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Post op pain - be honest



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A lot of people mention being in the most pain when they initially wake up. Is that from the gas? I'm nervous about waking up in pain and going into a panic.

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Had my surgery Friday morning September 14, 2018 at 7:45, was sent home by 5pm that evening, it was laparoscopic mini sleeve with a hiatal hernia repair, needless to say the doctor said I could return to work the next day, didn’t happen, the pain was unbelievable and then trying to swallow liquids every 15 minutes did not happen because the pain of swallowing was intolerable, ended up in the ER the next morning from a severe allergic reaction to the liquid Tylenol with codeine that I have never taken in my 48 years, on day 4 post-op and still having difficulty swallowing but gas pains are slowing down, was very weak yesterday, feeling like I’m a little stronger today, hopefully this gets better, am already down 12lbs, was 63 lbs overweight according to the doctor day of surgery, looking forward to being just healthier inside and out!

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I had sleeve and had no gas pain, no pain walking, etc. The worst pain was the shots I had to do for 10 days to prevent blood clots! As soon as I was home after 2 days in the hospital I stopped all pain meds as I didn't really need them and I found them binding and contributing to my Constipation. I still have no pain, nada, nothing, almost like the surgery wasn't done. I guess I am one of the lucky ones.

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You all are great. Sharing can feel risky. Im scheduled for Sept 27. Found out yesterday that they had a OR opening, so they asked if i could br ready. Ready? I was born ready! Sorry, cheezy saying from way back. Anxious and at times terrified. You guys got my back, and I'm feeling a bit more relaxed.

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My story is different than most. I’m 12 days post op. Was hospitalized on day 10/11 due to pain nausea and heartburn. I still can’t keep anything down. They’re saying it’s reflux so I’m praying it passes. I’m pretty miserable and barely drinking anything. Pain meds made it worse bc Constipation but they did help me sleep at first.

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I did my recovery with no pain meds. The first few days I could sleep I bed because I would roll on my stomach and it caused pain. But within a week I was pretty mobile. It just felt like I had done an intense ab workout

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I was in pretty bad shape post op. Everyone is different so it’s hard to go in knowing how you will tolerate. Usually I skip all pain meds because I just don’t need them, this was way different. I was even a perfect patient walking, getting in fluids, etc, but only when my pain would get under control with meds.

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When I woke up from surgery, I felt wonderful. I'm sure it was the wonderful drugs. I didn't really have problems with gas. They had me up and walking by late afternoon and I walked about every 4 hours. ( not when sleeping however). The stitches didn't really hurt that much, and I only took the pain medication for a total of three days. The worst pain was when I would try to sleep on my side. I think I had to sleep on my back for about 10 days.

so, honestly, pain was very minimal.

Di

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Hi. I had my surgery on Thursday the 20th; it’s now Sunday the 23rd. I really don’t know what my pain threshold is, but I think it’s low-ish. 😊 Still, I hope what I have to say will help you. Its fresh, because I’m still going though it. I can’t believe how little pain I have. In the hospital, I took whatever they gave me, and I wasn’t uncomfortable at all. I came home Friday afternoon, and I took two Tylenol for a headache, and one Compazine (prescribed) for nausea. Yesterday I didn’t take anything out of the ordinary, and I haven’t needed it today either. I do have a Gabapentin prescription for nerve pain from a back injury, that might be helping, but that’s all. I have a bruise at each incision site, and two from Heparin shots they gave me. They itch more than anything. At its worst, the pain has felt like the soreness of a really good core workout. That’s it. I was afraid too, and everyone was really vague when I asked about pain. I hope this helps.

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There are a lot of variables that play into pain. First is the skill of the surgeon, your current health which includes your current Vitamin levels and things. Then there is the difficulty of the surgery. If you have enlarged organs that have to be lifted and moved out of the way with a lot of force or if you have hernias that have to be repaired while in there, all of those things will add to the pain.

I had pretty bad pain the first 48 hours. I was still able to get up and walk and things. The next 48 were rough but tolerable. After that I didn’t even take pain meds. Not even Tylenol.

Some people report zero pain ever although I have found those people rare. Most people describe roughly a week of pain. After that you will still have discomfort but it will be very situational. For instance if I twisted or lifted something in week three my stomach reminded me it was healing.

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Mine was very smooth, pain free and a RnY. Was doing fine until Doctor told me to advance my diet and Precious Pouch said OH NO, WE ARE NOT GOING THERE!
And I have a turkey egg of stomach is running my life, can't be 🐣sized ---they are somewhat cute. So a couple more weeks giving in and she should be healed enough to go to Stage 3.🍝🍶

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On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 3:03 PM, Rosang3 said:

The incision was sore but the gas was worse. I was not prepared for that. It was awful. Not everyone gets it. Brace yourself if you do.

Was yours just excessive burping and pressure or the kind with tons of pressure and you're praying to be able to burp? I don't mind extra burping, but I've read that some people said they were miserable because they couldn't burp. How long did yours last?

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Ok, so I had a lot of pain. The getting into bed and out of bed was terrible. I have never had ab surgery of any kind and losing that made it difficult for me to do everything - reach for things, pull myself up, sneeze, laugh, etc. Literally I sneezed the 3rd day and thought my guts fell out. They didn't.. but you get the idea. Not to be graphic but even going to the bathroom and cleaning myself was painful. I'm now 4 weeks post opp and I have some muscle pains around my ribs but it's better. I'm finally able to sleep on my sides (thank god!). The pain was no joke though. It was hard for me to understand why other had zero pain and I was struggling. Why wasn't I healing as fast?! I'm still struggling but with other things (food, mental stuff). Basically don't compare yourself to others as it will mess you up. Just stick to the plan and stay on top of your meds.

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I was surprised how bad the gas pains were on the day of my surgery and a bit surprised about how intense the pain was for my incisions. I haven’t missed a chance to take my pain pills, however they don’t seem to be working like they should. This pain caught me off guard. I was expecting an easier recovery. I am three days out of surgery

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Our experiences are all so different. Most important is to keep moving to relieve the gas and take a stool softener if you’re taking pain pills to prevent Constipation. I’m four months out and still get incision pains.

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
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