I am excited and a bit nervous to have a (Sleeve gastrectomy) surgery date - Monday, Feb 22nd.

I am reading books about what to expect and the emotional turbulence ahead, but it helps to hear people who truly went through it. Please share anything you wished you had known before surgery day or any tools or experiences that improved your surgery and the early days of recuperation.

HW 368

CW 332

SW - Coming soon!

I am excited and a bit nervous to have a (Sleeve gastrectomy) surgery date - Monday, Feb 22nd.
I am reading books about what to expect and the emotional turbulence ahead, but it helps to hear people who truly went through it. Please share anything you wished you had known before surgery day or any tools or experiences that improved your surgery and the early days of recuperation. HW 368 CW 332 SW - Coming soon!

Hi, I'm on day 13. There's only one thing all my doctors appointments, classes, zoom meetings, and support groups never mentioned to me in all my pre-op months. The pain of the bloating is brutal. The first 4 days I was so bloated and filled with air, couldn't burp/pass gas. The pain was in my stomach, chest, arms, back, and felt like I couldn't breathe. Nothing got rid of this, not all the walking, not the heat pads, nothing. But then suddenly, it went away. So my word of advice is, you'll be super bloated at first, but I promise after day 4 it gets better day by day. Best of luck!!

I'm on day 7. The gas pain was brutal for me. I am actually still bloated and having gas pain but it is much less than before. GasX helps a small amount but its better than nothing. Peppermint tea has been great for me. I needed to buy sugar free sweetners because I've always just used sugar.

I also had a hard time taking my pills after surgery. I ordered a pill crusher/slicer but by the time it came I didn't need it. I would've ordered it earlier.

I also needed to get a wedge pillow. That helped alot.

The liquid diet pre-op was super hard for me. I only needed it for 6 days but I cheated twice! I wish I had incorporated the protein shakes earlier while I could still eat food with it. My nutritionist recommended it but since it wasn't mandatory I didn't do it. In retrospect, it would have been helpful.

Looking at some of the incision scars on here, I'm happy my surgeon used the glue instead of staples. I never even considered asking about that pre-surgery. I would ask my surgeon if they could use the glue for you.

Lastly my mouth was sooooooo dry after surgery. I hated it. They would not let me eat ice or have water right away. One of the nurses however gave me this sponge toothbrush I could dip in water and wet my mouth. LIFE SAVER!!!!!