Food related - crackers. Bland crackers. You might be able to get away with crackers with peanut butter. Not the most appetizing, I know. Dry cheerios? I usually stick to the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) which isn't technically for heartburn but seems to work for me.
Not food related, but try sleeping on your left side and slightly elevated. If you can still sleep on your back, you can get these wedge pillows. It should really help with the middle of the night heartburn. I have this one: http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Better-Bed-Wedge-Pillow/dp/B002GKBG2S/ref=sr_1_7?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1452710310&sr=1-7&keywords=wedge+pillow. I've suffered from really bad heartburn since high school and while you can avoid certain triggers, it's hard to know what random thing might make it pop up. You could also try asking your doctor to up your medication (I take Prilosec in the morning and at night).
That's more of a heartburn person speaking than a pregnant person speaking, so please adjust accordingly. I'm sorry that you're having so much trouble.
I had mine in March! It was... it’s not great? But the best piece of advice I was ever given was that in the moment, you just get through it. It only seems unbearable while you’re thinking about it before and after. While I was recovering there were only one or two moments where I was like “oh god this hurts a lot and I’m miserable.” Most of the time it was just living my life in the moment really. Here are some things I learned:
-I highly highly recommend at least some of the following pillows based on your preferences. The absolute must-have is a mastectomy pillow. This is a lifesaver for two reasons: 1. Car rides 2. It’s more comfortable to “hold everything in” for lack of a better description. Especially when you have drains- keeping them held to your body and as non-mobile as possible will make them way less painful. If you aren’t a back sleeper, get a wedge pillow. If you’re not a side sleeper or back sleeper, I highly recommend a pregnancy pillow (one of those weird u-shape ones- sorry, can’t link because Amazon’s mobile link sharing is absolute garbage).
-Drains suck but there are ways to make them better. The main pain will come from the tubing moving around. Try using gauze tape to tape them to your skin as close to the opening as you can (not on the opening though!). Make sure you have at least two drain management options- one for usual wear and one for the shower. Options here are specific-made drain pouches, a lanyard/safety pins, a tool belt, or even just safety pins.
-ALWAYS eat something before you take your meds. ALWAYS. Taking an anti-nausea pill with it is not sufficient. Keep bland foods and heartburn meds with you in case this goes wrong. Ask your doctors what they recommend for which meds can be taken together.
-Stay on top of your pain meds! Even if it means waking up during the night. Waking up in pain suuuuucks. Be careful about your acetaminophen dosage- if you’re prescribed an opioid, it will probably include some in the pill.
-Pay attention to instructions for limiting your arm movement. If you move your arms too much too early you’ll get fluid buildup. That could lead to having to have the drains longer than expected or, if your drain clogs like my asshole right one did, fluid buildup in the chest. That was NOT fun to get drained.
-If you have a recliner, that’ll be a lifesaver the first few days. Make sure you’re having someone stay with you for at least a week or so. You’ll be pretty damn useless for a while. That includes actually operating the before-mentioned recliner. An important FYI: you might need help with the bathroom at the beginning. It can be hard to reach to wipe when you have the drains in and everything hurts.
-At your first followup appointments, don’t hesitate to ask for a wheelchair. The worst pain I had the entire process was walking around the hospital to get to my plastic surgery post-op.
-Some more things to buy: lots of button up shirts since pulling shirts on is going to be hard for a while. A sleeping mask because the drugs can make your sleep cycle whack.
-When you’re researching online, remember that people’s experiences vary A LOT. Every surgeon has their own policies and you’d be shocked how much those vary. And every body is different. It is super hard to judge how your surgery will go based on others’ experience, so remember that.
-A tip for the emotional side of things, which of course is a far longer and more complicated undertaking than the physical pain: there are many, many ways the world can make you feel absolute shit for not having breasts. Maybe you’ll totally coast through that and not care. I managed to discover new things to absolutely melt down about after my surgery, so be prepared for things possibly getting worse. Or maybe they’ll get better! In any case, therapy has been a lifesaver for me.
Sorry for the info dump, I hope this is helpful! I highly recommend looking for Facebook groups that are applicable to your situation, seems to be where the mastectomy-having crowd is most active. The BRCA Sisterhood group is FANTASTIC and I think will accept you even if you don’t have a genetic mutation. Instagram also has a surprisingly large community, although it skews very young and well- Instagram lol. The big star there is paige_previvor. Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like as well. It’s a rough time but you do get through it and you get to move on. Remember my first bit of advice- it’s only scary before and after, during everything you just cope.