Post-surgical nutrition

Having had two surgeries within 12 weeks wasn’t fun but I learned something. No one talked to me about what to do after the surgery. Once the last stitch was completed, there was almost a feeling of abandonment. I was told by one doctor that it was now up to me and God. Huh?

The only recommendations for nutrition were to stop all my nutritional supplements prior to surgery. Turns out it’s better to have blood more like sludge rather than water. It clots better.

So here’s what I did:

It’s well understood that your protein requirements increase in times of greater need. That’s why when you work out hard and damage your muscles, your body has an increased protein requirement to rebuild the muscle. A teenager needs protein during a growth spurt because protein is required to build muscle and bone. Surgery is a trauma to the body and what’s required to mend the pieces together is protein.

So I made some hard boiled eggs, 18 of them to be exact, plus had some chicken made as well. Eggs have 7 grams of protein and a chicken breast has 21 grams. After the surgery I ate an egg every hour (about 14 per day) and had two chicken’s per day in addition to my normal food. If my body needed protein, that should do it.

In addition to this, when our body becomes inflamed it will create scar tissue. This is often why the doctor will want you to do some form of therapy. The therapist will try to move your leg to prevent excessive scar tissue and do therapies to reduce inflammation (like ice). For some people that have had surgery, the scar tissue can then become a source of chronic pain. Chemically, anti-oxidants such as vitamin C, E, and selenium reduce scar tissue formation. Viola. Eat tons of vegetables during the day to get tons of these antioxidants. So, while I was icing, I’d be munching on crunchy raw veggies.

You can simply google protein requirements and antioxidants for all the research on this stuff. This in addition to icing every 20 minutes and starting to do my own rehab as soon as possible helped me recover from surgery quickly.