New, excited, and a little scared!

[HollyRnOh 0]

I am so happy to have found this site! I am due to be banded the last week of April and I am starting to feel a little nervous about the post-op pain. I know that I will have some pain but was wondering if anyone could share their post-op stories regarding the amount of pain/discomfort. I have had abdominal surgery before and I know that everyone's pain tolerance is different. I guess I am just trying to prepare myself in advance. I would welcome any advice to make things easier during and after my surgery. Thanks!

[RestlessMonkey 7]

I'm 54. I had TWO surgeries in the same month (same sites!) because my liver was too large for the 1st attempt to be successful. I had minimal pain immediately in recovery and post op. I removed the On Cue Pain "ball" that he installed for the second, the MINUTE i got home. I took Darvocet twice, for the second surgery, and otherwise tylenol did the trick. Even in recovery, round 2, I stopped the nurse from giving me the 2nd mg of morphine, and I declined the pump they offered.

My attitude is and was: I am glad to be alive. I'm glad to have the band. If I am alert I can distract myself and concentrate on getting better. That worked for me. I have honestly had other things, like bronchitis, cause me more agony and discomfort and last longer.

This was EASY. I walked asap, I drank Water as soon as they offered (no juice thanks afraid it would nauseate me)

I know that a skilled surgeon is vital (for one they are better at removing all that gas) and I had minor gas pain as well. My surgeon, my attitude, and good luck all combined to make both experiences easy.

I hope yours is as "uneventful" pain-wise.

OH the recovery room nurses all said "no one ever remembers us. You'll forget too" Nope! I remembered their names and went back to tell them bye! :smile: I wanted very much to be "normal" and the more I acted like I felt fine, the finer I felt.

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Never took anything for pain. The entire prescription for Lortabs Elixer is in the cabinet, untouched. I was tender, yes, but pain? No, not really. I was using a heating pad to help with gas and I think it helped with the tenderness too. I had surgery on Tuesday, worked a full day on Friday, did social stuff over the weekend and then back to work on Monday. Part of pain is in your head. I'm this crazy optimist, I guess. But I operated on the idea that if I had any pain at all it would be minimal. And it turned out that way. So don't keep agonizing over how much it might hurt, plan for it not to hurt and you'll probably find that it doesn't really hurt much at all.

[Brandy~ 2]

I ended up with 2 bottles of Loritab elixir still intact. I had very little pain. I just felt like I had over exerted myself exercising for a day or 2 then I was fine.

[SpecialK 22]

Hi HollyRNOH-- assuming you're a nurse from Ohio. Shouting out from another Buckeye to say you really don't have to worrry about the pain. Laprascopic surgery was pretty easy and like the others, I had most of the pain medicine left and didn't need it post op. Really could have gone back to my office job in 3-4 days but I took a week off.