hmmmm...

[cinda575]

I was not on a diet in the hospital but was sent home with the low salt/ low fat info and i asked my nurse about it and they said to follow the diet at home because after surgery while you have to wear those TED hose and while your chest and abdomen are swollen due to the abuse it endured, salt makes you retain water and you keep more weight on you until you start healing and the swelling goes down.

 

[fisher6476]

I was sent home with same low fat, low salt talk. I think it is standard stuff for heart patients. I asked the dietician about it and was told about fluid retention and weight control etc. Then one of ther nurses who cared for me the most came in and said "the low salt, low fat stuff is important, but it is more important for you to eat well after surgery to help build your strength and to help you recover. I jokingly asked her if that meant trail bologna and hot pepper cheese was still on the menu.

Quite seriously she replied that she would rather see me eat that, as opposed to not eating well because of poor tasting food!
What this all means to me is that i am going to more aware of my salt and fat intake, but I am not going to drive myself crazy about it!
By the way, I remember people telling me that I would have to wear the TED stockings but I never did get any!
Steve

 

[Ross]

Man Steve you missed out on some fun. Those stockings make you look like a goof and to be honest, I don't think they're good for much. I have some Jobst stockings that are much more constricting then those Tet hose are and they actually feel good to wear. No matter what though, neither are fun to put on by yourself. For me, it was impossible.

 

[JimL]

I'm sure I was told things about low salt and low fat diet. There is much confusion between valve replacement and artery bypasses. They are completely different, with different causes and different solutions. Even though my arteries are all clear, even though my cholesterol is low, I was still given diet and advice as if I had had bypasses.
I was told not to go out in the cold, which is excellent advice for those with bypasses, but has nothing to do with valve replacement.

I think low salt and low fat is good for anyone. We who have been through OHS will naturally be more heart healthy.

 

[hensylee]

I wasn't given a diet list - but we all know that we should not overdo the salt and fats - look at America! In a restaurant, how many people will you see that add salt before tasting! My brother is in assisted living and they are spare with the salt in the meals they serve - and every meal I eat there, you can see those shakers just a'goin the moment their food is put on the table. Mother once had a dr from India and his by-word was 'no sot - no sot'. He said they don't even use it in India (just those hot spices).

ps - mine was bypasses.

 

[Karlynn]

I think hospitals automatically place anyone who's chart mentions the word "heart" on low salt/low fat diets. One time when I was in the hospital I was on it, my BP was 90/60, the doctor came in while I was eating a meal, looked at my tray and said "Why in hell do they have you on a low salt diet!". But I will say that low salt after OHS because of fluid retention isn't a bad thing.

Being a lower carb eater, I'll do my usual caution on how you eat "low fat". If you are comprising your meal of carbohydrates to get you "full" because the low fat isn't filling you up, you'll gain weight as well. Unused carbs turn into fat. So be careful with the bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, all the "white" stuff.

I won't get on my soap box, I'll just say that the American Heart Association hasn't caught on yet to how fat the low fat diet is making people.

 

[Nancy]

To put support hose on easily (?) put on some surgical gloves or rubber dish gloves. They make it easier to get a grip, then scrunch them down and put the toes in first, pull it over the heel and keep inching them on until you get to the ankle area, then pull them up as far as they'll go, and then start inching them up slowly from the ankle area, stretching them out as you go. The gloves make it easyto get a grip on the material so you can pull on them without snagging.

Joe had some thigh-high ones. What an absolute nightmare!

 

[Raverlaw]

Hosed?

Hosed?

Support hose?

What's the deal on those? I thought we were supposed to be up and walking around after surgery.

I had an emergency appendectomy last year (I know, I'm not supposed to get that at MY age ) and while I was in the hospital they put these air-driven cuffs on each leg which "massaged" my legs to keep me from getting clots from lying down. But that was because I couldn't walk for about two days.

I hated those cuffs. The massage didn't feel that great after a while, and they kept me from even laying on my side comfortably. At night the massaging kept me awake sometimes.

One important lesson I learned from that experience (my only adult hospitalization so far) is not to be shy about asking for sleep meds. Hospitals are noisy and disruptive places. They wake you up all the time to do BP readings and take blood, and you can't sleep without a knock-out pill.

I'm not looking forward to being there again, although I'm sure the care in the CVICU will be a lot better than it was out there in the general wards.

 

[cinda575]

those support hose are impossible to put on by yourself, especially when you cant bend over because your chest is cracked in two and wired back. but i still wear mine at home because they say for the first month your home to continue wearing them.

 

[MarciaB]

They didn't send me home with a special diet or hose, but I sure was bloated around the middle. I dropped 11 pounds in a couple of days after being home about three days. Boy, did I feel better! The hospital food was very high in simple carbohydrates, and if you got hungry between meals, all the nurses had was juice or sherbert. I notice that I retain water more from carbs than salt. I sure wish the Heart folks would re-evaluate their recommendations. My dad has had a one heart attack and he won't even think about a low carb diet. He's a real bread and jam guy. too.

 

[Heather Fisher]

I didn't get sent home with a special diet either. I had plenty of salt on my tray at the hospital and even though I didn't eat anything I came home a good 20 lbs heavier. A little bit of lasix took care of that!!

Heahter

 

[Karlynn]

Marcia,
I can tell when I've had too many carbs because I wake up in the morning and my fingers are swollen, and my eyes are really puffy. Salt doesn't do that to me either.