low fat, low sugar diet for the next two weeks. I’m making sure I have things that do different things for your senses, I explain about this in my blog on clear liquid diets. This is my go to list for clear liquids!

Drinks:

White grape juice

Iced unsweetened tea

Water

Coffee

Lemon ginger tea

Ginger ale (if allowed)

Snacking:

Italian ices

Jello

Popsicles

Food:

Chicken bone broth

Beef bone broth

Chicken broth

Sweet tooth

Hard candies

jolly ranchers
Werthers caramel candies

This is what I have been getting for mike when he is on a clear liquid diet, it’s a good example though and pretty close to what mine is. I also got things that will be safe to use as we reintroduce food to his digestive system with. This is plain, bland, low in fat, low in sugar, simple foods. I then got things such as:

Snacks

Animal crackers

Vanilla wafers

Nature valley- oats & honey

Fig Newton bars

Food

Zoup! Chicken- riced cauliflower soup

Zoup! Chicken enchilada

Chicken noodle soups

Yogurt

Special K strawberries

Organic cinnamon harvest wheaties

There are a few goals and each day will come with a new challenge. Our goal for the first few days are: to walk & reintroduce food while managing pain.

I set up two main spots for him post surgery. We have an electric couch that he can lay in and have help getting up. I know he will be quite sore for the first few days. We also have one of our recliners that lays all the way flat and then also sits up so he can feel more independent. I made sure to have heating pads in each spot, along with squishmallows for holding on his stomach, blankets, a pillow, reachable snacks and medicine. I also have a notebook to record what time he took meds & ate, etc. I highly recommend doing this for every surgery. It helps keep everything on track.

Basically, these are the things I bought to prep for a surgery. I plan on just doing a lot of serving and encouraging. My goal is to be there to support, stay on top of the pain, help him reintroduce food to his new digestive system well & heal the best he can.

have you had your gallbladder removed?