The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if exposure to food related visual stimuli during the postoperative period can improve gastrointestinal recovery after abdominal surgery in adult patients.The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. Does structured exposure to food related television programming shorten the time to return of bowel function after surgery?
2. Does exposure to food related visual stimuli reduce postoperative ileus and improve recovery related outcomes such as hospital length of stay, appetite, patient satisfaction, and medication use?
Researchers will compare patients receiving structured food related programming during meal periods with patients receiving standard postoperative care to see if food related visual stimulation improves postoperative gastrointestinal recovery.
Participants will:
* Be randomly assigned to either a food-programming group or a standard care group
* Watch food-related television programming for at least 15 minutes during scheduled meal-time periods if assigned to the intervention group
* Have daily collection of routine postoperative information, including bowel function, medication use, and diet progression
* Complete brief optional questions regarding appetite and satisfaction during hospitalization