I had my LB surgery Wednesday of this week. I had quite a large hernia repaired at the same time. I have a heaving feeling on my chest most of the time and it is painful to take a deep breathe. I have been using the breathing machine that was given to me. Is this normal?

I had surgery on Monday this week. I also have sharp pain when I take a deep breath. I didnt have a hernia repair. People on this sight told me it is where the band is and it can also be the gas they put in. I have found that it is worse when I standup strait. If i lean forward and take a deep breath it doesnt hurt hardly at all. I hope it goes away soon. Good luck on your journey. That pain is the only complaint I have. I am also having difficulty drinking enough water. Does anyone know how to tell if you are dehydrated?

I remember feeling like that too. I also had a hernia repair (totally unexpected). There was extra trauma and additional stitches put in the middle of your chest. As long as you can breath and dont feel like your having a heart attack the pain one of these days, sooner then you think. will just disappear!!

If you are at all thirsty, you are already dehydrated. In the beginning especially, its really important to just pace yourself and get all your Water in.

Good luck to you both. One day you will wake up and feel absolutely fantastic!!!

What kind of hernia? I imagine this repair will compound recovery.

However, I was surprised at the difficulty I had breathing after surgery. It hurt!

My doc said that a liver retractor is used (that is the incision at 12 o'clcok) and that accounts for the difficulty on inhalation.

I am 2 weeks out (surgery 6/14/12) and feeling MUCh better. I can bend over easily without surgical pain. No breathing issues after first week.

It was a hiatal hernia repair. I'm glad to see I'm not alone. I was beginning to worry. I thought all my gas pain was over but I started belching a while ago and cant seem to stop. Hopefully this will be gone within the next couple of days.

I had surgery on June 20 and still have that pain when I take a deep breath not as bad as the first week thou!

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Did you get one if these breathing tools? I'm not sure of the name. Did you feel like using it made a difference.

I had surgery on Monday this week. I also have sharp pain when I take a deep breath. I didnt have a hernia repair. People on this sight told me it is where the band is and it can also be the gas they put in. I have found that it is worse when I standup strait. If i lean forward and take a deep breath it doesnt hurt hardly at all. I hope it goes away soon. Good luck on your journey. That pain is the only complaint I have. I am also having difficulty drinking enough Water. Does anyone know how to tell if you are dehydrated?

The color of your urine can also tell you if you're dehydrated. The darker the worse. If it turns out brown - I'm no Doctor - but you should probably seek medical attention.

Hey Girl! I was banded on tuesday and was also told I had a large hernia repair. I couldn't take a real deep breath until this morning. I never received one of those breathing mechanisms but I know what youre talking about, my friend got one when he got his bypass 3 years ago. I have had several scope surgeries and looking back on all of them it did take a while to breath deeply. My 5 sites of entry do not resemble a 12 oclock, my nurse sd healing is slightly different with hernia repair, I never knew I had one either. It's my understanding it's quite common. My biggest issue 5 days out is sometimes I feel my heart beat through where I assume the band has been placed, like when I stand too fast, or sit down quickly. Good Luck and Onward and Upward!

I do feel a little better this morning. It no longer feels like an elephant on my chest, more like a large dog.

I am going go attempt to get out and walk around another store today.

I guess time does make a difference. I'm glad the elephant has left leaving only a dog in its place. Hopefully the dog will turn into a small chihuahua and then eventually nothing. My legs were stiff some days ago but now they are just sore. I have chest pain still which gets the better of me sometimes, turning into a panic attack but eventually with the pain meds it goes away and I am able to calm down. I have been feeling really emotional though. Today I hated myself for putting my body through this procedure. I went through anger and then sadness. I cried over a stupid taco salad commercial, knowing that i'll never be able to eat an entire taco salad all to myself - really pathetic when you think about it, but it is what it is. I plan on attending the support groups soon, maybe that'll help.

I keep reminding myself of all the reasons why I did this - just because I'm in pain doesn't mean those reasons go away. Reading here gives me a lot of hope - both that I'm normal in my pain and healing and also that this does get better. I have irl friends who are years out and say it's the best thing they ever did. I truly believe I'll say that someday but I second going to the support groups so we can get through this without giving up. Having terrible c sections was worth it because I got cute babies out of it this will be like that when I get good health and weight loss through it. Hang in there everyone!!

The pain your feeling in your chest and neck area is gas!! Yes gas, it will occur for a little while. Nothing serious. A hernia operation shouldn't have anything to do with pains your experiencing

I had this pain too, it was hard to breath and when I stood up it took me a while to start walking because it hurt also it was hard to lay down and sleep I found myself sleeping in a chair because that was the most comfortable spot for me. I did feel like it was gas but the only way I have been able to describe it is as incredible heartburn. I chewed a couple of tums and that helped me alot.