Pain after surgery

What pain level can I expect after surgery? I have bad knees and is painful to walk and I was wondering what additional pain I will have to deal with after surgery

I don't think there is any one answer to that question. I had very little pain, just discomfort and mostly fatigue. Other people say they had severe pain. The good news is that as you lose weight, your knees should become less painful, or, if not and you need knee replacement, it will be so much easier to get through that surgery and recovery. You are doing something very positive for yourself.

Larra

Thanks Larra,

This is a very scary time I know it is what I need to do but I worry about the diet.

One of the great things about the DS, and IMHO one of the reasons it has the best statistics for percentage excess weight loss and for maintaining that weight loss, is that the diet is the most normal and liberal of any bariatric surgery. Because we only absorb about 20% of the fat we consume, we can eat all forms of protein, not just lean protein, and can use any cooking method, not just low fat or fat free. We can use things like mayo, butter, bacon, etc because most of the fat calories won't be absorbed. We do need to be careful about carbs, but that's true for any bariatric surgery. We also need to take more vitamins and minerals than with any other operation, but to me that's a small price to pay for having an operation that actually works long term. And while it sounds daunting at first, you get into the swing of it and it simply becomes part of your daily routine, like brushing your teeth.

I don't know what diet advice you've been given. I do know that many surgeons and their nutritionists give lousy advice. Many lump the DS in the gastric bypass, even though they are very different operations with very different nutritional requirements, and give the same advice to everyone. So you may be thinking you need a very restrictive diet post-op, when this isn't true.

Larra

I was uncomfortable but not really in pain. In the hospital they have great drugs. Use them because you HAVE to walk postop. My surgery was open and it was less pain than I was led to believe.

I used the pain meds liberally when I was in the hospital. Once they sent me home (3 days) I found that I did better on half the dose of liquid oxy they had prescribed.

There was a lot of discomfort the first couple of weeks if I had to be in a car and got bounced around.

At home it was more like I had done a zillion situps (LOL something I barely remembered from High School). There was just one point in the process of getting up and sitting down that caused me a sharp pain. (I had a lap surgery). That went away to just some general soreness after the first couple of weeks and I was able to stop the pain meds completely.

Pete

Thanks Pete

I was an idiot and didn't take my pain meds as prescribed. So I felt like my insides had been scrapped against a cheese grater - no fun. My advice: don't be a hero and take the meds, you'll be in a lot less discomfort and doing yourself a huge favor.

Right after my surgery I felt terrible, that day is a blur. After that first day I really didn't feel much pain. Oxycodone made me nauseous so I started taking Hydrocodone, but quickly realized I didn't need more than liquid Tylenol and that only for some soreness at night. To be such an extensive surgery it really doesn't involve that much pain, at least not for me.