Replied By Mama To Many (Tennessee, Usa) on 03/26/2014

The last time I had surgery, I tried a number of natural things to maximize my recovery and healing. I wrote them up but never got around to posting them. I will do so now… For the record, I had laparoscopic abdominal surgery as I had a hydatid cyst of morgagni, which had caused a torsion in the fallopian tube. (Causing a lot of pain.)

First of all, before surgery (I only had two days advanced notice of surgery…two weeks preparation might have been better, but with an emergency you get no prep time at all! ) I ate lightly the day before. Yes, I was allowed to eat up until midnight the night before, but I made sure the whole day was just light eating. Plenty of fresh fruit, juices and a little protein. I didn't want my digestive system all full and having to deal with digesting when it needed to focus on recovering. I also made sure I had on hand the things I would want in the house when I got home from surgery.

After my surgery, when I was in my room waiting to be discharged (same day surgery) I could taste the chemicals in my mouth. (The anesthesia, I guess.) I have had many surgeries and never noticed this. I think I am just hypersensitive to it now. So, my mouth was confirming that I would be needing to detox from some drugs as soon as possible.

Once at home, my plan was to continue light eating for several days. My son juiced me a pint of organic carrot juice every day for my breakfast. I avoided processed food and processed sugar. I drank apple cider also (to help keep the system moving, especially important since pain medications tend to slow the system down) and herbal tea. Here is my recipe for “Post-Op Herbal Tea”

3 T. peppermint leaf

3 T. comfrey leaf

3 T. plantain leaf

Put (dry) tea leaves in a half gallon jar. Pour boiling water over. Steep 30 minutes. Strain herbs and sweeten with honey or Stevia as desired. (I use Stevia extract.) This makes ? gallon, enough for 2 days. My ideal was to drink 1 quart of this tea per day for a week following surgery. (Longer would be great, too.) Here is the rationale. The peppermint is mostly for flavor, but peppermint is also good for gas. After surgery you can end up with lots of trapped air all throughout your abdomen (often moving to the shoulder and causing terrible pain). I did still have the gas pains, so it didn't do quite what I hoped, but it still made my tea taste better. The comfrey is for cell regeneration. The plantain is to help with any possible urinary tract infection from having had a catheter during surgery.

I tried to eat lightly and then focus on eating highly nutritious foods that are easy to digest. Fruits, fresh juices, vegetables. I was eating some eggs for protein.

I was really happy that I wasn't given a prescription for an anti-bitoic, which is often done following surgery. I was thinking I would not get it filled and just use charcoal and colloidal silver, not at the same time. I was hoping to avoid using the narcotic pain medication, but have learned that the body does not heal well when it is in terrible pain. So, I took the pain medication, wishing that herbal narcotics were not illegal, as I think that would be a safer option. I got off of them as soon as I could rest comfortably without them. They seemed to give me a headache.

It is important to get up some, as allowed and able, to keep the gas trapped in the body moving. So I did get up and walk around some. If I had taken an antibiotic, or were dealing with a child after surgery on an antibiotic, I would give them a probiotic daily, or water kefir, or something.

I tried to take 1 charcoal drink a day, not near time of medicine. 1 heaping teaspoon of charcoal in a glass of water. I tried to do this for a month to help my body detox from the medicine and anesthesia. I felt “off” for a couple of weeks, I think due to the anesthesia.

If you can find a good quality confrey salve to use on the scar, that would be great for helping it to heal. Comfrey taken internally has been known to help heal even old scars. Your daughter can take the post-op tea long term for this. Just look for a good quality source for bulk herbs and it won't be very expensive to use regularly. My favorite source is Mountain Rose Herbs.

Let us know how it goes for your daughter!

~Mama to Many~

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