Lap Band done and home from St. Vincent's

Hi all! I wish I would have thought to see if any of you were in St. Vincent Carmel with me.  I just got released yesterday about 3:00 pm.  I was (and still am) having a lot of pain, so they kept me a little longer.  The surgery went without a hitch, but the pain has been horrible.  I believe some of it is due to gas...my stomach is blown up like a drum right now and it's been 2 days now!  Any advice for how to get rid of all the pain?  When I stand up, the pain is horrible too..but a different kind of pain.  I don't mean to scare anyone with the pain for those of you thinking about doing this...I am just surprised because it seems like most people say they didn't have much pain.  Carol

Hi Carol!  Welcome home and to the Loser's Bench!  I am a week and 1 day out of surgery. I had open RNY so I had no gas problems. Wish I could help...but glad to have you on the journey!

The pain is from the gas used for laproscopic surgery. You have to walk it off... seriously I know that sounds like a sick joke... but walk it out. Fart a lot. And by a lot I mean A LOT!! I even lightly rubbed my tummy and had people rub my shoulder blades on my back to work the gas out. The more you are up moving muscles in your body the more the gas will come out and you'll feel so much better. Good Luck! Jodi

Carol, I agree with Jodi. Walk, walk, walk. I know it's going to hurt at first, but the more you walk, the better it will get. You may want to also ask your doc if it is ok for you to take some gas-x chewables. That helps me alot to make the walking produce the needed results in a quicker manner.  Remember that now is not the time to be bashful about letting them rip! Hope you get to feeling better soon, Sherri