I asked this in pre-op but thought this might be a better place to ask. Gastric sleeve scheduled 4 days from now. My surgeon is going to insert an On-Q pain pump at the end of my procedure. The nurse told me I'll have to remove it myself. I'm having a bit of anxiety over having to remove it. Has anyone had this and if so, did it work, and how uncomfortable was it to remove?

I had one of those installed as well at the end of surgery, and you are the first person I've heard from who is also getting it!

I had essentially no pain after surgery, so I assume it worked, although I can't say whether that was directly attributable to the pump. Like you, I was completely freaked out at the idea of removing it myself. However, it turned out not to be a big deal at all. In my case, the nurse was on the phone with me and talked me through it, which helped a great deal in terms of my anxiety.

9 hours ago, Recidivist said:

I had one of those installed as well at the end of surgery, and you are the first person I've heard from who is also getting it!

I had essentially no pain after surgery, so I assume it worked, although I can't say whether that was directly attributable to the pump. Like you, I was completely freaked out at the idea of removing it myself. However, it turned out not to be a big deal at all. In my case, the nurse was on the phone with me and talked me through it, which helped a great deal in terms of my anxiety.

Yes, it seems to be somewhat of a unicorn. Can you tell me how long yours lasted?

7 hours ago, Victoria_Faith said:

Yes, it seems to be somewhat of a unicorn. Can you tell me how long yours lasted?

My surgery was four years ago, and at this point I don't really remember. (Those first few weeks are a blur.). I want to say about a week, give or take a couple of days.

I know I'm writing this after you've had your surgery but I wanted to add my experience. After my bypass I had a lidocaine IV drip which is a medication similar to what's in the On-Q. I had very little pain after surgery. My mom just had a knee joint replacement surgery 3 days ago and has an On-Q device. She's only taken 4 small doses of any narcotic since the day of surgery.