don't let anyone fool you. recovery is awful.

[jujubeesmama 1]

I am in the hospital , day after surgery. This had been the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. A million times west than child birth. Please be seater that recovery is painful. Dr said mine went perfect. It only took an hour an 15. Since I got out of the operation I have thought u did I do this to myself when will this pain end. When will I be able to take a few sops without dry heaving so intense that it feels like my inside a are being ripped out. I'm hoping a well will pad and I'll start too feel better. I am not trying to talk anyone out of this I just want people top be prepared.

[O.T.R. sleever 3,386]

Unfortunately, though for most of us recovery very mild, for some there is some pain. All I can say right now is tomorrow will be better, and the next day will be even better than tomorrow. Barring any complications, a week from now your biggest problems will be head hunger and making sure to get all your liquids. I know it doesn't make sense right now, but in a month today will actually be a fond memory. This is the beginings of your new, much improved life.

[Mason 122]

I have a very low threshold to physical pain and I felt none after surgery except when I moved or tried to get out of bed.

I asked the nurse to give me a shot of Ultram100mg I.M. just before being discharged and that took care of whatever discomfort I might have felt for the ride home. Although I was prescribed some pain medication at discharge, I never needed to take it.

My wife had to help me out of bed until the fourth day after surgery and, then, by the fifth day, I was fine.

If you are feeling a lot of pain, you should tell your surgeon immediately and ask for more pain medication. There is no reason for you to be this uncomfortable. I have never given birth (smile) but I had an abscessed wisdom tooth a few months ago and the pain from that infection was 100 times worse than my VSG surgery.

PS. Make sure you are walking. The only real discomfort I felt after surgery was from the trapped CO2.

PPS. I am NOT a bariatric surgeon pretending to be a patient. I am a real VSG patient not affiliated or associated with any physician in the practice of weight loss surgery.

[SerendipityHappens 1,594]

I appreciate this. I'm hoping that I won't have a difficult recovery since I have to fly home five days later but I agree it's best to prepare for the worst. That's why I booked an extra night in TJ... even though most people report the recovery being a breeze, I wanted to be on the safe side. When I had my gallbladder out the pain was horrific (course my doctor said my surgery was worst case scenario. It was gangrene and had ruptured and the infection was septic) and I think in my mind I'm expecting that level of pain.

[kmoore 97]

Aside from some nausea because of a mild reaction to morphine and some mild gas pains located around my diaphragm, my recovery went fine. Had a small pillow to press against my stomach when getting up and out of bed or the couch when I got home and when I had to cough. That helped when it came to the soreness of the actual surgery. I am sorry you are in so much pain. That is definitely no fun. Like has been said, talk to the nurses/doctor and let them know how much pain you are in. And make sure you are walking to get that gas out.

[icon23 273]

I, too, am sorry this has been difficult for you. Like others have said, it really is more common for recovery to be mild. I was just sleeved yesterday and it has been mostly easy and virtually pain-free. I was advised before surgery to get up and walk as soon as possible after surgery to help the anesthesia wear off--the anesthesia can cause nausea and vomiting if it stays in your system too long. Even though I got up and walked as soon as I was brought back to my room, they had kept me in the recovery room for 2 hours already and I wound up feeling nauseous after walking back and forth in the hallway about 15 times--I did not vomit, though, and I felt better when I laid back down. They also gave me something in my IV to help with the nausea.

[ashelaine 383]

My recovery was similar to yours. I have a pretty high pain tolerance and woke up in recovery saying it hurt. The nausea is the worst part. They tried phenergan and then zofran and FINALLY reglan made it stop. That said- it does it get better by day 5- I was at my daughters soccer game walking up and down the sidelines. I promise it gets better!

[gmanbat 5,889]

I haven't tried to fool anyone since I did card tricks for my granddaughter. I certainly wouldn't want to create a false impression about the pain of my operation, why would I? I personally think folks should not get this operation if they can get the same results from other actions but not because my operation was extremely painful for me. It was not.

Unfortunately, we are all different. There is a subjective element to all of the expressions we have of our experiences. Those who have had a painful, terrible time with this operation should speak without shame. Those who think it was a mild trial especially considering what the operation accomplished should also speak freely.

We can do no more than relate our experiences. We can't give medical advise so if anyone is trying to fool anyone it would be the medical people. They are the only ones with a motive. I trust mine, what they told me and the results of their work turned out just like they said. I am diminished by 1/3 of my original weight and in the best shape in 40 years. I am no longer in pain. They did their work, I did mine. My experience.

[2013newme 42]

ask for more or different pain meds for sure!! Morphine made me sick - so I switched to hydrocondone - and I took it every 3 - 4 hours to stay ahead of the pain.... there is another side - you will be there in a couple of days....hang in there

[DeeBrownBaker 139]

I was very fortunate... I had more soreness than actual pain... the worse part was coughing... but within 5 days I was much better... take solace in the fact that it does get better...

[Cookiemonster73 92]

I am in the hospital ' date=' day after surgery. This had been the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. A million times west than child birth. Please be seater that recovery is painful. Dr said mine went perfect. It only took an hour an 15. Since I got out of the operation I have thought u did I do this to myself when will this pain end. When will I be able to take a few sops without dry heaving so intense that it feels like my inside a are being ripped out. I'm hoping a well will pad and I'll start too feel better. I am not trying to talk anyone out of this I just want people top be prepared.[/quote']

I agree the pain is the worst I ever had in my life. I am my surgery on Monday and it does get better. Make sure you get a cough suppressor after the second day all I wanted to do was cough ...that helped also walking...get up and starts walking.

[supia 36]

The day of my surgery was spent throwing up blood for four hours..then moving to blood stained foam. I had a terrible reaction to the surgery. But 24 hours later, I was doing well. I'm one week out now. No pain meds since I left the hospital Sunday. I had a full day of travel which left me tired. But recovery is great. My tummy itches now--that's the only constant sore

No head hunger yet.

[rsmont77 101]

I hope you feel better soon, just make sure you follow your doctors orders. About a week after the surgery I mopped my floors and pulled something in my stomach. That caused me pain for a week or so. I did have pain, since I had a hernia repair, I also had horrible shoulder pain. But I'm down 30 pounds since 12/26/12, and realize it was all worth it. Hang in there it gets better I promise.

[Mason 122]

While we are all assuming that the rather enormous differences in early recovery are attributable solely to individual differences between patients, I am now thinking that, perhaps, these differences can be attributable to physician skill and his/her surgical protocol.

There are not that many physicians performing this procedure in Abu Dhabi. I know five other patients who had this surgery performed by my doctor. In every case, the experiences surrounding early recovery (day of and the day after) were virtually identical despite the fact that we are all very different in regard to age, starting BMI, overall health, and gender.

Obviously, there are individual differences between patients in regard to pain threshold and particular sensitivity to discomfort. However, there are also tremendous differences between physicians in their levels of skill and expertise. Just because, for example, an appendectomy is now considered routine surgery does not mean that every general surgeon enjoys the same post-operative results, on the average (that is, controlling for individual differences between patients).

Please be advised that not all laparoscopic surgeons are created equally. In this case, consulting with other patients who had the procedure from the same doctor you are considering is a very good idea.

[gmanbat 5,889]

Very good point, Mason.