What surprised you the most post-surgery?

Hello friends!

This is my first post after several months reading posts from others...and it's been such a great help! I'm preparing for VSG surgery next Wednesday, Jan. 17th, and was wondering what surprised you...what happened that you didn't expect or anticipate in the weeks immediately following surgery?

I have a friend *****cently had extensive back surgery --- which was very successful ---but she was not prepared for the pain, fatigue and expected recovery time. I've had four foot surgeries and understand about pain and recovery time, but was there something you wish you had known before this particular surgery?

I understand that everyone is different, yet I would appreciate hearing so I can be better mentally and emotionally prepared.

Thank you!

-Pat

Hi and welcome!

I also read the forums for many months prior to surgery and I can honestly say that I didn't have any surprises. I do think that what surprises many people is that surgery is only on the stomach and not the brain, so it's really important to address the mental causes of obesity in conjunction with addressing the physical ones.

I made myself a list of promises pre-op, sort of consolidating all the things I'd learned from my months of reading:

WLS Promises

1. I will not panic if I stop losing weight for a few weeks. Instead, I will re-evaluate that my eating is on plan and wait until the stall has lasted 4 weeks before I start to panic.
2. I will not ask OH what I need to take to the hospital, I know these things. Chapstick and a pillow. And the pillow really just needs to be in the car for the trip home.
3. I will not lie when people ask me how I've lost the weight. I will either be honest and tell them "surgery, diet and exercise" or I will tell them "I'm not comfortable talking about this with you." These are the options, lying by omission is not one of them.
4. If I screw up, and I will screw up, I will forgive myself and return immediately to plan. It's okay to screw up, it's not okay to beat myself up for it or let it become the start of a downward spiral. It's also not okay to say "I'll return to plan tomorrow."
5. If I don't start losing sizes right away, I won't freak out. Chances are the clothes I wear now are too small and tight, and I just deal with it. It might take awhile for my current clothes to fit correctly and that will happen before I can get into smaller sizes. (This was true, I think I lost about 50 pounds before needing to buy new clothes.)
6. I will own my mistakes. They're mine and result of my own choices, no one is ever going to hold a gun to my head and make me eat crap, I control what goes into my own body.
7. I will not compare my weight loss to that of anyone else. I'm me.
8. I will do everything I can to find a therapist I can work with. This will help me out in the long run. (Therapy = awesome.)
9. I will be hyper aware of potential addiction transfer issues and especially aware of getting too caught up in numbers as I already know I am want to do.
10. Extra skin is a fact of life, get the **** over it. If I really hate the way my body looks, I can save my pennies and nickels for plastic surgery once I've maintained for a year or two. People will still have sex with me if I have weird skin, and lots of places sell compression gear. I will, however, have every issue with my skin documented. (This didn't happen as planned, but hey, life rarely does. People did still have sex with me even if I had weird skin.)
11. I will be kind to myself. I will keep getting to my monthly massages, I will keep engaged in my hobbies, and I will spend time with my friends.
12. I already know that being a "hero" about medication is stupid so I'll work on remembering that when the time comes. Pain keeps us from healing, it's not noble.
13. I will only weigh myself once a week. I will not let myself get obsessed with the scale. See #9. (LOL, this definitely didn't happen. I weigh daily, but I don't obsess thanks to TrendWeight.)
14. My stomach will probably gurgle after surgery, this is normal. Just don't go to silent Meeting anytime soon.
15. I will not worry if people don't comment on my weight loss. I will assume that they're being polite and not commenting on another person's body, which is what they should do. (I wish people didn't comment on my body.)
16. I will work to break the compulsions to "clean my plate" and to "not let food go to waste." Sure, there are starving kids in Africa, but throwing away food will not change the situation.
17. There is nothing to be done for hair loss, assuming that I'm eating on plan. It will happen, or it won't, but I will remember that it will grow back eventually. I will be a shavee with St. Baldricks six weeks post-op. (And I've kept my hair short ever since.)
18. I understand that my hormones will be all messed up after surgery. I will do my best to remove myself from the company of others instead of taking my hormonal changes out on them.
19. I won't weigh myself for the first two weeks post-op because I know that I'll gain weight from all of the fluids and swelling that surgery entail. I'll wait to weigh until I'm off liquids. (I made it one week...)
20. I will not panic if I don't feel restriction immediately post-op. Chances are restriction won't kick in fully until I'm eating dense proteins and that will take 4-6 weeks on my plan. (This, indeed, was the case. I never had any issue with liquids.)

