My doctor has not even mentioned a drain and Im reading people talking about having a drain in them. What is it, how long does it stay in and where is it?

Not everyone gets a drain, but most do. My surgeon keeps it til day 3. I've read that some people here had one for as long as a week. I'm not sure what the reasoning is behind keeping it that long. I had a fair bit of Fluid come out of my drain over the 3 days (probably 300 ml?), so I like the idea of it coming out rather than swishing around in my abdominal cavity somewhere. It also helps with the first leak test - they make you drink colored juice and then look for colorant in your drain bag.

I attached a pic of my drain for you, hope it works, never tried to attach anything before.

Thanks alot, hows everything going after the surgery, any other surprises I should be aware of?

I stayed overnight in the hospital, but my drain was taken out by the time I left the hospital the next morning. There was no pain just felt kinda weird when the nurse pulled it out.

I also had to give myself blood thinner injections of Arixtra for seven days post op to prevent blood clots. Which was a surprised to me when I went to my first consult with my surgeon. I didn't find out until I had my pre op educational class. Wow... at first I was very unsure about giving myself an injection, but really it was no big deal. I don't know how many people actually had to do this. I believe my surgeon is very cautious. Which is OK with me.

Deb

I stayed overnight in the hospital, but my drain was taken out by the time I left the hospital the next morning. There was no pain just felt kinda weird when the nurse pulled it out.

I also had to give myself blood thinner injections of Arixtra for seven days post op to prevent blood clots. Which was a surprised to me when I went to my first consult with my surgeon. I didn't find out until I had my pre op educational class. Wow... at first I was very unsure about giving myself an injection, but really it was no big deal. I don't know how many people actually had to do this. I believe my surgeon is very cautious. Which is OK with me.

Deb

I also had my drain taken out when I left the hospital, but of course I was in the hospital longer because I live 8 hours away from the hosptial. When the Doctor told me it was going to be uncomfortable when he took it out, I laughed when he actually took it out, because the nurse taking out my IV pulling the tape off my arm hurt worse then removing the drain. I have to give myself injections, or should I say someone else had to give me injections. I'm a big baby, and can not picture myself giving my a shot or poking myself with any type of needle for that matter. lol

I didn't have a drain, but i did have to give myself Heparin shots twice a day for 30 days.

I can deal with shots because they come out, just something hanging out of me thats not natural, kind of freaks me out. Call me weird but its freaking me out. Did I say im freaked out.

My worst pain in hospital was where thevdrain was although they don't stint on the pain meds so not talking about severe pain. What with the IV lines etc I don't think the drain bottle will particularly bother you. You might also have a morphine pump. When they take it out one sees how long that tube was that was inside! Far worse than the little bit hanging outside the body.

I had my drain out yesterday before leaving the hospital. I also thought that having a foreign body hanging outside of me would freak me out, but I hardly noticed it. They pinned it to my pyjamas, and to be honest I was so busy trying to walk around and drink some water that I wasn't thinking about it.

Agreed, when they take it out it feels VERY strange. But it doesn't hurt. And it isn't there for long. Try not to worry too much :001_smile: x

I didn't have a drain with my sleeve surgery. I didn't notice any side effects that might have resulted from not having a drain - other than maybe a little extra abdominal swelling that went away on its own.

I did have a drain with my breast reduction years ago. I didn't realize it until the drain was taken out, but it seemed to sap my strength while it was in. I suspect this was because it was pulling some of the blood from my body along with the Fluid drainage, but it wasn't that big of a deal. I just felt the need to drink more when I had it in. I think you'll find that it's the least of your worries post op. :thumbup: Stay hydrated!

Thanks everyone maybe im over-reacting. We will see in 11 days how I feel about it. Sept 23rd cant come fast enough.

No drain here!

My doc doesn't use them.

I did not have a drain 3 weeks ago when I was sleeved. I specifically asked my doctor and he said that unless there is a question in regard to internal bleeding he never uses them.

I did however have what is called an On Q Pain Buster pump. They place it while in surgery to areas where most patients complain of pain due to a certain surgery. Apparently they can use it after many different kinds of surgeries (C-sections, hernia repair, etc). I went home after 1 night and Hubby and I had to remove it the following morning.