Hello fellow bandsters/VSG'ers,

I had my surgery on 1/29 in Richmond, VA. The band was removed and revised into the gastric sleeve in one surgery. The surgery itself lasted about 1 hour and fifteen minutes. I was in the hospital for a day and half and now staying in a hotel in Richmond until I can head home. I am working on liquids...and more liquids and trying to understand this new stomach, which is a lot different than my old.

Can anyone tell me what your post-op (first few days after surgery) was like? I am incredibly sore in my abdomen, but have no other pain. I am off of narcotics at this point and just managing by moving (lots of walking). How long was it before the swelling in your abdomen went away? What was drinking like for the first week? I am getting fluids down but occasionally hear a gurgling noise. I imagine my stomach is still swollen and wondering where the other half (or more) went.

Jennifer

I was sleeved on the 29th too in nyc. I'm still at the hospital but likely discharged today. I had a lot of pain & nausea yesterday, so I wasn't able to get up and walk or get the fluids the needed me to get. I'm really looking forward to home!

On my day of discharge (less than 24 hours after surgery), I was barely getting a couple sips of fluids into my new, smaller, swollen stomach. The charge nurse gave me a bunch of 1 ounce medicine cups and told me "Drink one of these cups of Fluid every hour, and you'll be fine". I immediately felt much better. A one ounce medicine cup is much less terrifying than a 16 ounce bottle of sugar free Poweraide! Believe me, I got no where near 64 ounce of fluid those first couple weeks post-op, but eventually the swelling went down and I could increase my liquid intake. My surgeon was a realist who reminded me that I had gone from a 32 oz. stomach to a 4 oz. stomach. I had just had major surgery. He gave me permission to just relax and not force myself to the point of being sick.

Give yourself time to heal. Everything will eventually fall into place.

So happy you are sharing your post op experiences now since I'm scheduled Wednesday for my revision. I have been on this site more these past couple of weeks to get a better idea of what to expect