Alrighty so I got my date for my surgery and it's going to be July 14th!!! I am so so so so excited... However I may have overlooked a tiny detail in picking my date. I am a bridesmaid in a wedding on July 19th. Just 5 days after surgery. From what the bride has told me it's a small simple wedding and we won't be standing up there with her just walking down the isle and sitting in the front row. My surgeon says I'll only be in the hospital for two days. Is it crazy of me to think being in the wedding is even a possibility? The bride knows the situation and is willing to help me out I. Anyway needed however it is her special day and I don't want to put a damper on it. How did you guys feel so shortly after surgery?

Alrighty so I got my date for my surgery and it's going to be July 14th!!! I am so so so so excited... However I may have overlooked a tiny detail in picking my date. I am a bridesmaid in a wedding on July 19th. Just 5 days after surgery. From what the bride has told me it's a small simple wedding and we won't be standing up there with her just walking down the isle and sitting in the front row. My surgeon says I'll only be in the hospital for two days. Is it crazy of me to think being in the wedding is even a possibility? The bride knows the situation and is willing to help me out I. Anyway needed however it is her special day and I don't want to put a damper on it. How did you guys feel so shortly after surgery?

Hi... Everyone is different. I was still in a lot of pain and weak. I am 10 days out and still a little weak. I know I couldn't have taken the pressure of such a day. It's very draining and you have to keep in mind your mind is going to be in shock and then in a "reboot" situation. Again that's my advice..

Totally possible, but it really comes down to you and how you're feeling. I was out shopping the day I got discharged from the hospital, and went out every day after that no problem. Everybody's different though so you may or may not be up to it. Either way, just listen to your body and take it easy if/when you need to.

I was very tired, weak, horribly nauseated, but mobile. I felt rotten. My abdomen was horribly swollen and extremely tender (no pantyhose or tight panties. Your dress may not fit so soon after surgery either.) You may want to sit rather than stand before and after the ceremony. Don't plan on eating anything at the reception. Take your liquid either clear or Protein shake (whichever you are on according to your doctor) with you to have available.

My REAL advice to you would be to see if you can postpone your surgery date one week until just after the wedding. You could possibly do the wedding just 5 days post-op, but you will feel better and it will be a much more enjoyable day if you wait. You just don't know how it could affect you - if there were any complications or if you have more trouble than your doctor is planning on you could totally miss the wedding. Is it worth the chance when just a week could spare you and the bride-to-be the stress & agony of a bridesmaid having to cancel last minute?

Edited May 21, 201412 yr by NICU-RN

It really depends on how you're feeling. You might feel like a train wreck, you might feel ok.

I felt good on day 5, but probably not good enough to do bridesmaid duties.

On day 5, I wouldn't have been able to do it. I'd push it back until right after the wedding, then you won't have to worry. You might be one of the people who are up and running, but there is no way to know. Why add that stress to yourself and the bride?

This, unfortunately can't be accurately answered until you're 5 days post op. Some people could do it, others couldn't. I was up walking a few miles a day 4 days post op with little to no discomfort. A few people I know just had a hard enough time getting out of a chair or bed to go to the rest room. It's completely individual. To be on the safe side, I'd pick one or the other. Either push the surgery back, or inform your friend of the issue.

At 5 days I was in rough shape. I went to work on day 6 and lasted 1.5 hours (I sat at my desk the whole time). I just felt terrible that first week.

Doable? Probably. You might feel like hell though....

I couldn't have done it - I agree with the advice to put off the surgery until after the wedding. At that point, getting my Water and Protein down so I could stay alive was a full-time job.

As posters above said it is unknown until you get there. Personally I could have physically been able to, but not sure I would have wanted to. I went back to work 9 days post op, and the first day back was Halloween so I had to take my daughter out for Trick- or - Treat after. I was exhausted after it all, but lived. If it truly is a small wedding, you can sit down a lot, and not much is expected from you then you might be able to pull it off. But how will the bride really feel about it? ( Will she be upset you are being a lump on her special day? ) Do not be fooled, this is MAJOR surgery and your body will react accordingly. Some people bounce back quickly, others take a longer time. It is draining because not only are you trying to heal from such a huge ordeal, you are also at a huge nutritional deficit. It takes a lot out of you. My best advice would be reschedule if you can or attend the wedding as a Quest and not as a bridesmaid. Either way it is truly up to you and how you feel about it.

I would have totally been able to do it, but so many others haven't that I wouldn't count on it.

I totally would not have been able to do it. My first week SUCKED! Everyone is different...

I agree it is one or the other, because you wont know how YOU will be until you - yourself are actually on day 5... if you push your surgery back just a week, they you will have both... just not at the same time good luck!

I felt like I had been run over by a truck the first week and yet others were out shopping the next day. If you can push it a week, why risk not feeling up to the wedding and/or not enjoying yourself? I know how much you want the surgery ASAP we all have been there, but one week or even a day or 2 after the wedding won't make the wait any harder

I went to a family Christmas party 5 days post op. I was okay but had to leave exhausted in about 2 hours. Can you reschedule surgery?

If rescheduling surgery is not an easy option, (my doc was booked three months out --so no way could I have rescheduled !) consider whether this is a time you need to put yourself first, and have your surgery on time . Do something special for the bride if you cannot be one of her bridesmaids. Sometimes those of us who needs weight-loss surgery have had a long pattern putting other people first--that may not be you, but I know sometimes it's me!

Also I gained 20 pounds of Fluid during my hospital stay, and it took me 10 days to lose them! No way would a bridesmaid dress have felt comfortable nor high heels or the rigors of an event that would last a few hours that soon after my surgery, but everyone is different. I was walking 3000 steps by day two though.

Good luck!

Thank you for all the replays and advice!!!!! I think a safe bet would be to try and reschedule the surgery!