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Surgery day is 11/19 and I’m so nervous…. Can someone tell me how it was for them

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For me it was quite uneventful. I went in at like 6:00 am and left the next evening before dinner. I don’t think my dr used the air in my stomach because I had no gas pain and no real pain otherwise. I felt like I did about 1000 crunches is all I had to use the bed rails to pull myself up from lying down.

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Surgery itself was a doddle. The first few days were annoying, because I was trying to expel all the gas they pump into you.

Just follow your surgeon's orders, walk as much as you possibly can even if it hurts, and know that the first 1-2 weeks are the "price of admission" to what will 100% change your life.

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I had mine last week. The story goes like this .. :)

  • Arrived 3 hours before surgery time. Placed in pre-op room. Nurse setup the IV, measure vitals, etc.
  • A couple of operating room nurses came to introduce themselves, asking for full medical history (I didn't mind overcommunicating the info)
  • Doctor and nurse from anesthesia team came to introduce themselves. Again, full medical history. Asked to open mouth, and bend my neck around (test flexibility, I guess), Said everything looked good.
  • Surgeon came over, talked for a bit. I reminded him of a couple of 'concerns' I had (just me overcommunicating).
  • They pulled me to the op room. Injected the sedative through the IV, and lights off.. :)
  • Woke up ~ 2 - 2.5 hours later in the recovery room. With a nurse checking my vitals.
  • I would wake up, and go back out on and off. No pain whatsoever.
  • Took me to my room, more testing, questions, etc. Put me on Tylenol IV. Injected some prophylactic blood thinner, and anti-nausea meds (Zofran, I think), an I went back to sleep.< /span>
  • About 2-3 hours post-op, did a round of walking around the hallway (with my wife's help)

Edited by Pete-TheTimeIsNow

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One suggestion—ask your anesthesiologist to give you a TAP block (it's like an epidural for your abs). They give it to you at the end of surgery; you feel nothing (you're still under anesthesia). It lasts 12-24 hours and made it so I didn't even fill my prescription for Those Painkillers. I survived that entire surgery and recovery with 4-5 doses of Extra Strength Tylenol (acetaminophen/paracetamol).

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I had a great experience. Super easy surgery. Walked over a mile in the halls in the evening. I think I had surgery at 8am? Woke up the next day at 7am, showered, washed my hair, put on clothes and was itching to go home. Very little pain. Zero nausea.

The hardest part for me...was that first week after...when essentially your entire life revolves around drinking little cups of Fluid several times an hour...and writing everything down. Pain in the butt and felt like a full time job. Worth it, though!

Best wishes. You got this!

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Thank you all

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6 hours ago, sterrill36 said:

Surgery day is 11/19 and I’m so nervous…. Can someone tell me how it was for them

Twins! Mine will be 11/19 too! We are going to do great!

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I had the sleeve about 2.5 months ago, and had a hernia repair at the same time. I was in some pain, I think mostly from the hernia repair. My advice is to walk, walk, walk. Whenever I had pain, it helped so much to get up and walk a lap of the surgical floor. Even though I was in pain from the hernia repair, I still didn't take any painkillers, just extra strength tylenol. It's really not a bad surgery.

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

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    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
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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

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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.

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