6 Days Postop

I don't seem to have too much success with forums. I've posted a couple of times with no reply, which is sure understandable with how busy everyone is getting ready for surgeries, etc. I just thought I would post an abnormal surgery on here, so if anyone else has one like mine they will not be alarmed. I'm really happy for all of you who had smooth surgeries. First of all, would I do it again? Absolutely - without question - 100%. This was the sixth operation in my life. Everyone always commented on how tough I am, how quickly I heal, and on and on. This was my first laparoscopic surgery. I thought this would be a walk in the park, LOL. Surgery weight, 267. I have no co-morbid conditions, no diabetes, no hypertension, no aches, pains, etc. I am fat, but saw the scale continue to climb and knew I was headed for disaster. It took four years and an act of God to get the money to do this. Life was miserable, very sedentary and sad. Finally, I pulled the money together, was approved and ready for surgery. Surgery day, 4-28-08. The nurses were absolutely fabulous at MMH. They deserve awards for their compassion. Surgery was at 8:45 a.m., and I remember seeing the recovery room clock showing about 11:30. The nurse told me I had major hypertension and that it needed to come down before leaving the room. After leaving the room is when the gas pains began, shooting into my arms, shoulders, neck, all over my torso, down my abdomen, some in my legs. I tried and tried to walk it out. All i could do was moan and groan, bend over chairs, change positions. I'm told this is normal and they gave me morphine. Hours passed before the pain was under control enough (they were talking about admitting me - no way). I was home and every few minutes, the pains would start again. I walked, moved, laid, writhed in pain, took Gas-X, chewed Rolaids, drank water, took pain medicine, Zantac, and followed every suggestion to the T. I could only handle sips of water. Every few minutes I felt totally dehydrated, mouth so parched i couldn't talk, Gas-X made me gag unless i took with water. Late night on day two I started feeling somewhat human again. I made it to the potty without holding onto walls and furniture. My pee was orange, not too pretty smelling and not much of it. I didn't realize I had to pee either, and reaching to wipe was a monumental task, as I am right-handed. I slept in a recliner with various pillows, blankets, phone and drugs by my side. I had water all day, just sips, tried a popsicle and a little broth, but only water tasted good. My husband was a saint. Day three went a lot more smoothly. I spent the day walking, sleeping, doing my drug routine, taking good care of myself, tried some high protein Slim-Fast, yick, but drank it over the course of 8 hours, lots of water, some broth and another half popsicle. Gas pains popped up here and there, but managed to find comfortable positions or walk it out. Days four and five went much the same as three. I felt my strength returning, wishing for my bed and having little tinges of hunger, only to discover that it didn't take much to fill the gap and go back to water. Its Monday and I worked today. Luckily, I work at home on my computer. I couldn't have done it otherwise. I now feel as if I have an alien living under my right boob (I guess no big deal because at one time I actually considered the mythological tapeworm diet). This is a bulge that is bulging more and more as time goes by, which the nurse tells me is also normal and might eventually look like a baseball protruding out until it finally goes down in about 8 weeks. My belly looks like it was smacked with a baseball bat about twenty times, a dark brown bruise covering about 80% of my belly. It is now 2:00 p.m., 5-5-08, and I have about an hour and a half to go on my day before I can collapse into my chair and doze off to oblivion. I have not had a fill, obviously, and my appetite is not there right now, so in my book, a success for now. It felt good to eat a half a popsicle and throw the rest away instead of demolishing half a box and still wanting more, to leave some broth in the cup rather than greedily drink it as fast as possible. Just like an alcoholic, i am going to take one day at a time and look at each and every moment of this as a blessing and an opportunity to have a better life. Again, I wanted to share a non-smooth surgery story so anyone who doesn't zoom through this with flying colors knows they are not alone, it shall pass, and I would love to share successes along the way any time, any hour. Thanks for your time, Chris

Chris I am so sorry that your surgery and recovery has been a little rough! You have a great attitude by taking one day at a time though. Good for you! I also had surgery April 28th, but i had the Lap RNY, sounds like you had the band done. I would say for me the worst part was also the gas pain. It was terrible!! Otherwise I am doing ok, like you, taking each day at a time. Good luck to you and thanks for sharing your story!!!

