My surgery was on a Thursday evening. The first time I woke up, I thought oh boy, cause it felt just like an anvil was sitting on my chest, and I remember thinking, if it is gonna feel like this all the time, they can take it back out right now. The second time I woke up, I was still in recovery, and the anvil was gone. I remember thinking, ok, this is doable. The 3rd time I woke up, they took me back to my room, and about 4 hours later, I got out of bed and walked a little bit. Then 3 hours after that, I got up and walked a lot. Was not thirsty, never had nausea, did not have a catheter, never did an x-ray or a barium swallow, I got ice chips for breakfast on Friday, a shower, then apple juice for lunch, they removed my IV before lunch time, and I left for the hotel at 1:30 that afternoon. Stayed close to hotel rest of that day, then shopping and sightseeing next day. Flew home the next. The more you walk, the better off you are. Biggest problem is gas, but that was gone by day 4. The nurses injected pain Rx into my IV every 4 hours, and I left the hospital with pain pills and antibiotics. Tomorrow is week 3 for me, and I am doing great. No pain, incisions healed, no soreness, no nausea, no problems.