drumonkey23

Thanks, Mrs. Riene, for your replies and insights. I stopped posting because I developed a leak and abscess 1 week post-op, and I didn't feel up to sharing about it yet. I was re-admitted twice - at 7 days and again at 14 days post-op. I'm home now, still healing. I haven't had any food or liquid by mouth since March 24th. I'm getting all my nutrition from a TPN - a bag that pumps liquid nutrition into me while I'm sleeping - through a PICC line in a vein. I have a drain installed through my upper abdomen that goes to the abscess to remove stuff - we won't go there. I'm going to have an upper GI later this week, and we'll be able to see how much progress the abscess is making in healing. Then I suppose we'll have some idea of how much longer this will go on. My doctor has been absolutely terrific. She calls me every Wednesday, sees me every Friday, and is available for questions all the time. I know this was not her fault. She has done so many of these surgeries. I'm just one of the 1 - 2% of people this happens to. I'll tell you one thing - I am SO grateful my health insurance paid for the surgery. I keep thinking about all the people who either don't have insurance or it wouldn't pay for their WLS. They would go bankrupt if this happened to them! I am healing, and I will be all better (and a LOT thinner) soon. Cheers!

I experienced a leak one week post-op. Everything was going along normally. Then I took a sip of something, and was hit with an excruciating pain that went from my lower left abdomen all the way up to the top of my left shoulder. I waited for it to subside, but it just got worse. Needless to say, I was back in the hospital that day. I don't know if this is typical.

Also, a large study of bariatric surgeries showed that the more surgeries the surgeon had under his/her belt, the lower his/her rate of complications.

Hello all you VSGers! I am 1 week post-op, and I learned a very important lesson the hard way today. It was my first day back at work, and I was drinking fat-free chicken broth with unflavored protein powder (delicious). I must have not been paying attention, and drank too quickly. Suddenly I had excruciating pain in my abdomen, chest, and left shoulder. All I could do was put my head in my hand and whimper. My poor co-workers were standing over me wondering what to do. The worst of it passed in about 10 minutes, and now about 1 1/2 hours later it's still painful but bearable. I came home and took pain meds. I realize how very important it is to pay attention when I'm eating or drinking! I can't do the mindless thing anymore. I hope I can save someone here from going through this.

Tomorrow is 1 week since my VSG (3/19). I didn't have any particular expectations about how I'd feel at this point. From reading lots of discussion groups and blogs, it's clear that there is no "average" recovery process. What I'm experiencing is: my incisions are about 80% better than the day after, and my stomach is sending very confusing signals. I feel about as hungry as if I was only taking in around 500 calories/day, which I am! I thought I wouldn't have any appetite, so that's pretty disappointing. Some VSG people had great hunger early on, and it eased up eventually. I feel the worst in the morning. My first few sips of Water in the morning cause some mild cramping. Other than that, if I take all eating and drinking very, very slowly I don't have any cramping. I've taken it easy all week, and tomorrow I have to go back to work. I have a bit of trepidation about making it through an entire day without a nap. I've been sleeping about 10-12 hours/day. I'm interested to hear about other people's experiences. Best of luck in your recovery!