duodenal switch
It depends. In Mexico I was in the hospital a full 6 days. Personally, I thought it was two days too long for me, but it wasn't a big deal. I was glad I didn't have to transfer to a hotel and stick around the area. I was dragging the IV behind me and going to the bathroom by myself within 12 hours after the surgery. I didn't have any complications.
In the U.S. people are often sent home in a day or two. It depends upon the surgeon and the actual details of the surgery. Generally, the IV doesn't come out until the person farts, signaling the digestive system coming back on line. Once you are off the IV it can be argued that there is little reason to stick around the hospital. There was a huge study a decade or two ago that showed that people actually got better more quickly at home and the risk of catching something nasty is a lot less.
One thing specific to us is that I would want a swallow test or leak test. This is when you drink barium (rather chalk like) and they watch you actually swallow it in real time and make sure that there are no gut leaks. From asking around there doesn't seem to be a standard. Some doctors give two of them and some none. I was glad I had one, it kept me from worrying.
Otherwise, there isn't much going on for the first week. The patient is struggling to drink water and much less so to take short walks. They are pretty self-sufficient. I remember being uncomfortable and I was confused by what my body was telling me and I was hyper from the meds, but that last one is a pretty rare reaction. I didn't take much pain killers at all, like maybe 3 doses all together. I should have taken more but I hate the hyper feeling. I still did lots of sleeping. I was too out of it to do much besides watch TV. I found I didn't really have the energy to deal with long phone calls or other social things. I was mostly just all about walking and then drinking when that was allowed.
So, I'm really not sure it makes that much of a difference where you spend your first week of recovery. If you are traveling, and especially if you are traveling to a foreign country, then I think longer in the hospital is nice. But if I could have come home, I think that would have been nicer, even if I did have to go back for a leak test, which would have caused some extra pain because of the travel bouncing. To me, the huge, elephant in the room for DS surgeries is the surgeon. Travel to a good one and do what he wants and you will be fine.
August 2014 - DS @ Mexicali Bariatric Center / Ungson.
It took me one and a half years to lose 165 pounds.
Weight: High=314, Goal=155, Current=131
Both my husband and I were discharged in about 24hrs. Our surgeries took place at 7am on a Thursday and we were both home by 5pm on Friday. Both of our surgeries were LAP and included removal of our galbladders. Mine also included a hernia repair. Neither of us had any major complications, although they did have a hard time getting my husband's pain under control (never really did - result of him having a high tolerance to pain meds). I was actually really glad to get home - I was a LOT more comfortable at home in my recliner without people in my room every hour or so. Everyone's experience seems to vary though.
