newjrny85

Here are my thoughts for when I came home:
-Pain was minimal but it's difficult to adjust to laying on a flat bed and I missed the handles on the hospital bed a little. My husband pulled me up every morning for the first week and he was the only one to pull me up where I felt no pain because he did all the work
-I'm 30 years old and very active despite being obese so it was an adjustment to move slowly and to be careful.
-I live in a second floor walk up and going down the stairs was not fun.... Going up was much easier.
-Honestly, I only paced in my apartment which is pretty big but I didn't go for a walk outside... I was in pain and didn't have enough energy to do so for the first 5 days.
-I was permitted to be on full liquids day 5 and I made lentil Soup, broccoli Soup, butternut squash, and all of them are now in the freezer.
-You don't realize how little you eat and I ended up making too much.
-Make chicken broth ahead of time so you can put together Soups in no time by putting the ingredients in a pot and emersify when all cooked.
-Drinking 64 oz of liquids is an impossibility. Drinking Water has become a major chore... I'm okay with gulps but sipping is much more comfortable. It takes me hours to finish a bottle of Water which is so weird.
-Each day you feel a bit better.
-Let people take care of you
-I had a BM 5 days post surgery
-I took a Dulcolax a couple of days later, it was a bad idea. My doctor said when I begin to drink more water, my BM will become normal.
-I went to post-op on Wednesday, 9 days after surgery and all was well.
-I over planned and had too much fun this weekend hanging out with family and friends... I'm laid up now because the bigger incision hurts whenever it wants... I took a strong pain killer and don't plan on getting out of the couch til bedtime.
-I walked for 30 minutes one morning this week and needed a 2 hour nap afterwards.
Listen to your body and let it guide you. I had 2 ounces of chili last night which my doctor said I should begin trying chunky soups... It was an okay experience after much chewing.
Best of luck to everyone!!

This is a great post and I have enjoyed reading everyone's feedback.
My surgery weight was 320 and I was sleeved on Jan 4 and tomorrow will 2 weeks out. Here are things that I noticed worth mentioning for people who are prepping to go into surgery, the first comment is my experiences in the hospital:
-I was pretty anxious and apprehensive until the day of the surgery, it really helped to read different threads on here, my favorite being 'You know you lost weight when...' Highly recommend it to make you relax and laugh a little. I read all of the 500+ comments.
-The day of the surgery, I was oddly calm and cool... The pre-op nurse complimented me on being very cheery and positive. I was joking around with the nurses and the anesthesiologist who was a nice guy.
-If offered, definitely get the abdomen tap (name?) In which the anesthesiologist will use an ultrasound machine to inject meds into muscles just below the ribcage. The needles are pretty long so definitely let them sedate the area first. Also, you may get brief amnesia from this particular anesthetic which was fine for me.
-I had never been under general anesthesia and in the recovery room, I was extremely restless... I had the desire and the energy to jump off the bed and run. So, I was a very big pain in the butt to the nurses but just moaning and groaning and I continuously moved my legs. I sort of had no control over my body or my mind... I was not mean or nasty to the nurses but just was begging them to let me walk. It took about 3 hours for me to get to a hospital room and o was very glad to go for a walk and continued to walk every hour that night.
-Day #2 was very difficult for me. I was having difficulty drinking anything as bubbles continued to move up my esophagus and giving me extreme discomfort.
-Gas pains were painful but not as bad as described by others. The hospital provided a masseuse who came in and gave me a shoulder massage where I could feel bubbles moving down to my lower back. That is my big suggestion, get someone to literally rub you in a downward motion which will help.
-I regretted the surgery the morning of Day 2... It was a very emotional time especially since I felt like I'd never be able to leave since I couldn't drink on my own.
-Make sure to surround yourself with positive people, my family in the hospital and my friends visiting really kept up my spirits and helped me carry on.
-Day 3, I passed gas and continued to do so... GasX strips my sister in law brought me the night before worked like magic.
-I was in better spirits and was able to swallow on my own
-Overall, pain I could deal with and luckily, very little nausea but (THANK GOD) no vomiting.

I'm scheduled for surgery on Monday, 1/4. I just spent 2 hours reading every single post and I am very inspired by all of the success. Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories. You have made a difference in my attitude and I'm now looking very much forward to Monday and willing to take on the "unknown" post op. Thank you, again.

Acher, I'm sorry about your difficult time... I hope you're all better! Take good care

same here, then one day it just popped. No ill effects.

Good luck everyone!! I am almost 3 weeks post-up (Jan 4). My advice is to pack lip balm and GasX strips to the hospital. Don't get discouraged if you can't swallow plain Water the day after which seems to have happened to a lot of people other than myself. Just remain calm and practice makes perfect.

