I've had laparoscopic surgery twice before, and I'm scheduled for single incision VSG in early August. Everyone keeps saying how this surgery is so different from any other surgery. My other surgeries were lap gallbladder removal, went back to work in 4 weeks in '09. The other was robotic female surgery back to work in 2 weeks in May of this year. I'm an OR nurse and did a double shift my first day back and I felt fine. I'm only planning to take 3 weeks off because the surgery last month was unexpected and I had to use the PTO I was saving up for VSG. Can anyone who has had laparoscopic surgery before VSG tell me how it was different, besides the fatigue?

I had a tubal ligation at 27 laproscopically, plus two c-sections previous to that. I was back at work in two days after the tubal with minimal pain. IMO, the sleeve was way easier than either c-section. The only issue related to the 3 previous surgeries, according to my surgeon, is that I had a lot of scar tissue and adhesions that he had to work around inside. Even with all that, I was back at work in 8 days, BUT I don't do much lifting in the course of my job. I do a lot of driving, but didn't have any issues with that.

If you do a lot of lifting, you may want to wait longer before you go back to work, or see if you can get others to cover that for you at work. I wasn't even cleared for lifting weights more than 10 pounds until 6 weeks post-op.

Good luck!

Thanks Lissa. We have a pretty good team who don't mind helping each other out. I just don't want anything to stop me from having it done as soon as possible. I'm too impatient to wait until I build up my PTO again to take more time off. Thanks!

Ready4success, honestly there is no real way to answer this question. I have had c-section (full cut) , laparascopies due to endometriosis, miscarriages, complete hysterectomy (full cut) and my gallbladder out. Gallbladder was cake walk, and that's what I was expected this time. There is absolutely NO way to figure out how you are going to do. I walked into this surgery extremely happy, positive, outgoing, and I did great in the hospital. The nurses applauded how fast I got up and moved, and I'm 13 days out and I could not imagine having to get clothes on and go to a job, drive, I can't even sleep on my side yet, and I still screech a little while getting out bed in the middle of the night. My gallbladder out, I was out walking a dog within a week, sleeping on my side, and able to bend.

Just because other's did great or may do worse, doesn't mean you will. Please just take it as it comes, go in with a positive attitude, but don't berate yourself or make yourself feel worse if yoou aren't doing as well as you had hope or others say they are doing. Maybe you will do great, but if not cut yourself some slack. Your success will catch up to others, but as a nurse you know that there's too many variables, barring complications, the way someone heals, their immune system, the way a person heals, adhesion issues etc. that will contribute to how someone heals. I may have been more active than most people prior to surgery but with surgery my Lupus is slowing down my healing process. Eventually I'll be running, lifting and doing great.

Good luck, keep a positive outlook, but don't beat yourself if you aren't ready as soon as you hope.

Just saying hello

I had two laparoscopies previously for female related issues. Both of those had fewer incisions than the five I had for my VSG. The two previous laparoscopic surgeries I had as day sugeries (on a Friday) and was back at work on Monday. For my VSG, I had it on a Tuesday, and went back to work three weeks later. I had a two hour drive each way to work and my doctor didn't want me to drive more than an hour at a time without geting out and walking around for a few minutes. The first week, I worked half days. My major side effect from all three surgeries was the recovery from the anasthesia. It takes me days to really recover from the anasthesia - I fall asleep at random times - I am really fatigued for a couple of weeks. I remember it happening before, so I wasn't surprised when it happened this time.

The other thing people are doing during recovery from the VSG is dealing with the issues related to your stomach. It is going to be swollen and will not appreciate you putting things into it while it is in that state. But you will have to be continually drinking while you are awake to stay hydrated, and you will be learning what Protein drinks your stomach will tolerate. Your lower digestive track (bowels) will also be all out of whack after surgery and it takes people a while to get things back to normal after surgery. I did a full surgical prep before surgery (you know the routine, I'm sure). I think that helped me get back to normal pretty quickly.

Good luck with your surgery. I hope it goes well for you.

Sharon