I had my surgery on Wednesday, September 1st, so I am officially on the loser's bench. This is truly unbelievable. I keep telling myself...YOU DID IT! Now, if only I could get rid of the gas pains in my chest and when taking sips. That seems to be the only thing slowing me down. Someone please tell me that the gas pains will go away. They are miserable. Everytime I take a sip it feels as though I have swallowed a pill the size of a golf ball....UGH. Has anyone else experienced this? How long does it last?

All in all this has been a great experience. The doctor, the nurses, the hospital, everything and everyone was absolutely WONDERFUL. I lost 28 pounds pre-op, and very excited to finally be on the loser's bench.

Thanks to all of you who encouraged me last week when I felt like backing out due to the loan company. Your words gave me the boost I needed to take back control. I don't think each of you realize how much your testimonies and advice mean to those of us who are (were) preparing for surgery. Continue to share....it's priceless!

:confused1:

YAy and congrats on a smooth surgery and welcome to the bench. The gas pains, the difficulty drinking and all that go away and rather quickly. I felt much better around day 10 but each day before that was better and better. I can gulp down drinks when thirsty now and my tummy has settled and now it is a trial and error thing on each new phase of the dieting. Just keep moving around and getting your liquids, it will all work itself out.

I had the same problems. I had surgery last Friday and don't notice it anymore.

Honestly I don't rememeber if it was a gradual thing or sudden, but I'm not experiencing it now - thank goodness because you are right, it is terrible!

I don't remember having that problem yesterday either....so yes, they do go away!!

Ladies, thank you for your comments. It's good to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I hope I can ride it out for 10 days, cause it hurts. :confused1:

Thanks again and good luck to all.

awww man ladies i have 19 days till mine and i hope i have it smooth and not much pain , so on a scale of 1-10 how bad is the gas pain in the chest does it feel like you can die from not enough breath??

Nothing like that selvester it was just uncomfortable, the pain was more bothersome then painful if that makes sense.

I agree....my experience with the gas has been more of a "discomfort" rather than true "pain".

Edit:

I will add that I do have a pain in my chest when I take a breath, it is on the left side low chest. I think I remember my doc saying that it will be painful because that part is close to the new tummy. It was only slightly painful (a pressure type pain) with deep breaths and only really "bothered" me when I yawned and that was mainly because I couldn't control how quickly I was breathing in. It will stop a yawn in it's tracks for sure!

It is going away slowly and I can now yawn without too much discomfort.

I have to say that I have not experienced anything that was more than a 3 on the pain scale since surgery and that was some pinching in the insicion sites if I twisted wrong or got up incorrectly using too many tummy muscles. I don't consider myself to have a "high pain tolorance" either....not low, but certainly not high.

Edited September 5, 201016 yr by Krista2653

Krista, I remember having pain in my chest too when I took deep breaths, mine was from my drain tube though. But even after having it removed you have have pain from where it was inside.

I wonder why they can't remove the gas. Someone who invents a little suction device to remove the gas after surgery will make a fortune.

I had my surgery on Wednesday, September 1st, so I am officially on the loser's bench. This is truly unbelievable. I keep telling myself...YOU DID IT! Now, if only I could get rid of the gas pains in my chest and when taking sips. That seems to be the only thing slowing me down. Someone please tell me that the gas pains will go away. They are miserable. Everytime I take a sip it feels as though I have swallowed a pill the size of a golf ball....UGH. Has anyone else experienced this? How long does it last?

All in all this has been a great experience. The doctor, the nurses, the hospital, everything and everyone was absolutely WONDERFUL. I lost 28 pounds pre-op, and very excited to finally be on the loser's bench.

Thanks to all of you who encouraged me last week when I felt like backing out due to the loan company. Your words gave me the boost I needed to take back control. I don't think each of you realize how much your testimonies and advice mean to those of us who are (were) preparing for surgery. Continue to share....it's priceless!

:thumbup1:

Omgosh! I'm right with you with the gas pain! Good way of explaining it, I will have to use that LOL! I die every time I know I have to drink:crying:. I can't wait for the day there will be NO PAIN!

For me, and I'm just speaking on my pain level, it is probably a 7 or 8. I am in alot of pain and discomfort. I cannot lie down for long periods of time because the gas pains are so intense. The thought of taking a drink makes it worse, because I know as soon as I swallow there is going to be ALOT of pain, and as a result, I'm not getting in my full 64 oz. daily. I have another question....along with the gas pains, I feel hungry, very hungry also. Is this normal too? I don't see how I'm going to stay on Clear liquids for TWO weeks. The thought of any more Jello, chicken broth, or flavored Water makes me sick. Any suggestions? I am opened to anything right now....

Thanks all.

I had the same problem and actually was so miserable last Tuesday and Wednesday (had surgery last Friday), I was bad and took two small bites of some refried Beans that I chewed and played with in my mouth until they were just about a liquid before swallowing...I know...bad me! But I was so desperate for the physical hunger pain to be gone.

I started asking why I was SOOOO physically hungry and someone suggested that it may be acid. I couldn't imagine that it had anything to do with acid, but did remember that I didn't take my Nexium on Monday (my flight home) and couldn't remember that I took it Sunday either....I did take it Tuesday and Wednesday and I guess by Thursday it had taken effect and I woke up feeling 100% better.

Are you on some type of PPI? I know that someone else was, but was still having problems with too much acid, so they upped their dose to 2x a day and it went away.

I totally underestimated the need for a PPI and now it is the FIRST thing I take when I wake up because I do NOT want to go through that again!!

Thank you Krista. The doctor gave me a prescription for Protonix and I've been taking the prescribed dosage of 1 per day. I don't understand how that could help the hunger pains though. I've only experienced heartburn or reflux once since surgery this past Wednesday. I too was very bad and took two bites of refried beans last night because i was feeling so hungry. What about protein shakes? Do you drink those? Pre-op I drank the ready-made Atkins shakes and they worked really well for me.

Classiladi13....

When I was 1 day out, I felt "hunger pangs"....that empty feeling where your stomach seems to be growling. I described the feeling as someone wringing out my stomach like a washcloth....it was pretty uncomfortable. As soon as I started back on PPI, that feeling vanished. So it had to have been the "false hunger due to acid" that everyone talks about.

I bet you will have the same experience once your PPI really kicks in.

Thank you very much for your response. I will take that into consideration. I've been on the PPI since surgery and unfortunately the hunger pangs seemingly have gotten worse. What about the gas? Have you had found anything that will give you any relief?

For the gas....just walking, heating pad, and time. I'm day 6 and I can say the worst was over on day 4. I had hunger pangs until day 3 or 4.