Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to run this by everyone to see if I can figure out what's going on without having to call my doctor. I am 8 days post-op and have been improving. Today, I finally feel some significant relief from the horrible, horrible, debilitating gas pains, only to develop some weird feeling in my stomach. It feels like a really bad pulled muscle and it runs up and down the left side, next to my belly button. It hurts the worst when I get up from a chair, like I can hardly walk. I had had some soreness in my upper abdomen earlier this week which had seemed to be improving greatly. I was finding myself able to bend down, move around more, etc. And now, today, this pulled muscle sensation just developed. It feels like something pulling on my stomach painfully and I'm so worried that the tubing is wrapped around something or something like that. Any thoughts?

My thought would be that it is where they attached your port. I had very sharp pains and still do every once in a while from where my port is attached. I would call your dr. and tell him/her what you are feeling, just to make sure that everything is ok. Let me know what you find out.

I agree with JaLynn, sounds like normal port pain to me. I am 6 months post-op and still get a twinge every now and again. Nothing to worry about, my surgeon tells me it is the nerves healing from being cut during surgery. I would call and talk to someone in the office just to put my mind as ease if I were you though. I am sure the office would rather spend 2 minutes on the phone with you then have you worry about your band. Hope all is better soon, and welcome to bandland, it's a great place to be. ~Mandy

It disturbs me when I see new patients say that they don't want to call their surgeons' offices. Of course you can come here to ask us anything but not IN PLACE OF calling the doctor. You should always feel like you can call them anytime.

Anyway, what you're reporting sounds normal for a recent post-op. In my case I actually did suffer from what is thought to have been a pulled muscle shortly after being banded. In my case, we believe it happened when the stupid X-Ray techs pulled & tugged me into position when I got my post-op Upper-GI test just after surgery. So it is possible you have a pulled muscle but my case was a bit unusual.

More likely: That post op gas could be causing some of your discomfort. What it sounds like is a usual reaction from a body that was put through a major surgery several days ago. Between your body healing, your insides recovering and the large amount of operative gas your body is trying to expel - it's pretty usual. Forme the post-op gas was killer, and it took half a bottle of GasX for me to feel relief.

And I second the recommendation of the Tums. It's a great idea to carry a small Life-Saver sized roll of TUMS or Rolaids in your purse or bag, especially at the beginning. It's never in the brochures but it's pretty common for post ops to use them and it's a good source of calcium, too. :confused: Welcome to Banded Life!

Happy Band Journeys To All...

sunta, I'm 19 days post op and still have that feeling but, it's not as painful as it was in the beginning. I asked my surgeon what it was and was told that is where the port is but, it's also the spot where most of the work is done from. They actually have to tunnel in there to get to where they are going. That tunneling of course causes deep bruising and your port is stitched into place there. You major muscles that help you get up or bend are all in that same spot. When you sneeze...oh lordy....THAT'S where it pulls. I told my doc it kinda feels like there is a little guy in there tuggin on my tubing pulling my port lol. He said yeap that will take a while to heal. I'm expecting this to last me another few weeks but, I can honestly say it's getting better with eat passing day. This dang cold I just caught isn't helping and perhaps set that pain back a bit but, at least I know what it is. Definately call your surgeon so you can ease your own mind. As much as everyone is helpful here...it's always best to call your bariatric center as each doc is different and some do the surgery different ways.

Hope you feel better soon.

Sherry

I dont mean to sound negative but you may have developed a small hernia too. Best thing call the doc.

I would call my doctor..... I have called mine numerous times just to check on a couple different things since surgery 7 weeks ago. I do come here and ask questions, but have always checked with doctor first.

Good luck........