<p>Waking up after surgery, what is the likely scenario? Am I going to feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck? Tubes everywhere? I'm a control freak and this is the part I'm most nervous about, that I'm sick and can't get it together. Just go ahead and tell me what to expect. </p> <p>Thx, Joanna in North Carolina Surgery by Dr. Cook at Frye Medical Wednesday January 16, 2008.</p>

Oh, some of you went home that afternoon after surgery? They got me staying the night (23-hour max in the hospital if no complications, same-day-surgery). Is that because I have Type 2 Diabetes?

They said I'd be catherized until I felt like walking. And hose on my legs to pevent blood clots. Breathing into a machine to make sure I'm not getting pneumonia. I'm not a sickly person, just fat with Type 2 Diabetes. Did they do all that to y'all?

They also said I'd have a morphine machine, that I could push the button every 11 minutes .

When the staff said that some people wake up feeling OK and some feel like they have been hit by a Mack truck, my husband piped up and said, "she'll be one that feels like she was hit by a Mack truck." Guess I have a reputation.

I just want to get back on my feet and get the heck out of there. I'm not a "hospital/going to doctor's" kinda person but I'm desperate to get this weight off and need some help.

Joanna in North Carolina

not the catheterrrrrrrrrrrrr omg!!! help me!! I go tomorrow to find out when I have sugery.

I just felt tired, the worst I felt was the next morning, I felt all ache like you do with the flu. It wasn't bad at all. I am just short of 2 weeks post op and feeling really great. You don't feel bad for as long as you do with a flu. You get well really quick. You will be pleasently surprised! I was.

I am having surgery on a Friday, and I am planning on going back to work the following Monday. I am a teacher, so I can plan my days as I need to, but I have to be on my game. Three days out, do you think you could go back to work?

Joanna 240

I had my surgery five days ago. I woke up to the nurse calling my name and shaking me kind of hard. My throat was sore and the first thing I ask was how was my liver? I worked so hard for a week and a half before surgery doing the liquid diet & losing 16 pounds I wanted to know if it was smaller. But the doctor said no it was still fatty. That just made me so upset even though the surgery went just fine. It's funny what upsets you. I did feel groggy most of the day and didnt have much pain and got to go home that evening with a pain pump attached. I have taken pain medicine twice a day since just to help me sleep. The biggest problem I am having is with head hunger. I think in general its like having babies, they all come out the same way, but each of us has our own war story for labor and delivery. Good luck to you.

Hi! I woke up and was in pretty bad pain on the surface of my belly skin... the sheet hurt.. the nurse saw me lifting the sheet off my skin and gave me some pain meds and all was fine.. I received two more doses of pain meds and after a very short recovery (drinking 1 oz of apple juice, barium swallow) I was sent home.. the nurses were all amazed.. my hair wasn't even messed up! ) I tried to get my driver to take me to work as I had tons of things to do... but she refused and fussed at me!

Honestly, the second day was worse... after the second day I started a quick road to recovery... getting rid of the air was the most uncomfortable (walk walk walk)

Best of luck- you should do fine! I applaud you taking charge of your life- its hands down the best thing I have ever done for myself!

Cheers! Jen/Whisper

I remember waking up with 2 male nurses on the left hand side of my bed, and taking a swing at them for some reason and pulling out the tubes and cables connected to me.

So what did you find out about the catheder? Why can't they put those things in while you are asleep? Even if you have to have it for one day, that is better than what might happen to us if we don't have the surgery. Right?

So I had my surgery on 1/3/08 and am still recovering. Things felt okay when I was first awake, I really just wanted to sleep and they were hooking up the blood pressure cuff and the heart monitor to my finger and they wanted me to drink some sprite, they said that my blood sugar got low during the surgery, so they gave me some glucose in an IV. I think what hurt the worst at first was the gas.

When I had to get up for the first time I walked maybe a few feet then felt nausea. I told my nurse and she started yelling for some drugs and she made me get back in bed and smell a alcohol wipe and hold it under my nose until she got the nausea meds. The alcohol wipe really did keep me from vomiting, and I really thought I was going to blow, my mouth was already watering (a sure sign for vomit for me). After my nausea meds I just got really sleepy again. I think I was in and out a lot.

The nurse told me I had to do 3 things before I could leave, first drink 500 mL of liquid, I got apple juice, cranberry juice, chicken broth and green Jello to choose from, then I also had to be able to walk and finally be able to urinate. I was able to complete all three tasks and was out about 6 hours after the surgery was completed. I was told by my family that it took me a while to wake up from anastesia because they didn't get to see me for about 2 hours after the surgery, and it seemed to me that I wasn't awake for very long before I got to see them.

