The whats and whats-not post surgery

As u all know, I've just done a Laparotomy 2 weeks ago and is currently on the road to recovery. Things are looking pretty good post surgery, ESP now is like 17 days post op. My wound is dry up and is getting tightened, which made walking upright not very possible. I walk like an old grandmother with a slight hunch. But I know, it's temporary.

For the first visit after my discharge, I had to go back to have my staples removed.

Staples: something similar to what we use as stationery, but it's surgical and it's thicker and uses a better material. Best part, it didn't hurt as much.

I shall spare showing my tattoo of victory, as it's really quite gross. Staples are more used during such long cuts, keep the wound together better than stitches.

In total, I have 34 staples and 3 stitches, which the latter was taken out at my next visit.

At that time, my appetite was still lost, like prodigal son and dunno when it was coming back. Have asked my doctor what could be done.
My Dr says its ok for me to eat what I like and want, as I need to eat more flavourful stuff to better my appetite.
Nothing wrong, except this is the Western medicine point of view.

As a Chinese with a Chinese type of body, I am not able to fully adapt to what was ok, such as:
- cold drinks. I was liberated when Dr said I could.... I paid the price, the following day, with horrible stomach cramps and discomfort.
- egg. I hasn't ate a single one since 03 Apr. Bro's mother in law says that egg is 'poisonous'. Not just her, my other frens who went through surgery also said that. And I'm not gonna oppose that. Rather be more cautious than be challenging.
- nuts. So no peanut butter for me, not peanut soup for me.... Anything with nuts is a no-no.
- seafood. I hear its not recommended, and I didn't challenge it, though at times I was tempted at the cereal prawn yesterday. Usually, it causes the wound to be itchy, so better not lor.

But I do relish at the revelation that I can eat fish and chips, or even MacDonald's (though I'm not a fan). In fact, I had fish and chips twice this week! Haha.

So, if u are like me, with a Chinese body, this are the what's-not to avoid. It will make ur recovery more comfy.

For the whats to do, these are the following:
- eat your meds and don't miss a dose. I learnt it the hard way when I missed a dose of panadol, and nearly died of pain. Even if u have to crush your pills (like I had to), just do it.
- pee and poo when u have to, even if it's in the middle of the night. For the first week, my mum and I were tortured out of sleep cos I had to pee and/or poo, which is a habit picked up during the hospital stay. It gets better as the days go by. In fact, I can don't need to wake up my mum and myself to go to the toilet.
- contact your surgeon when u are in doubt. I am so thankful that my Dr is contactable via email, he managed to answer my queries when I needed to contact him. So that I know whatever issue that I am going through, he is aware and he can advise me accordingly. I'm totally impressed that he replied my emails on a Sunday. :)

Remember, you are what you eat. Your incision will look how u eat too, no matter if u ever need to bare your mid-drift or not.