3 Days Post Op - Just Documenting My Journey

[doubleJointed 3]

A little about me. 45-year-old, male. Fought my weight my entire adult life. Chronic IBS. GERD. Heart attack in 2016. Heart disease. Diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea in 2022. Fatty liver disease. Metabolic syndrome. Diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos - Hypermobility Type in 1997. Currently have chronic pain in both shoulders and both hips, especially when sleeping. This is due to the EDS. I have SLAP tears in both shoulders as well as partial rotator cuff tears, and frozen shoulder on the right side. Married. Twin 13-year-olds.

Quality of life really hit bottom. I decided to take control of my life. I had my first appointment with the Dr back in November. Just had VSG on May 18th. Severe gas pains for about the first 5 hours after surgery. Like really bad. Gave me dilaudid to help with the pain, and it did knock the edge off. I was able to get up and walk, drink a little, and pee. Let me go home about 6.5 hours in recovery. The first nights sleep was brutal. THE HICCUPS! Why did no one tell me about the hiccups?! I was able to wear my apnea mask just fine, but every time I got up to pee (about 5 times total), the hiccups would start almost immediately and last for 30 minutes or more. I was shaking the bed and keeping the wife awake, they were so bad. Also had some mild reflux with a little bit of the foamies (I got those before the surgery when the reflux would flare).

1st day after surgery, much better. Very few hiccups. No nausea. Got all of my fluids and Protein in. Even walked about 8000 steps (I would've done anything to make sure the gas pain didn't return).

Now I'm on the third full day after surgery, and each day has been better than the last. Still tired. Off pain meds for the entire day today. I can't stomach the clear protein, so I'm drinking full (creamy) protein diluted 50/50 with Water. No issues so far.

I think I have overdone it with walking too much too soon, because I feel really tired and weak. I'm going to cut the walking down to 5000 steps and see if that helps.

My ABS are pretty sore, especially immediately after sitting/laying. They tighten up pretty quick.

Still a long road ahead, with 1-2 shoulder surgeries later this year. And I know there's still a long road ahead with my weight loss journey. I appreciate everyone's candidness describing their issues (poop, slime/foamies, etc). I like to know what to expect.

No regrets.

[qtdoll 519]

Wow, 8,000 steps 3 days post op is quite intense! Definitely allow your body to heal a bit more. We typically ALL feel tired & weak after the surgery & from how little calories were consuming, adding that many steps is only amplifying that feeling. Especially if you're still feeling that soreness.

Be safe!! 💜 Glad each day is getting better & better

[Fred in Pa 144]

Congrats to your brother on taking this step! My statistics are very similar to yours. I’m just a couple months ahead. Everything you talk about is typical and I went through it myself even the overdoing it on the walk. Take it slow.

To let you know what might be in the store, I no longer take insulin, I no longer take BP meds, sleep apnea gone, IBS gone, 60lbs gone (90 total). And that’s just in 2.5 months.

You got this! Keep us posted on your progress.

[catwoman7 9,932]

8000 steps is pretty high for being just a few days out of surgery. Your body needs to rest and heal. It's been several years since I had surgery, but I think I mostly walked around my house a little the first three or four days, then did a jaunt around the block every day for a few days after that. It's good to be up and moving, but don't push yourself too much - again, your body needs to heal.

as far as poop, it often takes a good week for the first one (there's not much in there yet), and the first one tends to be a doozy. A lot of us start taking stool softeners a couple of days ahead of it to prepare for it. After that, a minority of people experience occasional diarrhea, but most experience Constipation, often chronic (it's due to the high Protein diet plus the Iron and Calcium (if you're taking those). I still take a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it.

watch out for reflux - I'm a little surprised your surgeon recommended VSG since that's been known to make GERD worse, but that's not the case for everyone. But just keep tabs on it and manage it if it doesn't resolve or gets worse (a minority get it so badly they end up getting a revision to RNY, but for most, it can be managed with PPIs). You just don't want that to get out of control - but again, you may not have issues with it. Some people have said theirs even got better after surgery, so you never know..

I haven't seen many posts about hiccups, so I don't know how common that is, but it doesn't surprise my since your stomach's been sliced and diced. And the painful transitions (when you go from lying down to standing up, or whatever) - yep, that's very common. That's really the only time I had pain. It felt like I'd just done about 1000 crunches. that went away after a week or so, I think.

sounds like things are going well over all, though. Welcome to the losers' bench!

[doubleJointed 3]

6 hours ago, qtdoll said:

Wow, 8,000 steps 3 days post op is quite intense! Definitely allow your body to heal a bit more. We typically ALL feel tired & weak after the surgery & from how little calories were consuming, adding that many steps is only amplifying that feeling. Especially if you're still feeling that soreness.

