Finally made it to this point

[gina923 14]

Hi everyone they were finally able to perform surgery. I was on the table and cut open on july 11th and surgery was stopped because my liver was too large. I was put on a new diet to shrink my liver and finally made it through on august 2nd. My recovery time is going to take longer because they had to do a few larger incisions to get it done and had to use staples to close me up... I do believe I found something worse than labor... I just have to remind myself its going to be worth it in the long run. I was moved up to full Fluid diet the day after and seems well. Boy this pain is kicking my butt any ideas that can help relieve some of it. I was given 7 oxycodone to come home with so saving them for bedtime only. Best of wishes to all of you doing this journey as well.

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[The Greater Fool 1,937]

Now we're in the territory where my surgical experience is meaningful. It seems like time for a colorful expletive.

I had an open surgery, so they cut from just below my sternum to just above my pubic area. It took 30 some odd staples to seal me up. I also had a drain. Any movement was very painful. Any tug on the drain made the staple pain desirable.

My #1 advice: Don't move. Do you really need to breath? When you simply have to move there are two schools of thought: 1) Move fast; 2) Move slow. Moving fast scrunches all that movement, and all that pain, to one short but intense burst of pain. But then it's done. Moving slow allows you to evade some pain, but the pain you have happens over a longer period of time but can seem to be at a lower intensity. I say mix it up. Keep the pain guessing. Here is the crappy part: Those precious oxycodone won't help the acute pain from moving around. You could be barely conscious but move slightly and the pain shoots right through. Save the pills for when you are achy, oxy does a great job for persistent pain.

If you have a recliner go there and live for a while. Getting up and down is much easier when you are starting from a sitting position. If you don't have a recliner, build one on your bed with pillows.

Duct Tape. Put duct tape over the staples so they aren't being pulled. You might want to put something non-sticky over the staples, With no skin pulling on the staples, you will have dramatically less pain when you move. Some folks may think surgical / medical tape would be the way to go, after all it's what the Docs use. Notice they didn't use any of those tapes... because they don't work. And sending you home in duct tape would have had people laughing. Trust me: Duct Tape.

Things will improve dramatically when you get the staples plucked out. Those first minutes after those staples are gone are heaven. Getting them plucked out is a different story. 2 out of 3 staples say good-bye peacefully and quietly, and just as you relax thinking it's smooth sailing from here, that 3rd staple strikes. Yikes! But then the next 2 convince you that it's back to smooth sailing, when suddenly you're climbing down from the ceiling. But think about just 2-3 minutes from now when all the pain will be gone. This may be a good time for a pill.

In no time you will be whining about the stall you started just about the time your staples came out.

Good luck,

Tek

[SpartanMaker 676]

I have not had my bariatric surgery yet, but have had almost 20 other surgeries of various sorts including open heart surgery in 2020. The running joke in the family is that I collect surgeries. I've had at least one surgery a year since 2014.

One thing I'd say is critical is to keep up with your pain meds. keeping the pain under control is a lot easier if you are constantly taking something, vs. waiting till the pain is really bad. You should be able to take Tylenol in addition to the oxy (check with your surgeon first though!) Tylenol won't make the pain go away, but it may take the edge off enough to make it less intense.

I'm going to take the opposite approach on movement than the previous poster. I know it hurts, but moving increases blood flow, which means you'll heal faster. I can almost guarantee your surgeon told you to walk a certain amount and you need to do that religiously. One of the main reasons is to prevent blood clots, which can be fatal. Don't mess around and skip the walking just because it hurts.

I'm also not sold on duct tape. I'd be worried it would pull on the staples? My preference would be a nice cushioned, non-adherent pad over the staple line. These can be taped (and the tape is away from the staples), or if you don't want to use tape, look into something called "cohesive wrap". It sticks to itself and in this case you would wrap it around your whole body. The slight compression from the wrap might also help with healing.

If nothing's helping, talk to your surgeon! They may have other options for you.

Good luck!

[The Greater Fool 1,937]

Thank you @SpartanMaker for pointing out things on which I could have been clearer. I know I often go overboard in detail but not so in this case. Hard to believe isn't it?

I put plan exercise / movement, such as walking, outside the area we have a choice in experiencing pain or not. I was doing the proscribed walks around the ward for the 3 days I was there. The pain with such activity was more about getting up or sitting down. The actual walking wasn't a problem. In the hospital I had a bed that had to be the work of Satan himself as I found the guest chair far more manageable than the bed.

In my mind I was thinking of the frequent bathroom trips, fetching food or drink, or other such "elective" upping and downing. A recliner gets you out of half of the upping and downing, a pillow mountain is nearly as good.

On the taping the staples with duct tape I thought I was clear one should avoid applying the tape to the actual staples. Putting petroleum jelly on the staples, or placing gauze on the staples or even duct tape facing sticky side up all work fine. The point is to pull the skin together so that the pulling doesn't land on the staples.

I haven't found a medical tape that can actually work as well as duct tape. I did the same thing after my Abdominoplasty (tummy-tuck) when the staples ran vertically identical to WLS post--op, with the extra added bonus of horizontally hip to hip. Normally staples aren't an issue for post-op on Tummy Tucks, but as it turned out they had to rip me open and fix the hemorrhaging. So staples were the choice for scar tissue wasn't the overriding issue. I also had 2 drains this time around. My surgeon actually got a kick out of it when he saw me plastered in duct tape.

No staples were pulled in the use of duct tape. But a whole lot of staple line pain that could have been wasn't.

I think we generally agree on pain management. Generally it's a bad idea to "tough it out" for a period as getting out of pain is harder than staying out of pain. Narcotics don't work well on acute pain situations (such as staple pain) but does work well on chronic pain (such as staple pain). In other words, narcotics don't work on the surprise, screaming pain caused by movement, but do work on the constant pain that is going on even when you aren't moving.

As always talk to your surgeon. Never trust strangers on the internet.

Good luck,

Tek

Edited August 7, 2022 by The Greater Fool
grammar, speeling, syntax

[SpartanMaker 676]

@The Greater Fool, thanks for clarifying on the duct tape! I totally missed where you said put something over the staple line! I was envisioning the duct tape going right onto the staples and it hurt just to think about it!

I hear you on the medical tape. Some of them won't even stick to a bandage, much less your skin. Personally, I've found the cloth ones stick the best (and can be used without scissors, a nice bonus), followed by the plastic varieties. I've never found the paper tapes to work very well at all.

[ShoppGirl 3,341]

Good idea to take them at bedtime because getting sleep is so important to healing. You could always take Tylenol during the day. Maybe call and ask how many you can really take because I believe it may be more often than stated on the packaging if directed by a doctor. But if the pain is seriously not controlled except with the pain RX I would let them know that as well. You don’t want to take them to just take them but they do make them for a reason. The pain should get just a little better each day though. Fingers crossed you are feeling much better soon.