For those of you who are post op what do you wish you had known before the surgery?

I am terrified of blood clots! When I met with my surgeon he said this is my # 1 possible complication because of my weight and general anthesia. Everything else was minimal. I hope he puts me on the shots!

Nothing was said about shots for me, a friend at work just had surgery in March and she did not have shots either. I was told to walk often to prevent clots.

I am wondering about gall bladder medication after surgery. I read that some people take it because with rapid weight loss of any kind we are susceptible to gall stones. I need to ask my Dr. about that.

Ditto about the gallbladder meds I have a sluggish gallbladder but it's not bad enough for insurance to pay for removal they literally told

me to just wait til it got worse!

My muscle was cut thru back several yrs ago to remove my gall bladder...all I can say is, sore sore sore...

Wow..very fascinating about the cut in the muscle that makes sense though. I am so happy u bought that up...

My YouTube video this week was about bloodclots and the guidelines for preventing them. In the comments I put links to the medical journals if anyone is interested. It's BeautyVGSJourney (the second video and is VGS). I am also terrified about bloodclots it's why I did the research.

About the muscle cut, yes there are about three muscle layers that they cut thru to get to the stomach. Not to mention the skin, fat and other tissue. Muscles do not regenerate, so only scar tissue can form. Thankfully the incissions are very small and most people heal well.

How would I know if I have a blood clot?

got my box of injections from my dr for my date next week on the 26th of april i think its a months worth in my box

I wish that I had known that a coccyx pillow would have been quite handy while I was in the hospital. The nurses kept me in an inclined position for most of my stay, but it really put a lot of pressure on my tailbone. I found it very difficult to find a comfortable position. At one point, I finally started using one of my bed pillows just to sit on, but it did not provide as much relief as I would have liked.

unfortunately most people have no symptoms until its almost too late. some of the symptoms include pain in part of your body such as a leg (normally only one and most blood clots after surgery are from the deep veins of the legs). Because of this is super important to do everything possible to prevent blood clots from forming. There is no scientific evidence that suggest that the injections for a few weeks after surgery help significantly, there are also side effects to those medications. Some surgeons feel comfortable using them while others do not. Until there is more scientific evidence on the subject the guidelines only state for them to be used very short term. There are people who are at much higher risk for blood clots (and yes obesity is a big one) but the higher the BMI the more likely the doctor is going to want to give the injections long term. Do not be afraid if your doctor does not recommend them (has long as he is using them during the surgery and shortly after as well as you are walking and they are using the machines or compression stockings you should be fine). I would ask what his stance is in the whole thing though. Some of the journals I posted are easy to read while others not so easy, but its a good place to start. The best you can do for yourself is not smoke and walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk.........................................................................................................walk

Thanks for the thorough explanation

Great thread!

nope

Not me either. They gave me a shot just before surgery.

Is that something everyone has to do... give themselves shots to prevent blood clots?

Have all of you had to do that?

I do Lovenox injections once a day. It is recommended with an abdominal surgery. It helps prevent blood clots from forming. I just take them once a day. The needle is small. They are easy to give. I started mine in pre-op at the hospital, got one before I left, and then had a prescription for 14 days post-op...only six more to go.