How long will I be in the hospital??

As I stated earlier, my VSG surgery is January 9th!! Eeeek! How long do you typically stay in the hospital? I'm Kaiser if that makes a difference. Thank you everyone!! Your stories and experiences HV kept me going!

Stephanie ~

Hi Stephanie,

I had my surgery on a Monday morning and was home on Tuesday night. Basically, Monday was a blur. I woke up after it was all done, they got me settled in a room, and later in the day I was up and walking. Tuesday morning they did a test to make sure there were no leaks, got me sipping on water, and ran way too many blood tests. In reality, it probably wasn't that many, but my veins are difficult on a good day. Anyway, once they were sure I could get enough liquids in and I didn't have any complications they sent me home with a pile of prescriptions.

Hope this helps!

Kathryn

My surgeons office has everyone stay 2 nights. No special tests, but you must be able to consume water, sip protein drinks and urinate. I felt well enough that I could have gone home after one night, but I appreciated their caution in making sure everything was in working order prior to discharge.

I stayed 2 nights, but why don't you know this info yet for your surgery?

I had surgery on a Friday & went home on Sunday, but that's because I couldn't get enough water down on Saturday. I didn't have any complications & frankly I needed the extra day to rest. I was more than ready to leave by the time Sunday came around.

Most people stay one or two nights in the hospital.

I'd suggest contacting your surgeon's office and asking what his/her protocol is. Might as well know what your exact situation is going to be!

Most common answer I found was the next day. I read about some same day releases (mostly mexico). My hospital had everyone stay 2 nights. The day of recovery I was drugged up and didn't feel much other than when I moved. I was both surprised at how little pain I had and how painful it was the first time I got up to walk. Day 2 I did had a leak test/x- ray and got up to walk several times. I'm glad I stayed the 2nd night but was ready to go home when I woke up.

It's been over 3 years for me but I remember the staff and nutritionist saying the menu I had was approved for me post opp, however the items had a food mix that was close to normal calories/food. I remember jello and a shake that closer to a meal replacement than a protein shake. All the way through my process the nutritionist(s) had a different perspective than my surgeon did about food intake.

Really depends on your doc and how you do after surgery. I was at the hospital Tuesday at 7 am and home Wednesday at 2 pm. As soon as they got me out of the recovery room and to my room (I was in holding in recovery for a couple of hours because they didn't have a room for me), I was up and walking which helped. Talk to your team - some docs have a two night requirement.

I'm a Kaiser (Maryland) patient. I went into surgery around 8am on a tues, and left around 6-7 pm the next day. They'll want to make sure you are drinking adequately, you are walking and moving around well, and your pain is adequately controlled.

I couldn't wait to get out of there after one night. They put a person next to me with an impacted colon and set up a commode about 5 inches from my bed on the other side of the curtain. I was on the phone in 2 seconds begging my doctor to let me go home! So yeah, 1 night, which was half a day too long.