Food shopping - will I be able to cook after my lap? One week to go

[Katy_in_the_house]

I am planning my post-lap meals! Will I be able to chop veg and stand up or should I make everything in advance and leave it in the fridge?

I'll be on my own from 12 hours after the op.

I've heard peppermint tea helps with the shoulder pain.

[Lulububs]

Hey

Im sorry ur gona b on ur own so soon after lap, i wana come round and feed u!!

I would suggest u make sure u have a cosy place on sofa or in bed where u can get to a toilet and have everything around u. So take loads of snack and drinks up with u.

Food if there no other way of getting it ie bribing someone to cook for u i would def make sure u have some food u can just heat up as i found standing the worse for about 4 days after ur so swollen i felt like my belly was stretching my stitches every time i stood.

Wear nighties and big pants!! There b ur best friend !!

Get loadsa box sets, books and magazines that was i did for about a week.

U should get up and have a mooch every so often though just to keep moving.

Make sure u have some cocodamol or paracetamol by bed. I didnt take painkillers i was ok but u may need them.

Take care of urself, rest and sleep!!!

Peppermint tea or capsules i always take capsules and took one before my lap and after and i never got any of the gas pain everyone talks about so i was very lucky and i ate loads of ginger biscuits and tea so that help with the anaesthetic sicky feeling

[-ALiViA-]

Hiya

After having my lap I’d suggest that you should cut veg in advance.

I was a bit wobbly, dizzy, shaky and sleepy for three days.

I cut some cucumber for my tortoise and it was quite tricky to concentrate on it. (I’m a chef and my slices were not good)

If I’m being honest it didn’t feel particularly safe to use a knife, as I was too weak.

Prep everything as it will only make it easier for you after xx

[-ALiViA- in reply to -ALiViA-]

I’d even put some drinks in the fridge. Some bottles of squash made up ready. So you can just grab when you want x

[Katy_in_the_house in reply to -ALiViA-]

Amazing idea!!

[cmbxm]

I couldn’t stand up long enough to cook after my op, (I’m the main chef in my house) to the point where I ordered a Chinese for dinner the day after my op because I just couldn’t physically stand long enough, I did also meal prep a stew that can be dumped in the slow cooker and a shepherds pie for the freezer all I had to do was take them out and cook them accordingly and dish up, for sure meal prep or be really bad and order a takeaway 🙈

Would 100% suggest making yourself a little ‘pit’ as my mum called it on the sofa, i had pillows, a duvet, a chair from the dining room moved in next to the sofa so I had a sort of table that I then covered in bottled water and iced tea, phone charger, remotes etc, just put everything you think you’ll need in one spot to make life as easy as possible for yourself, not to scare you, but you’re going to feel like shite for a few days 😓

Good luck with your op and I hope your recovery is easy 🤞🏻❤️ x

[Katy_in_the_house in reply to cmbxm]

Thanks! I am going to make myself a proper 'lap pit' as you advise

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Katy_in_the_house]

Love the name! I did this too. Used the duvet from the spare bed so I didn’t have to take it up and downstairs every day.

[Lou887]

Hey

I had my lap 2 weeks ago tomorrow, I too was going to be on my own after 12 hours. I made sure I had soups on and ready meals, I didn’t feel strong enough to cook anything from scratch until about a week after my lap.

You will be very swollen after the lap as others have said it feels like your stretching your stitches. Plenty of fluid is key for your tummy as well as peppermint tea. My cuts are across my tummy rather than on my knicker line so also be prepared with that in case they don’t go on your knicker line as big pants won’t help as you won’t want anything across your tummy.

Hope it goes ok xx

[Katy_in_the_house in reply to Lou887]

Thank you! Well done for getting through it alone after 12 hours you have given me strength! Just bought loads of ready made soups

[Lou887 in reply to Katy_in_the_house]

I had a sore throat for a couple of days and I found yoghurts helped me for some reason. If you want to venture out I did after 5 days but had someone with me which was good as was shattered after 2 hours, so if you have someone about it does do you good to keep moving. Awww glad I have given you some strength, it’s hard but as long everything is not far away you will be ok x

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Lou887]

I wore my usual m and s knickers, they’re the 5 pack minis and they sat below my knickerline so were perfect. I would have found big pants very uncomfortable.

[Lou887 in reply to Lizzielizzielizzie]

Yeah big pants are comfortable in normal circumstances I found mini ones just as comfortable and no problem. I found I couldn’t wear jeans until about 10 days after which was horrible.

[Screechowl]

Am one week post lap and still really struggling- this one was a significant exisision though. One thing that’s helped me is buying a travel kettle - I couldn’t lift a proper one ,the travel one with just one cup of water I can do. Good Luck!

[Lizzielizzielizzie in reply to Screechowl]

You can also just boil a mug of water in the microwave if you have one x

[joolsharding]

I'm recently post lap and yes the shoulder gas pain is immense... i'd advise getting the peppermint oil capsules and drinking the peppermint tea on top. I was in such agony with it, I couldn't even lay down (i.e. in bed) and so stayed on the sofa for at least 3 days, day and night.

[Lizzielizzielizzie]

Chop it in advance or buy pre-chopped frozen. In fact, if you have a freezer and microwave I recommend precooking as many meals as possible so you just have to reheat. It really depends how much you have done, and what, everyone’s recovery is different, but I think it is best to plan for the worst possible scenario! Then you can’t be caught out.

You definitely should not be chopping stuff in the first 48 hours after a general, not even really holding a kettle.