Waking up from surgery

[Megan5619 0]

How did you feel immediately after waking up from surgery? I have my bypass in the AM and I’m scared of waking up in severe pain or feeling like I can’t breath. Please tell me what to expect and how your experience was. Thanks!

[waterwoman 172]

I woke up with no pain and had almost none the entire time. Others have said the same. I don’t know what your experience will be, but hope for the best.

[Arabesque 6,607]

Just a bit tired, a little thick in the head for a little while. But certainly no pain. They have you on good drugs pretty much straight away After my gall removal I was having a cup of tea & chatting with the nurse in the recovery room before being released to be taken to my room. (They were using the tea to get my BP up - didn’t help with that but I felt better. Nothing like a good cup of tea!)

All the best with your surgery.

Edited September 14, 2023 by Arabesque

[saramelie 21]

how did it go?

[catwoman7 10,956]

I never really had any pain at all. In fact, I wondered if they'd actually done the surgery! I was groggy that first day, but that's about it.

if you do have pain, let them know (some people do, but most of us do not). I had a lot of pain after two of my skin removal surgeries, but they took care of that right away (put something in my IV line).

most people experience little to no pain with weight loss surgeries, though.

[Longview Lady 13]

Sooo happy to hear. I'm a baby when it comes to pain. Appreciate your post!!

I was called in August for surgery and the 1 time I miss a call on my phone, in literally years, and missed my opportunity. Right now I have no idea when the surgery will be. Completed the 10 week course 'last' Aug., 2022. Sill waiting.

How are you doing now? I hope recovery is going well for you.

[Nepenthe44 188]

I woke up in severe pain, 9 out of 10 on the pain scale. (I don't believe that it's possible to experience a 10; I define that as "passing out due to the pain".)

Within an hour or so, that was controlled with patient-controlled analgesic (I think it was Dilaudid) and I did a lot of hall walking throughout the rest of the day. But when they took me off the PCA, the pain was back up to severe. The hospital staff worked with me and took the pain seriously. I almost stayed an extra night in the hospital for pain control, but managed to get it down enough to get home with oxycodone, acetaminophen, and heat/cold packs.

I continued to take oxycodone and acetaminophen for another 6 days and timed doses of acetaminophen for another few days after that.

Most people on here and elsewhere seem to report little to no significant pain, but that might not be the case. That being said, it sucked but it only lasted a little while and I felt pretty much okay within a week. Worth it.

Don't let the pain sneak up on you. If you are having significant pain, take analgesics on a schedule, before you absolutely need them. For the first few days at home, I even set alarms at night to wake up, walk around a bit, have some Water and have a dose of acetaminophen. Like a lot of things (hydration, nutrition), it's much easier to stay ahead of pain than to control it after you have fallen behind.

[Spinoza 1,226]

I woke up in my hospital bed experiencing little to no pain. I know that experiences vary hugely but all I needed then and in the subsequent days was paracetamol - it was in liquid form because I couldn't swallow tablets. I only had a few doses, after that no need for any pain killer. I do realise I may have been lucky

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,015]

With my sleeve, I had major pain for almost 2 weeks. With my revision to bypass, I had very little pain. Mostly, it was uncomfortable for about 4 days. Wish I had just done the bypass to begin with.