Just a day after Stine’s surgery on Jan 27th it was time to execute the post-operation plan. She would soon be allowed to start eating again! However with the antibiotics she received it was a near certainty that her gut Microbiome was gone. She also needed food that was easy to digest, but that would not bind her up. 

She also needed to start light exercise. Much to the nurse’s surprise, Stine was up and walking almost immediately, without any badgering from the staff. First it was just up and to the end of the hall- but that was success! Every trip became just a few steps more. 

As expected, the hospital food was truly bad and after the first meal (“homemade” chicken and noodle soup that had as much similarity to its title as to a diesel rag eaten and fully processed and returned through a rooster) we quickly gave up on the cafeteria as a primary source of nutrition. 

Instead, we went with our racing standby, Soylent. With 4 Soylents a day, Stine was getting 1600 calories, 160% of her daily protein requirement, and 64% of her fiber. We then added salad, cottage cheese, or other items that even a hospital cafeteria couldn’t mangle. 

By the end of her hospital stay, she could manage five or six laps around the fifth floor and then it was time for discharge.

At home, we began adding in probiotics to restore her Microbiome.  She received two servings in the morning, consisting of live Kombucha (1 cup) and live Kefir (0.5cup). She continued on 3 Soylents a day, but now we could cook for her and we made simple meals (e.g. chicken with rice on the side) while her intestines slowly woke up. On day 7 she came excitedly out the bathroom door with arms raised in victory, and we celebrated her first normal BM. 

Stine had two daily walks and we graduated from around the block, to a 1-mile walk, and by week three post-op she was up to 4 miles a day. As you can imagine, Chess was quite happy about all this and was full of encouragement for her. As Stine gets ready for chemotherapy, she is in good physical condition. The incision has healed and her blood work looks good, with the exception of her RBCs (red blood cells) which are a little on the low side. Time for some steak and spinach!