I'm a day shy of one week post-op, and I'm shocked and awed by a whole lot of things.
For instance:
- The pain! Not necessarily bad pain, but pain nonetheless. I was totally in the dark to the gas pain I was going to have, and that has been the worst for me thus far. And that weird left shoulder gas pain? It's a thing and it's real. Now, a week out, I'm still kind of gassy (the surgical gas has all but drained, but Protein Shakes and I... icky combination). No real pain at my incisions, but kind of a pulling on the lower two. My doctor says thats what it feels like when it's healing.
-On a similar train of thought, this was my first surgery of all time, and I was completely unaware of all of the bloating that I would endure in the hospital. Between the gas with which they blow your abdomen up, and the fluids they pump you full of, I pretty much bounced out of the hospital. My clothes didn't fit when I was discharged, which was both ironic and kind of hilarious.
- Getting down my fluids and Proteins is ROUGH. I needed to get 30 oz of Fluid (protein shakes included) down before I could be discharged from the hospital. It took until post-op day 3 for them to let me go. Since then, I've been getting fluids down, but struggling to do it. My doc wants me at 80 oz per day before I move onto purees. I'm supposed to move onto purees tomorrow so today is D-day on the fluids. I'm a person who, prior to surgery, could guzzle down 200 fl oz of Water in a day without batting an eye. I'm a fish. So the fact that I'm conscious of not even being able to sip down 80 is insane to me.
-Water is the hardest thing for me to drink and that's inconvenient because water is my favorite thing to drink. It's not that I don't like the taste, or that it hurts, but it's the most uncomfortable thing to sip. I feel like I can feel the exact place where my esophagus meets my pouch (I'm probably imagining that, but whatever), and I feel as though the water I'm sipping likes to splash around a bit at that juncture before it settles in and flows. Warm liquids are my go-to, since my first day out of surgery. And I never thought I would consider chicken broth a treat!
-The cravings are still there. And in the last six days, I've learned, already, something I've been trying to figure out for my entire life -- the difference between head hunger and real hunger. I'll watch commercials for restaurants and see others eating delicious-looking things, and want it, but know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I physically cannot consume this food right now. Plain and simple, I LOVE food; always have, always will. I spend a lot of my free time looking up recipes for Bariatric Eating on Pinterest, and it almost satisfies my head hunger to do so, instead of making me ravenously crave something that I cannot have.
As a short anecdote, my Italian mother is in town this week taking care of me. And as a 'thank you' to my roommates for letting her invade their lives, she's making sauce and a giant pan of lasagna. I was convinced that as soon as I smelled my mom's sauce boiling, this liquid diet would be all but over, and I'd be on the ground writhing in pain over tomatoes lost, begging at her feet for a meatball.
Instead, I can smell it, know it's there, and appreciate it. Kind of like a weird Yankee Candle. And in the back of my head, I know I'll be able to have that meatball someday, but that day is not today.

I had this as well for about a month after surgery. It seemed to get worse as the day went on and was better in the morning. I took pain medication a few times when it was really bad.

Hi January Sleevers! Just had mine on Monday, Jan 4. I was in the hospital for two nights because I wasn't able to get fluids down my esophagus due to air bubbles coming back up my throat. I came home yesterday afternoon, feeling better than yesterday.
Gas pains are the worst. Pack GasX strips.... They help!! Also, walk, walk, and walk!! On the day of the surgery, I walked a lot more than the next day and I still had gas pains.
The day after the surgery was the most difficult for me.... Both physically and emotionally. So, be prepared for some doubts and some remorse as your healing begins.... It will all pass. I am so much more positive day 4 and ready to conquer all of the challenges!
Best of luck to everyone going this month, please keep us all posted!!

Here are my thoughts for when I came home:
-Pain was minimal but it's difficult to adjust to laying on a flat bed and I missed the handles on the hospital bed a little. My husband pulled me up every morning for the first week and he was the only one to pull me up where I felt no pain because he did all the work
-I'm 30 years old and very active despite being obese so it was an adjustment to move slowly and to be careful.
-I live in a second floor walk up and going down the stairs was not fun.... Going up was much easier.
-Honestly, I only paced in my apartment which is pretty big but I didn't go for a walk outside... I was in pain and didn't have enough energy to do so for the first 5 days.
-I was permitted to be on full liquids day 5 and I made lentil Soup, broccoli Soup, butternut squash, and all of them are now in the freezer.
-You don't realize how little you eat and I ended up making too much.
-Make chicken broth ahead of time so you can put together Soups in no time by putting the ingredients in a pot and emersify when all cooked.
-Drinking 64 oz of liquids is an impossibility. Drinking Water has become a major chore... I'm okay with gulps but sipping is much more comfortable. It takes me hours to finish a bottle of Water which is so weird.
-Each day you feel a bit better.
-Let people take care of you
-I had a BM 5 days post surgery
-I took a Dulcolax a couple of days later, it was a bad idea. My doctor said when I begin to drink more water, my BM will become normal.
-I went to post-op on Wednesday, 9 days after surgery and all was well.
-I over planned and had too much fun this weekend hanging out with family and friends... I'm laid up now because the bigger incision hurts whenever it wants... I took a strong pain killer and don't plan on getting out of the couch til bedtime.
-I walked for 30 minutes one morning this week and needed a 2 hour nap afterwards.
Listen to your body and let it guide you. I had 2 ounces of chili last night which my doctor said I should begin trying chunky soups... It was an okay experience after much chewing.
Best of luck to everyone!!

