i am 2 days out - i cant sleep - i cant cant get comfortable and i cant get this damn bubble out of my chest (feels like a burp) and my shoulder hurts! does anyone know if they could sleep onthier side right after surgery? the pain is ridiculous! ouch! ok ok maybe i am exaggerating but i never had surgery before and i did not knwo what to expect! i am only 21 and i weigh 265 and i wasnt sure if i needed to do this or not but i guess i am glad i did so far! I believe that my expectations were unrealistic because this is surgery but the experience is different for everyone and i wasnt even in pain from the "band" its was the gas, the incisions and that stuff... (Message edited on 2/11/07)

I am 11 days post-op, and I thought the same thing right afterward also! Hang in there, it does get better each day. I suggest that if you must sleep on your side, get a VERY soft pillow, such as feather one, and use it longways to lay on. I did that, and it seemed to help some.

hI,

i COULDN'T sleep ON MY SIDE FOR A WEEK - HAD TO PROP MYSELF UP ON PILLOWS. ANOTHER COUPLE OF DAYS AND YOU'LL FEEL MUCH BETTER - TRY AND GET UP FOR A WALK THOUGH - IT'LL STOP YOU SEIZING UP AND HELP YOUR RECOVERY.

TAKE CARE,

YVONNE

X

great advice Yvonne, walking is great those first couple weeks. It sucks at first but it helps a lot. Your feeling is very normal and will happen at different times on your journey of weight loss. Keep your head up, it gets better. The best advice given to me was to take my measurements because some months your wont loose pounds, but you will loose inches. It was great advice for me so I pass it on!

I hope you feel better soon!!!!

I was in agony the 1st few days. Walking in short spurts helped. It was definately hard to sleep since I am a stomach sleeper, but by the 5th day I was sleeping on my left side, and around day 7 on my right. After about 2 weeks I could sleep on my stomach. Try not to do too much at once when you are up and around or it may set you back. (This is personal experiance speaking) Now I am 5 weeks out today and am walking on the treadmill 45 minutes a day and doing yoga 3 times a week. It feels great. I had the same questions at day 2 that you are having. What did I do, why did I do this, but at this point I have no regrets. Hang in there, and try to stay positive. You will feel better soon I promise!

It will get better, I promise. I was banded on Monday, Feb. 5, so this is still pretty fresh for me. By day 3 I was thinking, OK, I'll survive this....

As far as if you absolutely can't get up and walk around, or if you do and it doesn't help, I was told that it often helps to rock in a rocking chair, and it did help me. Whenever I wasn't walking around or on the computer, I was rocking away...

I still have to sleep on my back, which is agony, but I just feel like everything is being pulled too much when I try to lay on my side, and I can't relax. I hope this passes quickly, because I'm stiff in the morning, and my DH has to literally pull me up to a sitting position, and then pull me out of bed. I'm getting really tired of that already.:faint:

If you haven't found it yet, there's a thread on here called "February 2007 bandsters", and it's been a lifeline for me! There are several people going through what you're going through RIGHT NOW on there.

Hope to see you there! And I hope you start feeling better very soon!

Kim

When I had my gall bladder removed it really helped to sleep in the recliner the first few nights.

i am 2 days out - i cant sleep - i cant cant get comfortable and i cant walk around! does anyone know if they could sleep onthier side right after surgery? the pain is ridiculous! ouch!

A heating pad works wonders! I'm beginning my fourth week post op and I still sometimes get it out. I used it a lot the first week.

Sula

i am 2 days out - i cant sleep - i cant cant get comfortable and i cant walk around! does anyone know if they could sleep onthier side right after surgery? the pain is ridiculous! ouch!

Try using a heating pad. Made all the difference in the world for many of us.

Sula

Hi Travel Girl & Marissa!!

I too was banded on Monday, Feb. 5th!!

Nobody told me how to sleep... I LEARNED IMMEDIATELY, AND AM VERY HAPPY ... sleeping ON SITTING UP !!

I know it sounds uncomfortable, but IT IS WONDERFUL!!!

I use about 10 pillows total! and I just got a back rest too... I still have not laid down flat since I tried the night of sx. - it was soooo painful to lay flat!! Cannot believe nobody warned me about that!

I was very lucky to really only have pain the day of surgery, but when I woke up I was in pain and they put a pillow under my knees. If you're laying on your back, it really relieves the pressure on your stomach if you raise your knees a little.

I could sleep on my side by using a pillow under my tummy, like you do when pregnant.

HI Colleen! I still can't sleep on my side. With pillows, without pillows, it still felt like my incisions were being pulled open, and I could NOT relax. At least, last night I couldn't. I'll try again tonight. sleeping on my back isn't so bad, except that I sleep with my mouth hanging open, and my mouth gets SO dry, and my back gets really stiff from laying in one position all night. I'm usually a toss and turner, so I'm not used to having to just lay there.

I have to go back to work on Monday, and I'm scared to death that I won't be able to make it all day. At least the people I work with are supportive of this, and are understanding. I won't be able to drive myself (dr's orders, not sure why), so I'll have to get a ride with someone. I also commute 30 minutes to my job, so if I can't make it all day, I'll end up laying on the couch in the breakroom until my ride gets off....Yuck.

How are you doing pain-wise? On the 1-10 scale, mine hovers around a 3 or 4 unless I hiccup. Those are just awful. I'm trying to learn to suppress those, but that hurts almost as bad as the hiccup itself!:faint:

Wow Brenda you are a member of the 100 lb club. You are a inspiration to me.

I'm am so proud of you and I bet your life is so much better.

Roxie1951

YEP 100lbs. kinda amazing still. I started the same way all the above bandsters did. sore, heck I am trying to remember how long it hurt. I can honestly say, the banding was worse than the tummy tuck and breast lift I did 3 weeks ago. Remember your insides your liver muscles ect have been moved around, it will be sore HOWEVER once you begin to see and feel the difference with the weight loss you will forget the pain. like having a baby, during delivery thats it no more children, then your pregnant again! It will get better.

Travelgirl, do you sit at your job? bring a small back pillow to lean on in your chair if so. work ok, I just remeber being tired a lot more than the pain. Do you have staples? or stitches?

Good luck rest up Monday is a monumental day for us both. My first day of "freedom" no kids, no pain, I can drive, now if it would just stop snowing!!

I think many of us had 'bander's remorse' those first few weeks after surgery. I know that I surely did -- especially those first few weeks when I was hurting and when I feared I would have to live on liquids or mushies forever. Give yourself a few weeks and it will definitely pass. In addition to all the good advice that you have been given so far, I would also add liquid Tylenol PM to the list. There is a golden vanilla or warm vanilla or some such flavor that doesn't taste too bad. sleeping in the recliner with a heating pad and taking my tylenol PM was what got me through the night those first few weeks.

Welcome to bandland!

Spldgrl, I don't have any stitches, or staples, only the steri-strips (kinda like the butterfly strips, only wider) and everything is healing VERY nicely, thank God. No redness, or oozing, or anything. I do sit at my job, so I'm glad to have the advice to bring a pillow to lean on in my chair. That's my worst fear, is that my back will start hurting, and that I'll be too tired to work...