RNY Surgery Recovery Question?

Hi....I'm hoping for some advice as to what to expect for recovery time from RNY surgery.    I am mostly a stay at home mom although I work about 20 hours per week at home on my computer.   I have 2 boys, a 4 1/2 year old and 1 1/2 year old and a wonderful support system in my husband and church family.     I am expecting to not be able to lift my 1 year old for a short time, but can anyone tell me what else to expect.   Should I be able to sit at a desk and work for a few hours a day after the first week or no?    I've had 2  C-Section deliveries....is the pain similiar?     Thanks for reading!   I appreciate the advice.    Jodi

I had lap RNY.  I was planning to work from home for the whole time I was to be off work.  Just on the computer. Well, I was not feeling well enough to work from home, but did anyway.  I would put it off 'til the last second!  I was communicating with customers, probably shouldn't have been, with my state of mind and not feeling well. I did not go back to work for 3 and a half weeks.  Kinda long, but I was pretty sick post-op.  It is sooo difficult to plan for this, you never know what hand you're going to get dealt. Good luck to you! Anna

Jodi: I'm 6 days out from surgery and am pleasantly surprised as how quickly I'm feeling better.  However, I get tired very easily from simple things like taking a shower or walking slowly on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes.  I'm sure my energy level will increase day by day, but I'm glad I purposefully did not make any plans for work or committments for these first couple weeks.  The thing that's driving me crazy is the 5 pound lifting restriction.   It's going to last for 6 weeks and I plan to adhere to that restriction as much as I can to avoid getting a hernia.  But being single, it's a toughy. Although my surgery was pretty eventless and I'm recovering quickly, I think I had a small setback because of my issue with nausea while in the hospital.  Also didn't help that the morphine they originally  had me on was causing some of that nausea and by the time they figured out what worked for me it was nearly time to go home.  So I didn't get as much "done" in the hospital as I should have (walking a lot and drinking a lot).  You just never know what to expect right after surgery.  I'd never had problems with morphine before and rarely get nauseaous so those issues were a surprise to me post-op. I would definitely plan to NOT work your first week after surgery.  Take a break and focus on yourself and your recovery these first days.  Ask for help and accept it graciously.  Don't push yourself beyond what you can do.  Even though the surgery is Lap, it's still major surgery on the inside and your body  needs time to recoup. Good luck, Pam

Hey there Jodi, I had a C-section also, but the pain after lap RNY didn't compare to that at all.  After I got my pain issues fixed in the hospital I was good to go.  (RNY was MUCH easier) I have a special needs son that requires a lot of care, and I was able to handle everything after the first week home.  That first week though, I was pretty much out of commission and had to have some help. I didnt go back to my desk job for 2 weeks because I was so tired and couldn't concentrate, but maybe if you pace yourself at home you'll be ok. Just remember to keep up your drinking schedule, don't get so wrapped up in the kids you forget to do all you are supposed to.  Research a lot of quiet games and videos for the boys before hand.   You'll do fine!

I guess we all respond differently.  I was off work 6 weeks and then went back part time for another 2 weeks.  And I work at a desk job.  I would not count on doing much with the boys for a couple of weeks..... Good luck.

I took two weeks off because I have a very physical job.  I took things easy for the first couple of weeks as far as lifting was concerned.  As you can see, we are all different, so it's hard to know how you will do. Good luck to you! Jenn