You’re waking up from surgery, getting your bearings, and trying to figure out what bus just hit you. As the anesthesia is wearing off and you’re being loaded up with pain meds, you realize you chose for this trauma to happen and you want to get back to normal day life as quickly as possible.

But don’t push it. Rest is essential to your recovery. In fact, I would argue most chronic health conditions are stemming from the body trying to find rest because you aren’t doing it well enough. The body is slowing you down with stop signs because you’re ignoring the speed bumps.

These 2 weeks post surgery, you’re probably not that hungry and potentially even nauseous from the pain meds and until you can taper off and not need them anymore. With that in mind, you will need to get some restorative calories and substances more by liquid form than solid.

Post Surgery (the first 2 weeks)

Protein and fats are going to be the best fuels for repair and recovery. Remember, literally every cell in your body is contained in a protective fat layer. So get your feast on with your eggs, avocados, steaks, and nut butters (if they sit well digestively).

Avoiding caffeine for these 2 weeks can also give you a leg up on the recovery competition. I’m sure you can argue over the antioxidant benefits of caffeine and that actually helping you heal but with your liver being overburdened from the pain meds and anesthesia, you might have more benefit avoiding the caffeine load for a couple weeks.

Here’s my line of reasoning.

If you ever have lab work, usually there is a CBC panel that lists out the type of white blood cells. You will see these as neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils.

Monocytes are cells that clean up inflammatory damage as well as debris from destroyed microorganisms. They differentiate into macrophages and play a huge role in tissue repair whether you are injured, you are sick, or you have been training hard. Surgery would fall into those circumstances. Without monocytes, muscles would not be able to heal after training or injury.

Cortisol and adrenaline (hormones released during times of stress, which can be physical, chemical, or emotional) lower macrophage activity and count. In essence stress lowers your ability to recover because it’s putting its proverbial eggs into the performance enhancement basket instead of the recovery one. If there’s potential for caffeine to drive you and your adrenals into performance and away from recovery, nip it for a couple weeks. You need rest the most at this time, not a ‘pick-me-up.’

But to help fill the gap to get some nourishment and recovery, you might want to consider these for a couple weeks:

H-S-N Complex™ Skin and Joint Support Powder

H-S-N Complex™ powder is powerful blend of nutrients formulated to supply the body with specific proteins, vitamins and other substances required to build, maintain, and repair connective tissue. Healthy connective tissue depends on the availability of nutrients that contribute to its physical structure, as well as those that serve as cofactors in the biochemical reactions that regulate tissue metabolism and catabolism (tissue break down).

Whole Body Collagen

Whole Body Collagen contains a unique blend of three patented collagen peptides supported by clinical research showing their efficacy for supporting collagen production, bone strength, joint health and integrity, skin elasticity and more. 

Collagen is a special type of protein that accounts for as much as 30% of the body’s total protein. In particular, it’s a primary structural component of connective tissue. The amino acid composition of dietary collagens are very similar to those in human collagens, making dietary collagen peptides ideal for supporting normal body collagen turnover and renewal. 

Silvercillin™ Spray

This is intended for the actual wounds, if you’re allowed to get them wet and prevent potential for infection. Silvercillin also comes in a large container intended to take internally and even a gel for topical application. We just keep this on hand as part of our ‘medicine’ cabinet for those cuts, scrapes, and hand rips often experienced with high volume pull ups.

Silvercillin™ is a highly effective antimicrobial preparation composed of pure silver complexed with purified water. Silvercillin™ uses Silver Sol Technology®, the term “sol” being a designation of a mineral permanently distributed into the structure of water. The silver becomes a part of that water molecule permanently so it will not fall out of solution or suspension. 

Silvercillin™ contains 15 ppm of purified silver per serving. This is an incredibly powerful, non-toxic form of silver, with zero build-up in the body, so it does not cause argyria (blue man syndrome).

Carry Over From the Pre-Op Protocol

Since you’re coming out of anesthesia, I would recommend continuing on the GPC liquid (glycerophosphocholine).

Again, this isn’t an exhaustive list and there may ones to add or ones to avoid based on your situation. So consult with your primary healthcare professional. If you don’t have one, I’d be happy to help. Like the previous post, these products are specific to Designs for Health and there are some discount options below for you to try them.