I'm scheduled for VSG on 7/17 and I've read everything I can get my hands on and feel generally prepared, but I wonder what they don't tell you or what no one ever talks about.

What, if anything, do you wish you had known before going in to surgery? What was the biggest surprise for you?

I was shocked by the drain, I was never told I would have one and all my pain came from the drain while in the hospital.

I was shocked that I could not start any liquid until after my leak test which was almost 24 hours later, my mouth has never been so dry.

I didn't expect to regret it so much at first. The first month was hard and I constantly questioned and second guessed myself.

I had a ton of muscle pain from the large incision that popped up weeks after surgery. It was hard to sleep for over a month.

But most importantly I never expected, at 6 months out, to feel so normal or to have lost so much weight. I'm 97 pounds down and 67 from surgery and it's the best feeling ever.

20 minutes ago, Sullie06 said:

I was shocked by the drain, I was never told I would have one and all my pain came from the drain while in the hospital.

I was shocked that I could not start any liquid until after my leak test which was almost 24 hours later, my mouth has never been so dry.

I didn't expect to regret it so much at first. The first month was hard and I constantly questioned and second guessed myself.

I had a ton of muscle pain from the large incision that popped up weeks after surgery. It was hard to sleep for over a month.

But most importantly I never expected, at 6 months out, to feel so normal or to have lost so much weight. I'm 97 pounds down and 67 from surgery and it's the best feeling ever.

I love this post!

I'm scheduled for VSG on 7/17 and I've read everything I can get my hands on and feel generally prepared, but I wonder what they don't tell you or what no one ever talks about.
What, if anything, do you wish you had known before going in to surgery? What was the biggest surprise for you?

Hey...3 days post-op here.
For me the barium swallow was pretty awful. I had my surgery at 9am and was down in radiology at 3pm for my study. They handed me a cup with 3oz of straight barium and told me when it was time I just had to swallow it. I must have looked at them with bug eyes because I was terrified to take my first sip of anything, much less 3 oz of disgusting barium. They reassured me it would be fine. They told me to do it in one sip but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I did 3 sips. It was cool though I got to watch it on a live monitor when I drank it. But yeah afterwards it was a horrific taste and hurt my already raw throat from the breathing tube. I wasn't allowed to drink anything after until I got clearance which was about 4 hours later, so I had to deal with the taste.

The other thing I wasn't expecting was the sore throat. My voice was super raspy and manly and it hurt to cough or anything. And I was bringing up a lot of mucous here and there--which is understandable given the breathing tube. But it almost made me feel like I had an upper respiratory infection on top of everything else. I don't want to freak you out though--it was tolerable. Each day is getting better, and I don't regret it. You'll be fine!

I feel I wasn't mentally prepared either the first almost week was hard but I'm 2 weeks post op and I feel great and I'm so grateful for my surgery.

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Just sleeved 7 days ago, I thought I was mentally prepared but I had a hard time the first few days, especially while in the hospital since I barely could get any sleep. There was a lot more pain and nausea than I expected. I didn't feel any pain from the actual stomach sleeve, it was the 6 incisions which were like 6 stab wounds that makes any movements that use your ab muscles (almost everything) very painful. It was managed well with the pain and nausea meds (be sure to keep taking them every 4 hours or so) but simple things like shifting around the bed, coughing, sneezing (ouch), hiccups, even peeing the first couple times were painful for me. After coming home and getting a good nights sleep, I was off the pain meds and it was downhill from there. You may feel a lot of regret at first but after the weight starts flying off, it will all be worth it! I'm down 11 lbs in 7 days so I would do it all over again if I had to!
HW: 330
SW: 294 6/27/2017
CW: 282
GW: 180
VSG, Dr. Jawad, Orlando, FL

I agrees I regretted it too I feel it was mainly because I couldn't eat or get up and do things for the first few days I'm great now

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Thank you all . . . this is very helpful.

I'm surprised at how slowly you lose weight! I was sleeved 6/1 and lost 19 pounds the first 3 weeks. And 4 pounds the next 3 weeks! I'm going to step up my workouts and hopefully that will get me going again but I'm really frustrated at this point!

What I wish I would have known before my surgery? That it's not going to work for me. I could have saved my $3000 and spent it on something more useful.

Wow, that's so unfortunate.. sorry to hear that. [emoji17] Mind if I ask when you were sleeved?