I am also glad you shared your story. There needs to be these storied out there so people will know a) what they are getting into when going into the surgery and b) they are normal if things like this happen to them after the surgery. I actually hope there is not too many people who will experience what you had to go through. I imagine you must be a very tough person for dealing with it all. I am a week post-op from RNY (Lap) and only had mild gas and no gas pain. I am recovering pretty well, although I like to complain about my minor aches and pains Now I see I should just suck it up and realize that others had a much worse go of it. Hang in there!! It will get better, it has to right??? Lisa

Hi my name is frank and after reading your story im a little freaked out first I have to ask did you have a bypass or lap band? I m having a bypass on 6/10 im the dad of 4 yr old twins at 52 and have to I mean have too go back to work in 1 week I have a desk job im a dispatcher at a bus company and have the freedom of having anything on my desk that I want but still need to be here ive heard many people say no problem but to hear you nopw im scared again frank

Hi Frank: Please don't be freaked. Many, many people had no problems at all, and most likely you will be one of them. I had the band laparoscopically, so I can't say anything at all about bypass. My surgery was the 28th and it is now 5-11. I'm still moving kind of slowly. My staples are still there (due to come out Tues.). The place where the band is is now bulging (expected to last up to 8 weeks), so i'm still back or side sleeping. If you are at a desk, you should be fine, as I am doing fine with this, but it is tiring, and you will want to get up and walk around when you can, get that circulation going, and keep some water next to you and take sips throughout the day. I wish you the best. C.

Chris, I'm so sorry to hear you had so much trouble. I got my band April 15th and had no pain and only a few gas pains. I did have problems though. They started about 3 days after I got home. Nothing I ate tasted right. I was on a pureed diet and couldn't find anything that I liked. This lasted for about 5 days. Finally found Carnation Instant breakfast and baked fish. That saved me. Now I'm living on chicken, mostly baked. I don't think I'm getting all my protein in but I'm still looking for a good protein drink. Anyway, here we are May 11th and I've lost 23 lbs. I get my first fill May 15th. Like you said gotta take it one day at a time. Good Luck, Peggy

Peggy: I'm noticing a difference in taste as well and don't have a lot of appetite. Yay! If it lasts the rest of my life, I am fine with it. Although I will miss my food friend, I can easily say goodbye and let myself find a new "taste" to love, like a hobby. Again, i'm calling this the new me rather than the old me who would eat darn near anything and lots of it. I would not worry a bit about it. If you are eating fish and chicken, your protein intake is not terrible. It seems a lot of these doctors are concentrating on lots of protein, and I think it is more to keep hunger to a minimum and energy high rather than the hair loss aspect. Honestly, when I think of it, and the junk i ate all day on a regular basis, I had no clue how much protein i was getting then, and I am betting it is nowhere near what I am getting now. I'm sure, most of you are like me, having read many books on why we are fat, etc. I'm doing a lot of concentrating on "am I hungry" right now. I'm giving myself permission to be the new person who can actually say "I forgot to eat" and if i'm not hungry, "I don't have to eat" people. Beneprotein has a powder out that has 25 calories per scoop. You can sprinkle it on anything, so if you are worrying about your protein, put it on everything, and start living rather than concentrating on food. I had to order mine on line. This band was a gift, so let it do its work and you have some long needed fun now! I have not been on the scale yet. My followup appointment is Tuesday, and again, I am having fun noticing changes in myself rather than letting the numbers scare me each day. I have been fat since kindergarten, am now 43. One more year of 1 to 2 pounds a week is a walk in the part and I am not going to obsess about the numbers. My skin is changing for the better. My clothes are looser. I get tickled when I think that the next time my family wants to go to Burger King, I can be happy with a kid's meal and maybe not even fini**** instead of ordering a Super Size meal and wish I had more. I love having a bowl of sugar-free jello and not finishing it! I love looking about me and seeing regular-weighted people and thinking to myself that in about a year I am going to be one of those! I look at stores around me and get tingly all over knowing that soon I can walk into any one of them and buy something off the rack! Lets face it, we all have a deep-imbedded fear that this Band or Bypass is going to fail and we are going to go back to despair and sadness. Concentrating on food is what got us all to our most out of control and heaviest, so of all things we can trust, we know for a fact that concentrating and obsessing about food for sure does not work. Now we get the gift to just concentrate on us and let the band and bypass worry about the food for us. For any of you that have been fat long as I have, it has been said that for every bad name someone called us as a kid to knock down our self-esteem (especially if family), we need 1,000 good names to fix each one. I'm still in the millions of good names needed. Relax and Enjoy - We deserve it! Best of Luck To All! C.