Hello all, Hope everyone that has had the surgery is having a speedy recovery. For those yet to have the surgery, good luck and maybe my post op report below can help shed some light on my process.... everyone is different but this is how it has been so far. Surgery day: Was told the day before that my surgery was at 3:15 in the afternoon... GRRRRR. I wanted the 7am slot that got assigned to someone else. The reason for this is I was told anyone with insulin diabetes will always go first. Makes sense because they can't have their shot before surgery. I received a call from the surgical team asking could I come to the hospital earlier than I was asked to, like 4 hour ahead of my scheduled time. Seems one of the patients before me canceled last minute. Anyway I got to the hospital checked in and within an hour was in the operating room. I woke up about 3 hours later and was told everything went well and carted off to my room. They gave me ice chips to take away that dehydrated mouth feeling and about here is where the fun started. Since being medicated, the incisions and tummy not bad at all. But the GAS pains in the upper chest area was very painful. After the nurses got me situations and a 1/2 cup of ices chips melted in my mouth, it was time to walk. The chest pain was not good at all, but walking helps. I walked around the floor twice with assistance, After the last walk I tried to get rest of which the primary care assistant woke me up every other hour. And it seems the nurse woke me up to give my pain meds as needed. As I mentioned the gas pain was far worst than the incisions. Post Op Day 1: Started out with some chicken broth (damn that was good) nice an warm and wet. Got up brushed my teeth, washed my face then walked 6 laps around the floor. WALKING IS THE KEY TO GETTING RID OF THE GAS. About an hour after the broth I had a uninjury Protein Shake taking it slowly. I think it was like a 12 oz shake and drank it in about 45 Min. After that another 6 laps around the floor. Walking is a good thing and the gas pain started to subside. lunch was more broth and another Protein shake then another 6 laps around the floor. After surgery most will have elevated white blood cell count, which is normal, but could also mean infection. I was told that they would perform another blood test @ 3pm and if they was decreasing I could go home, but I certainly had the option to stay the second night. Got the results of the second blood test around 4pm and the call was mine to stay or leave. I wanted to go home. The gas pains went from a about a 8 on the pain scale to 1 by the end of the first day. Got home and took some medication and off to bed for a good nights rest. Post Op Day 2: Got up in the middle of the night and took pain meds. Now the gas pain is pretty much gone and the incision area a little sore, but not bad at all. jumped in the shower and now feel great. The incision areas are not bad as long as you take it easy. Reduced the amount of pain meds and just had a protein shake and got my Water to sip on. Getting ready to take my dogs for a walk (about a mile). All in all I"m doing pretty well and just focusing on small sips of water and spacing the shake out over 1/2 hour or so. No rush I guess is the key. If I could recommend just a few things to make the early recovery go well it would be to WALK, WALK, WALK, WALK AND SIPPING WATER. All the best to everyone as we embark on a newer better way of healthy lifestyle, MassMan