Hi girls,

I had my surgery with Dr. Kim this morning. It seems to have gone well, Although I had an additional procdure, simultaneously, to correct some scarring- possibly caused by some voice abuse.

I was meant to have my operation tomorrow, but Jessi asked me if I didn't mind having it a day earlier, and I agreed.

I woke up this morning with a sore thoat-like pain, was offered some ice cream a bit later and then four hours after that I had some beef soup. I am now lying down in my hotel room feeling extremely relieved as I'm absolutely terrified of needles and blood!!

I would like to ask those who had vfs surgery, what helped you with avoiding to caugh due to flem? And what foods did you have post surgery?

Thanks

Rita

I would lean forward and breath out fast to clear the accumulation. It's not as good as a cough but it's better than nothing. The other trick was to keep ice water with a straw in it. every few minutes, I would take a sip, warm it in my mouth for a few seconds and then swallow it. Done correctly you will find yourself running to the bathroom often.

You should have been given cough medicine. If so and you need it, uses it according to instructions. The first week is critical but if you make a small mistake, don't worry about it. The biggest thing you want to avoid is a coughing fit because that is hard on the surgical site.

Dairy, chocolate and spicy food are best avoided. Because of the way my mouth was beat up on the inside, I tended to go for soft food or soup when possible. Tea, soup or warm liquids may also feel good at first. You don't need to eat a bland diet but stay away from the exciting food for now.

Thanks for the advice, Dena, but I was told to avoid tea for two.mobths at all costs as it contains cafeine. I was given some antibiotics but no anti-inflamatories. I have bought some ibuprofan with me, anyway.

Rita

When I went to yeson, I drank a lot of bottled water. That helped me avoid coughing. I also opened my mouth wide and gently went "hhhhhhhh" to clear out the phlegm.

Seems to have worked as I didn't cough and I have a pretty good result now.

That's great Kate! I heard your results, and they are awsome!!!

Rita

Funny thing is the night of my surgery, they served me regular tea. You have the option of herbal and flavored teas that don't contain caffeine. Even something like hot water with a tiny amount of lemon or lime might work as well. Just go easy on the acid because that could burn.

Great

Thank you Dena,

I didn't know herbal tea didn't was caffeine-free.

Ikate, did you have lots of ice cream and some iboprofun?

Rita

Sorry to the repeated posts but why is chocolate bad for you post vfs?

There are many caffein free teas available, I drink a lot of camomille tea which is 100% caffein free.

Chocolate tends to be high in fat which stick on the way down making you need to cough more to clear it. The week before I went for surgery, I spent the entire week learning how to avoid coughing and as much as I like chocolate, I found it to be a problem.

You are right, I have just done a google search and it seems there are a few caffeine- free drinks.

Chocolate doesn't necessarily make me caugh but i think it can only be a good idea to avoid it. I love nuts too but THEY DO make me caugh so.I'm.avoiding them despite the  fact Dr Kim didn't advise me to.

Rita

Quote from: Ritana on January 07, 2016, 11:39:26 AM
Great

Thank you Dena,

I didn't know herbal tea didn't was caffeine-free.

Ikate, did you have lots of ice cream and some iboprofun?

Rita

Just ice cream once. Mostly i drank water.


I did not take ibuprofen. I got packs of pills to take for a week or so. The ibuprofen seems to be a haben thing.

Also the caffeine restriction is about dehydration. Jessie saw my mom picking up some ginseng tea and said I shouldn't drink it because it will dehydrate me. She loved omija cha though which is fine for me too.

Quote from: Ritana on January 07, 2016, 11:16:01 AM
That's great Kate! I heard your results, and they are awsome!!!

Rita

Thanks

Congrats on your surgery and good luck with recovery

You can have exciting food like this:
(but avoid the sauce if it is spicy)

Here are some places to eat near Phil House:


My favourite food on the first days:

In the last two days, there has been a big panic over what North Korea did the day before yesterday i.e. The hydrogen bomb test. The hotel receptionist said a war could break out at any time. This is freaking me out now! Imagine this happens and I cannot even talk. I will have to leave S. Korea without my final consultation or botox !!

Calm down now - I do not believe that this is going to happen. You can think about it if it really is going further, but I think for now, this is mostly people being scared. They will not have any sort of bomb ready in the near future and attacking S Korea would be as foolish as it was the past years as they have most of the world standing behind them. In a week you are on your way home safely

It's just typical bluster - don't worry about it.  Aside from China not wanting North Korea to do such a thing, South Korea also has support of the USA.  These sort of actions are done to manipulate the local populace and for some sort of influence with other Powers.

Not long to go and you'll be on your way home.

Thanks, I can't wait to be back home!

I have four days left so fingers crossed.  Not sure whether it's the anaesthesia or just the fact that I am alone unable to speak in the farthest country I have been to in my whole life that is making me so anxious.

On a different note, I caughed a couple of times while asleep last night. I woke up really worried but it appeared there was no blood in the phlegm I spat out. I hope I haven't done any damage to the surgical site! I have been very strict with no speaking, been avoiding coffee, chocolate, nuts, spicy and oily food and I have been drinking tons of water to the point where I spend my day and night going back and forth to the toilet.

Its fine. a few coughs or words seem to have escaped everyone who has been there. Just try your very very best to avoid it. The suture can take a few beatings, but doing too much bad things could probably slow the healing or if done really abusive it could probably produce some other healing issues...

4 days only - wow, you are almost home then