Hello I just wanted to know what to expect. I hear gas pains are the worse but what does it feel like? And how did your stomach area feel? Do not sugar coat anything please lol I just want to know ( I think ) and when did all the pain go away? I understand everyone is different so all input would be appreciated. Thank you

Every person has different pain threshholds and different types of pain. Gas pains are common. I took pain meds for one day. The hardest part or most painful part for me after surgery, if I remember this correctly, was laying down flat (this took a couple weeks) and coughing because it jars the abdominal area (hold a pillow to your tummy, it helps tremendously).

@CAsleeve, thank you I need to start compiling a list of things that will make post op a little more bearable.

A lot really depends on the surgeon that you have. I know a lot of people complain of gas pains, however I had ZERO gas pains after surgery. My surgeon assured me up front that he works very had to get all of the excess gas that they pump in you out before he's done. He also put a drain in for 24 hours which was supposed to help and I felt great.

Immediatly after I woke up in recovery I felt nauseous. The nurse was quick to help me out. she gave me some meds for nausua but first she put an alcohol swab on my nose... she said that it would help the nausea and amazing enough... it did. Who knew. I tried it a couple times at home when I had some nausea and it helped then too.

I was on a morpine pump for the first day and was allowed to press the button every 10 minutes if I wanted to but to my suprise I probably only used it once an hour. Again, I think that had a lot to do with the surgeon and how good he was. The worst pain that I felt was when I first tried to get out of bed to walk... WOW... It was like my stomach was ripping open. My weight on the incisions really hurt, but I pushed though and it seemed that every time I got up to walk was a little better. I really didn't notice any internal pain until day 3 when my sleeve started "cramping" when I tried to eat or drink or really just about any time it wanted to. I was told that it was normal and would go away... and it did. Day 4 was better and by the middle of week 2 the cramping was all gone. Every day was better and better with the incision pain and I would say that they felt completely better by the end of week 2 post op.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask me anything.

Gene

Completely agree with CASleeve... a pillow is a MUST to keep around for the first week. It helps so much when coughing, sneezing or moving.

Gas pains are the most common but much like Gene I didn't have any gas pains. My surgeon was fantastic and got the majority of the excess gas out.

The worst pain I remember was climbing stairs. I slept downstairs at my house for the first week because climbing up and down stairs pulled on the muscles and caused some pain. During the first night in the hospital I requested one shot of morphine and that was all I needed.

Overall, the pain has been very minimal.

@Gene1970, thank you, very informative and helpful

@kittenkate, you sound tough haha I hope I only need one shot of morphine. I'm happy to hear the pain was minimal for you.

If you have a good Dr you probably won't need much as far as pain meds either. I filled the RX for home and never used it once.

My surgery was August 2, and I am 1 week post op. I was lucky also, but i had a hiatel hernia repaired and I had pain in the middle of my chest to my left shoulder. Using the spirometer was "heck". I got up 2 hours after surgery to go pee and I decided to take a walk. and I made laps around the hall. Walking helps tremendously. I have no pain now. I was also on the pain pump for 24 hours and then they switched me to laratab elixer, which taste terrible and burns going down. I have taken it 3 times since I have been home. The most important thing is to walk and move around. take a shower. It really makes u feel better. The pain was not bad at all.

Susan

yep, spirometer was no fun... but push yourself to do it... you need to get those lungs open and keep them clear.

@Sunnybyrd, I hope your recovery goes well, Im going to add walking to my list of post op tips I hear all the time so hopefully I will make myself do it.

I did have gas pains and definitely needed to be helped out of the hospital bed the first day. I was amazed, though, at how good I felt after three days. I had myself terrified and worked up that I was going to be bed ridden for a month and in miserable pain. I took liquid tylenol with codine for the first few days, but my surgery was on a Thursday and by Sunday I turned a major corner.

It really is funny how worked up we can get ourselves and I thought the worrying was worse than the actual pain.

You'll definitely want a pillow (especially for the car ride home) and a heating pad for the gas/muscle soreness for the first few days. I slept in our recliner since lying down wasn't pleasant. I really think you'll do fine. It is a small price to pay!

My sleeve surgery was my first surgery ever and honestly... it was a piece of cake!! I hardly had any pain... (imagine doing 100 crunches), NO gas, NO nausea, etc.... I was out laying by the pool the day after and out shopping the day after that! My surgeon also used a drain which does help with gas pains, etc... Well, so I have been told!

The entire procedure only takes about an hour..... You will do great!

I felt like I did 1,000 sit ups and my abs were super soar. It was uncomfortable, but not intolerable. I hardly used any morphine in the hospital and I only used the tylenol with codine for 4days at night so I could sleep at night.

My worst time was immediately after surgery. I believe my pain was from gas. It felt unbearable, but the floor doctor would not give me pain meds even though the surgeon told me he wrote them PRN (as needed). I think I got one shot of morphine the entire night. I talked to my surgeon about this afterwards, and his assistant told me that the floor doctor was notorious for with holding pain meds. I wish I had known that in advance.

My stomach was tender or painful to the touch. The pain was deeper, and there was nothing I could do to get comfortable. When I walked, I was nauseous, and I heaved a few times (which wasn't uncomfortable in my stomach area). This lead me to believe my pain was gas related.

At the end of the first day, I rolled over to sleep on my side and stomach and then would start over on my back. The movement seemed to help relieve the pain. When I woke up the next morning, it had pretty much subsided. Haven't had any real pain since.

I can honestly say it was the easiest surgery I have been through. I did take pain meds at night for the next few days, but not so much for pain. It was mostly to help me be incredibly comfortable and drowsy so that I slept like a rock.