Concerned about surgery.

My first appt is July 31 but a friend just had the sleeve also. She was telling me how bad and painful the surgery is. Said it was the worst surgery she's ever had. Said she doesn't know if she would do it again or not. Now I'm a little worried and second guessing myself as to whether or not to have the surgery.  I'm just looking for some feedback on your experiences with the surgery....good and/or bad. Thanks! 

I had the sleeve and it was not bad at all. When I first woke up I felt pretty nauseous and was in pain. Many people go back to work after a week with the sleeve. I did not even take pain meds when I went home from the hospital. So I would not worry as much about it. You should post this on the sleeve board as well and I bet you will get some good responses there as well.

I had no problems with surgery. Sure there was some pain but I had some pain when I had my babies. I took my pain meds after the sleeve. I love my new normal. I am healthy and thin. It is wonderful

Your friend is in short term regret territory.  Yes, it hurts - it's surgery, after all.  But you get through it and the time immediately post-op becomes a faint memory.  For me, I was mostly sore.  No terrible pain.

I see a LOT of people who have regrets in the first few weeks after surgery. It IS painful, and it causes a major change in our day-to-day life.

But at 3+ years post-op? Far fewer regrets. I'm 10.5 years post-op, and I'd do this again in a heartbeat.

To me, from my own readings, it seems that there is a really harsh learning curve with re-educating ourselves on how to eat and drink post-op. The surgical pain, gas, the vomiting from eating too much/drinking too much/learning what our stomachs can/will tolerate seems to be a bit much for some people. I'm just taking comfort in the fact that all of our bodies are different. I have read such crazy stories that I *am* a bit paranoid about the pain, but hopefully that will just set me up to be underwhelmed by how much pain I don't have. Here's hoping, right?

Everyone is different and everyone tolerates pain and nausea differently.  So, as a counter to your friend, I will say that surgery was a breeze for me!  Yes, I was nauseous and I did have some heaving from the anesthesia and pain meds but that has happened to me in the past so I fully expected it.  The hospital staff were wonderful about doing everything possible to eliminate that tiny issue and by morning I was fine (my surgery was at 2pm).  The pain....well I had NONE.  I'm not joking.  I slept on my stomach the night of surgery - so only hours later - and felt fine.  I didn't touch any pain medicine once I left the hospital.  Over the next couple of weeks, I had some soreness on occasion but I would hardly call it pain.  So, we're all different and your experience will not be the same as your friend's.  You can't know for sure what it will be but don't let her experience ruin yours.  Besides, think about all the pain and misery you will be in as you get older if you are obese!!  I was happy to have surgery now and hopefully skip surgery on my knees or hips later!

Everyone's experience is of course different, so I can only offer you mine.  I did not have much pain at all after surgery.  I was on great drugs via a pain pump, so I was up walking the hallways several times the night of surgery.  I spent two nights in the hospital and couldn't wait to come home.  I didn't take any pain medication once I was released.  The incisions were tender, but certainly nothing that couldn't be managed.  The recovery was quick and relatively painless.

I believe that the results of many things in life reflect your mental attitude.  Complications can occur, but I believe sometimes people bring disaster upon themselves by not following their doctor's recommendations.  Does your friend tend to be a complainer?  It's very rare that anyone on OH regrets having the surgery due to the pain afterwards.  

Thanks everyone for the comments! After speaking to my friend again, she ended up having to go back to the hospital. She had a bacterial infection in her colon. Hopefully she is on the mend. I'm still going to the first consult appt cause this is something I've thought about for a few years now. I've handled having two major C-Sections with complications so I'm sure I'll do fine. Thanks again!