So my surgery is September 4th and I realize that pain is a very personal thing and that one person’s 10 on a pain scale could be a 2 to someone else. I’m worried that I’m not worried enough about post operative pain. So to put it into perspective…I’ve had three c-sections. After the third on they let me go home a day early and the day after my discharge I was up cooking dinner because I had two toddlers and my husband, god bless him, made dinner the night I came home and we didn’t eat until 9:30pm, if you ever had toddlers you understand how problematic eating that late is. So with my older two babies, they sent me home with a prescription for percocet that I never filled because I was able to manage with sporadic motrin, with my third they asked me what pain meds I wanted and when I told them that I’ve never taken anything but motrin the response I got was that nobody was going to give me a medal for refusing pain meds. The only issue I had was I slept on my couch for a week after having each child because I couldn’t do the stairs post surgery, I wasn’t told to avoid stairs I just didn’t feel like I could do them.

So my question for those of you who have had weight loss surgery and stairs in your house. We were you able to do the stairs post surgery?

You are correct in the aspect that pain is relative and different for everyone, but you sound like you will be able to handle this like a boss barring any complications. I, personally, didn't even need anything stronger than Tylenol in the hospital. They gave me oxy to take home and I never once had to touch it or the Tylenol. The most uncomfortable part for me was the bloating from the gas they fill your abdomen with. Once that was gone, the pain was hardly there. Just don't stretch or do anything crazy and you, hopefully, should be just fine. I live in a home with 2 flights of stairs, and aside from being a bit weak and winded I did just fine.

short answer: yes, stairs were doable for me with little to no pain so long as i hunched over.

long answer: anything that involved me straightening out my abdomen or otherwise engaging my abdominals was "challenging" (think: getting up from a laying down or sitting position, twisting my torso, like in reaching to put on my seatbelt, sneezing or coughing, etc). i took pain meds while in the hospital (one day) but didnt even bother to fill my Rx for when i went home. i may have taken a regular tylenol or two, but that was it.

my pain was not the end of the world, but definitely involved some effort and deep breathing. and probably lasted less than a week, if i remember correctly (my surgery was back in 2018). in the grand scheme of things, the recovery pain was a tiny, uneventful, minuscule blip of it all, and honestly would gladly go through it all again a gazillion times over for everything i got out of it.

good luck! ❤️

If you managed a c section, this will be easier from the position this surgery will be laparoscopic. Of course muscles and nerves are still cut and organs moved about but it’s not as drastic as a c section.

Yrs, pain levels can vary greatly person to person. Also I think your starting weight, general fitness and mobility will impact your recovery in regards to pain and movement. Think some surgeons are more gentle than others too. Like many, I only took opioids in hospital (though I think I took one the night I came home to ensure I slept well I don’t think I needed it). Took an over the counter med the next day and that was it. I didn’t have an issue getting in & out off bed, or chairs and I have stairs also. I just went slowly - no jumping up out of bed. Though I know some people sleep in a recliner in the beginning. And yes gas pain is often worse though it usually only lasts about a week.

They are right in recommending you take the pain meds if you are in pain. Pain does slow your recovery but if you don’t need them, i.e. the pain/discomfort is minimal or manageable with over the counter meds don’t keep taking the prescription one. My brother had his sleeve last year and he took all of the opioids he was given (week’s worth). Not that he was in pain but because he thought they were like antibiotics and you had to finish them all. Brothers! 😁

Follow your instructions about lifting, carrying and stretching to avoid pulling at your internal sutures and staples and you should be okay. And listen to your body. Only do what you’re capable of doing & doesn't cause pain or excessive discomfort.

I’ve had my gall removed and a full hysterectomy since my sleeve and the sleeve was the easiest. (Gall was worse for gas pain & hysterectomy worse for abdominal discomfort (not pain) that lasted for weeks.)

All the best.

I've had 2 c-sections as well.

I handle pain well, I was going up and down the stairs 3 days after my c-sections, so I can confidently tell you that c-sections hurt much more than VSG.

VSG was more nausea/discomfort than actual pain. I felt extremely uncomfortable because my stomach was full of air. The discomfort lasted for 3 days and on day 4 post op I was as good as new. You will be okay :)

I've had 2 back surgeries, tonsils out, a lymph node removed in the neck, and my Gallbladder out. I had a VSG on August 14, and it has been by far the most challenging one. I'm a pretty tough guy, and I'm not even gonna lie, the first night I felt like I would've been better off dead from the pain of the gas. Every day it's gotten a bit easier, though.

I had no problems with stairs post surgery. I stayed in the hospital only for 23 hours and was discharged home, and rode home easily, walking was easy and stairs were good too. I had no pain with my surgery, just a little discomfort, it is nothing like a C-section since there are only 5 small 1-inch incisions and they never used sutures on my body, they used Dermabond, a super glue for skin. I showered the next day and felt great. Got dressed every day and was off work for 2 weeks, but I didn't need to take but a few days off. I was driving on my own on day 3, with seatbelt and all. No issues. Some people have problem with the gas that they blow up the abdomen with, but I didn't have any problems with it.

Wishing you well!

Just an update here in case anyone happens upon this in the future and has the same questions as me.

I slept in my bed the night I was discharged and then the next three nights. I started sleeping on my couch because it started to hurt getting out of bed from being flat. I plan on sleeping on the couch until whatever bug my husband has clears up because I dont want to be coughing and sneezing at this stage of healing 😬

This is great news! I'm waiting on my surgery date. My surgeon assured me there would be minimal pain but I've had a c-section, a hysterectomy and a labral tear in my shoulder. Those surgeries were cake compared to the tonsil, adenoid and deviated septum surgery I had last year!