What to expect after surgery ???
Hello everyone, Im having surgery next week, FINALLY on Feb 23rd 2016
Im starting to get a little nervous, I really don't know what to expect, and I like to know exactly what it is that will happen.
Can anyone help me out?? like day 1 - in the hospital, day 2 in the hospital and day 3 at home?? will I be able to take my meds? will I be able to swallow that big pill? Im more concerned about my blood pressure medicine
Im not worried too much about the pain, I have a high tolerance for pain, im worried about when I get home, what do I do? what do I have to drink? and what about vitamins? what do I have to take? and I heard that your hair falls out... !!! ??? is that true???
I appreciate any responses that anyone can give.
Thank you
Diana
Everyone's experience is a little different. I was in the hospital for 24 hours - surgery at 11 am, discharged at noon the next day.
You wake up in recovery, which you may or may not remember. They'll ask you to breathe deeply, maybe cough, ask about your pain. Then they move you into your room. I dozed most of the day. The nurses came in to help me get up the first time to go to the bathroom, peed blue (my surgeon does the leak test immediately after surgery - wasn't expecting that!), stayed tied to IV drips until the morning. I didn't have nausea or any issues the next morning drinking a little broth and some water. By the time they disconnected me from the IV, I was able to get out of bed by myself and walk around.
Home - slept a lot, but I was able to take small pills, and get my fluid in. Don't stress about the vitamins. It may take weeks before you can take them, and it's okay. Concentrate on fluids first, proteins second, and everything else will fall into place.
Hair - most of us suffer some level of hair loss, usually 3-5 months out. It comes back!
Hi! I had vsg on 1/11/16 & was in the hospital about 24 hours. Admission was very quick & easy. I was taken to an area where they prepare patients for surgery. My nurse came in, gave me a gown & went over lots of questions for their record. My surgeon came in at that point as well, just to touch base before starting his first surgery. I got onto a gurney & waited what seemed like a long time, but wasn't really : ) After some time, I was told to say good-bye to my husband & they wheeled my gurney into the pre-op area. There I talked to another nurse, anesthesiologist, several medical students (I was at a teaching hospital), and the OR assistant. The anesthesiology resident (who looked about 5 years old) put my iv in.....took forever & I was ready to tell him I'd do it myself, but I was practicing staying calm : ) I waited there for maybe 20 minutes & distracted myself by eavesdropping on the goings on in the areas next to me. There was lot of repetition of questions & a lot of checking my wristband, which I appreciated. I was (finally!) wheeled into the OR, where the pace picked up immediately. They positioned me, the 5 year old anesthesiologist came over & told me he would be injecting "medicine to help you sleep". I said, "yay" & woke up in recovery : )
As I awoke, I was being wheeled into recovery. My whole body was shaking violently. I wasn't yet able to talk. Don't be scared if that happens....it's not unusual. Uncomfortable only momentarily. The nurse told me right away that she saw it & was preparing something to give me. The shaking stopped almost instantly. I did have some nausea & she gave me something for that, which also helped almost instantly. I ended up being in the recovery room for 5-6 hours because of weather problems. The hospital wasn't able to discharge patients until later in the day (due to weather), meaning there were no beds available on the bariatric unit. I was fully awake, but resting very comfortably. The nurse had just two patients, so she was right there & able to respond with pain or nausea med.
After a very long stay in the recovery room, they moved me to my room & my husband was able to join me there. I had help from the nurse with making my journey to the bathroom the first time, but after that I was able to move on my own. I needed her instruction on how to disconnect the iv from the alarm, but was able to navigate on my own. I had my husband walk me around the floor (thanks to the advice on here to walk, walk, walk). I asked for pain meds when I needed them & tried to time them for after walking & bathroom visits. I also used the gadget to help lungs recover. I had a hard time sleeping due to the normal hospital noise & being awakened for routine checks. I used those as opportunities to walk. I had a very, very sore throat, which I had been warned to expect. I asked for ice chips which helped tremendously.
The next morning I was cleared for discharge. I had a few sips of chicken broth & a tiny swallow of jello. The nurse disconnected all the equipment, my doctor came in & discussed pain management at home; nutritionist came in & discussed diet; nurse practitioner came in & talked about practical kinds of things.....putting a pillow over the belly if need to cough, etc. My husband went down to get the car pulled up to the discharge area. I waited 45 minutes for the wheelchair escort & finally walked out by myself. I don't recommend this, but it worked for me : )
I found the routine of drinking water, protein shakes & chewing vitamins to be a *****allenging at first. I knew tha****er was the most important, so I focused on that. I did have some pain, apparently related to a concurrent hernia repair. I had some trouble getting my liquid pain med in because of the taste. I focused on water, then protein drinks, then vitamins. It all sort of came together at some point & I felt like I finally had a handle on it. I'm 5 weeks out now & want to reassure you that as long as you stay hydrated, you can figure the other things out a little slower.
All the very best to you!!!!
I was prescribed liquid Hydrocodone, but took almost none of it....it was very syrupy & I preferred the pain to the taste of the med : ) Regarding the walker, I don't know. I imagine every hospital has their own policies. I suggest you call the hospital where the surgery will be done.
All the best.....
Honestly, I'm a little concerned that someone from your dr's office has not given you most of this information. Every doctor has different plans, even how long you spend in the hospital. For me, i was one night in ICU - standard operating procedure for my dr - and one night in a regular room. Could not go home until passed gas...that was the rule. I was on dilauted in the hospital, which I hate any narcotics - I'd rather deal with the pain, so when I went home, I stopped taking anything and was fine. Had stomach pain for 5 weeks where the biggest instrument went in because they cut through muscle. Bought a post delivery maternity belt and that helped alot. Had no hunger and was extremely full after 1-2 tsp of yogurt. I was given the ok to have greek yogurt instead of protein shakes. I didn't take a pill for seveal months, mostly out of fear having been a former band person. Hair will fall out - hair will come back. You will have weeks when you barely or don't lose and weeks when you will have a big loss...just keep on course and don't let your head sabotage the plan. Walking is good - right from the start and, in fact, I lost the majority of my weight with walking as my primary exercise. The VSG is nothing short of miraculous in my opinion....Best of luck to you!
VSG on 04/28/2014
Thank you !! I do have info from my doctors office but I like to hear first hand from people that have gone thru it - I like the idea of the greek yogurt instead of the protein shake as I really don't like the protein shakes too much. But, im trying to get them down. I have less than a week to go. Im really excited.
Thanks again !!
