Prepping for surgery
Hey friends! Today I’m sharing how we navigate prepping for surgery (and detoxing after!)
Last year (2019), I had 3 surgeries. 1 fertility preservation “surgery” to remove 24 eggs from my ovaries (see my horrifying experience HERE), 1 to implant my port for chemo and 1 to remove it!
Anytime you are in a hospital setting your risk of infection increases due to chemical and antibiotic resistance strains of bacteria like C diff. Anytime your skin is broken in a hospital your chance of infection increases a little and if you have a weak immune system it raises yet again.
SO! I am all about being PREPARED and being PROACTIVE. Which means that as Patrick was preparing for umbilical hernia surgery, we set a few basic things in place to support his body through the process.
Pre-surgery
Vitamin D
Low levels of Vitamin D increase your risk of developing post op infection as well as leaving you more susceptible for many other diseases. Patrick recently had some bloodwork done and I encouraged him to get his vitamin D levels checked. I’m glad we did because they were way too low! Just below the conventional bracket, and significantly below what we would prefer for optimal health. Since then we have been supplementing with vitamin D to boost his levels.
Added bonus, Patrick struggled with keeping his blood pressure in a normal range and low vitamin D levels can contribute to that so we are killing two birds with one stone.
Probiotics
Taking probiotics before surgery can improve the outcome and reduce the inflammatory response. Probiotics can also improve your recovery and support your immune system. So obviously, I provided him with a good probiotic :)
Antibacterial
And finally, I recommended a low dose broad spectrum, botanical to support beneficial bacteria, immune response, and kill pathogenic bacteria. A catch all post surgery to keep any bugs he might catch from getting out of control.
Day of surgery
The day of surgery the biggest concern was pain. I am all for modern medicine when it comes to managing pain temporarily, but along with narcotics comes some major constipation as well. So the goal was to get off the pain killers as soon as possible (ended up only being about 24 hours) and get ahead of the poo problem as much as we could.
We used high doses of magnesium (I’m loving this brand), senokot (an herbal laxative) and dried prunes in combination to help in this area. It took about 24 hours, but even prescription laxatives can take 24 hours to kick in so this worked well.
Post surgery
I remember well the discomfort that came after my fertility preservation surgery. Even though the pain diminished within a few days, the general discomfort, feeling of bloat, and sensation of walking with a bunch of rocks wrapped around your lower belly was terrible. This seems to be very similar to how Patrick is describing his recovery.
He was able to move around by himself by Friday (surgery was Thursday) and the pain significantly diminished within 2 days, but the discomfort in his belly made it feel awkward. After about 24 hours on th prescription pain meds he was able to use ibuprofen or curcumin occassionally.
I had planned a trip to Columbus to visit Restore Hyper Wellness on Monday so we could give his body and extra healing boost.
We scheduled a 1 hour hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a vitamin IV.
Vitamin IV
The IV he got was a blend of vitamin C, glutathione, toradol, and proline.
Vitamin C and glutathione are major antioxidants that your body uses for cell repair, immune system health and liver detoxification. One of the ways I like to support the body after things like anesthesia is a mild detox with things like this.
Toradol is an anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen, and delivered in the bloodstream it has a strong effect. He was actually given this in the hospital before we left, and we got another dose at restore.
Finally, we added some proline which is an amino acid that helps with immune system and wound healing!
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has long been used in hospitals for wound healing in more extreme circumstances. Thankfully, it is becoming more accessible for the individual who wants to be really engaged in their health. Hyperbaric oxygen is know well for supporting wound healing but it can also be supportive for neurological healing after brain damage, injury, or even parkinsons.
Results
Happily, Patrick left restore feeling noticeable better. It certainly gave him the extra healing boost we were hoping for. It’s a bummer we don’t live closer as doing some hyperbaric a few days in a row could have really sped things up, but even so, one treatment had him walking out of the building normally. He was less stiff, the brick he described feeling in his stomach was gone, and he was no longer walking slowly.
Ongoing considerations
Patrick is going great! 5 days post surgery he is back to work after a long weekend of rest and recovery. In a few months we may test his poop just to check in on things, but as far as we know all is well! He isn’t supposed to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds for 2 weeks and he’s already flirting with danger by picking up the cat haha.
I hope that this post was helpful and gave you some ideas to support you through any hospital stay or surgical experience you may have in the future!
References:
Probiotics and surgery:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5590023/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5198246/
https://forteelements.com/wp-content/themes/x-forte-elements/assets/pdf/forte-pre-and-post-op-nutrition-white-paper.pdf
Vitamin D:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5356990/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413543/
Hyperbaric Oxygen
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3058327/