I am having my surgery in 2 days and I just found out I'll have a drain. can anyone tell me your experience with that and why they do it?

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I had a drain for 3 days. It's serves to drain the Fluid that accumulates near the staple line of your sleeve. It can alert you to any internal bleeding and to leaks, based on what the fluid coming out looks like.

Having the drain was more of an annoyance than anything. I wore sweats with pockets so I had someplace to put the drain bulb, and I had to pin it to the front of my PJs at night so I wouldn't roll over onto it. I never had any pain postop, but turns out the slight cramping feeling I'd had was from the drain cause it went away when they pulled it.

A friend who had bypass had 3 drains in for 2 weeks, but that procedure is much more extensive than VSG.

Do you go home with the drain?

I had a drain for my hospital stay (2 days). I really didn't pay much attention to it, the bulb thingy goes in a pocket in the hospital gown and I never had to mess with it. There was one time the nurse who was taking the liquid out jammed it back in a little too hard and that hurt. When they take it out, it feels weird -- you can feel it moving inside you -- but it didn't hurt.

I did not go home with it. It was really not a big deal. I was glad my surgical team had another way to check for leaks or other problems very easily without me having to swallow a bunch of nasty medical liquid for an imaging test.

Yes. I went home with mine. Surgery on Friday afternoon. Went home Saturday morning. Went back to the clinic on Sunday so they could check the drainage and change the bandage. Went in Monday to have it removed.

I had two drains. They took out one in the hospital, then my husband actually pulled the other one out 4 days post op, per the doctor's instruction. Neither one was bad for me.

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Had a drain for a week. My doctor did not do a leak test and when explained his reasoning it was logical. The drain was very annoying but I'm glad I had it. I felt like a new person when it was removed.

I had lap band to sleeve on Wed 3/30 and went home with a drain, it gets removed on Tuesday and the idea of it coming out freaks me out! Do they just pull it out? I feel like I can't do anything with it hanging off of me.

Yes they pull it out. Takes 5 seconds. It's not painful but it's a feeling I cannot describe. I used a lanyard to hold my drain in place by the 3rd day I was out and about drain and all. I wore a jogging suit the entire time.

Ya I'm gonna grocery shop tomorrow and stick it in my leggings or sweats