I was surprised at how much easier it was than expected. Hearing such a range of experiences is so interesting.. I wonder if there is a correlation between the pain level and BMI? For example, perhaps a heavier person would need more anesthesia or more ... fill in the blank.. making recovery more painful? I don't know. I am on the smaller side for someone who gets this surgery (I joke about this all the time as I have never been seen as a "small person" Bahaha)..

I did also get the, "What have I done?!" feeling very strongly.. especially heading back up to the boarder from Mexico seeing all the tacos, Mexican fruit and snack stands.. ???

5 days post-op and still get it.. I'm sure it'll subside.

What I wish I would have known before my surgery? That it's not going to work for me. I could have saved my $3000 and spent it on something more useful.

Your surgery was only $3000? Where did you have it done? I'm in CA and mine was over $16,000! I hope things turn around for you - are you eating mainly protein and drinking lots of water? Exercising?

I'm also surprised by how different everyone's procedures/experiences are. I was outpatient, self-pay. No hospital stay. I didn't have any barium treatments, no weird thing to drink the next day. No drain. I was on liquid diet the first 3 weeks, and purée the next 3, then solid foods at 6 weeks. Very interesting how many different experiences people are having. My BMI was 40 when I started this process, and apparently that is on the low side for this surgery. Also, I had some bad pain at my main incision site for about 5 weeks. It hurt to roll over, cough, sneeze and anything using my abs. Felt like I was ripping something inside. All of a sudden that pain went away at 5 weeks. Strange all the differences in everyone's journeys!

Sunneadow, what do your surgeon and nutritionist say is the issue? I think you are right, if you are eating so few calories and exercising why in the world wouldn't you lose weight? There has to be something else going on. Are you tracking every morsel and sip? I think I'd be sitting on my doctors doorstep if this were happening to me!

(That was LittleM, not me, but I too would be talking to my doctor about it)

I was surprised at how much easier it was than expected. Hearing such a range of experiences is so interesting.. I wonder if there is a correlation between the pain level and BMI? For example, perhaps a heavier person would need more anesthesia or more ... fill in the blank.. making recovery more painful? I don't know. I am on the smaller side for someone who gets this surgery (I joke about this all the time as I have never been seen as a "small person" Bahaha)..

I did also get the, "What have I done?!" feeling very strongly.. especially heading back up to the boarder from Mexico seeing all the tacos, Mexican fruit and snack stands.. ???

5 days post-op and still get it.. I'm sure it'll subside.

I laughed myself silly when the nurse told me I was on the lower side as well. My BMI was over 50 at the time!

I'm also surprised by how different everyone's procedures/experiences are. I was outpatient, self-pay. No hospital stay. I didn't have any barium treatments, no weird thing to drink the next day. No drain. I was on liquid diet the first 3 weeks, and purée the next 3, then solid foods at 6 weeks. Very interesting how many different experiences people are having. My BMI was 40 when I started this process, and apparently that is on the low side for this surgery. Also, I had some bad pain at my main incision site for about 5 weeks. It hurt to roll over, cough, sneeze and anything using my abs. Felt like I was ripping something inside. All of a sudden that pain went away at 5 weeks. Strange all the differences in everyone's journeys!

My surgeon said no testing other than bloodwork unless there's a problem or he suspects there may be one. Also 98% chance there will be no drain either.

On a different thread, someone going the same day as me (OMG, that's tomorrow! Less than 24 hours from now! Sorry, just realized...) had to do bowel prep. I didn't.

Surgeon said no to all of the horrible things I had read and asked about. The only thing he was adamant about that surprised me was no driving for 7-10 days. He then said until he sees me, but that's 2.5 weeks! He then softened a bit and said that yes, it might be ok after I'm off pain meds, but "just don't make any plans" and told me to skip my therapy appointment scheduled for 5 days after. His nurse also said it might be uncomfortable to drive.

My surgeon said no testing other than bloodwork unless there's a problem or he suspects there may be one. Also 98% chance there will be no drain either.

On a different thread, someone going the same day as me (OMG, that's tomorrow! Less than 24 hours from now! Sorry, just realized...) had to do bowel prep. I didn't.

Surgeon said no to all of the horrible things I had read and asked about. The only thing he was adamant about that surprised me was no driving for 7-10 days. He then said until he sees me, but that's 2.5 weeks! He then softened a bit and said that yes, it might be ok after I'm off pain meds, but "just don't make any plans" and told me to skip my therapy appointment scheduled for 5 days after. His nurse also said it might be uncomfortable to drive.

My surgery was 6/1 and I was driving 6/5. I stopped taking my pain meds by day 3 because they made me itch.