Is this normal? Everytime I swallow anything at all, I feel considerable pain and pressure straight down through the sternum and into the stomach. It doesn't matter how small the sips are as well.

Also I'm having a lot of upper back and shoulder pain as well, which I assume are normal also? x.x I feel absolutely miserable today.

For the VSG surgery they cram that bougie down your throat so they can make your sleeve the right size. It'll be sore for awhile. Upper back pain is common with all procedures because of trapped gas and I'm convinced when you're knocked out, they flop you on the operating table like a limp fish.

Luckily I didn't have either of those two issues, but I heard they're both very common. The shoulder pain is from the anesthesia and gas, which will go away eventually. Walk as much as you can and it will help. I could feel stuff going down into my stomach when I drank, but it didn't hurt. You had a breathing tube in your throat while you were under anesthesia during surgery, so that might be what's a little sore now.

Welcome to the other side, CONGRATS on the safe return ?

It's likely swelling, inflammation, gas & general pain from being worked on..., Major surgery , time to heal.

Contact your team if it worsens instead of getting better.

Thank you everyone for your kind words!

I am still having the weird pressure/pain around the sternum area when swallowing, mostly when sipping water for some odd reason. It seems to happen a lot less with actual pureed food or other drinks (like milk.) I was released today though, and overall I feel much better.

I think most of the gas pains are gone, though I still have some upper back pain and definitely have belly pain still. I also have my usual, 'normal' pains in addition, so we'll see how I feel a little later on. I'm just glad to be back home with the hubby and the furkids!