Post op pain

[Pac-woman 325]

Whoever came on here and said that the surgery is no painful post, is not human.

This shit hurts. I just come from being discharged. The act of taking out the drain bag was the most painful thing ever. Every time you try to get up, the pain reminds you what has been done to you. The car ride? Speechless.

It does hurt. All of it. I even was wondering what the hell did i get myself into.

[trulyamazingtoo 127]

Awe... Not from my experience but I hear that is on temp. The real deal is getting through the next couple of weeks. Still more liquid. I have to have liquids up to two weeks after

[JamieLogical 8,684]

Some people experience pain, some people don't. I had BAD "cramps", felt just like menstrual cramps, the first full day post-op until the removed my drain. As soon as the drain was out, I had no more serious pain, just occasional gas pain. I never had any pain from any of my incisions.

But don't fret! Even if you are in real pain now, it's unlikely to last more than a couple of days. Trust me, you will have far more issues in the next couple of weeks than a little pain. The first few weeks were rough for me. Always uncomfortable, frustrated at not being able to eat or drink anything without being miserable, always tired, always grouchy... It was NO FUN at all, but 19 weeks post-op, it's all a distant memory now. Hang in there!

[Pac-woman 325]

I guess people who had more fat than muscle has less pain? Because what is hurting is all of my abdominal muscles. They even go into spasms.

[LadyK44 263]

I guess people who had more fat than muscle has less pain? Because what is hurting is all of my abdominal muscles. They even go into spasms.

I had a lot of pain for about four or five weeks. I went back to work in 11 days. It sucked. But I would do it again down a total of 80 pounds. For me it hurt like H. I took a lot of prescription medications which helped. ????

[JamieLogical 8,684]

I guess people who had more fat than muscle has less pain? Because what is hurting is all of my abdominal muscles. They even go into spasms.

I had almost zero fat over my abdomen because I had a Tummy Tuck with muscle repair 3 years ago and while I put on a lot of weight since then, none of it was in my stomach. You can see in my before photos that, while I was quite fat, my stomach was still flat.

Edit: I should definitely post some progress photos now that I'm in Onederland!

Edited January 14, 2015 by JamieLogical

[Pac-woman 325]

Well i have to say i passed gas twice and has put a big relief on my tummy. I was only able to he down half cupb of broth all day

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

Everyone has a different experience. I had no pain. Not even anything I could even remotely call pain. I didn't use the pain pump in the hospital or need any narcotics to manage pain. It felt like I had done a vigorous workout the day before. No gas pain, no Constipation, no nausea, no dizzyness, no spasms, nothing. Mind you I was exercising 3 times a week pre-op so maybe my core strength helped. I was walking in recovery. I was able to drink in the hospital and have not had any trouble with any foods I've tried so far. The drain felt odd, but wasn't what I would consider painful. I just felt the tubing running through my body. I didn't even bother getting the prescription for pains meds filled when I was discharged.

Edited January 15, 2015 by BLERDgirl

[Pac-woman 325]

Wow. Good for you.

[vctlong 4]

What is the drain? I didn't have a drain... ????

[Pac-woman 325]

Unlesd they took it out before you noticed. But it is a little bottle that hangs from a tube. That tube is on you stomach muscle draining any kind of blood, liquid or puss that may be left in the stomach from surgery. It is t o leave it squeeky clean i guess, so mo infections occur.

[Pac-woman 325]

Sorry about the typos, i am on my phone

[JamieLogical 8,684]

Unlesd they took it out before you noticed. But it is a little bottle that hangs from a tube. That tube is on you stomach muscle draining any kind of blood, liquid or puss that may be left in the stomach from surgery. It is t o leave it squeeky clean i guess, so mo infections occur.

Not every surgeon uses drains. Some use multiple drains. Some only leave drains in for a day. Some leave them in for a week or more. It's very interesting to me that surgeons have so many different techniques, requirements, pre-op diets, post-op diets, and restrictions. I was on a different thread where someone was asking about coffee and some surgeons require you to stop drinking coffee before surgery, some don't. Some allow you coffee only a few days post-op, some allow you coffee 30 days post-op. Some tell you to never drink coffee again!

How are you feeling today Pac-woman? Is your pain any better?

[bewell 222]

I'm staring my 2nd post up and I have a lot of pain around m incisions where they worked in that area. Also sever pain when walking.

Hard to get liquid now. When I do swallow just a little, I feel like everything in my stomach and surrounding organs all cramp up. Anyone know if his is normal? The cramping

Hoping it gets better soon,

[Pac-woman 325]

@JamieLogical- Yeah my surgeon left the drain the entire two days I was in the hospital. There wasn't a whole lot to drain, but I guess it is precaution. I noticed the same things as you did. All surgeons have such different protocol. You really just don't know what is the "standard" thing to do. I guess the best advice is to follow your doctor's orders.

The pain is more tolerable today. After I got rid of the gas, it was more manageable. The gas is was hurts the most I think. For people to say they didn't have any gas, it is beyond me. They must have got rid of it before they noticed. Because the fact is, they do pump you up with Co2 to do surgery. Some may get rid of their gas faster than others. Apparently mine lingered 2 days until I finally passed gas. (sorry sounds gross, but it was the happiest moment at the time).

I haven't taken any more pain meds as it is tolerable. It feels like a lot of muscle pain, I do need help getting up as I am not superwoman. Maybe I don't have high tolerance of pain? But I do need help getting out of the recliner chair for now. As days go by, I am sure it will get better.

I may piss off some people here with my way of speaking and I don't mean too. But I am irritable and hurting and I do speak my mind. I am very realistic.

To have 85% of your stomach removed is considered major surgery and yes there is pain. I don't think it is normal to come out of the hospital doing jumping jacks and saying no pain whatsoever.. Who knows, I may be wrong, and so be it. But that is how I feel.

I am trying really hard to get liquids down, as I was told, because of normal inflammation in the stomach because it has to heal, the size of the stomach right now is the size of a pen. It will stretch and get bigger as it heals. So, when I am trying to put liquids down I am careful, cause I can feel it backing up in my throat.

I had like 3 teaspoons of scrambled eggs this morning and that is all I could do with out getting sick. I have to work on it slowly.

@bewell- yes you will feel stinging around the incisions, specially the one that they took the stomach out through. Mine is on the top left side. When I stand up, I have trouble stretching and standing straight up because of the muscle pain. But practice will make that go away I am sure. The organs will feel like it is cramping up, it does to me. But that will also subside. Give it 2 more days, it should get better....keep in touch any time, we are in this together. Specially if you did it around the same time I did. We can compare.

P.S. As for coffee, the bottom line is, coffee has no nutritional value. So why fill up your tummy with something not worth it to your body?