Acher, I'm sorry about your difficult time... I hope you're all better! Take good care

Newjrny... So glad the procedure went well! Liquids will be tough for a while. Just take continual small sips.

Woohoo, officially down 40lbs!

Was sleeved on Jan 7th. Had complications with low blood pressure, low red blood & low potassium. Finally got to come home on the 11th!! I am doing ok getting fluids in, walking & using incentive spirometer. Have 2 week post opt. appt. on the 19th. Not sure on weight loss yet as I was so bloated after being pumped full of IV fluids to get blood pressure up. Excited to get weighed on Tues. Hope all those who had surgeries recently are doing well

I had mine on the 4th of Jan.2016,Also had a Hiatal Hernia repair .Everything went really well.I spent a day and night in the hospital.They told me to walk to get out sooner.I did and it worked. The hernia has hurt more than anything.But thankfully yesterday I turned a corner with it.MUCH BETTER! So grateful I had the change to do this.Hope yours went as well.Yankitexas68

Hi Djmohr! Congratulations to you! The site has been very helpful especially with the pre op nerves and anxiety! My first appointment is on Wednesday which is 9 days post op but 7 days after leaving the hospital. So far, the recovery hasn't been as bad as o was expecting it to be... I have some pain in the incision sites and learning to follow the nutritional guidelines.
Thank you for your feedback!!

Thank you, Kathy! Yea, everyone is different but I guess I'm just looking for some feedback on the first few weeks since I had my surgery 6 days ago. I'm home recovering which has been a challenge for a busybody/workacoholic like me. I'm doing pretty well, drinking was a challenge for me too and I stayed an additional night in the hospital. This app will not allow me to change the subject line but I did change the question since the responses have been more critical than helpful. I do appreciate your insight lol and I always wished I knew how to play the piano.

Good luck everyone going in this week!! Tomorrow will be 1 week post op for me. You will feel better as everyday goes on.

January 12th for me

@@newjrny85
Hi and welcome! Congratulations on your surgery. I hope that you are recovering well.
I will be honest, I was so focused on getting rid of my comorbitities that I initially wasn't even paying much attention to his much weight I lost in that first month.
In fact I had not started tracking my food intake until I had already lost 36lbs.
At my month 1 check in I was down around 20lbs. But remember I had 145 to lose. I lost the first 13 on the pre op diet and gained it all back in the hospitals from all the IV fluids and swelling.
I do remember being upset that I had gained weight. Then I found this site and learned so much about WLS.
When I had questions or concerns this is where I came.
I hope that you continue to join us. We have a great group of supportive people on this site.

Thank you, Kathy! Yea, everyone is different but I guess I'm just looking for some feedback on the first few weeks since I had my surgery 6 days ago. I'm home recovering which has been a challenge for a busybody/workacoholic like me. I'm doing pretty well, drinking was a challenge for me too and I stayed an additional night in the hospital. This app will not allow me to change the subject line but I did change the question since the responses have been more critical than helpful. I do appreciate your insight lol and I always wished I knew how to play the piano.

25 lbs down first 3 weeks post op gastric sleeve.

@@newjrny85
hi newbie
can't tell if you are pre/post op???
took naps for a couple of weeks PO
energy was down the toilet
i wasn't able to play the piano anymore
then again, never could!!! LOL
sorry, the devil made me do it!!
i had problems drinking Water
i had trouble with powdered shakes (yeach)
(found mixed bottled shakes delicious)
problems with slowly eating and chewing
after a month or so........things improved
eating and drinking continued to improve
i was my normal "perfect" self again
people have different stories
situations about their times PO
don't compare yourself ever to someone else
"the one thing we have in common, is that we're all different"!!!
we all loose weight in different amounts over times periods
I lost 13.7 lbs the first month
the # varied through out my journey
good luck
kathy

22lbs

I'm scheduled for surgery on Monday, 1/4. I just spent 2 hours reading every single post and I am very inspired by all of the success. Thank you for sharing your beautiful stories. You have made a difference in my attitude and I'm now looking very much forward to Monday and willing to take on the "unknown" post op. Thank you, again.