Be safe!! 💜 Glad each day is getting better & better

Yes, it didn't feel good and was hard. After the intense gas pain at the hospital, I was more worried about laying down and them coming back. I definitely overreacted.

[doubleJointed 3]

4 hours ago, Fred in Pa said:

Congrats to your brother on taking this step! My statistics are very similar to yours. I’m just a couple months ahead. Everything you talk about is typical and I went through it myself even the overdoing it on the walk. Take it slow.

To let you know what might be in the store, I no longer take insulin, I no longer take BP meds, sleep apnea gone, IBS gone, 60lbs gone (90 total). And that’s just in 2.5 months.

You got this! Keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks brother. I'm looking forward to the same. I'm not sure if it's the initial weight loss, diet change, or both, but I'm monitoring my BP in the morning and at night. The doctor said do not take BP meds unless I see it climb to either 150 (top number) or 90 (bottom) number. So far it's consistently in the 120/70 range, so no BP meds. It seems crazy to me that I'm off the BP meds that quickly. Looking forward to the rest.

[doubleJointed 3]

2 hours ago, catwoman7 said:

8000 steps is pretty high for being just a few days out of surgery. Your body needs to rest and heal. It's been several years since I had surgery, but I think I mostly walked around my house a little the first three or four days, then did a jaunt around the block every day for a few days after that. It's good to be up and moving, but don't push yourself too much - again, your body needs to heal.

as far as poop, it often takes a good week for the first one (there's not much in there yet), and the first one tends to be a doozy. A lot of us start taking stool softeners a couple of days ahead of it to prepare for it. After that, a minority of people experience occasional diarrhea, but most experience Constipation, often chronic (it's due to the high Protein diet plus the Iron and Calcium (if you're taking those). I still take a capful of Miralax every morning to keep on top of it.

watch out for reflux - I'm a little surprised your surgeon recommended VSG since that's been known to make GERD worse, but that's not the case for everyone. But just keep tabs on it and manage it if it doesn't resolve or gets worse (a minority get it so badly they end up getting a revision to RNY, but for most, it can be managed with PPIs). You just don't want that to get out of control - but again, you may not have issues with it. Some people have said theirs even got better after surgery, so you never know..

I haven't seen many posts about hiccups, so I don't know how common that is, but it doesn't surprise my since your stomach's been sliced and diced. And the painful transitions (when you go from lying down to standing up, or whatever) - yep, that's very common. That's really the only time I had pain. It felt like I'd just done about 1000 crunches. that went away after a week or so, I think.

sounds like things are going well over all, though. Welcome to the losers' bench!

Yes, overdid it on the walking for sure. Lesson learned.

Thanks for what to expect on the poop. This is new to me, since I'm used to the opposite (5-7 times a day). I guess I'll go buy some Miralax, because I've read here about the Constipation and obstructions.

I was surprised at first to when the Dr recommended the VSG and not RNY. I like to read, read, read, and I thought the bypass was going to be the option. The Dr said the sleeve can make GERD worse, and make people who didn't have GERD get GERD, but he said it's 10-20%, not 50/50 or worse odds. I even had Barrett's Esophagus that resolved a couple of years ago after years of PPI meds. I still consulted with my gastroenterologist prior to surgery. In fact I had an EGD in March because i was having stricture. He said even as I was dropping the rest of my meds (during weight loss) I would likely have to remain on the 40mg omeprazole for the rest of my life. I was already planning on that, so I made the decision to try the sleeve with my eyes wide open that I might need a revision. The first night I had a little reflux when I got in bed, but haven't had any issues since. I am still taking my PPI.

Thanks for the response!

[Changing Chris 5]

5 hours ago, doubleJointed said:

Thanks brother. I'm looking forward to the same. I'm not sure if it's the initial weight loss, diet change, or both, but I'm monitoring my BP in the morning and at night. The doctor said do not take BP meds unless I see it climb to either 150 (top number) or 90 (bottom) number. So far it's consistently in the 120/70 range, so no BP meds. It seems crazy to me that I'm off the BP meds that quickly. Looking forward to the rest.

I also have a similar story. 46 yrs old with heart issues (double bypass in 2018.) Before my surgery, just one month before yours, I was on two blood pressure meds. I stopped taking them the day before surgery and at my first week post op visit my blood pressure was already within normal range without the meds. I was in shock! Especially because my blood pressure was always high, even with the meds!! I have my one month post op visit coming up in 2 days, interested in seeing where I'm at.

I also hit the ground running and was walking up to two miles a day after surgery and received the same warnings as you got above... haha! Once I slowed down to let my body heal, the weight started dropping off. 30 pounds down since surgery day. Good Luck! Lots of good advice on here, even though it felt like I was getting scolded sometimes! 🙂