Awesome...your collection of insights is so delightfully honest and helpful. I'm going to print it and keep it handy! Thanks for taking the time to provide such an enlightening response.

-Pat

You're welcome!

Julie's reply reminded me that I did go through some borderline body dysmorphia as well and that was unexpected. Therapy helped and fitness classes where I could watch myself in the mirrors.

I had been hospitalized prior to WLS over 10 times for things such as vibrio vulnificus, sepsis, chronic cellulitis, massive infections, etc so I was no stranger to pain, suffering, and extended recovery times. And all of that happened while I worked full time.

So, surgery for me was a walk in the park compared to all that and I was back to work in a week. (I had surgery on a Friday and could have gone back on Wednesday but I took the extra few days anyway.)

I had pre-shopped for all the foods on my post-op list, but what surprised me is how little of it I actually ate. I still have gads of boxed broth and cans of soup, SF jello and SF pudding. I gave away the unopened box of oatmeal and the barely touched box of grits.

Even this far after surgery, I am surprised at how long prepared food lasts. I can make 4 or more meals out of one sous vide boneless skinless chicken breast. A pound of ground turkey is good for 5 or more meals and if I mix it with vegs it can be eaten 8 or more times. So, a little goes a long way.

I was also surprised about how little vegs I eat now. I do the protein first, veg second, and then carb last approach. I never get to the carbs. And it's ok. I might take a 1/8 tsp of mashed potatoes for a taste, but I don't miss them at all. Salad is also off the menu as the plain iceburg is a waste of sleeve space. I may do a couple of spinach leaves, but to make a "salad", I simply don't have room for it.

Good luck to you and hope to see you soon on the 'losers bench'.

Diane

I feel I was pretty well prepared from all of the research and forum watching I did, but I guess I?m surprised at how well I?m doing and how good I feel about my tool. I thought this would be more mentally challenging since food has been my outlet for so long, but I?m surprisingly coping pretty well. I definitely have moments, like last night for instance, when I made a nice dinner and only could eat a few bites. I wanted some kale, but after my protein I didn?t have room. Small potatoes I know, but it sucks sometimes. After my meal I reflected on the blessing I?ve been given, and while irritating sometimes, my tool is very necessary. This self reflection gives me my strength and my drive, and makes realize how awesome this experience really is.

Edited to add: I was also surprised at the incision pain I had. The doc stated it was from the liver retractors and the extra internal stitching to prevent hernia. Pain was an almost unbearable spastic searing sensation. The first week was rough, the second was better, the third was where it turned around for me, and the 4th was back to work.

I had to really think about this. My WLS group does a great job of preparation, so I think my "surprises" may be unique to me.

1. I was surprised at how little pain I experienced after surgery. That may be because I am older and have had a laparotomy twice (not laparoscopic in other words) so I was expecting more pain or just that I possibly have a high pain threshold?
2. I was surprised by the sensitivity to smells that I experienced in the first few post-op weeks (it settled down to normal eventually).
3. I am surprised at the fact that I actually enjoy food more than I used to. I savor what I eat and don't eat past the point of enjoyment like I used to.
4. I am surprised at the fact that some of my food preferences have changed. Fish and coffee are my favorites now (not so much before WLS).

Best of luck to you. Getting a VSG was the best choice I ever made!

My two biggest surprises are that I can be satisfied with so little and that restaurant portion sizes look like enough for 4-6 meals. As I tell my husband and family, I'm a cheap date.

Surprise #1- When people ask you about your weight they preface it with "was this done on purpose?" They all think that I'm on deaths door step. ( I don't mention my weight loss unless it's brought up by someone else)

Surprise#2- The amount of clothes I have. I gave all of my XL stuff to the church and it amounted to quite a bit of clothes. (I'm down to a medium)

Surprise #3- The majority of people who tell me the majority of people who have WLS gain it all back and then some.

Surprise #4- The biggest surprise- I save a lot of money by not eating out 3-4 times a week and by not being outside just spending money (might be why I have so many clothes)

Surprise#5- Not craving food. I know this was temporary and I had to work on better eating habits which I did.

How do you respond to those less than helpful folks who give you Surprise #3?

-Pat