3 weeks pot-op tomorrow . I think I am a whimp!

Hello everyone. I had lap-rny on Nov.18th and I am still taking pain pills and not feeling that great. I get up out of bed every 2-3 hours to walk around or visit with the kids for an hour or so ,but then I am back in bed. Am I the only one out there that still hurts and wears out so easily? Katrina

Katrina, I don't think you're a whimp. There are too many different factors for each of us to judge where you should be by now. What your starting BMI was, how your general health was, whether or not you're able to get all of your water, vitamins and protein in-- these are just some of those important factors. In all of the literature my doctor gave me, it said clearly that it could be up to 8 weeks before we started feeling normal. I think the point is, slow and steady wins the race here. This is for the rest of your life. 10 years from now it won't matter that you took bed rest for 10 days or 10 weeks. What WILL matter is that you listened to your body and gave it what it needed to make a full and complete recovery. God bless and keep you. Take care and don't beat yourself up. You just had major surgery. Hopefully, the last one in your life! ENJOY your recup time--you may never get the opportunity again! Hope this helps. best wishes. PS: if you're not up moving very much, you should probably still be using that breathy thing they gave you in the hospital. Spirometry?? I don't know what it's called. It exercises your lungs, keeps you from getting pneumonia...

Katrina, Sorry to hear you're feeling so poorly. What has your doc said about it? I nkow everyone does heal at faster rates. I started back to work Tuesday and since day 7 or 8 don't feel like I had anything done really. I quit using the morphine the night of surgery...the cuts didn't hurt but those gas bubbles did and the morphine made me woozy, not took away the gas pain. Then going home I used the liquid vicodin only 3 nights to get comfortable enough to sleep on my back. I'm always scared about pain killer addictions that I make myself tolerate a little pain so that eventually your body adapts to the pain and it goes away. One thing I think you may need to try is sitting up more if you're not doing it. I think sometimes the more we lay down the worse we feel. In the first few days though I wanted to stay in bed I just went and sat up on the sofa and watched tv, even would fall asleep there, then get up and walk a bit. Doing this each day I felt better and better. I know it seems tough but sometimes it is mind over matter, think positively...you're not a wimp! Just force yourself to move. Take your vitamins and drink tha****er! please let us know how you progress...

Thank You everybody for your replies and advice. I drank more liquids today and feel a little better. My doctor act's like it's no big deal that I'm still not feeling that great. So maybe I'm just a slower healer. What kind of vitamins are you taking? I had bought liquid vitamins that I really liked before surgery at the Vitamin Shop, but now I can barely gag half the dose down. Once again thank you, Katrina

Katrina- I had my surgery on Nov. 7th and I still feel like blah. THe pain is still there but appears to be getting better every day. I do NOT have the energy for an entire day. I have to lay down after being up for a few minutes even when I take a shower. The surgeon said not to worry about it. (yeah whatever) I am suffering from nausea and throw up about 4-6 times a day. Don't know if it's ketosis or sinuses or both or who knows what. The surgeon said it's thrush and prescribed an antibiotic which I am reluctant to take due to the fact I don't want to get rid of good bacteria. I may try it out. 4 weeks and I still regret this surgery even if I have lost 30lbs it wasn't worth it at this time. I am due to go back to work on the 19th but I am going to have to discuss it with HR and my boss that I may be only able to handle half a day for fear of not making it the entire day. I expect I should be feeling better but the vomiting and the exhaustion is hurting me. The surgeon said if I am not better in 2 weeks (yes I have to suffer two more weeks) then he will scope me out. Needless to say the meds better work because in no way shape or form do I believe I need to be scoped. I can eat and drink and the cause of my vomiting is coming from the horrible dead thing that decided to crawl into my mouth before his final breath. I can't even stand to talk because I can't stand the smell. The saliva is nasty and I feel like I haven't brushed in my entire life dispite how many times I brush my teeth. I even wake up in the middle of the night to vomit. Please don't think you are alone and keep in mind it will get better. At least that is what they are always preaching on the messageboards. And hey I have to believe them- some have been post-ops for longer than I have been overweight. Good luck and hugs from me to you.

HI, Katrina! Nope, you're not a whimp, I agree with the other posters. It just takes time. For me, the meds gave me severe constipation and BOY, if there was ever a motivation to stop taking them, that was it! I laid around sorta half in pain for the next several days, but as the drugs began to clear out of my system, I did begin to feel more alert and just generally better all the way around. I'd take one pill around bedtime so I could get to sleep without pain and had to take a morning pill a lot of the time, but I cut the afternoon pills and just tried to lay still and not do too much. After a few days of that I was able to cut the morning pill if I moved very slowly. I'm 4 weeks tomorrow and now off all meds. I have a pulled muscle from trying to exercise too much too fast, so I'm still just laying around but other than that, feeling fine. Hope you are up and feeling fine soon! Blessings, Teresa

I don't think you're a whimp but I will say this...I felt much better after stopping the pain pills , geting dress and putting a bit of makeup on.......After week one I couldn't take the pain meds because they were making me feel horrible so I stopped them and delt with the discomfort and like I said, fixed myself up a bit.....and then I felt much better Still was in a bit of pain but emotionally felt better and felt like i had more energy GOO LUCK the first week was the hardest ...now I feel great dee dee 3 wk post op

No.....we are all differant.......my mistake was that I would have a pain pill...then go...go...go........and I do think that I over did many times......the next day I would feel like someone had kicked me in the abdomen.........and need a pain pill.......I have been out christmas shopping for hours.....and more often than not....I have trouble sleeping......had that before surgery.....was taking xanax...but have quit taking that after surgery. I am never tired during the day...tho before surgery I felt always exhausted...and always wanting to nap......tho never felt rested. Been off the meds for a week.....tho I still have some....just usually no need to take them.....constipation sux booty.......and as someone else said....that is reason in its self...also depends if you had lap or open.......... huggs kristi