The days following have been fine, I thought I would feel like I was hit by a "mack truck" but I really didn't, just felt gassy and like I did about a million crunches, oh and very tired! The most pain I've had is when taking a deep breath, or yawning. I called my Dr. office about it and they said the Dr. says the surgery can irritate the diaphragm and that is where my deep breath pain comes from.

Overall I would say it wasn't as bad as I expected, for my first surgery ever. I'm really looking forward to being completely recovered. I slept on my side for the first time last night and that was great!:notagree

I remember being wheeled out of the operating room, my eyes weren't even open yet, but I felt the pain!! They put a warm towel around my head and I kept saying it hurts, it hurts. It was my middle back that hurt, not my front. In recovery, they wedged a pillow behind my back to relieve the pain a bit.

I was wheeled in the same bed to my room, so never got up until I had to go to the bathroom and thats when I started dry heaving. Turns out I had a bad reaction to the anethesia. I was going to stay overnight, so at least I was getting intravenous fluids because with the heaving and nauseous feeling I couldn't get anything more than ice chips down.

Waking up wasn't bad at all, I woke up in the recovery room and there was a nurse there. I felt disoriented and had some shoulder pain nothing very bad.

In about an hour and a half, I was able to head home

I have to admit, I was a little dissappointed with my recovery. I had my surgery Friday, the 4th. When I woke up in the recovery room, I noticed immediately that it hurt to take a deep breath. They were quick to control the pain. I was BCBS so I was spending the night, I thought I was doing great. They had me on morphine pump then Tordol, zero pain, I was racing around the floor like nothing happened. When I went home the next morning, I didn't even fill my pain meds, big mistake. By mid afternoon I was in significant pain, under my left rib cage and my left shoulder hurt with every breath.

I've had 2 c-sections and a hysterectomy and I don't remember being this uncomfortable. I had planned to go back to work on Monday but just wasn't up to it. Here it is Tuesday and I'm still home. I went to the drug store today and getting in and out of the car netted me a couple of very nice, very deep burps and that seems to have helped. I think I have a couple more stoved up in there, but I'm going to try to go to work tomorrow.

I'm so SICK of supplements and sweet. I felt like a rebel today so I had tomato Soup for lunch. That did wonders for my mood. I was starting to feel depressed, but eating human food for lunch was decadent.

I'm still glad I did it, but I was a bit overly optomisitc about the immediate results.

Good luck to you.

I felt no pain when I woke up. Just a little sore throat from the tube. Today is day 2 and I am pretty sore, but staying on the meds and following the rules. Time will heal these wounds.

I have had surgery numerous times, and I have always remembered waking up in the recovery room. It was never that bad. One time, I was convinced I was in Canada, and demanded to know how I got there and who had kidnapped me. Good laugh all around..... But after lap band surgery I have absolutely no recollection of waking up in the recovery room. I also don't remember them bringing me back to my room. My husband said I was awake when I came back, but was mumbling incoherently. That was not my normal surgery experience. But when I finally became conscious of my surroundings it was about 3 hours later. Surgery only took 45 minutes, so I was pretty out of it. I felt fine though. I had no pain until I tried to roll over to get out of bed to pee. that was uncomfortable, but once they explained my self administered morphine button, I was fine. I went home the next morning and didn't even need my pain meds. I was able to control that with tylenol.

I'd like to thank all you guys for sharing your stories.

I have surgery tomorrow and even though I've had surgery before (injury related), I'm still a bit apprehensive. It's more about waking up with a foreign body in me (the band) than a fear of the surgery itself.

Best of luck to all of you in your Quest for a thinner you!

Well, to be honest, ....................

WARNING, TMI

I woke up with "ROBERTA, YOUR SURGERY IS OVER" and a nurse sticking a suppository up my you-know-what!!! (hey! exit only!!).

I don't recover well from anesthetic. I've been under the knife about seven times and I guess this is just the way my body handles the medication.

I was very much out of it. I didn't have a "fun" stoned feeling, you know, "wow man, I feel goooooooodddd zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" (god it's been YEARS since I felt like that! HA HAAA). First thing I felt was the pain around my sternum from where the port was placed. Soon after my chest started hurting...intense pressure and pain under my ribcage......it hurt to breathe .. they sat me up which helped a bit, but it didn't go away so they gave me some percocet (spelling??). It was quite painful until after the meds

kicked in. The chest pain was really something. The port incision felt very raw.

The narcotics made me breathe really shallow so I was in and out of consciousness and remember telling myself to not forget to breathe.

I would say it took a good four hours post-op for me to be able to stand up on my own. The chest pains were reduced by about 50% by sitting and standing up.

Then of course that night I got all hyper, just like my anesthesiologist warned me (something about the mixture of the anesthetic and another med they give to patients before they go under causes hyperactivity). Felt great, no pain.

HTH